"Oliver Keating" wrote in message
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"Depresion" wrote in message
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"Oliver Keating" wrote in message
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Maybe the price of second hand cars is rediculously low. After 3 years a
car
is worth 1/3 of its value? That is crazy. Is it 1/3 of the car?

Maybe if there weren't so many Mondeo's piling onto the market people
would
be driving around in more Supermini's and City cars which are never used
as
company cars.

If second hand car prices were kept a little higher, then people would
keep
cars longer before scrapping them. It only takes a £200 repair to a 10year
old car and its off down the scrap heap - what a waste.

And, btw as for the environment, manufacturers always claim how "clean"
their cars are, but an unbeleivable amount of environmental damage occurs
during the manufacture *and disposal* of a car which seems to be
frequently
ignored.

There is an old expression - "waste not, want not"

But it appears in our consumer society where everyone is going nuts with
"buy, buy, buy," it is the fashion to have a new car every couple of
years.
Just as with everything else, we buy, we throw away, we buy we throw away.
The cycle will only come to an end when we abruptly run out of resources.


I think a large part of the problem is "image". I remember watching a
programme about a company car driver (sadly a fly on the wall type of thing)
where this chap was explaining the pecking order on the M6. He was in a BMW
5 series. He knew that if a large Merc or BMW 7 series came along he had to
move over as they were higher up the tree than him. However if a Ford
Mondeo, or heaven forbid a lowly Escort wanted to pass him then he would not
pull over as they were deemed too lowly. He then related the tale of the
chap who had just missed his sales target for that year and had his BMW
replaced by a Mondeo. The shame was so great he resigned. I'd turned over in
the middle of all this so thought it was some kind of comedy, but it wasn't!
He was deadly serious, and as the programme went on it was apparant this
sort of shallow thinking was shared by many. If he didn't get a new car
every year he was a failure, if the car wasn't bigger or had more toys in
than the last one, he was a failure. It was pathetic. The idea that a
customer is impressed by the type of car the rep turns up in is a total
non-starter. Especially after seeing some of the thought processes
demonstrated by those taking part in this programme.
Compare that to where I work now. Having moved from policing to engineering
I am now working in the company of some very senior engineering
executives/directors who are on very high salaries and seem to spend more
time globe trotting than in the office. They are invited to seminars around
the World and are regularly invited to Japan, Australasia, USA etc. as
advisors to manufacturers. They are at the top of the tree in this line of
work.
One drives a D plate (1986) Mercedes, the others various Volvos, BMW's etc.
I don't think any have had a new car in the last three years. I tend to buy
a new car and keep it going for 8-9 years on average. My current VW being 6
years old in February and with 150,000 on the clock. It works, is
inexpensive to run, is enjoyable to drive and I will keep it until such time
as a major failure makes it uneconomic to repair. It gets washed and
serviced, is well put together, and quite frankly should keep going for many
years yet judging by all the old VW's still running around. It seems to be
economic and environmental madness for companies to keep buying huge fleets
of vehicles so often, and encourages a lack of care by the drivers who know
they will only keep the car a year or so, so if it goes wrong in some way
there is always a new one not far off. I believe the problem was one
identified by government some years back. I know that there are now some
complaints that the tax allowances are starting to bite. I know this
programme highlighted this as one rep was moaning his 25k Saab would have to
be replaced by a 16k Vehicle. A Skoda Octavia perhaps?