Prices are falling

lightning · Post by **lightning** » Mon 22 Aug, 2011 09:19

Somebody on the Lotus forum is selling a pristine, loved, 2003 Z4 3.0 with 55k miles and every option on it for £8500.
These cars were over £10,000 last year.
He wants to change it for a Lotus Elise.....
The Elise is a superb car, particularly the S2 (I've got one) but he's going to get a shock after the refinement of the BMW, and he'll not have to care about rattles, water leaks, and sundry items falling off or coming loose.

I wonder if the Z4 will eventually start to rise in value, I can never tell with modern stuff. The Z3 has stopped falling but they are still fairly cheap.

Malcolm E Zed · Post by **Malcolm E Zed** » Mon 22 Aug, 2011 18:11

There is only one way for prices to go and it ain't up.

zedwheels · Post by **zedwheels** » Mon 22 Aug, 2011 18:33

I wonder where the bottom is with these price falls, some realy nice zeds for sale and so many of them too! Is the fuel costs, insurance costs or just the fact that they are in the main a second weekend car that people are finding it difficult to manage with one thing and another?

Mouldy · Post by **Mouldy** » Mon 22 Aug, 2011 21:56

I've been reading in the press and on the internet about the proposed 4p per litre increase in fuel duty that's due to be introduced in the New Year. This will do little to enhance the resale price of anything with an engine, never mind a biggish, thirsty one.

This, coupled with the ridiculous rates of road tax that have been introduced on cars registered after 2006, that have escalated taxation on the 'most polluting' cars to well over £400 per year will surely mean that people will think twice about buying any big engined car, especially as a weekend toy.

I had to sell my Zed recently as work and personal commitments had restricted my mileage since the MoT in April to just over 100 miles. I could no longer justify tax and insurance, together with servicing and other costs to spend most of the year in my garage.

I didn't want to run my Zed on a daily basis due to its age and mileage, so I sold my wife's car and bought her a convertible that she can use daily and we can use for holidays and trips out when time permits.

It's interesting to think back to just before the last election and we were promised a 'fuel stabilizer' so that as the price of oil increased, the duty would decrease. I wonder what happened to that? Votes and election won and it's soon been forgotten.

There must be another war somewhere to pay for!!

lightning · Post by **lightning** » Tue 23 Aug, 2011 13:06

My Z3 2.8 was pretty good on fuel economy. Even round town it somehow managed to achieve 30mpg.
The Ferrari averaged 15mpg, now that really did hurt. I once used £100 of fuel in it in one day, just driving around fairly local roads.
My current car, a Lotus Elise S2, does about 38 which is great. At £1.40+ per litre this kind of thing starts to matter.
The fuel price will always go up. I remember the blockades 10 years ago when it got to 85p....now it's £1.40
The price of crude oil is falling at the moment, but I bet we won't see it at the pumps. When it goes up though, the pump price increases straightaway.

Ian Kelly · Post by **Ian Kelly** » Tue 23 Aug, 2011 13:59

Fuel prices are currently falling, I work in transport and this weeks fuel price has fallen for the 3rd week in a row. It's gradually showing in lower prices at the pumps, hopefully it will continue.

My Z3M does 27mpg average, which isn't too bad for a 'toy', but my 320d daily driver does 52mpg. You pay for fun these days!

stevenb · Post by **stevenb** » Sat 29 Oct, 2011 21:53

Prices are my friend at the moment.
I've been keeping an eye out for Z3 3.0's but for another £1k or so I can have have a newer Z4.
I'm hoping prices won't go up again by next April when my purchase is likely to take place.

TitanTim · Post by **TitanTim** » Sun 30 Oct, 2011 11:34

Well you only have too look at BMWs latest models coming out which are erring more on the 4cyl turbocharged route as more fuel efficient than 6 cyl models. I can see them phasing out all 6 cyl engines in the near future. No point manuafacturing them if hardly anyone buys them when new.

Tim.

trigg35 · Post by **trigg35** » Mon 31 Oct, 2011 19:58

before the z3 i had never had a six cylinder car so it was something i wanted to do once and thought if i didnt hurry up i never would as it will only be rich people who can afford them in the near future.think it will be a long long time though before bmw stop making the straight six.anyway for me the z3 and the straight six has gone.atleast now i can park my van in morrisons as close to the store entrance as possible and wonder around the shop without thinking for a moment- i hope the cars alright? im free

stevenb · Post by **stevenb** » Mon 31 Oct, 2011 20:08

trigg35 wrote:before the z3 i had never had a six cylinder car so it was something i wanted to do once and thought if i didnt hurry up i never would as it will only be rich people who can afford them in the near future.think it will be a long long time though before bmw stop making the straight six.anyway for me the z3 and the straight six has gone.atleast now i can park my van in morrisons as close to the store entrance as possible and wonder around the shop without thinking for a moment- i hope the cars alright? im free

That's a fair sized car park there though.
Shame the people working in there are a bit weird.
The Wife and I waited over half an hour for our brekky only to be told they'd thought we'd left and chucked it away.

We were staying just down the road near Crantock.

I know what you mean about car park dings/knocks though but I think with any nice car it's the same. Not a works van though.

I think BMW should carry on making the 6 cylinder engines. Their world reknowned and reliable.

Prices are falling for all thirsty-ish cars at the mo. Just look how many performance cars there are on Pistonheads where sellers are wanting to take a diesel/small economical car as part exchange.
Plays into the hands of those who are very fortunate enough to pick up a bargain though.

trigg35 · Post by **trigg35** » Mon 31 Oct, 2011 21:33

sold my z3 as im buying a flat in crantock.i live in cubert.the bowgie is my local

stevenb · Post by **stevenb** » Mon 31 Oct, 2011 22:14

trigg35 wrote:sold my z3 as im buying a flat in crantock.i live in cubert.the bowgie is my local

A worthwhile investment. So very pretty there.
We ate in one of the 2 pubs in Crantock (both opposite each other...lol) and had a cream tead in the little house on the village green.

We ate at the Bowgie too.

I said in another thread on this forum how car prices tend to be lower in certain parts of the UK and I noticed this in the South West when we were down there. Shame house prices aren't that way down there.

trigg35 · Post by **trigg35** » Mon 31 Oct, 2011 23:59

im pretty sure car prices are higher here.due to lower earnings older cars have a higher value.when i got the z3 people thought i was rockafella!probably why i sold mine straight away for £4900 last month when others on this forum are having a hard time shifting them.
also due to the low population there is less choice unless you are prepared to travel.many people are property rich (they bought in the 90's or earlier) and cash poor.most of my vehicles over the last 10 years have been purchased 100 miles away or more.ive bought two in sheffield and one in oxford,a few in devon and a couple in the midlands.guess it was the 1990's when i bought one in cornwall.drive around here in winter when its locals only and you will see how much older the average car is compared to other areas of the country.yes there are rich people here who make their money from tourism etc but for each one there are loads of people who work for them on £6.50 an hour.