Old car values.

Tinders

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There's a voice that keeps on calling me.
Is it me or has the older car market just gone a bit mad in recent years. Im not talking about special cars like Cosworths, GSI's,Hot hatches but the more mundane stuff.

Ive just been laughed out of a facebook group for having the temerity to question/ridicule the price someone had put up a MK2 Fiesta up for, its in clean condition to be fair and low mileage at 30 odd K, but its its a base model 950cc popular plus in a horrible maroon colour, so nothing special to look at or drive. Its up at 2k. Which to me is utterly crazy money for a car that wasnt particularly great when new. But the general consensus in the group was that its a good buy and well worth the money, which it may well be, but i cant understand why!

Label anything as a Barn Find, and people go a bit mad bidding on eBay, ive seen boggo Nova,Astra's in pretty poor shape fetch daft money. Is it a Vauxhall/Ford thing? To be fair i think even the hot stuff is fetching crazy cash now, 3 door Sierra Cosworths are close to 70-80k. I like older cars, i'd happily run a 80's/90's hot hatch, or a interesting jap motor, that no one liked back in the day, but i wouldnt spend daft money on one.

Sorry for the rambling, covid-19 is making me miserable:p
 

Nasher

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A lot of the "low end" cars have just got worse and worse over the years since these. From a driving perspective.

I'd much rather drive around in an old shiny shed than an EV though. One is kinda cool, the other is for people who inhale their own farts :p
 
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ezekial

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BinnsY said:
After having a little hunt on auto trader just the other day to see if there were any of my first car left for sale I find my self agreeing with this. I came across this listed for sale!

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202003037951094?

Almsot idential to my first car and its as rubbish now as it was then. If anyone genuinally pays £5000 for that they need their head checking!
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That is ridiculous I paid less than half of that for my Pulsar 5-6 years ago. Fools and their money.
 

Howard

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BinnsY said:
After having a little hunt on auto trader just the other day to see if there were any of my first car left for sale I find my self agreeing with this. I came across this listed for sale!

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202003037951094?

Almsot idential to my first car and its as rubbish now as it was then. If anyone genuinally pays £5000 for that they need their head checking!
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The brand new price for that 27 years ago can't have been much more! How many people are lining up to buy pristine but base-model and ultimately crap Corsa Bs for ridiculously inflated prices? I don't see the appeal.

My thoughts echo the Fiesta mentioned in the OP but I suppose its price is somewhat more tolerable if still a bit nuts to a non-collector.


So I just had a look on Autotrader for my first car, and...


https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202001126067659 - FIFTEEN HUNDRED POUNDS? Mine was exactly the same as that, even down to the mileage (but it did have colour-coordinated bumpers), and it cost me £200!

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202002067023411 - Here's another one, another 500 quid on top of the one above and it's not even the SX model so you don't get electric windows or central locking!

Crazy.
 

Nasher

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I don't think it's even a collectable car, which makes the price even more funny. No car collector is going to go out shopping for an old, bottom spec corsa.

The Cinquecento maybe, because it's basically a kei car and those are worth loads now.
 
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Axeboy

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I think there will be people who had these as first cars etc and have good memories so values will be decent for most good condition popular models

Also easier to work on and parts availability will be decent
 

Joe T

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There was shock today on OcUK when forum users realised that car prices tend to follow the trend of: new - used - banger - classic.

Cars tend to reach stage 4 once the vast majority have been removed from the roads, added to people who had them as their first/second cars reaching the point that they fancy a little nostalgia, and have plenty of disposable income now that they are in their 40s/50s.

Take my Pontiac for example: it was $3k new, and likely worth less than $1k after 4 years. In the mid-70s it was just another old car (perhaps even a banger). Now in stock form it would be worth $15k easily, and it's only a low to mid-range model. In stock form they dont exactly drive well, arent built to a high standard, and are pretty slow. Values for these were driven by the baby boomers, once they hit their 40s-50s.

Also dont forget that once values stabilise that normal price inflation also becomes a factor - even 3% a year adds up pretty quickly.
 

Orionaut

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Perhaps there are a lot of people out there who are prepared to pay a premium for an older car that is in very good condition because they prefer that to buying a more modern car for the same money that is burdened with lots of, very expensive when it goes wrong, technology.

That 1993 Corsa probably has a better chance of still running in 10 years time than a 2015 equivalent model.

Personally, I am tempted with one of these..

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1193689

I actually have a spare V8 engine kicking around, very tempted to rebuild it with a stroker crank to bring it up to 5L, That would be an absolute beast in the P6! :cool:
 

Nasher

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Yea the old Vauxhalls were much better built/more reliable, those old Corsas last forever. I had a '92 one as my first car and the person I sold it to back in about 2005 (for around £250) is still running it. The modern ones are a POS.
 

inflames

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Orionaut said:
Perhaps there are a lot of people out there who are prepared to pay a premium for an older car that is in very good condition because they prefer that to buying a more modern car for the same money that is burdened with lots of, very expensive when it goes wrong, technology.
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This is my thinking, I would rather have something I can work on myself rather than a nice shinny new car that is riddled with electrical issues. A lot of modern cars are all starting to look the same too.
I personally think some the Jap cars from the 90s and early 00s are some of the best and most reliable cars you car buy. Some are of them are quiet interesting to.
 

Nasher

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inflames said:
This is my thinking, I would rather have something I can work on myself rather than a nice shinny new car that is riddled with electrical issues. A lot of modern cars are all starting to look the same too.
I personally think some the Jap cars from the 90s and early 00s are some of the best and most reliable cars you car buy. Some are of them are quiet interesting to.
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Some of them came from the factory with forged engines as well, with much less emissions stuff choking performance, so big power from a tune. Coupled with being much lighter than a modern car :)
 

Tinders

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There's a voice that keeps on calling me.
Orionaut said:
Perhaps there are a lot of people out there who are prepared to pay a premium for an older car that is in very good condition because they prefer that to buying a more modern car for the same money that is burdened with lots of, very expensive when it goes wrong, technology.

That 1993 Corsa probably has a better chance of still running in 10 years time than a 2015 equivalent model.

Personally, I am tempted with one of these..

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1193689

I actually have a spare V8 engine kicking around, very tempted to rebuild it with a stroker crank to bring it up to 5L, That would be an absolute beast in the P6! :cool:
Click to expand...

I get old cars, the feel and connection to driving is brilliant, the simplicity and ability to fix it without expensive diagnostics is clear. Anything with a semi interesting engine/decent chassis is worth spending decent cash on.

But at the shopping trolley level a modern 2k car is superior, for eg MK1 focus can be had for pennies, zetec engines are reliable, the car is well built and is far superior to a MK2 popular plus fiesta or corsa L. A Fiesta S/XR2 or a Corsa SRI/GSI are a different proposition.

The Rover in that link is something worth the asking price, interesting car with a great engine, wouldnt look out of place in a classic car collection, loads of character.
 
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