Bit of a theme emerged this morning on FB and I thought I'd translate it to the forum:

"Life was so much more interesting back then (the 1980s). Now the choice is basically a silver BMW with a grey interior, a silver Mercedes with a grey interior, a silver Audi with a grey interior, a silver Vauxhall with a grey interior, or a silver VW with a grey interior"
- Alan Wesson, Fan of 1980s Cars

What are your thoughts on the state of the new car market?

More choice than ever or no different to choosing a toaster from Argos?

 

What makes me laugh is the Vauxhall Adam.
Vauxhall basically say that everyone who is unique should buy the Adam.

 

Nostalgia in action i think. There are some awesome new cars out there now.

The fact you can buy an Audi and BMW in ANY colour body and ANY colour interior kind of blows the argument out

 

For me I think cars are a lot more affordable now (second hand) or new with like Ł120 a month for a brand new corsa with no deposit etc. back in the 80s I bet u were lucky to be able to afford to run a car. I know people who are on benefits who somehow manage to afford to run a bloody car newer than mine!

 

new cars have the tech but lack character hence why forums like this exist

 

I bloody hope not, most toasters wont take a normal slice of bread which somewhat defeats the point!

 

Quite wrong I think

For example try a Citroen ds3 vs a mini vs a fiesta vs a Hyundai i20

Couldn't get a wider span of character IMO?

 

To me a lot of new cars now all look the same , de badge 5 or 6 small hatchbacks ,line them up alongside each other and I bet there wont be many people who can name what make each one is! I am old school and think a lot of them have no character any more.

 

Toasters look better than the vast majority of new cars.

The public want economy, safety and space at the top of the list. Looks just doesn't come into it.
I mean who in their right mind would buy a Nissan Qashqai for its 'beauty' LOL

Affordability has wrecked it as well. Anyone can buy a flash car now. A few years back you had to earn the right to have a nice car. Now you can have one with fresh air as payment.

 

But all cars today are soulless and lifed the amount of 2005 + cars just had it the Audi fsi engine with badly worn rings the bmw v8' with cracked heads warn cranks without the gearbox issues ! Cars in this day and age are sold to on technology first build quality last . If you remove the tech edge stuff and look at the raw engineering side the last 30 years cars have become very poorly engineered ,So if you could fast forward 30 years I dont there will be a classic car from this time that one would of survived and two I dont think any one would want them too lol.

Driving a CLK AMG or a M5 BMW or a AUDI RS6 is a very nice experience but when you look at them properly there just the same thing with different badges "soulless" but for some reason some thing that hasnt changed is the lust to own these cars whether in the 70's driving your viva or mk1 escort you wanted a granada or jaguar Audi 100 then past that to exotica like Ferrari lambo ect or now driving a astra or focus and wanting RS6 or a 600 clk ect

So yes cars devalue badly so once the rich fucker has got rid of his secondhand junk theres going to be working class Terry stood there with his hands in his pockets with a hard on buying the rich cast off at that point it becomes throw away item

 

New cars are like a toaster, when anything goes wrong it's cheaper to throw them away and buy another, the dealer part and labour costs makes anything other than routine maintenance not viable as repair costs can easily be above the cars value

 

Dunno, my missus has an A4, 62 plate vintage. Devastatingly good at what it does, really, it's a brilliant car, but it's so dull to the point you could fall asleep. I drive a polo every day and I find it fun. Ok, it's 2003 vintage, but compared to my old Sierra, it's like new

 

Who can even afford to buy a new car and loose Ł10k in 3 years!

 

Ive think there is plenty of choice but ive noticed lately that there are more and more BMs, Mercs and Audis on the road.

When I was little someone who owned a BM or merc to me had plenty of money. These days its just people chuckyed up.

I think there is a lot of badge snobbery these days too.

 

The reason for lots if premium cars these days is price and company car tax.
My Father leases his car. It's basically a loan for the value of the car minus the estimated resale cost in 4 years plus the maintenance.
If his BMW 320d cost Ł34k and in 4 years time it's worth Ł9500 then his loan is Ł24,500.
He wanted a Mondeo but a 2.0 Ecoboost which would cost Ł31k but would only be worth Ł5000 in 4 years time which means the loan would have been Ł26k.

Then there company car tax. Ford don't seem to have mastered the whole performance with cheap tax thing. A 2.2TDCi is in a huger tax bracket than the 320d! Why would anyone with a company car go for a Mondeo?

 

Slightly different slant on this.....

I don't think people take as much pride now in owning a new car.......New cars are now mainly bought on lease, or 3 year options deals, cars are becoming just another consumer product, that people just throw away...

Back in the 80's people actually bought a new car on HP which they intended to own for a good few years and 'cherished' it more.

Now its just pay Ł250 a month or whatever & have a new one every 3 years & there a vast number of people out there who just don't give a shit about car care.

So in a way a new car is like 'buying a new toaster' in that it's just another consumable that is easily replaced when needed.........

 

Toasters arent taxed as much by the scum in government....yet

So definitely not the same