September 2012 Used Car Market
The website MyCarCheck.com has released its September Used Car Market report, and it’s interesting reading for Fleet Managers.
In these monthly bulletins its Valuation Team’s used car expert, Gavin Amos, outlines the most significant trends in the UK market.
Mr Amos commented: “The majority of used car values will remain unchanged during September, with only large-engined undesirables, such as the older Audi A8, and higher CO2 output vehicles, such as once-fashionable coupes and convertibles, seeing a slight price drop. With this in mind, and with winter suddenly looming large, it might be worth making a cheeky offer for something like a Mazda MX-5, especially one that has sat unsold for a few weeks.
“In recent weeks the trade has been focusing on the new 62 plate. Even with two plate changes per year diluting the excitement, we still see a hike in sales activity around March and September. Most dealers now realise that every customer is like gold dust. On occasions when a customer’s budget puts their desired new model out of reach, the dealer might well offer them a higher spec used car, to try to prevent them from going elsewhere. It can work out well for both the buyer and the trader.”
Fuel prices are back in the news and Mr Amos says this is seriously unhelpful while consumer confidence is so fragile. “Buyers have become very sensitive to the cost of petrol and diesel over recent years and the news that fuel prices are rocketing once again could not have come at a worse time,” he said.
“It seems the financial speculators and oil companies are once again playing the game of ‘How far can we push the price up and get away with it?’ The economy cannot grow when a basic requirement such as fuel is allowed to be so unstable on price. Values of higher CO2 output vehicles and larger engine examples will be affected over the coming weeks. This will put even more pressure on the models with smaller capacity engines – models that are already in short supply.”
They say it may be worth “making a cheeky offer” on some models. Has this worked for you and what did you buy? Or has someone made you a cheeky offer and you have sold a car for less than you really wanted just to get it off your driveway?
