Value retention of cars in Ireland

neffa · 11-01-2005 9:47am #1

Hi,

We will be relocating from the UK to Ireland in the next 9-12 months and I'm rushing through some car purchases to make sure we have the right cars when we come in. We want two cars to keep for about 5 years. We've already got a VW Touran Highline DSG.

For about 17-22K Stg I am looking at a variety of one year old exec cars - Saab 9-3 Aero, a BMW 520i New Shape or maybe a Merc E200K, although the E-Class is still very expensive here even after three years.

How well do Saabs hold their value in Ireland? Is the 9-3 Aero sought after in Ireland? Am I better playing safe with a 5 series? The Aero has lots of toys and is quite a bit cheaper than the 5-series in the UK (17K vs. 22K).

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks

lomb · 11-01-2005 9:52am

nothing holds its value in ireland. thats the long and short of it. u can pick up the old shape 00 eclass here for buttons.
buy a car u want to drive and at the end of 5 years dont expect to get much for it.
if u want a car that does hold its money buy a boxster-one of the very few. anything thats a convertible really. even a 200k clk cabrio.
used open marked selling prices are on https://www.ros.ie/VRTEnquiryServlet/showCarCalculator
be prepared for a shock.
also road tax is upto 1400 euro on large engies(3+litres)

bbbbb · 11-01-2005 9:54am

the 2 main sites for second hand car sales in Ireland seem to be:
www.cbg.ie
www.carzone.ie

Both have lots of ads, with a mixture of dealers and private sales. Should be enough data there to get the info you're looking for. CBG has a "what's it worth" option, where you enter your current car, and it searches the ads for similar, and averages them to give you a price.

I think Ireland is very similar to the UK in that Saabs lose their value much faster than BMWs or Mercs.

Borzoi · 11-01-2005 9:58am

neffa wrote:

How well do Saabs hold their value in Ireland? Is the 9-3 Aero sought after in Ireland? Am I better playing safe with a 5 series? The Aero has lots of toys and is quite a bit cheaper than the 5-series in the UK (17K vs. 22K).

Thanks

I'd say the Beemer will hold it's value better, it's a more popular car, esp at that size. Thanks to the locally punitive rates of tax and insurance, the Saab Aero will depreciate that bit more too.

And I say this as a Saab driver

puntosporting · 11-01-2005 10:00am

Also see www.autotrader.ie

lomb · 11-01-2005 10:02am

i would ignore carzone as it biases prices upwards. on a pure trade in deal essentially ul get no more than the revenue calculator. people try to advertise their car for more (ALOT) privately and dealers try to mark them up but as they say the lord loves a tryer.

also see autotrader.ie for a good laugh. the northern cars are priced way above accepted uk resale values. so ignore all of these.

fletch · 11-01-2005 10:02am

puntosporting wrote:

Also see www.autotrader.ie

Used that sometomes but find the search system woeful...anyone else have difficulties....it keeps forcing you to refine your search further

puntosporting · 11-01-2005 10:57am

The prices on autotrader,cbg and carzone are the prices in this country!
They are not made up or a figment of your imagination...

lomb · 11-01-2005 11:13am

they may be retail prices but on a trade in u will not get anything like that. u will get what the revenue calculator says as otherwise the trade would be flooding the country with uk cars. have a look and see for urself.
basically it goes like this. new golf 23000 cash discount 1500 euro so car is 21500 euro. u go in with 99 golf carzone says its worth 9500. lets say revenue calculator says its worth 8000 which is its price. so what will happen is on a trade golf will be 23000-say 9200. essentially they have only allowed u 7700 for said vehicle. this is how it works.

why do u think people on this forum if u see the FS section for cars are bothering to try to sell privately. it is because on higher depreciating cars the dealers offer them nothing for them and their chancing their arm trying to flog it at 20% more than its worth. that is the reality as otherwise they would just seek a trade in.

i know a guy a few years ago who went in with a 00 primera wanting a new one (was in 03) and seeing as the main dealer had a glut of 00 cars he couldnot sell said he couldnt even offer him a trade just sell him a new one for cash. this is the reality of the used trade here. there is no market for used cars. everyone wants new.

Juan Pablo · 11-01-2005 4:02pm

The valuations on the VRT site do seem a bit low though. I'm currently looking at 97-98 316 Coupes and the open market value on these seem way off the prices you see on forecourts or even in private ads

VEHICLE REGISTRATION TAX (VRT) ENQUIRY  
  DATE: 11 January 2005    TIME: 15:57  
  
  STATISTICAL CODE:  44085200  
  MAKE:  BMW  
  MODEL:  316   
  VERSION:  I E36 02DR / SPORTS COUPE (NON-CONVERTIBLE) / MANUAL / PETROL ONLY /  
  MILEAGE:  65000 MILES  
  
  DATE OF FIRST REGISTRATION(MM/YY):  MAY 1998  
  OPEN MARKET SELLING PRICE: 
(applicable on enquiry date)  &#8364;8345  
  RATE OF TAX:  25.0%  
  VEHICLE REGISTRATION TAX: 
(payable on enquiry date)  &#8364;2086

While a current example for sale is going for nearly double that value

'98 BMW 316 Coupe - From CBG.ie
  
Price 
  &#8364;14,950 ono 
 
Engine  1600
Mileage 65,000 
Colour Montreal Blue 
Gearbox  Manual
Condition excellent condt 
Notes s/r 16"alloys m sports pack leather interior nct0606 recent service 2 owners

Can anyone explain this massive difference?

J.P.

alias no.9 · 11-01-2005 4:21pm

Juan Pablo wrote:

Can anyone explain this massive difference?

J.P.

Very easily, it's all there in your add,

Juan Pablo wrote:

s/r 16"alloys m sports pack leather interior

All of these extras inflate the forecourt price and none of them are included in the VRT estimation so it's a double whammy of a difference.

Value retention of cars in Ireland

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