Deals of the Week
Week
commencing 3rd August 2008
Toyota Avensis Tourer TR 2.0 D-4D (including metallic paint)
This great price also includes metallic paint, 12 months road tax, all
paperwork and delivery! Complete with a stunning spec featuring climate
control, cruise control, touch screen satnav, front fog lights, alloys,
leather steering wheel and stacks more.
Current List price: £19,895
SAVE OVER £3,800
(19%)
Deal Exchange: £16,075
Volvo
V70 SE D5 AWD (185ps) Geartronic (inc met paint)
A marvellous saving on the
2009 m/y Volvo V70. A top Volvo spec includes cruise control, climate
control, alloy wheels, leather seats, electric windows and lots more.
Metallic paint is also included in this great price, together with a
full 3 year/60,000 mile manufacturer’s warranty.
Current List price: £31,260
SAVE OVER £3,400
(21%)
Deal Exchange Price: £27,835 OTR!
Ford
Focus Zetec 1.6 5 door inc met paint
Brand new 2008 model, in stock, ready for delivery in a choice of
metallic paints, these cars come with aircon, alloy wheels, CD player,
ABS, curtain airbags and much more. The great price includes a full 36
month manufacturers warranty and free UK mainland delivery.
Current List price: £16,220
SAVE OVER £3,400
(21%)
Deal Exchange Price: £12,750 OTR!
New deals all the time!
Click
for lots more, updated weekly!
The range of people carriers on offer is growing even
faster than the number of families turning to these vehicles in search
of hassle-free motoring. As a consequence, there are some excellent MPVs
that have had little or no publicity. Take the Mazda5. Despite being
superior to many better selling MPVs, it frequently gets overlooked.
Read
More
When BMW launched the current M5 in 2005, the only
thing faster than the 507bhp sports saloon was the wave of customers
rushing to showrooms to snap up one of the V10-powered machines. One BMW
dealer was quoting customers a waiting list of seven years for delivery.
Today, three years after its launch, the waiting list has evaporated and
early examples fetch more than £20,000 less than they cost when new.
Think 4x4, and most people imagine luxury vehicles
such as Range Rovers and BMWs, or no-nonsense off-roaders from the likes
of Nissan and Mitsubishi.
In 2005 Suzuki introduced the second-generation Grand Vitara, which the
company hoped would build on the original's combination of good looks,
good driving dynamics and modest list price.
Latest from Jason
Sunday 3rd August 2008
Who will buy my 4x4?
View all the Latest Deals Click Here to view all of the best new car deals selected by Jason for the Times Online Deal Exchange.
Jason's Guide to Buying and Selling a Used Car Everything you need to know about buying and selling a used car on one DVD Click here to purchase a copy.
Jason's Market View Click Here to find out what Jason thinks about the car market this week
Used Car Roadshow Click Here to find out the latest about Jason's TV show on ITV's Men and Motors
Jason's Weekly Newsletter Click Here if you would like to receive direct by email Jason's weekly newsletter, that includes "Latest from Jason", "Deal of the Week", his latest Car Review and more
Jason's Car Reviews Choosing the right car for you is vital to get right. Click Here to get Jason's opinion on many popular cars.
Jargon Buster Click Here to read Jason's explanations of all those terms that the trade use, to stop you being confused
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Latest findings have shown that the market among used car buyers for petrol
fuelled 4x4’s is fast disappearing. There is a very real risk that owners
may be unable to change their cars as dealers steer clear of the thirsty
off-roaders - particularly those with big V8 engines - and are far less
likely to take them in part exchange.
Worryingly, from a dealer’s point of view, there are reports that even if
they were to offer rock bottom prices for the cars then send them to
auction, there is no longer any guarantee they would sell.
Andrew Harrison-Smith, owner of independent Land Rover specialist Nene
Overland says that while the whole 4x4 market was facing a difficult time,
depreciation on petrol 4x4s is currently very heavy. “Values for petrol
engine 4x4s are £3000 or even £4000 lower than for the diesels” he told
Parker’s. He suggested that owners and buyers could be hit less hard if they
consider converting large petrol Land Rovers and Jeeps to run on LPG
(liquefied petroleum gas).
So what to do? Certainly, if you are sat with a top of the range V8 monster
perhaps now is not the best time to be considering selling, or if you are,
don’t expect the return you anticipated.
But what about the dealers and suppliers, who keep the market turning? The
last thing they want is a compound littered with rapidly depreciating metal
for the next 6 months. But when faced with a problem, sometimes it sharpens
the mind and focuses the brain, and perhaps we’ve lost site of what a 4x4 is
actually all about in the past few years?
Motor industry consultancy Network Automotive believes we have. Managing
director Colin Bruder explained, "While soft-roaders are doing reasonably
well at the moment, large 4x4 sales are suffering … the overall sector down
by something like 18 per cent.”
"The factors behind this fall - high fuel prices and growing environmental
concerns - are not going to go away but dealers can fight the slump by
changing their sales and marketing efforts to focus on different markets.
One idea is to go 'back to basics' with these models and promote them to the
kind of markets where their core off-road abilities have very strong appeal
- such as fire, ambulance, police and specialist public sector fleets. Here,
the demand for this kind of vehicle is consistent and largely credit
crunch-proof."
So can the emergency services come to the rescue and at least provide some
form of stability for the market to build upon?
"Certainly, large 4x4 sales have always formed an element of these
specialist fleet sales but manufacturer and dealer interest has been
sporadic simply because retail demand for large and expensive off-roaders
has been so strong in recent years, which has served as something of a
distraction,” warned Bruder. “With that retail demand starting to plateau
and probably slide in the coming months and years, we believe that there is
potential for manufacturers and dealers to maximise large 4x4 sales
opportunities through this route."
So if you can’t sell your Range Rover, it might be worth asking the local
Police or Fire service if they would be interested.
Failing that, I’m sure a TV production company would help – with the amount
of detective and medical dramas they make, their fleets are probably bigger
than the real thing.
Happy Motoring!
Jason's Tips & Tricks - here you can read and listen to Jason's advice on how to get the best from buying and selling cars
Where you can read Jason next...
Sunday Times
- Driving section -
every Sunday for
used car reviews
you can trust and
features.
Where you can watch Jason next...
ITV4 -
on
The Used Car Roadshow
Wed 6th August 2008 - 2.00pm
Thur 7th August 2008 - 12.30pm
Sun 10th August 2008 - 1.55pm
Wed 13th August 2008 - 2.00pm
VIEW JASON'S SHOWREEL - See Jason in action - a compilation from his latest TV appearances ...Select from: Windows Media QuickTime
• Negotiating techniques - Part 1 and Part 2
• Reading & Writing car advertisements
• Calling the car Seller
• Taking the Test Drive
• The Rules of Warranty and Warranty Cover
Click here if you would like to contact Jason in connection with your corporate event.