Second hand car market

[Crazy Dazz]

There IS a lot of insecurity and uncertainty around at the moment, but the thing is the USED car market always rebounds quickly, just NOT at the price you may like.
Cars like an AU XR8 are a relatively small market, so even at the "right" price you will need to be patient.

[wrongwaynorris]

The used car market is indescribably depressed at the moment , ( The worst I have ever seen it ) largely due to the total uncertainty and absolute lack of confidence in the economy due to 6 years of an inept government . To put things into perspective I recently bought a 224,000 K AUII Fairmont Ghia in immaculate condition for $ 500.00 and an equally immaculate 117,000 K 2004 series II BA XR6 Turbo with a full book , 20 inch wheels , 4 new tyres , premium sound , dual zone A/C , leather and rego till Novemmber for $ 7,500.00 . Virtually all discretionary spending has stopped , the people who are buying cars are buying through absolute necessity at the moment .

[Iggypoppin']

Originally Posted by buggerlugs

Even the likes of BMW you can get so cheap now. Some of the prices on the sedans and coupes at the auctions have been staggering...........

I drive an immaculate 740, you don't wanna know how cheap I managed to pick it up! But I guess there's no market for 2 ton euro V8's anymore. With parts from overseas I can maintain it cheaply while I look for a project. I really want a ford but the right car has not presented itself to me yet and I need to increase my bank balance a little first.

[302 XC]

Originally Posted by ZA-289

Is it dead? Ive got 2 cars on the market and have had zero intrest in either for weeks. One is my manual au2 xr8 for 5k and the other is a 98 patrol for 10k. Both prices are cheap and still nothing....

IF the patrol isn't a 4.2 diesel , youll struggle to get near that money
IF its 2.8 Turbo diesel, people avoid them like the plaque,and youll struggle to get much more than 5 grand,unless its optioned to the hilt .....

Many are opting to go back to the better GQ , hence why GQs are many times changing hands for more than GU .....

With patrols its not the model or year,its whats under the bonnet that matters

People are still lining up for good condition low Ks big cubed diesel patrols

[Blue Oval Mopar Man]

I must be a real scumbag driving an AU wagon that 15 years old this year . Personally, I will NEVER buy a brand new car . Why would I spend sooooooooo much money to lose soooooooo much of it the moment it drives out of the dealers driveway . I Have 95 % of the creature comforts of a brand new Falcon and payed roughly 5 or 10% of the price . I have no desire to look better than Jones , and couldnt give a rats what ppl think because my ride is older than 3 years old . Saying that . I would much rather be driving any number of my past vehicles than the AU because I have never had a car newer than about 1987 vintage as my regular ride ! The AU was a bargain when I was in the market and couldnt find what I was looking for at the time .

Just thought I'd Give you my view on the topic . I think if we all had the same opinions it would be a boring old world huh!

[mik]

even with or without having the economy in the crapper, there is a flood of good used late model cars on the market, selling anything that is not fairly lateish is going to be a struggle.

[ZA-289]

Wrongwaynorris is on the money. People are not confident in the economy.

[GASWAGON]

Originally Posted by ZA-289

Wrongwaynorris is on the money. People are not confident in the economy.

I predicted that after Ford made its BIG recent announcement that things would start to decline from there and what do you know they have with now Holden asking for more bailout money, unemployment rate rising etc etc..... Its news like this that really puts people off and makes them think twice.

[karj]

Originally Posted by ZA-289

Wrongwaynorris is on the money. People are not confident in the economy.

Wrongwaynorris is not on the money. That you cannot sell your second hand cars for the price you want has little to do with people having no confidence in the economy, and even less to do with the Labor government we've had for 6 years. Wrongwaynorris just doesn't like the Labor government... which is fair enough, they are a bit on the nose. I'm not being partisan here, I think both parties are a bit on the nose. But I digress...

The point is that new car sales dived during the GFC and since have come back up, peaking higher than pre-GFC... so this is not a confidence issue. Have a look at the graph for New Motor Vehicle Sales, Total vehicles - long term found here

As other people have mentioned, strong sales of new vehicles has resulted in many decent and newish second hand cars on the market. For example, last week I saw a 05 Subaru Liberty GT with full leather, etc and 30,000km on the clock advertised for $14,500 here in Adelaide. It has now apparently sold.

The reality is that you are trying to sell a 15 year petrol patrol with 407,000km on the clock and a 13 year old V8 falcon with 220,000km (assuming I'm looking at the right carsales advertisements). These appeal to a very narrow market and without a draw card like "low km" you are going to have trouble selling these cars quickly at the prices you want.

