These are very strange times. Almost new used cars have risen in value, the computer chips for new engines are missing, and new car prices are not softening. In fact, research by financial firm Moneybarn suggests that retail prices of some automobiles have actually doubled in the past decade.
In case you’re wondering, the average cost of buying a new car rose a whopping 39% from £ 27,675 to £ 38,585 from 2011 to 2021. Moneybarn calls it “carflation”, but the good thing is that we only deal with used cars on these pages.
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Exhibit A on the Carflation front is apparently the Jeep Wrangler. The 2011 price was £ 22,515 but it’s now £ 48,920 – an increase of 117.3%. The Wrangler that you could buy 10 years ago will be different in terms of specs and other features, but we’ll stick with it and see what we can buy. You can get really old fashioned and get a 2000 sports soft top on a 2.5 liter gasoline for around 8000 pounds. Otherwise, a four-door copy from 2009 looks contemporary enough. It’s a 2.8 CRD Sport Unlimited with nearly 100,000 miles and four previous owners, and it can be bought for £ 14,995. Seems reasonable enough to me.
Next on the list of price hikes is the Peugeot 3008, which has jumped from £ 17,195 to £ 37,310. That’s a big change, but the model was redesigned in 2016, which explains a lot. You can get the early ones for less than a few grand. Alternatively, a revised 2015 model in a 1.6 BlueHDi Allure outfit with navigation system, reversing camera and panoramic sunroof with only 45,000 recorded miles costs a reasonable £ 7,995. Next came another Mops (the 508 sedan), then the Mercedes-Benz V- Class (a van based van) and then some “normal” cars starting with the Hyundai i20 and the Volkswagen Polo. Both were £ 9,500 cars 10 years ago but now cost the fat end of £ 18,000 and £ 17,000 respectively. Damn.
You can get an old i20 from around 2009 for under £ 1000. A 2012 1.2 Classic with just over 65,000 miles and a decent history will cost you £ 3,400. When it comes to the Polo there are some cheap high milers out there, but I saw a 2014 1.2 TDI CR Match with a recent timing belt change, less than 70,000 miles and two previous owners for £ 5,495.
I found all of that quite interesting, and I know that new car buyers rarely suck that much money out of their savings accounts. Rather, most of it is PCP financing. But the point is, they commit to the big flat fee that comes with a new addition.
Of course you stay with the tried and tested and rather cheaper used variant.
Stories from Ruppert’s garage
