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  WEBMASTER'S CORNER...

Tirade of the week.

Are the great cars of today the great used cars of tomorrow?

I read a lot of car magazines and been lucky to have driven a fair many cars that I could never hope to own personally, under test track conditions. I enjoyed the experiences immensely and continue to admire the work of skilled designers and manufacturing engineers, but never fail to think of the wider practicalities of technology on car ownership.

Granted, this may make me a deeply unexciting person and I may never be admitted to the afterlife petrolhead club. However, I think I can rest safe in the knowledge that whatever else I do with my money, I do not waste too much of it on cars.

There are a number of car ownership philosophies that drive the market for cars, but given the cost and engineering complexity of modern cars I often wonder how this might change in the future.

A punter enters a dealership, and walks out with a brand new £35k car, fully loaded, electronic everything, sat-nav, and 20" wheels. This might be a company car, personal contract purchase or an outright purchase. Whatever the finer points you can pretty much guarantee that the car will be looked after and repaired for the warranty period, and in the case of the company car or PCP be traded in at either year 2 or 3.

Now depending on what the car was it may be worth as much as 60% of it's purchase price or as little as 30% on resale- a spread of £10.5-21k.

A dealer will advertise this sort of car as "prestige", "pre-owned", "cherished" or whatever euphemisms they might employ. This pitches what is still a highly desirable car in terms of image, into a new car price bracket that is occupied by such worthies as Skoda, Citroen, Ford, Vauxhall, and Seat etc.

...... "Now then sir, will that be a 'pre-loved Audi A6' or a shiny new Vectra?" ......
tempted?

Punter number two duly becomes the second registered owner of that car, reassured by additional warranty cover for the first year. Whilst it is not necessarily 100% correct to say that punter number two is not the financial equal of punter one, although one could argue that in buying used they would certainly be the more astute in not losing 60% of their cash, they will in many cases be less well heeled than the new car buyer. As a private buyer, will be by definition somewhat less insulated from the cost of servicing and tyres than a company car driver.

The months pass, the miles go on and the car nears the end of its warranty. The owner’s enthusiasm is suddenly dented by the cost of 4 new tyres and a major service at the dealer. Wary of the potential for additional cost and not wanting to face big bills in the coming year he sells on privately to buyer number 3.

At £6k for a 4 year-old exec with a full service history it seems like a bargain - new tyres, no service due for another 6k miles and all the toys still working, how can they lose? The fun starts about 3 months in when the climate control starts to blow hot air. OK, no problem they figure, £200 for a re-charge and clean at the local air-con specialist spied in the local rag. The UV indicator die they routinely add into the system when they re-fill it reveals a crack in the system. This will cost £1500 to replace.

Owner 3 is then caught in a dilemma, drive with a broken car, sell at a thumping loss, or pay the money just to maintain the value of the car and pray that nothing else goes wrong. Eventually the car will be sold again and again as successive owners grapple with the bills and maintenance issues until it becomes effectively worthless - not because it mechanically worn out, but because of over complicated electrical gadgetry. This is a typical trajectory for car ownership.

Seduced by the potential of technology, carmakers are packing more and more technology into their cars even at a low price level. Electrical systems are increasingly integrated and computerised. Even the smallest fault cannot be corrected without major work and big costs. This means increased reliance on highly specialised dealers and less opportunity for the DIY motorist to repair their own car. More recent cars will become a risky purchase far sooner in their lives than before and as yet the non-franchise garage trade has not fully caught up with the need for cost-effective servicing and repairs.

My point is amply illustrated by a quick search on Autotrader for cars at £3500 within 10 miles of my postcode. A choose between a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee, 3 owners, all the kit and 80k miles (Original Cost - £30,500) and a 1999 Renault Clio 1.9 Diesel, also 80k up but a little more modestly specified (Original Cost - £10,830). Which one do you think makes the better ownership proposition? How much cheaper and how many more garages are able to work on all aspects of a Clio than the Cherokee?

So to bring it back to the beginning - the older the car, then the more modest are the tasks required maintaining it. OK, so the lure of a BMW 7 series for the same money as a Clio may be strong, but think very carefully about what it is you are getting into.

As I say, I may love cars, but not to the exclusion of common sense.