"What’s it werf, then?” It’s probably far too late and pretty much impossible to get a pound for every time I’ve been asked that.
Usually I don’t really know; I gave up the trade books long ago and spent the money I saved on actual cars. That’s because prices can be a rigidly defined area of uncertainty. They’re mostly guesses based on what the fleet market and industry people think they should roughly be. One reader wants to buy a price guide but can’t and refuses to pay one-off online fees. The thing is, used car prices are all around us: we just have to go and take a look.
First of all, I went for a walk around my local car lots to find out what a petrol Fiat 500 costs, and the answer is that the starting price is just under £3000 for a 2008 or 2009 1.2 Lounge with 70,000-80,000 miles plus a six-month warranty and a fresh MOT.
Click here to buy your next used car from Autocar
The Dacia Sandero is regularly trotted out as the cheapest new car you can buy, so what will a used one cost at my nearby main dealer? A 1.0 SCe Ambiance from 2018 with a modest 15,000 mileage is £6995. That’s the price of peace of mind, and the variations around nearby dealers are explained by lower or higher mileages – but I’m sure you knew that already. It’s worth playing dealers off between each other.
Car supermarkets don’t do deals, supposedly, and many charge an administration fee to process your purchase. Their prices aren’t always too reasonable and you need to cross-reference them with others’. That’s how I discovered that a BMW 116d Sport automatic with 75,000 miles up for £11,000 was a tad expensive.
It’s all about compare and contrast. I know that isn’t as simple as looking at a book, but these are real prices. The same goes for private sales, which can vary hugely from give- away to unrealistic past dealer level.
You can have great fun on classifieds sites comparing MG TFs, which are wonderfully all over the place, because they would be: £1500 for a clean one near me, £8500 for an apparently perfect low-miler.
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James,
I think what most people do is to look at that site that Mr Schofield implores us to do, who will buy anything, and see what they will offer. Factor in a reasonable dealer margin and see if the asking price makes sense or is being greedy. No one really bothers with the comics, as they rarely reflect the market now. I sold a banger to Mr Schofield for nearly three times what the comic said it was worth.
The problem comes when someone writes off your car and the insurance company will only pay out what the comic says. I argued and they even spoke to the chief comic writer who reluctantly amended the value and added in another £100! The insurers said I could buy the car for their pay out less £140, so I did. I then advertised and sold it and in total got 70% more than the comic said the car was worth.
Some excellent advice here: in particular, the notion that a car is only worth what someone is prepared to pay - and the mention that it is perfectly acceptable to drive at a speed below the posted limit which is after all a maximum not a requirement.
It always amazes me how many drivers will charge along when there is a red traffic light or island ahead, then brake at the last moment when, with a little anticipation, they could have adjusted their speed earlier and not had to stop, or could merge more easily with other traffic.