Car Prices

tel4, Nov 30, 9:19am
I am looking to get a small shopping basket for the other half.But I cannot understand the pricing range these days.For example you can buy a very tidy 1995 Jag XJ6 150k for about $5k whereas anything 1995 plus in the Corolla/Civic range is not a hell of a lot different in price.Even the rough ones are on TM for $2k plus.What happened to the reliable cheapie.

frank1, Nov 30, 10:20am
Quite agree,the prices asked are really in most cases ridiculous!
But guess u gotta know if sellers actually get what they ask--and some bidders, if its an auction pay far too much for a piece of crap.

kazbanz, Nov 30, 9:18pm
I said this would happen and got poopoopd by people here on this board.
The good news is that time is a great healer.As thge effect of the last gubbiment fiddling falls further into the past so more and morecars willdrop back to 7 and 8k which will have a flow down effect -2002 cars will be down to 6k and so the older stuff becomes once again less desireable/cheaper

bellky, Nov 30, 9:23pm
Supply and demand.

intrade, Nov 30, 9:23pm
well the thing is small cars use less fuel right. and everyone wants cars that run cheap.
the governmentmade it compulsory only euro 4 cars get to be registered from the imports . thats 2007 for a lot of cars so these are the only ones new to the pool. so everyone is hunting what ever is left over. making the old 15 years ago 600$ wof and regod car 2 grand now . so you wont usually find anything below 2 grand that dont needs major work and money throwen at it or is scrap metal on wheels . also scrap prices go up and down from 50$ per car up to 400$ some times. so no one is going to rego and wof acar and put a license on it if the scrap metal give them 400$ for example.
these are examples to explain why things are the way they are now only.

splinter67, Nov 30, 9:25pm
A lot of the price going up had to do with the price of scrap which has dropped to $90 per tonne so instead of getting $400 for your car as scrap its now $180 or less which will drop the price of cheap cars and leave a lot more of them on the road

intrade, Nov 30, 9:31pm
like i listed a daihatsu charade mint condition before it had crashed unrepairable. Engine was top for 150$ on tradme. no one wanted it. Then the naigbour told me the scrap metal price for cars is 150 today.
I swiftly pulled it on to my trailer and transported it to the scrap metal dealer got 150$ thank you no dumb questions if i give a guarantee for the engines and other crap to put up with. and it was done.

sabbath-black, Nov 30, 9:43pm
.so they still sell ados then.how much do you put in a bag!.is it cheaper than alcohol!

hpaul, Nov 30, 10:29pm
That $5k Jag will probably cost you $3k a year in parts, labour and issues + twice the normal amount in fuel. A $2k Toyota shopping trolley will only cost you a service.

curlcrown, Nov 30, 10:41pm
Jags are made for people with plenty of money who do not care about running costs. Most people who want a cheap car want cheap running costs too. Most people who want a jag don't wat a cheap car.

westwyn, Nov 30, 11:56pm
As a famous US politician once said, "It's the economy, stupid!" A combination of events and issues- as the global economy tanked in 2008-2009, car buying habits changed drastically- a significant switch to smaller, more fuel-efficient cars (and not just the "compact" bracket, but overall- Commodore buyers switching to smaller SUV's, Falcon to Mondeo etc) and more significantly, rather than update to a $10,000+ car, owners chose to either keep their existing car, or if they DID replace, do so in the "affordable" $2-5,000 bracket. This in turn increased demand and price pressure on that particular price band- after all, no-one is making 12-15 year old $3000 cars any more. To add pressure, the GFC also saw the collapse or exit from the market of third-tier (or even second-tier) lenders who traditionally financed the under-$10,000 market- so with no option to finance a $10,000 car, many would-be buyers stepped back down a bracket. And just when the pressure was on, the third stage of the so-called Exhaust Emission Rule knocked out importing anything older than 2004 from Japan due to non-ratification of the Japan 2002 Standard to Euro-4 equivalence. The truth is the Japan 2005 standard is actually between Euro 4 and Euro 5 in value, but without ratification, the previous Japan 2002 rule (which would meet Euro 4 anyway in most cases) cannot be utilised. Some 2004 Japanese cars comply, quite a few 2005, most 2006 and 2007 do (but not all), creating a gap in the "sweet spot" of the market here- the $8-12,000 retail car. Yes, there are some that fit the mould, but not many, and we end up with a flat-line model offering here (check the number of 2004-2006 Nissan Tiidas on TM, for example). The profile will get better in time, but for the moment, the lack of volume in the $8+ market ex-Japan puts further pressure upwards on the price of existing cars that fit the bill here. Scrap prices have little if no bearing on the plus-$2000 market, the value of those cars is in their ability to provide affordable and reliable transport in the current times. Scrap prices however HAVE lifted the value of a non-running or written-off car from effectively zero (if you don't have a trailer) to a minimum of $150-300, on somedays / weeks / months more.
Hope this is helpful!
Oh, and the Jag is worth the same as the Corolla because you can pretty much assume the price paid for the Jag is your R&M bill for the first year or so of ownership- the corresponding Corolla, if you take reasonable care, will cost the price of a good 4-litre pack of oil, a filter or two and a WOF. Buyers out there have come to realise this!

franc123, Dec 1, 12:14am
And those same people are also smart enough to dump them before they get too old and make the inevitable upcoming expenses the next guys problem. Its always been the key to happy Euro luxury car ownership.Mind you the same comments apply to twin turbo Subaru and a few other Jap performance car owners.