tiMe to show YoUr (de)appreciation!
When it comes to statistics, much is written about fuel economy and the cost of road tax, but very little consideration is given to depreciation. This, in many cases, could be the costliest part of car ownership. So instead of looking at what proportion of its value a car retains, I present to you my top tips to avoid depreciation in the most important measure of them all, pound notes! FIAT 500 That old perennial favourite of mine comes rolling on back as not only is it, in my opinion, the best supermini currently on sale but also, thanks to an army of loyal fans, retains its value on the secondhand market. With a list price of £9,960 for a base model 1.2 pop, a quick look on the interweb reveals that the equivalent car, which is three years old car with 25,000 miles on the clock, is currently retailing around the £7,000 mark. Meaning that in three years, the local owner has only lost around £3,000. Take it back to just a year old and the most any buyer is likely to lose is around £500. Remarkable! BMW 1-Series If you need something a bit bigger than a 500, with a bit of brand prestige and room for a growing family, then the BMW 1-series might just be the car. It is also becoming remarkably good at retaining value, thanks to the BMW Efficient Dynamics technology. This was the first system that really cracked the stop start technology, which cuts out the engine when stopped, which
combined with aerodynamic tweaks and low rolling resistance tyres makes the 1sereies the benchmark for fuel economy within its class. Surprisingly, if you want to keep a car with the latest number plate on your drive the 1-series is looking favourite, as a 2011 model of the most popular 120d is currently selling for around £1,500 less than its asking price. Keeping up with the Jones’ has never been so cheap.
This is pretty typical of most sought after cars on the market with the Range Rover Evoque and even special edition MINI’s all on sale with one user on the log book for more than they cost in the dealerships, as impatient owners clamber to get the latest cars without waiting on an NHS-sized waiting list! Mark D’Apice Motoring Expert
McLaren MP4-12C I wouldn’t be a proper motoring writer if I didn’t include something exotic and with an equivalent price tag of a nice three bedroom detached house, so that’s why I have included the McLaren with the catchy name. Quite simply the MP43-12C is the most usable supercar out there and one that could reasonably cope with being used on a day to day to basis. Numbers wise, if you had been lucky enough to get on the waiting list early and picked up one of the first cars delivered for a price tag of £168,000, you can now cash out for a profit of around £10,000 for a year-old car with around 5,000 miles on it. www.rochdalestyle.com
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