prices rising

[overrun]

Ebay has come up trumps for my new motor.

 

Sept 2009 59 Mondeo Titanium X 2.0 TDCi 140 5dr hatch, one previous owner (company car), 140K but has full main dealer service history and runs like a dream.

 

Epic spec, plus a few options and claimed to be returning 62.odd mpg on Saturdays return journey from Suffolk-Sunderland, with a/c and cruise control on and currently 58-60 around the doors.

 

It is the nicest car I have ever owned (or driven tbh).

 

It was on a 10 day listing and with 8 days to go was on £2100. I asked matey how much he was after - £3900.

When I travelled down, two days later, we shook on £3800.

 

These are generally still selling for £7/8K etc and were itro £27K, new.

 

To say I am pleased is an understatement!

[Leyland Lawrence]

I agree with this and I've noticed it too, although I've been looking at 1980-1985 stuff. I had been looking for an 'everyman' 'classic' (classic to me -banger to most beyond this forum) for 6 months with a budget of £2,500 which I thought would give me a lot of options for a very good car indeed. I was only looking at mk2 Cavaliers, mk 1 XR3s, mk 1 Fiestas Triumph Dolomite 1850s (basically normal people's cars I remembered growing up) yet all but the Dolomites were out of reach.

 

E.g. just look at that nice Cavalier near Weston Super Mare. On for £5k if I recall.

 

I still think £2,500 is a lot of money and it should get a very decent car. Perhaps I've lost perspective.

[Hendry]

Loads of the main dealers are doing much older cars than they normally would which would usually get sent to auctions now they are retailin them as they clearly realise there's a market for them as people cannot afford as expensive cars as they once could.

 

Most Arnold Clark showrooms now sell older stuff as their "value range" almost like Tescos as if a car is just a throwaway thing, they are putting 53 and 04 plates on forecourts anything up to £5K is value range.

 

The 2 or 3 local Evans Halshaws have a bit at the back of their forecourts called "Runabouts" and although there are some good nick cars like 58 plate 40K Cmax and 08 Fiesta 1.25s there are other higher mileage stuff like 100K mile 06 Mondeos right through to stuff like a 52 plate Fusion, I always assumed dealers auctioned this stuff due to high prep costs but folk must be so skint that they are able to tidy up 12 year old cars and put huge mark ups on them and people buy them because that's all they can afford, and are thus forced to be paying over the odds for older cars.

[Stroller133]

Over a longer term i think used cars have become much cheaper. I've just bought a Saab 93 on a 56 plate ( 7 years old) 70k miles for £2150 + a knackered C-max. In 1990 my dad paid £2000 + a knackered Marina for a 6 year old 900i that turned over to 100k on the way home. The 900i had a list price of about 9k in 1984 and the 93 was 22k new.

[EssDeeWon]

I am currently in the market for another car now the Scorpio has departed, but I find that looking around the £1k mark you could bag yourself an absolute world of pain, but if you look carefully and be patient there are some gems (i.e. lower mileage, FSH, private seller owned for 5+ years etc)

 

I tend to avoid dealers when buying lower end stuff, because if they are knocking it out cheap then you know its crap!

 

Example; 2 years ago I sold my 1998 BMW 523i SE for £900, however when I look through E39s now the same car/age/spec is still around the £1k mark.

[a60rod]

Regrettably everyone thinks they are Mike Bwewer(sic) for a start.

Buy for £1 then with 5 mins work it's worth £450.

There are jokers in all walks though.

Take obsolete caliber fire arms.

Young chap thinks he's Charlie Big Bananas buys X for £1500.

Cleans it.

Wants £3250 for it.

Way Way Way above market value but he's adamant that's what it's worth.

It's worth what someone will pay for it.

He thought it was worth £1500 so why does he know think it's worth more than double?

 

There are no other 'pieces' of this ilk for that price but.........all it takes is one person to ask say £25,000 for a X then they all become 'worth' a sum relative to that amount.

