Is it possible to beat depreciation ? Should I buy a newer or older car ?

Silvera

Have any of you guys ever 'beaten' depreciation with a car you've owned ?

I'm currently selling my car (see sig) and am thinking about my options, I could -

A. Use the proceeds of my car sale (€4.5k), add €3.5k, and buy a Bora/Golf/ Focus, which will, like my current car (and everybody else's!) loose c.€1000 per year.

Or,

B. Buy an older car with the €4.5k (or less!) e.g. 1990 BMW 316i and perhaps loose very little in the coming years while still driving a classic/classy car (.....that is, provided I could find a well maintained '90 316i).

lomb

old bmws are nails, avoid like the plague. and in life u get nothing for nothing 1 grand a year losses are cheap when when u consider a new mercedes loses 10 grand minimum for an eclass a year and 15-25 for an s class. even a normal new car loses 2500 on average. so a grand a year is cheap if its reliable.

mike65

Nothing wrong with buying cheap. You can't beat deprication but you can make sure you dont pay for most of the car you own!.

If I added up the price of all the cars I've bought they might add up to the cost of one new one.

Lomb an older BMW is no more a nail than anything else, its just a question of picking a good one,same as any used car.

Mike.

ds20prefecture

Silvera wrote:

Have any of you guys ever 'beaten' depreciation with a car you've owned ?

Yes. I bought my car for €8600, have spent approximately €5000 on it in parts & labour over two years, and have been offered €15,000 for it.

The catch? Not everyone wants to drive a 33y.o. car

peasant

The only way that I could think of is an old supermini (Polo, 205, Clio etc). They are always in demand for learner / first car drivers on a budget. And all the old ones that I've seen with new NCT seem to cost around 1500 ...regardless of age or condition.
So buy a 1500 Euro car with new NCT (pick a really good one) drive it for two years, maintain it and it might just pass the NCT and be worth 1500 again. All it might cost you is standard maintenance.

But do you really want to drive a early 90's Polo/205/Clio for two years ??

damo605

I bought a Corolla once for €340 and sold it 5 months later for €800
I reckon the way to go is to buy something that will be really easy to sell on.
For example a low mileage Jap sporty coupe like a Celica - if you bought one now for €4.5k (or less) it shouldn't depreciate much if it's kept really well and you'll have a nice looking and ultra reliable car into the bargain :cool:

Curran

I bought my focus FEB 04......i paid 11k for it !!!!!!

Was thinkin about selling it.....so i looked on cbg.ie and the likes!
The avg for a 3dr focus is 11,500

Mine is a 1.4 Zetec, black and has tinted windows, chrome mirrors and door handles and alloys........so i put a sticker on it FOR SALE

Got a few offers for 11k for it!
I reckon if i advertise it in the rite places id get 11,500 for it...towards the end of the year........and change to a BMW 318 coupe...hopefully!!!

So you might not be able to BEAT depreciation...but you sure can limit it.....if you keep ur eyes peeled for a good deal !!!

Personally i think i got a good deal last FEB

Alfasudcrazy

My recipe for beating depreciation is to buy good low mileage 2 year old Golf TDi 4 door privately in a marketable colour. Get one in black or other metallic dark colour - preferably with air con and alloys and keep it for 2 years then sell it privately.
Repeat the procedure endlessly for cheap motoring.
My mind was telling me to do that but I could not live with a boring Golf diesel so I allowed my heart to run amok and allow me to buy an Alfa GT.
Well it was a diesel so I pandered to sound economics to some degree at least. :rolleyes:

Curran

Alfasudcrazy wrote:

My recipe for beating depreciation is to buy good low mileage 2 year old Golf TDi 4 door privately in a marketable colour. Get one in black or other metallic dark colour - preferably with air con and alloys and keep it for 2 years then sell it privately.
Repeat the procedure endlessly for cheap motoring.
My mind was telling me to do that but I could not live with a boring Golf diesel so I allowed my heart to run amok and allow me to buy an Alfa GT.
Well it was a diesel so I pandered to sound economics to some degree at least. :rolleyes:

Agree with the above....get a good deal on a 2nd hand car...colour and extras are important! And then keep it fairly up-to-date...if ya can...changing every 2 years or so!

Like you alfasudcrazy.......im going to loosen up a lil....sod it...only young once.....hoping to get a BMW 318 coupe!!

Silvera

Curran - spill - where did you buy the Focus ???
Privately/Dealer/Auction...??

Alfasudcrazy,
What kind of figures are we looking at re TDi ?

I mean -
What would it cost ? and....
What would you expect to get for it in two years time ?

Curran

Silvera wrote:

Curran - spill - where did you buy the Focus ???
Privately/Dealer/Auction...??

Alfasudcrazy,
What kind of figures are we looking at re TDi ?

I mean -
What would it cost ? and....
What would you expect to get for it in two years time ?

Silvera.........cant be spilling!

