Looked at a couple of Ford Mondeos today. Both cars were identical 1 yr old LX's with identical specifications, very very similar mileages and even the same colour - black.
One in Harrogate was £9,999
The local one in Northallerton was £8,999
Why should this be? Harrogate is certainly more genteel, posher and affluent than Northallerton but this price difference makes no sense
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Robin.
This is one single comparison. Statistically you can't draw any conlusions from this. It could be that the owner of the cheaper one needs to get shot of it quickly or the owner of the more expensive one is over optimistic on the price.
H
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Yes, one may sell it next week, the other doesn't mind waiting for a month or two before selling or dropping the price.
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I take the point about sample size. However, the Northallerton dealer had a few similr cars, all the same price. Ford Direct has a load for the same price. The impression I got, and it was only an impression, was that the Harrogate garage was more expensive for everything
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Yup
car prices do vary by town, region and area.
Cars for sale on lots in East London are cheaper then cars on similar lots in West London.
Dealers will sell at whatever their "patch" will stand.
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If you go onto www.ford.co.uk/forddirect and do a vehicle search you will find that the same vehicles are listed at different prices by various dealers around the country.
I assume that as this list is the national stock and most are parked in compounds somewhere. Each dealer must put their own price against a various model/colour/mileage.
I found a £1625 price variation on the same Focus 1.8 LX 04 plate 14k - Inverness dealer £9800, Ashby de la Zouch dealer £8175, both Ford franchised dealers offering the same vehicle from Ford national stock with the same 2 year warranty but with an unbelieveable price difference.
PP
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By the way, if you're looking for a 1yr old Mondeo 1.8LX try www.cargiant.co.uk, they have a 53 reg example with 14.5k and an 04 reg with 20k for £7999 currently.
PP
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Yup car prices do vary by town, region and area. Cars for sale on lots in East London are cheaper then cars on similar lots in West London. Dealers will sell at whatever their "patch" will stand.
Second that, cars generally are cheaper in South Wales than Bristol, and Bristol rather than Bath
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Many years ago, I came across a bloke in Manchester who used to buy VW Beetles, advertise them in Northern Ireland, then drive over as the ad hit the streets. He'd stay in a B&B for a couple of days while he sold it, then use the cash raised to buy a secondhand mainstream car (Ford/Vauxhall), drive it back to Manchester and flog it. He said (15 years ago) he did about £1,000 a trip.
I do know that at the time, Irish Road Motors in Lisburn shipped every part-ex they took in over to England to sell; even after shipping they made much more money.
So, unless things have changed, there used to be big variations; don't know if it's still true.
V
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PeterPerect got it spot on. Highest prices are always in relatively isolated towns. The inhabitants don't necessarily lose out because p/x prices tend to be higher too. But obviously their friendly local dealer gets very sore if they rock the boat by buying cheaper out of town.
HJ
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Its not just isolated towns (although this can be a big effect) it is whatever the local economy can withstand. Dealer forecourt prices for used cars around Oxford are way higher than some parts of the country that I visit (Bristol area, Durham, Leicester). Cant say that any of the above are less isolated than Oxford.
StarGazer
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Don't some dealers habitually overprice used cars to flatter the part-exchange value? (Not to mention allowing full deposit value against a worthless banger)
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I don't know if they do it habitually, but it is nice to know if that is the case.
The first car I ever bought on finance and from a dealer, he did just that, but he told me what he was doing and why. We agreed on price of car and my trade in value, but when he came to submit the loan application to the bank he increased the stated value of my trade-in by $1,000 and the value of the car I was buying by the same amount. The reason was that the bank would see that I was putting down a larger downpayment than I actually was. I didn't see where it made a difference as the loan amount was exactly the same and the loan was approved.
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I think this is because the car he has bought from you will then appear in the books at the higher price listed in the loan agreement. When he sells it on, typically to the trade, he'll get the true value, not the inflated one. Hence less profit (or a larger loss) and so a reduced VAT payment.
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