Car buyers spending less since election | Mazda 2 News & FAQs

The Prime Minister sent another memo to the Cabinet this week telling them stay focussed on budget cuts. Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, has made it clear that there won’t be any new Scrappage-type schemes as the car industry needs to stand on it’s own four wheels.

But are car buyers going to help the dealers by continuing to borrow money and buy expensive cars or get on board with the ‘Age of Austerity’ and start looking for the cheaper motor? Taking two samples of 3,000 people that registered with my advice site www.UsedCarExpert.co.uk in April and July, I can tell you that the average value of car people want to buy has dropped by 3% to £7,600. Doesn’t sound like much I know, but multiplied over 7 million used car sales in the UK each year, it becomes a huge £1.4billion.

If this trend continues then there are going to be absolute snips to be found at dealers, but selling cars privately is going to be harder and trying to get a decent price on your part exchange, almost impossible.

Here are the kinds of examples we’re seeing in the market:

8,577 miles on the clock, 1300cc manual engine. Black Cloth, 1349 cc, OPTIONS, 08 Reg, Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), Electric door mirrors, Electronic Brake Distribution (EBD), Emergency Brake Assist (EBA), ISOFIX child seat.

Astra, Grey, 30000 miles, Diesel engine, 1.7CDTI, Hatchback, Tip Tronic gearbox.

UsedCarExpert.co.uk price & mileage guide: 55,300 miles is average and an adjusted price for a 30,000 mile car would be £7,268, while a fair price for a 55,000 mile car is £6,200.

So dealers do seem to be dropping prices below the market average of the last three months and this means there are lots of opportunities for car buyers out there.

But you need to keep checking the Used Car Expert prices to know if the entire market has dropped - otherwise you may not be buying a bargain.