I think we all knew it was happening, but Glass’s guide, the trade bible for used car values, has confirmed that luxury cars in the UK have fallen out of bed in a big way.
Comparing luxury diesel saloons with a year ago, they say that average values have dropped by a massive 21%. And in pure money terms the top end coupes, such as the Porsche 911, have fallen by 18%. Which when you’ve paid a shed-load of money for the car in the first place, 18% is a big chunk of change.
The man from Glass’s said:
Porsche 911 down by 18% in a year
“A number of factors have combined to ravage the trade values of large luxury saloons and coupes,” comments Richard Crosthwaite, Prestige Car Editor at EurotaxGlass’s. “The economy has certainly made its mark, accelerating the trend where fleet buyers and consumers are gravitating towards smaller, cleaner and more fuel-efficient alternatives. A marked increase in supply within the used market has also hit values, particularly within the coupe segment where sales of new examples have hit record highs over recent years.”
But in truth even this announcement doesn’t really cut to the reality. We have a lot of contacts in the trade, and we’ve heard of some monumental drops in prices in the last month. One dealer we know was offered a brand new Aston Martin V8 Vantage Roadster on a ’58 plate for just £68k. That’s £40k off the list price, and the car had never been on the road. Another was offered a hugely specced Mercedes Benz E63 AMG Estate, which listed to over £80k, at just £47.5k. And it was only 4 months old. Ouch!
This might seem like the right time to keep a close hand on our money. But in truth, if we all stop spending, the economy really will grind to a halt. And with bargains like this around, if you’ve got the money then go out and spend some and grab the bargain of a lifetime. After all, if things do get a lot worse we’ll all be living in caves this time next years, so who cares?!
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