On Wed, 11 Jan 2017 18:30:39 +0000, jim wrote:

Mark Allread Wrote in message:
On Wed, 11 Jan 2017 13:23:55 +0000, jim wrote:

I have offers for a new car of Circa 26600 (carwow) in my choice
of metallic.

2nd hand/ex demo "year old" examples are advertised (ebay, auto
trader) for 24000 or 24500, usually in cheapo white.

If these cars retain 45% value after 3 years shurely these used
prices are way over the odds?

What gives?

They expect the buyer to be less smart than you and assume that a
nearly new car will be a lot less than a brand new car and so don't
bother to do the sums.

Especially when a number of brand new cars come with zero percent
finance deals so actually work out cheaper than buying s/h with a loan
of c5%.


Ah. Ironically I'd prefer a good 1 year old to avoid the big hit
in year 1 depreciation.

I can understand that - but if the 1yr old one costs 'alomost' the same
as new and there's no finance deal why not buy new? You also have an
extra year warranty.

If the 1yr old one *is* heavily discounted then it does make sense - but
not at the figures you quoted above.

What are my chances of "talking sense" into a dealer about such a
vehicle? (I can easily imagine them sticking to their guns &
waiting for a punter to roll up & cough up...)
Always worth a try - go in armed with your figures and see if they'll
talk sense. If not you walk away and try another dealer/ make/model

Or is it just a "buy a new one & hope the residuals hold up in 3
years" job?

That is always a gamble - on any car. But why buy a 12 month old car at
an inflated price? Its 3 year old value (after you've had it for only 2
years) will still be the same as the new one at 3 years old.