Good time to buy?

[Gilitygirl]

Hi,

Just wondering what the experts think....

I'm coming into a bit of cash next month and have been waiting to change my car for something bigger and newer for a while.

My current car, albeit very unreliable, is big enough and economical enough for my current needs.

So, with the current credit crunch, and large cars plummeting in value, what do you think would be the wisest thing to do from the following options?

1) Buy the big gas guzzler I've been lusting after, as prices are so cheap at the mo, and I don't need to worry about loan rates...

or

2) Hang fire for a few months to see if they plummet further, and get the winter out of the way (salt crummy roads etc) and buy a shiny 2-yr old in the Spring (don't think I'll be towing till Spring again anyway)

Are diesel prices likely to get much cheaper over the coming months?

And do people think that the current tax premiums for large cars are likely to rocket even further over the coming years, or is this latest hike enough for any government?

 

[RogerL]

Don't know what the expert thinks but here's my take:-

The differential between petrol and diesel is certain to continue to widen - there is a world shortage of diesel due to increasing demand from expanding economies like India and China and refineries cannot simply alter the proportion of diesel/petrol.

If oil price was controlled by the western economies, now in trouble, it would reduce but since it's controlled by Opec it's unlikely to reduce - it will however continue to fluctuate.

 

[Dustydog]

Beej

My view is if you can wait for say 6 months some stability in the financial sectors may happen. I can se gas guzzlwers and 4x4s plummet in price and I reckon for us tuggers there may be some great bargains out there after christmas.

Petrol or diesel? The latter for me purely because of teh torque factor for tehgiven engine size. The reality is of course if you only do 10k miles a year say then the cost differential between petrol and diesel isn't that great.

Cheers

Alan

A

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello all,

In my experience difference in the cost ownership between equivalent petrol and diesel vehicles needs consideration of a number of issues:

It is my opinion that diesels cope better with towing because of the torque curve and power delivery. Economy drop when towing off is less for a diesel compared to petrol. So for me, if I have a choice its diesel for towing.

But looking at the cost of vehicle ownership the picture is not quite as clear:

Initial costs.

Especially when purchasing new, diesel vehicles are typically +

 

[Gilitygirl]

Wow,

Thanks for your answers. Some really thoughtful suggestions.

I may just wait for the new year, to see if the prices plummet even further - I'm all for a bargain - and the lump sum I'm due to get in October can accrue a bit of interest in the meantime.

I'm due to change jobs and I've worked out my annual mileage will be around 21k...so a big petrol is out.

I've been looking around and you can get an 05 plate X-trail for under

 

[Chris_374224489]

I think there is another factor. Somehow my mind acepts that fixed costs once paid are gone but then thinks "that 200 mile trip will cost