Just had a call from my local ford dealer as my present car is 2 years old and he was wondering if I’m ready to change. In the past I have changed my (3 year pcp) after two or three years depending on the deals available.

I was gob smacked at the price increase since I purchased mine in March 2021. The monthly payments and residual are eye watering. 

same spec and model.

my dealer was explaining that in the past the ford focus was sold at a loss as he recons dealer made money on service and extras. 
 

think this car will be lasting a bit longer………

I'd be sceptical of the salesmans opinion on that. 

Seems more likely that it's the Brexit changes, plus the war in Ukraine, the Covid pandemic, the energy cost increase, the reduced number of new cars being produced and the limited number of used vehicles available for sale that have caused the increase in new vehicle prices and residual values.

Monthlies are also increased due to interest rate rises.

47 minutes ago, Andyr55 said:

the ford focus was sold at a loss

In the UK? So how much were they losing on each Focus in other countries where they were selling them for even less? We'll never really know (unless we're a Ford sales director).

It's all smoke and mirrors when it comes to new car prices - remember those promotions "buy it at cost price - we'll show you the invoice from the manufacturer". They didn't offer to show you what monthly bonus they got for meeting sales targets, did they.

...or could he have been lying to you? Surely not!

 

I used to know how much a dealer made on new cars a few years ago and it wasn't as  much as some customers thought. 

More money was made from finance and the extras like gap, paint protection. Etc etc . 

1 hour ago, iantt said:

I used to know how much a dealer made on new cars a few years ago and it wasn't as  much as some customers thought...

A few decades ago I was privvy to the finances of Virgin Cinema (defunct now in 2002). The main profit center was the sale of drinks & confectionery, actual cinema tickets were often just a loss/breakeven exercise...

I believe trade in values are good now? my car is nearly 3 years old, the dealer contacted me saying they could offer me a good deal, happy to keep mine for now and looking at the new prices even more so.

4 hours ago, Nimrodmk8 said:

the dealer contacted me saying they could offer me a good deal,

Quite normal I would think. I've never heard of a dealer ringing up to say they could offer a bad deal !! 🤣

34 minutes ago, unofix said:

Quite normal I would think. I've never heard of a dealer ringing up to say they could offer a bad deal !! 🤣

Good point.

 

9 hours ago, Nimrodmk8 said:

I believe trade in values are good now? my car is nearly 3 years old, the dealer contacted me saying they could offer me a good deal, happy to keep mine for now and looking at the new prices even more so.

My dealer offered me £5k on top of what I owe on finance for my 3 year old Fiesta ST Line X, so trade in values are exceptionally high. Offered me £14500 part ex with £9500 still owing on Options.

Car prices have gone up a lot over the last couple of years... Second hand cars included. 

My 64 reg BMW 330d got written off last month when an Uber driver pulled straight out on me on an A Road and my insurance payout was just 1k less than I paid for the car 5 years ago. Now that’s good depreciation! 

The other thing with the Ford Focus is that there's hardly any in stock.

If you look at available stock on Ford's website you can get plenty of Fiesta's and others, but hardly any (if any at all) new Focus' lying about. 

I've got a 70 plate and I'll be paying the balloon payment to keep it in a couple of months because to get into a new one with the same spec they wanted - my car, the £4k equity, another £3k and an extra £100 a month.

Don’t forget that interest rates have increased a lot over the last couple of years as well as car prices going up, so if you’re taking out finance to purchase that’s a double whammy.

Absolutely.

I didn't know whether to sign my first born over to the energy company or Ford so I've just gave up and kept the current car and moved into a tent.