As someone who has sold a Mitsubishi Magna in the past, I am all too familiar with selling a good vehicle for less than what I believe it's worth... so I am not unsympathetic to your plight, but I don't think we can really blame consumer confidence or the government in this case.

Good luck with the sales

[ZA-289]

Everyone's an expert......

I have sold 9 patrols without any trouble at my asking price over the past 5 years. I know the car has high kms that's why its the cheapest in SA on carsales by $3000!!

The market is defiantly quiet.

[wrongwaynorris]

Originally Posted by karj

Wrongwaynorris is not on the money. That you cannot sell your second hand cars for the price you want has little to do with people having no confidence in the economy, and even less to do with the Labor government we've had for 6 years. Wrongwaynorris just doesn't like the Labor government... which is fair enough, they are a bit on the nose. I'm not being partisan here, I think both parties are a bit on the nose. But I digress...

The point is that new car sales dived during the GFC and since have come back up, peaking higher than pre-GFC... so this is not a confidence issue. Have a look at the graph for New Motor Vehicle Sales, Total vehicles - long term found here

As other people have mentioned, strong sales of new vehicles has resulted in many decent and newish second hand cars on the market. For example, last week I saw a 05 Subaru Liberty GT with full leather, etc and 30,000km on the clock advertised for $14,500 here in Adelaide. It has now apparently sold.

The reality is that you are trying to sell a 15 year petrol patrol with 407,000km on the clock and a 13 year old V8 falcon with 220,000km (assuming I'm looking at the right carsales advertisements). These appeal to a very narrow market and without a draw card like "low km" you are going to have trouble selling these cars quickly at the prices you want.

As someone who has sold a Mitsubishi Magna in the past, I am all too familiar with selling a good vehicle for less than what I believe it's worth... so I am not unsympathetic to your plight, but I don't think we can really blame consumer confidence or the government in this case.

Good luck with the sales

Well you'd better tell the 90% of customers in both my full time gig ( nothing to do with cars ) as well as my weekend car selling gig who quite openly and without any solicitation tell me they have zero confidence in what is going to happen next week let alone next year with the current government at the helm . And you're dead right I do not like the current government and especially its recently ousted inept , incompotent , out of touch , back stabbing , lying union installed union hack leader .

[karj]

Originally Posted by wrongwaynorris

Well you'd better tell the 90% of customers in both my full time gig ( nothing to do with cars ) as well as my weekend car selling gig who quite openly and without any solicitation tell me they have zero confidence in what is going to happen next week let alone next year with the current government at the helm . And you're dead right I do not like the current government and especially its recently ousted inept , incompotent , out of touch , back stabbing , lying union installed union hack leader .

I'm not actually making political points and I take no issue with your dislike of the current Labor government.

All that I'm saying is that the quiet 2nd hand car market cannot be blamed on a lack of economic confidence or a lack of confidence in the current Labor government because if that were the case, we would see the same quietness reflected in new car sales... and that is not what we are seeing.

[BA-XT]

Just as an example there's a BA XR6 Turbo on car sales at the moment for $15,200. Its been there for months. Its immaculate. Mecury silverI with low kms. Its not selling. How do you phone someone up and say, "ill give you $11,000 for it." Don't know if I could that.

I few posts above someone mentioned they picked up a AUII really cheap. Where do you find these cars? Is it just Car Sales then haggle on price?

This applies to me because my wife is about to buy a 2002-2003 Hyundai Santa Fe.

[EB#]

A second hand car yard local to me has just dropped their ticket prices on a range of
cars on the lot by $2K, $3K and even $4K.,..... and they are still sitting there.
It makes one wonder that a 'first offer' on a car in any lot could be made substantially lower
than the price on the window.

[302 XC]

Originally Posted by ZA-289

Everyone's an expert......

I have sold 9 patrols without any trouble at my asking price over the past 5 years. I know the car has high kms that's why its the cheapest in SA on carsales by $3000!!

The market is defiantly quiet.

The biggest issue is ,wether its good value or not
They are absolutely terrible on fuel, I have a petrol patrol ,and 20L/100 Ks isn't far of the truth,thats empty and mostly highway,so mix that in with the power and torque the new breed TD get ,and the measly hundred or so bucks on payments for the new
Then start playing with fuel consumption between the two, the measly 100 or so a week for payments for the new starts to have the upper edge at weeks end

Most new TD utes are around the 10L/100K ,mates got a new BT50 under 10L/100 K, do a few hundred Ks a week and the new doesn't cost much to have in the drive compared to something with 400 K and what 15 years of service
Do 1,000 Ks a week the consumption between a 20L/100K beast to a new breed at 10L/100Ks the fuel saving alone just about pays for the car
Many are doin the sums right down to the dollar,with consumption,and payments,the warranties , new are just a better option for many when it comes to wallet damage over the month

[ZA-289]

Its on gas so is cheap to run.

