Is this a new twist on expiring after warranty is out?

[Yorkie]

It was said about perceived quality of cars that top of the range extra cost was all marketing hype. Bottom of the group was just as good as the top of the group (it even uses some of its parts, which is a backhanded compliment). Of course unless it uses all its parts that doesn't mean anything.

And another thing that wasn't said, that certainly is true, a top of range, lets use Audi, will be worth more when you trade it in then a Skoda. What you save on the buying you lose on the selling. Gary

Not sure who said 'cars at the top of the range was ALL marketing hype' - certainly not me. I said (and 20 % is a conservative average estimate):

Quote:

"At least 20% of the price of a BMW, Mercedes or Range Rover is in the 'brand value'. They charge what the market can stand, and for premium brands, people are prepared to pay a premium price. That's why Toyota invented the Lexus brand and now Vauxhall have invented Infiniti. Those brands can charge far more for their cars that people who buy them would have been prepared to pay for a Toyota or a Vauxhall, yet such brands offer little in the way of features and benefits which differentiate the car rather than differentiating the brand".

Unquote.

That is a fact. Had Toyota and Vauxhall not created such brands they would not have been able to charge anything like the same price for those self-same cars which now carry the brand name Lexus and Infiniti had they just slapped Vauxhall and Toyota badges on them. Vauxhall and Toyota brands are perceived to be volume car makers, not in the luxury car market, any more than is Ford or Fiat.

Neither am I sure who said (allegedly) that 'a car at the top of the list was just as good as the one at the top of the list'. Firstly, it depends on how you define 'goodness'. For example, I prefer dark fabric upholstery which is much cheaper than hide, which I detest, and I prefer dark matt plastic unfussy dashboards - my least favourite being walnut and other embellishments, which I think look naff. I had a powerful incentive to buy Fiats or Alfa Romeos as we get 25% discount through the Fiat family discount scheme. We looked long and hard at the range and nothing appealed, and as we've gone down to one car, it had to be something my wife would feel happy to drive, as indeed she is. She doesn't know one brand from another.

What I'm interested in is that the features and benefits of a car meet my needs. My new car ticks all the boxes - air con, cruise control, rear reversing radar with a visual dashboard display, heated and electrically adjustable wing mirrors, clear instrument panel, height adjustable seats, split rear seats, fits in the garage, and of course it has all the things that come as standard on most cars these days from the bottom to the top, including a 3-yr warranty. (62MPG to date, free road tax in the first year, £20 a year thereafter - what's not to like?).

I got a good trade-in price and the dealer paid the VAT. I was happy with the deal, and although I could have afforded to have bought an Audi, none of them appeal to me and I think they're overpriced, but I don't object to my car having all sorts of bits in it which are common with Audi. (EG: why would it make sense for VAG to have three lots of windscreen wiper or door winder motors when it can gain from economies of scale with standardisation across the range of brands?)

As to 'residual values', depreciation of some of the premium brands falls off a cliff - not in percentage terms but in actual money terms. Of course an Audi will be worth more than my Skoda Bravia after three years - I should hope so, considering how much more the Audi will have cost. The Porsche 911 has the strongest three-year resale value of any car currently on sale – at 64% for a GT3. But the car has a list price of more than £86,000, so although it will still be worth just over £55,000 after three years, it loses £30,539 over that period for a car you have to be shoehorned into - that loss is the OTR price of two Skoda Bravias.

Our elder son has recently changed his Porsche 911 for an Aston Martin DB9. He typifies people who can afford to buy and run 12 cylinder 6 Litre cars that cost £1,200 a year to tax - he doesn't give a rats about residual values or practicalities. It's about four foot longer than my Fabia yet has less room inside it, but then it's his car not mine, so what the heck. (In the three years he had his 911, I think it averaged 18 MPH in London, which I think is a hell hole in which to own a car of any type).

Weakest resale percentage is the Citroen's C6 executive, at the bottom of the class and can't even hold on to a fifth of its original retail price after three years on the road. Even though it costs less than half the price of the Porsche at £37,895, it sheds £30,420 in three years. That depreciation leaves you with a car worth just £7475.

Not arguing - just rambling. (Nothing new there then).