USED-CAR SALES

Hawera Star, Volume LII, 3 September 1932, Page 12

USED-CAR SALES

UNPARALLELED OPPORTUNTTIES

GOOD MACHINES AT BIG SAVINGS.

The financial advantage to those who buy only used cars is out of all proportion to the deprivation of the glamour that surrounds the acquisition of brand-new cars. Many thousands of motorists are now taking advan tage of the depreciation in used cai prices, saving considerable sums o! money without sacrifice of any of the pleasures of motoring. It would be idle to deny that the purchase of a new car conveys a se?:st of pride of possession which takes several weeks to wear off. When that has gone, however, one' is in a very little better position than the pur chaser of a car which hu.s had a season’s use. Most new cars have their teething troubles. They require careful running in and generally a visit tr the service station for some point to be rectified, or some adjustment to be made. Some' drivers are very fastidious, and it is not until the car has covered a few thousand miles that they get into perfect running order, meanwhile making considerable additions to the equipment, ultimately for the benefit of the next owner. Many motorists buy a new car every year; some even more frequently than this. They are the real friends of the used-car purchaser, who- is keenly on the look-out for bargains of this description. There is quite a big difference between the price of a new car and its value second-hand. A car costing £SOO drops £IOO in value the moment it n registered; that is, if you bought a] car to-day and paid £SOO net for if \ the price that could be obtained for it 1

tc-morrow would in all probability not exceed £4OO, and might ho even les~ than that. In six months’ time tin. value may have fallen by one-third of the original, price. It is this initial depreciation which the second purchaser of the car avoids and where a great saving in first cost is effected. Such figures are purely approximate, because the value of used cars is governed solely by the law of supply and demand. It has nothing whatever to do with their intrinsic or mechanical condition. Buyers are on the look-out for certain makes and the* prices those makes fetch are correspondingly higher than these'of cars which are not in demand. In the case of certain makes there is so little demand amongst the clientele of the used-car dealer that it' is very difficult to dispose of them at all and their ultimate fate is often to be practically given away. The advantage of buying a make that- is in demand lies in the probability of getting a reasonable price for it when it passes into the hands of a third owner. On the other hand, ■one may pick up a car at such a bargain price that it could be sold for (practically the same (figure a year later. The wise motorist knows this and is on the look-out' for cars that have slumped in value for no particular reason. Thus some very fine automobile may come into the possession of a buyer whose means would only justify buying a car in a much cheaper classification. ■

Some people say that there is considerable risk in purchasing a used car. They imagine that the car is being sold *in anticipation of a heavy bill for repairs materialising shortly. Thev are sceptical of the reasons given by the seller and they are quite able to understand the irresistible craze to* have the very “latest,” which means 'pounds and pounds in the pockets of the used-car buyers. -Those who have been buying used cars for years know better. The best bargains are usually to be obtained by the dealers, who always have in stock cars taken in part payment for new ones, often sold to those who change their cars at frequent in-1 tervals. If one is already in possession of a car it will he necessary to ore to a dealer to effect an exchange unless the old car can be disposed ol privately. . , , Many dealers specialise m overhauling and then guaranteeing used cars with free service in connection with the guarantee. Such schemes are a safeguard for the inexperienced. Some experienced motorists, however, who must always be prepared to take a certain amount of trouble, buy direct from private advertisers, relyinor upon their ability to find out all the weak points in the cars offered them, or enlisting the services ox expert car examiners. In buying a car at an auction sale one must be prepared to take it as _it is according to the description of the auctioneer. This may involve the expenditure of a certain amount on repairs. The prices obtained are often verv low, although one .does find cars for'which the dealers only offer a very small price fetching much better figures in the open market. Anyway, the intending purchaser of a used car might do worse than attend one or more of these auction sales for he would learn a great deal about the value of cars. It is quite likely that he would be able to pick, up a real bargain. The private purchaser can afford to go to a figure beyond that which the dealer Will offer, as the dealer must, of course, have in mind a margin of profit. Those who want to purchase on easy payment terms can alw-a-ys do so through a dealer in the same way as they would purchase a new car on this system.