Givin away all my secrets....so all the rest off ya's can take all my good poaches away

Ah but i will spill anyways cos im a nice guy! :rolleyes:
I bought the car Privately actually!

So how did it work i hear ya ask!!!

Well i knew the guy selling it...seen it up for sale!
He told me he was trading it in if he didnt get a buyer within two weeks.....so i waited and waited.............and he didnt sell it!
So i asked him how much were the garage givin him for a trade in - he said 11K.....so the evenin before he was tradin it in i said ill give ya 11K and you can go up with 11K cash and he'll knock a lil more off for ya!

So basically i got the car, LESS the garage mark up - so therefore thats my depreciation so far!
We were both happy lil campers in the end with our new purchases!

You gotta know how to play it cool :cool:

Silvera

Nice one Curran !

......now if I could only find somebody wanting to trade-in a low mileage '00 Bora or Golf

Curran

Silvera wrote:

Nice one Curran !

......now if I could only find somebody wanting to trade-in a low mileage '00 Bora or Golf

Well if you have no shame....sit outside a VW garage and ask every customer that u see going in (that drove in, in a Bora) if they wanna sell if privately and go in with cash to the nice man in the dealership.......im sure you'd get one or two that wud be interested....cos ya always get a few more quid off with hard cash and no trade in! Even if you offer 100 bills more than what the dealership is offering for their well kept car (that the salesman doesnt even acknowledge).......better than a swift kick in the balls for the person thats trading cos thats what the nice salesman in the dealership will be doing to them!!!!

unkel

It is impossible to beat depreciation in current cars except cars that are in high demand and haven't even been sold yet. Negative depreciation can only be found on cars on a waiting list

In classic cars:

ds20prefecture wrote:

Yes. I bought my car for €8600, have spent approximately €5000 on it in parts & labour over two years, and have been offered €15,000 for it.

The catch? Not everyone wants to drive a 33y.o. car

Feck that was a good price, I recollect from another thread that it's a LHD, so where did you get it from? Most of France will have been emptied by foreign DS-snatchers at this stage

ds20prefecture

unkel wrote:

Feck that was a good price, I recollect from another thread that it's a LHD, so where did you get it from? Most of France will have been emptied by foreign DS-snatchers at this stage

The only place for DSs is Holland. The Dutch love them - it must be something in the mushrooms!

The only way to depreciation free motoring is a classic. ASC - how much have you been offered for the Daimler?

lomb

there is a way of beating depreciation but its illegal. buy a car with galactic mileage, that doesnt show it, drive it for a year and pull the clock on it.but that would b both illegal and immoral .

Alfasudcrazy

Silvera wrote:

Alfasudcrazy,
What kind of figures are we looking at re TDi ?
I mean -
What would it cost ? and....
What would you expect to get for it in two years time ?

Carzone is a great place to compare prices - bearing in mind that these are dealer prices, so private deals should be at least 2,000 / 3,000 cheaper at both ends of the deal.

Here is a list of 2003 Golf's currently for sale on carzone

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=search&maxrows=100&MakeID=32&xMakeID=32&ModelID=281&xModelID=281&Year=2003&xYear=2003&submit=Find+cars+%3E%3E

My pick = http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=235647

Alfasudcrazy

ds20prefecture wrote:

ASC - how much have you been offered for the Daimler?

Have not taken any offers for it so far - not trying to sell it - I think I will keep it for a few years as it is a bit of a gem and is not likely to cost me much to maintain (hopefully).
I would be looking about 6,500 if I was to think of selling it

Victor

lomb wrote:

there is a way of beating depreciation but its illegal. buy a car with galactic mileage, that doesnt show it, drive it for a year and pull the clock on it.but that would b both illegal and immoral .

You re-use the fillings you take out of peoples mouths, don't you.

lomb

Victor wrote:

You re-use the fillings you take out of peoples mouths, don't you.

LOL actually theres more gold in a macdonalds milkshake than in a 'full gold crown' these days ;)the labs call them this and never tell dentists what the precious metal content is.

fletch

Didn't I hear recently that there is such a demand on the Volvo XC90 that it actually appreciates in value

bunker

fletch wrote:

Didn't I hear recently that there is such a demand on the Volvo XC90 that it actually appreciates in value

well there is in england i heard that jeremy clarkson sold his and made £2,500 profit it was two years old and had something like 35k miles

JB123

Coupe's are the best way to beat depreciation.I paid 5200 for a 95 Integra drove it for 3 years put 50k on it and sold it for 4500.

unkel

ds20prefecture wrote:

The only place for DSs is Holland. The Dutch love them

I knew it

This "must get a DS from a barn in France and restore it to it's original beauty" thing took off like mad in Holland from the late 80s / early 90s iirc. I can only imagine there'd still be some unfinished projects around over there

JB123 wrote:

Coupe's are the best way to beat depreciation.I paid 5200 for a 95 Integra drove it for 3 years put 50k on it and sold it for 4500.

You did very, very well!