The Lemon Fool

7 years ago I helped my mum to buy a new car. A basic Fiat Panda 1.2 pop. I'm pretty certain that it cost £5,995 give or take a few quid. It's been a very reliable, cost effective, frugal car for her to own.

I was just looking out of no more than interest to see what it would cost for the equivalent model today and the cheapest I can find is just shy of £16k

By comparison two years previous to that I bought a 10 month old approved used BMW 320d M Sport for £24k. I could get a sub 1 year equivalent today for £34k. Not too bad considering that's a 40% increase in 8 years.

The only explanation for the disparity I can come to is that today the Fiat is only available as a mild hybrid. That seems a ludicrous increase in price for a variant that is only pretending to be an electric vehicle.

Is the bubble bursting on electric cars though ? A friend bought a 22 plate Renault Zoe with 3k miles for £16k last week from Motorpoint. There's lots in stock, all at a similar price. That's near 50% depreciation. I'm tempted myself to get one as a shopping trolley cum runabout.

Dicky99 wrote:The only explanation for the disparity I can come to is that today the Fiat is only available as a mild hybrid. That seems a ludicrous increase in price for a variant that is only pretending to be an electric vehicle.

So, in terms of what it costs to manufacture, you are comparing like with like?

Seriously a mild hybrid will cost significantly more to make than a simple ICE vehicle. It's not like fitting air con, oh sorry the parts for that also cost don't they.

I confess that my price comparison is the used car market.
I bought my, then 5 year old, I30 for £4.4k 8 years ago. I've stated looking again and it looks like I'll have to pay more like £10k today, if I want something 5 year old. Indeed your £16k for a new hybrid is looking pretty good to me.

Urbandreamer wrote:

Dicky99 wrote:
Seriously a mild hybrid will cost significantly more to make than a simple ICE vehicle.

An entry level Fiat Panda mild hybrid is in fact a "simple ICE vehicle".

Maybe it's because I'm out of touch with the cost of cars today that I was surprised at just how significantly the cost of an entry level car has changed in that period.

You can get a Dacia Sandero for £12,500 if you want the cheapest motor.

Or another six cars that are cheaper than the Fiat 500.

To be honest the Kia or Hyundai would probably be more reliable too.

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/best-cars ... apest-cars

John

The switch to a mild hybrid model for the Fiat likely plays a big part in that steep rise. Although these hybrids are marketed as eco-friendlier, the price hike does seem excessive. Sometimes, getting a car from abroad can work out cheaper, even with shipping costs. I brought mine with the guys from https://www.a1autotransport.com/new-car-shipping/. It could give you a good rundown of what to expect and help you figure out if it's worth it.

Part of the reason small car prices have increased is Euro 7 emission standards which has increased cost and that gets passed to consumers. Also there's new General Safety regs which mean they need systems like driver drowsiness and lane assist tech. You'll notice this in all new cars now. They've actually softened Euro 7 a little to allow continued production of small cars. Few months ago looked like they'd be phasing out the Polo sized cars but now going to continue with them as its what ppl can afford.