There seem to be quite a few pundits who reckon that prices will increase in 2017, presumably because of the exchange rate. If true, does that apply to all cars, or only those manufactured outside the UK?
I've no spare money at all, unless I downsize my house and release some equity, and prefer to spend my money on foreign holidays anyway ( because I have the time & health).
My £3k Focus is really nice. And I'm actually starting to believe that, which is just as well!
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all car prices will rise IMHO.
My UK built car has Japanese autobox, tyres, starter/alternator, Hungarian glass & that is just the bits I have noticed........the known UK bits are the steel body shell, the engine - heaven knows where if there is much more that is 100% UK.
Selling price of small family car inc VAT £9,600
LESS
Vat is £1600
Dealer margin say 10%
Delivery £500
Importer margin
Importer overheads
Advertising
Warranty
etc etc
Import price on the quay of the port - maybe £2,500 / £3,000
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Our attitudes to cars are disproportionately emotional. For random reasons I've been using my wife's 8 year old base model Qashqai for the last couple of days. Only because I wanted to check it over, make sure it's running right sort of thing.
I found myself pondering on whether I could live with it or something similar on a permanent basis and while my company car is a much more luxurious thing, it certainly wouldn't feel much of a privation to use a more utilitarian vehicle as a daily driver. Only the boot size on that one would be any kind of deal breaker for my very specific needs.
The bells, whistles and toys are nice to have of course, but most of them are just that and don't increase the enjoyment of driving in direct proportion to the costs of having them.
All cars are great really when you think about it. Provided they work for your needs. Wants are a whole other, mainly nebulous agenda.
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Very much so. I really liked my '04 330, and my nephew still does! But. The 11 plate Focus, which cost me £2k, plus another £1k on belt change, 4 new Michelins, major service, new wiper blades and Excellent Philips X bulbs, is really growing on me. It handles fine ( now) eventually builds up to 80/85 for motorway cruising and is eminently practical. Like my old £950 Mazda 626. Shame it has no acceleration to speak of, so I have to sit calmly behind slower moving traffic on the rural roads around here, but that's fine. It is what it is.
Hopefully running it exclusively on Shell V Power & BP Ultimate adds a little more power and keeps it running better. Given my low annual mileage, it's my treat to Brian!
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In our modern camera infested world there's almost no point in paying a substantial premium for a fast car unless you have access to, and want to use it on a private race track. Nice to have of course, but possibly as much frustrating as enjoyable now. There is much fun to be had wringing the best out of an adequately powered one without so much risk to your licence, or to be po faced about it, life and limb I suppose.
Those of us of a certain age probably had the best of it back when "normal" cars started to get safely quick ( GTis etc ) but the roads were much quieter and less regulated. Didn't make it any less illegal of course, and there will be irrefutable evidence to prove it was by default more dangerous, but it was fun at times and most of us survived.
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Don't think many folk nowadays could handle a big old 70's motor and throw them around like we used to! - no power steering, drum brakes, cross-plies etc etc, the good "ole" days of motoring!! ;-)
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My ole Zephyr had cross ply tyres, no PAS of course. I was a stick-thin teenager to at the time, until I bought a Bullworker. I have a Bullworker X5 knocking around somewhere, maybe a new years resolution for me!
Talking of cars and that, like. I nearly bought a 2 year-old Volvo V40 SE Lux this morning (until I came to my senses) It has a pedestrian airbag. Who the eff gives a toss about pedestrians??
Just kidding :)
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>>Pedestrian Airbags.....
>>Who the eff gives a toss about pedestrians??
www.whatcar.com/news/jaguar-xf-pedestrian-airbag-goes-off-early/
£5k to fix! I think that several people my think the same way!
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£5000!!!
I initially read that as £5 ... These 'ere jamjars are getting too damn expensive.
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>> Very much so. I really liked my '04 330, and my nephew still does!
Did he decide not to trade it in against a Focus CC?
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Ford put up prices by about £200 on its smaller cars not all that long after Brexit IIRC.
Taking advantage of the general short term confusion at the time?
Last edited by: Stuartli on Sat 31 Dec 16 at 13:28
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Does anyone pay the list price? Think most pay monthly or get a big cash discount.
The biggest problem is that modern cars are too complex and expensive - Look at the new Volvos or the Teslas, the next Audi A8 has no buttons on the dash, just 3 proprietary 'iPads'. Here is a good critique of the phenomenon. The cost to repair them after 7 years will be rediculous too.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3FDu8KvXOg
Last edited by: Shiny on Sat 31 Dec 16 at 16:51
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>>just 3 proprietary 'iPads'. Here is a good critique of the phenomenon. The cost
>> to repair them after 7 years will be rediculous too.
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>> www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3FDu8KvXOg
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I have a real problem with touch screen systems. If they fail then several aspects may fail, for example navigation, climate control etc. requiring expensive repair.
They can also be difficult to see in bright sunlight.
You cannot just feel for the control, something that I do a lot. You actually need to look for the image on the screen. This is dangerous IMHO!
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Ah, rtj70. You missed my update on the scenario. As usual, i investigated the problem. The advice proffered was the the 'new owner' might be sitting on the car keys, thus opening the roof when in the locale.
Nah, says the complainant. I'm not an idiot.
As it transpires......
Job sorted
Red faces
I saved them ( bro & nephew) thousands just by making a few enquiries on their behalf, when they were ready to p/ex for the CC
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I did miss it and I'm glad he's still enjoying the 330i.
For my next car (if I don't go down the company car route), there's a bit of me saying get a big petrol engined car. Stung for RFL admittedly but initial depreciation might be higher. We'll see.
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Increasing car prices? - Falkirk Bairn
