::Barloworld ::Pre-owned cars for sale - everywhere
The market is awash with pre-owned cars for sale, crowding dealer ‘lots and bulging the pages of vehicle trading publications. A “perfect storm” has had an enormous impact on South Africa’s motoring landscape: depending on which newspaper report is to be believed, anything between 7 000 and 10 000 cars are repossessed in South Africa every month.
These cars end up in the used car market, either through the dealer network or on auctions. In fact, such is the oversupply problem that prices have plummeted. Amazing bargains are to be had. It has become the norm to pay a lot lower than Trade value for many of the less popular models. Very few models of pre-owned cars for sale actually sell for full Retail value, unless it is a popular derivative with very favourable mileage.
However, the honeymoon will not continue indefinitely. New car prices are set for a very steep rise in in the near future, as much as 25% by some estimates. In fact, this has already started in the latter months of 2008. Together with the rise in new car prices, the used market will recover and pre-owned car prices will rise.
Now is an excellent time to acquire that set of pre-owned wheels, while bargains are still ten a penny. However, beware of dealers’ tricks of the trade and do not be bullied into a purchase. Most dealers who have pre-owned cars for sale will go to a lot of trouble to get rid of stock, so added-on fees are always negotiable. Also, be careful of extras added onto the invoice that you can do without – and that erode the showroom sticker pricing advantage that had caught your eye in the first place.
With so many cars available to choose from, do not settle for second best. The bargain in the ad is never the last one on earth, even if the seller says so. Stay calm and pick a clean example, check its service history and do not pay too much! Remember all the “hidden” costs like fuel consumption, the price of tyres and insurance premiums.
There are pre-owned cars for sale on every street corner and for some time still, excellent deals can be secured.