Who does 1000km a week?

[GREGL]

Originally Posted by ZA-289

Everyone's an expert......

I have sold 9 patrols without any trouble at my asking price over the past 5 years. I know the car has high kms that's why its the cheapest in SA on carsales by $3000!!

The market is defiantly quiet.

You answered your own question right there. You may find its quiet for what your trying to sell , high Ks big thirst = small demand for what your selling end of story .

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by EF_6

I predicted that after Ford made its BIG recent announcement that things would start to decline from there and what do you know they have with now Holden asking for more bailout money, unemployment rate rising etc etc..... Its news like this that really puts people off and makes them think twice.

The salesman I dealt with recently, flat out told me Falcon and to a lesser extent ford products in general, slumped overnight on the back of the announcement.
Im buggin' the missus to get a BF2 Ghia V8 as we speak so that news was music to my ears.

[Polyal]

Its a pretty good time to be buying...you would be hurting if you needed to off load that classic gt a few years back...laughing if you sold though.

I got $4k off my T without even being in the same state!

[Trump]

This is how I see it:

- Brand new cars every three years has become the in-thing. Ridiculous finance deals have ensured that. Being seen in an old car has become worse than leprosy.

- Cheap finance has ensured a massive glut of cars at the end of said three year period.

- We're screwed when Holden announces they are shutting up shop (along with whats left of the rest of the automotive industry).

[zx10]

Every car has a buyer just has to be right time/price. I paid good money for my xr8 because it was the right car for me. Sure I could have paid less but I wouldnt be happy with it.

Be patient mate, the right person might be round the corner.

[danzvtil]

supply and demand- there are LOTS of secondhand cars out there at the moment because new cars a firing along nicely.
when there is more of something for sale the unit price drops.
near new prices have dropped because its cheaper to finance a new car for 2-3K more at a lower rate.
i agree that it might be hard to sell cheaper secondhand cars for $5k or less, buyers for these are generally more pragmatic and every dollar counts.
I walked into a Kia dealer and quoted a new Rio SLS manual on road with all my options came to 25k d/a which i think is a great deal. I offered 20k and the guy accepted. I almost fell off my chair. The new car guys are keen as mustard at the moment-but i wonder how long these prices will last with the dollar heading south.

[302 XC]

Originally Posted by ZA-289

Its on gas so is cheap to run.

Who does 1000km a week?

A new triton is $125 PW, they return around 10L/100Ks, they come with 3-5 year warranty

Borrow 10 grand ,at what interest ???,whats the weekly payment ???
What does the patrol really get economy wise across the board ???
Theres no warranty

Add both up,do the sums, to have both sitting in the driveway at weeks end,there wouldn't be much in it for wallet damage

Even IF it worked out the new cost an extra $50 PW, $50 a week to have a new sitting In the drive with years worth of warranty Vs a 98 something
Thats why the 2nd hand market is shot

[ZA-289]

This is the way i see it.

The person who will buy my car will not consider a new car. They are 2 different poeple. This patrol is for serious offroad work where a new triton would be useless. The people who usually buy my cars pay cash and dont need or want a warranty. This car is modifed and will be given a hard time off road . The resson they are not purchasing is because they are not confident their job will be there in 6 months so they hold onto their cash. I guess we will just have to disagree

[GQ_Smooth]

If the price is low enough you will sell it. The longer you hold on to it, the lower the market value goes on your car. I'm not saying drop you pants. Just don't expect to get more the longer you hold on to it.

[2011G6E]

Sometimes if you want to shift unpopular merchandise, you have to sadly be prepared to take a big bite in the bum.

V8's aren't that popular any time the fuel prices rise, and four wheel drives, while always popular, are very common and people have a massive choice of second hand fourbies to select something to suit their needs.

[ZA-289]

If it doesnt sell ill keep it and convert it to TD myself.

[barns73]

Try selling a SAAB convertible for a laugh.... Been a nightmare.

[ridzilla]

I was contemplating selling my BA Turbo when it's all fixed and looking pretty again but looking on gumtree, there are heaps on their already and people are selling them for a fraction of what they were a year ago. I can't justify selling it for such a little amount, so the best thing to do I think is keep it and drive it till it dies. But, on the other hand the more I drive it the more kays go on the clock and the lower the value is.
Decisions Decisions!

[SpoolMan]

Guys leave the politics to the politicians and keep the thread discussion for its indented purpose.
Second hand car market