[Ratdat]

Over a longer term i think used cars have become much cheaper. I've just bought a Saab 93 on a 56 plate ( 7 years old) 70k miles for £2150 + a knackered C-max. In 1990 my dad paid £2000 + a knackered Marina for a 6 year old 900i that turned over to 100k on the way home. The 900i had a list price of about 9k in 1984 and the 93 was 22k new.

 

I agree. In about 1989 I paid £700 for a 12 year old Marina 1.3 Super with 70k on the clock. In 2012 I paid £750 for an Alfa 166 with 89k on it. Much, much more car in much better shape and proportionately much cheaper when you factor in inflation.

 

Last year I bought a ten year old 156 Sportwagon for a grand in great shape with 62k on it. Back in '95 a nine year old Golf 'Match' 1.3 cost us £1300.

[Sloth in a bowl]

I agree with this and I've noticed it too, although I've been looking at 1980-1985 stuff. I had been looking for an 'everyman' 'classic' (classic to me -banger to most beyond this forum) for 6 months with a budget of £2,500 which I thought would give me a lot of options for a very good car indeed. I was only looking at mk2 Cavaliers, mk 1 XR3s, mk 1 Fiestas Triumph Dolomite 1850s (basically normal people's cars I remembered growing up) yet all but the Dolomites were out of reach.

 

E.g. just look at that nice Cavalier near Weston Super Mare. On for £5k if I recall.

 

I still think £2,500 is a lot of money and it should get a very decent car. Perhaps I've lost perspective.

Have you looked a scimitars?

For 2500 you can afford to be very picky on quality.

[Sloth in a bowl]

I find that where you are counts for a lot. The Birmingham area Scumtree regularly throws up absolute bargains which less populous zones will miss out on.

[Leyland Lawrence]

Have you looked a scimitars?

For 2500 you can afford to be very picky on quality.

I did, and you're right -a good value buy. I wanted an SE5 but by that point I had run out of patience with the whole car search and settled for the Dolomite 1850

[New POD]

How much is the astra mk4 my son now owns worth?  He got it yesterday.

 

19,000 mile, one owner, bright red, 1.6 16V club - that is 105 BHP, 5 stud wheels, no chavy spoiler, grey interior, NEVER been out in the rain, snow, ice, or on a salty road (seriously) Full service history at Vauxhall dealer, all bills, all mots, rear seats never used.

 

And how much is my mid week landlords spare car worth ? - He's just got a lexus hybrid as a company car, and doesn't know what to do with it.

 

A grey, clean 07 Vectra think its a 1.8 looks a bit standard, not sure of the spec, as it's been in his garage just sitting for 5 months, and I can't see the sides to see any badges.

[beko1987]

I think lack of fragile parts on old chord is part of it, looking at veg friendly old chod and zxs saw prices at about £5-600, I think people are getting wise to our ways!

 

Glad I got talking to the po of mine before he advertised it and got it for £350!

[Lord Sterling]

There are lots of reasons why chod is starting to rise in price. eBay is pretty much a main player in all this. It's easy to join and easy to use so lots of people will have joined up and start selling thier chod on there. Because it has such a wide audience prices can go stupidly high as 2/3+ people compete to win the bid, this then makes others think that certain cars are worth far more because "they've seen them go for that price".

 

You've also got your part-time "classic" car merchants trying to make a quick buck on what they think is a "classic" motor. Slme others know the true worth but try to prematurely drive up prices on cars not worth more than around £450/£600 being touted for £2k/£3k.

 

Buying cheap wheels depends on your timing, where you look, your expectations, budget and pretty much who you know. Personally I've been fairly lucky so far in what I've paid for my collection. Totting it up roughly, I've probably paid a total of £1350 for all 6 current cars (thats discounting everything else but what I paid fae them). I've never paid more than £750 for one car ever. I probably (hopefully) never will.