VW Golf Mk2 Owners Club

Used car prices...

July 07, 2021, 11:13:57 AM

Sorry, should have said 'Pre-Loved'.

In a moment of weakness last month I went to trade in my car - madness as I don't do many miles even without any restrictions, plus my current car is only 4 yeras old / like new and I'm quite attached to it as it suits me down to the ground... so no justification to change it, and I'd just be throwing away money.

What tempted me was a Golf R, local seller and the perfect spec. / colour in my eyes. - If it'd been further away I'd probably have let the itch pass, but temptation was too much so went for a look.

At this point got to say sanity prevailed and I didn't go through with it however it went as far as my getting a Hpi check / my own car valued independantly etc.

Back to the title of this post - it appears my car has gone up in value by £1300.00 in 18 months - the dealer I bought it from did a quick 'Glasses Guide' check for me when it was in for service back then. It's a bog standard family hatch, not a particularly premium make, nothing fancy, and I doubt it's even sought after as there's lots of them.

The Hpi check I did recently gives price trends and it confirmed there's a very distinct upwards price blip at the moment. I checked again yesterday and it shows the book price has again gone up, by £203.00 in a month.

Bubble'll obviously burst and the downside is the car you're buying will be that much more expensive too... only winner's will be the traders (as usual).



 

Re: Used car prices...

Reply #1 – July 07, 2021, 12:20:51 PM

I wonder if the lack of miles while people haven't been using them during covid is a consideration. The Glasses algorithm expects an average miles per year, 18 months ago mile were X so the decline in miles could have been calculated to a point in the future which never happened. Your car now has lower than average miles, as does nearly every other car.

I'm sure new car sales must have been effected, people holding off until the future was more certain, so even if on Furlough and people getting money for nothing, the wise would be thinking, but will I have a job at the end of this? so perhaps people are holding onto their used (I'm happy to stick with that term) cars for longer and need more incentive to part.

I could spend all day guessing, but interesting all the same.


Side note, I saw what looked like quite a nice looking new golf the other day whilst on a dog walk, till it pulled away and I could hear it was the agricultural kind, with one of those devils fuel engined. However as it went by I noticed the R badge on the grill, followed by a very small 'line'

Maybe this is common knowledge to all, but I don't follow new cars that closely. It would seem VW are doing R line, in the same way Audi do S line.

So it's like the equivalent of the mk2 Driver, looks like a GTI but isn't. I mean, a DERV Golf R, whatever next?

Re: Used car prices...

Reply #2 – July 07, 2021, 01:02:34 PM

Not sure it's miles doing it.  I've been working all through the pandemic and doing a fair few miles too.
We bought the new family car at the beginning and I put 14000 miles on it in the last 12 months, when the insurance came up, the recommended value was the same I'd spent on the car originally.

And yeah, VW have been doing the R line for about 10 years, my parents have an R Line Tiguan.
I'm not a fan of diluting the original hardcore version to a trim level, but on the other hand, I did buy an M Sport!

Re: Used car prices...

Reply #3 – July 07, 2021, 01:33:52 PM

I'm going to go off at a tangent here - the deal feel through because of a hiccup that had the knock on effect of me coming to my senses, otherwise I'd likely be in a R now.

I think things work slightly differently in the rest of the UK, so I'm looking at this from how it's done in N. Ireland, hope it'll make sense!

As elsewhere new owner here must tax the car before it goes on the road, but unlike elsewhere you can't just ring up a number or do it remotely on-line, you have to go in person to a Post Office with proof of insurance and the new keepers part of the registration document (or other proof of ownership in limited circumstances such as lost lost logbook for example).

The car I was considering also had a private plate, the dealer only began the transfer process after agreeing a price. Like the rest of the UK we can do that instantly on-line, however in this case it was declined and the DVLA wanted the documents physically sent - according to the dealer they get this on average every one in ten applications.

Unbeknown to me, before money changed hands they posted it all off, including the registration document that day - post applications ca take 4 - 6 weeks apparently.

I would therefore be buying a car that would potentially still legally be in the previous owners name, displaying their private registration and without even the new keepers slip. The car would still have current tax from before so in a financial sense no one was being diddled

Ran it passed the insurance and they understandably said a big no - wouldn't be covered, too many what ifs and would have to wait until the documents came back in my name / new registration was known.

Liked the car but I'm not daft either, nor was I prepared to wait a month or more to get it with the prospect of someone else having access so got my deposit back.

The more I thought about it, bit risky for the dealer too... outside of insurance and tax issues, what if I'd got a speeding ticket?

Would go back to the old owner who would obviously deny it and it'd all come out in the wash... bound to be quite a few other unforseen 'legal' issues for them as a trader?

And they wonder why car dealers have a dodgy reputation!

 
 

Re: Used car prices...

Reply #4 – September 17, 2021, 11:13:49 AM

Surprised myself when I saw I'd started this thread in early July!

The on-line outfit I'd got to value my car back then still periodically email a revised value, I suppose if I looked you could 'unsubscribe', but it does no harm and is proving very interesting.

I realise you should also take these things with a pince of salt, but I'm finding what they say and what I'm being offered on forecourts is pretty much the same - so who knows?

Car has gone from £11300 around 18 months ago to a current £15100.

The daughters 2016 Citigo is now worth the same as it was new - world has gone mad!

I was working out my mileage over the same 18 months and it's a massive 3500, that's not annually but 18 months!

Even without lock-downs I don't go far, plus use the Citigo (and 205 in the good weather) which have contributed to keeping my daily so low.

Itch to change hasn't gone away and the bubbles going to burst soon (and suddenly I'd say) which has got me looking again.

VW Up GTI really, really tempts me as a car in it's own right, but also ticks every box for my needs / circumstances... tempting fate, but maybe watch this space.

 





 

Re: Used car prices...

Reply #5 – September 17, 2021, 02:20:12 PM

I think second hand/pre owned cars are up in value is partly due to the chip shortage so longer waiting list for a new car.
scs

Re: Used car prices...

Reply #6 – September 17, 2021, 07:36:51 PM

Combination of things apparently, but yes, a chip shortage / impact on new car production seems to be one of the main drivers.

Last night I did a Hpi check on a car I'm interested in and they pad it out with different pieces of nonsense to give you the impression of value for money. One was a graph for predicted depreciation and they seem to think value's have already peaked and are starting on a downward curve, getting back to expected levels by early next year.

Re: Used car prices...

Reply #7 – October 31, 2021, 04:17:45 PM

I’ve been tempted by Golf R myself, but most for sale seem to be 5 door not 3.  I also quite like the Scirocco R and early ones are a reasonable price.