SALE OF USED CARS

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27860, 7 January 1956, Page 12

SALE OF USED CARS

DEALERS’ YARDS FULL EFFECT OF CREDIT RESTRAINTS The large number of used cars for sale in Christchurch is considered by several dealers to have been caused by the credit restrictions imposed by the Government last year. At least half the price of a car must be paid as a deposit, and the remainder within 18 months. Dealers have varying opinions on the effect of the one-third cut in imports of_A)ew cars this year. The long waiting lists for popular models of new cars have been extended to the Aised car market, and the prices of cars of good quality and low mileages are being maintained at a relatively high level. On the other hand, cars which were bought new for high prices tend to lag on the used car market, and some are offered at prices lower than the keenly-sought low-priced English cars. Although there is increased activity in car sales at this' time of the year, it accounts for only a moderate proportion of summer car sales. A small section of the public buys cars before the Christmas holidays and uses them until the autumn. The cars are then sold back to the used car dealers. One dealer said yesterday that students were. typical of this section of the public. They would buy a cheap old car for use during the holidays, and sell it before large repair bills had to be faced. Although several dealers predict that this year used car prices will become firmer, because of the one-third reduction in new car imports, others think that prices may fall. A decline in prices is normal as winter approaches, but no drastic fall is expected, for the demand for good quality cars exceeds the supply. New Car Imports A dealer in high-class British and American cars said yesterday that there was a big enough waiting list for new cars without this year’s one-third reduction in imports. It was likely that licences would be used up in the first six months of the year, with the result that for the rest of the year sales would be negligible, he said. Some owners of late model cars who had placed orders for new vehicles within the last two or three years had had to cancel their orders when they realised that the money they would obtain for their old cars was not enough to them to purchase new ones. This meant that the small businessman who had changed his car every few years would lose large amounts if he continued the practice with the used car market in its present state. According to almost all dealers. 1956 will be a buyer’s market, because there will be 10 years’ supply qf post-war models on the market. Pre-war models will have to be in exceptionally good order or be offered very cheaply to command a sale?