That's it for me , I'm out.

[biggs682]

I was put off buying new cars many years ago when I was in the merchant navy. We were berthed at one of the ports in the Gulf, cannot remember which but probably Kuwait, Bahrain, or Dubai.. A roll on/roll off car carrier ship arrived from Germany, full of BMW, Mercedes, and Audis.. The dock workers went aboard and set about discharging the cargo, which seemed to involve starting them from cold then driving them as fast as possible, in the lowest gear possible, off the ship and along a long stretch of dock. Bluish white smoke pouring from the exhaust, squealing tyres, crunching gears. Probably not the best start to life for your pride and joy, especially back then when proper "running in" was considered quite important for the engine. And yet people buy new cars in the belief they are getting something that has never been abused by another driver!

Watched the exact same thing at ferry port in the UK many moons ago when a loud of Ladas were being unloaded it was plain craziness .

 

[biggs682]

Romantic involvement, I never expected it to happen again.

Never say never as we never know what is around the corner just enjoy

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Mrs D has given in now. She's on some lease thing for civil servants in the education sector. MG ZS EV Trophy Long Range for £230 a month, all-inclusive, 20,000 mile mileage limit is so daftly inexpensive it would have been difficult to turn down.

I'd rather buy, but at those prices (and with a model thst depreciates quite heavily) I can stomach my pride and let her rent it.

She still has the C70 vert for sunny day driving, and being female and blonde it works better for her than it does me.

Yes - this is the sort fo thing my wife's son has got - difficult to turn down

I do find it rather weird that as a teacher in an LA school that I was never offered something like this
there were offers of leases - but they were basically just publicly available lease scheme with a small discount "for teachers" but still far more expensive that someone in admin at the counsel could get
even though we got payslips from the same place and with the same employer written on it!

so - it seems there are good deals out there - but only for certain staff

 

[Drago]

Teachers, nurses, police officers, are generally liable to return the vehicle in above average condition, and are a lower risk for insurance than many/most occupations, so they can slim the numbers down and still make some lolly.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Teachers, nurses, police officers, are generally liable to return the vehicle in above average condition, and are a lower risk for insurance than many/most occupations, so they can slim the numbers down and still make some lolly.

well - sort of
but in my experience teachers don;t get the advantageous schemes that NHS staff and Police can get

always thought this was weird - maybe they suspect something about teachers
or maybe some bloke in charge is still annoyed about a detention his Maths teacher gave him when he was 12 and he blocks any suggestion that teachers are humans!!!!

 

[hobo]

I once worked at car dealership and cars that came in from teachers were always the messiest ones.
We also delivered new cars and they always got thrashed on the way to their new owners though they were Toyotas so never broke.

 

[presta]

At one time we had quite a few contractors at work, and many of them had lease cars, it was something to do with accountant's advice: there were tax advantages I think, because it was classed as a company car. I thought they said that the lease fee covered everything except the petrol, but Which magazine were saying that it doesn't so I don't know whether I've mis-remembered or policy has changed.

I've never seen the point of buying a new car, but guess someone has to to take the hit to provide me with cheap cars. I've paid cash for every car I've owned. I put 170,000 on a 205 that I paid €360 for without any real issues.

Thank you, to all who buy new.

Me too, a three year old car is as good as new if you're picky what you buy.

Out of interest will the devaluation of electric cars work differently? I'm thinking particularly about the battery and how it deteriorates over time and the effect that might have.

If I want to buy a car in a few years time and apply the approach I've taken in the past of going for a second hand vehicle will there be greater risk than for an ICE vehicle? Or will there be a market for used vehicles with new batteries?

Or will battery devaluation just be the same as gaskets and bearings and things wearing out in an ICE car?

Just wondering how things will go.

I'd expect them to be very different. Things like gaskets, bearings, water pumps etc are relatively small costs that come in dribs and drabs, like paying 'instalments'. On the other hand, a new battery is a lump sum all at once, and probably big enough to write off an old car. When you're at a dealer's looking at an old second hand EV there'll be a little voice nagging in your ear "do you feel lucky, punk?".

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I once worked at car dealership and cars that came in from teachers were always the messiest ones.
We also delivered new cars and they always got thrashed on the way to their new owners though they were Toyotas so never broke.

Some teachers can be very tidy and strict in class

but if you watch how they behave in the staff room - especially the kitchen part - then you wouldn't allow them to be in charge of a set of lego bricks never mind children!!!!

Most are OK - but some are
err
just not

 

[simongt]

Recently bought a two year old Kia Ceed. 18k. on the clock and still five years Kia warranty left on it.
We don't do a lot of miles, but most of them are for visiting family in Scotland or going to festivals in odd places an average of 150 miles away, so a car is pretty much a necessity.
As we keep a car for an average of about ten years, I'll be 81 then, I'll probably be hanging up my keys then anyway.

 

[cyberknight]

Recently bought a two year old Kia Ceed. 18k. on the clock and still five years Kia warranty left on it.
We don't do a lot of miles, but most of them are for visiting family in Scotland or going to festivals in odd places an average of 150 miles away, so a car is pretty much a necessity.
As we keep a car for an average of about ten years, I'll be 81 then, I'll probably be hanging up my keys then anyway.

FIL is close to 80 and is about to stop driving and the insurance costs really ramp up as you get older and the furthest he goes is about 5 miles .

 

[presta]

insurance costs really ramp up as you get older

In January last year I paid a bit extra to have my house insurance premium fixed for 3 years. This week, when I was renewing, I told them I reached state pension age last September, so they told me that the fixed price is no longer valid because that's a policy change, and put my premium up by about 50%. Fortunately they backed down when I pointed out that they already knew my DoB when they offered the fix, and threatened to complain to the ombudsman.

 

[Drago]

How can getting older at a rate of one day of ageing for every 24 hours be consider a policy change? What planet do these people come from?

 

[grldtnr]

How can getting older at a rate of one day of ageing for every 24 hours be consider a policy change? What planet do these people come from?

Planet 'StiffthePunter' , turn 3rd left after you see a revolving blue plastic Porta Potty, with an increasingly confudled bearded octogenarian fumbling Trevor mint out of the wrapper.

 

[Gunk]

Some teachers can be very tidy and strict in class

but if you watch how they behave in the staff room - especially the kitchen part - then you wouldn't allow them to be in charge of a set of lego bricks never mind children!!!!

Most are OK - but some are
err
just not

Both my parents were teachers and both pretty chaotic away from the classroom.

 

[biggs682]

We also delivered new cars and they always got thrashed on the way to their new owners though they were Toyotas so never broke.

At The one Honda dealership I worked in many moons ago it was always the valeting teams job to check new cars in and off the transporter as the sales team were always sitting around drinking coffee or having a fag somewhere then one day a new dealer principal turned up and the next time we had a transporter turn up he was out there with the sales team checking them over and what a palaver it was took them hours to do compared to the minutes the valeting teams took .

Loads of little things marked off on the check sheet but loads of stuff missed as well so quite comical in all fairness.

Then if they were sold cars the customers would be invited down to see the car in its delivery condition IE covered in protective wax , raised suspension, plastic covered seats and carpets quite a few customers cancelled sales due to seeing a car in this condition so it soon stopped.