If not hung up on having a newish car, when is cheapest/best value to change?

I'm presuming there comes a point when you are as well off changing a car before it slides off the scale of saleability and becomes fairly worthless.

Have '03 Passat TDI, bought ex-rental in May '04 (was practically new, only 6k on clock - could be up to 60k on it now). Will still be a fine car for a good few years.

Is there a roughly optimal time to change, i.e. maybe better to change in '07 before it starts to show age?? Would probably go ex-rental again when change.

Grateful for any views, I realise its not an exact science. I'm guessing that might be more important to change a bigger car that bit quicker than a smaller as smaller hold value better for starter drivers & have bigger "market segment" being more popular with ladies etc. etc.

p.s. would I be right in thinking that 2nd hand cars will get cheap & new cars dearer in the next year or two with the SSIA splurge on new cars (similar to the '00 effect), thereby flooding the 2nd hand car market. Would hope to ride that out before changing as dont want to change in the very near future.

Its hard to tell when is the best time to sell a second hand car, usually up to three years is when you'll get the best price and from then on not only will you struggle to get a good price but you'll struggle to sell it privately at all and may end up having to trade in and take the hit.
Once your car gets into a certain price bracket you'll have difficulty getting rid of a car above engine size 1.4L as cars below 5,000 euros are usually for younger drivers and the bigger the engine the more expensive their insurance quote.
Although actual prices may not go up reflecting the input of SSIA's the amount of discounts given will probably lessen which means the 'real' price of the car will go up.

Given that there is a new model Passat out at the moment, and there has been an owner prior to yourself, and with the advent of SSIA cash in the next 18 months, I would sell as soon as possible (if you want to get a good price). That's only my opinion.

icantbelieve said:

usually up to three years is when you'll get the best price and from then on not only will you struggle to get a good price but you'll struggle to sell it privately at all and may end up having to trade in and take the hit.

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Do I take it that you're of the view that selling it privately generally makes sense??

While garages will obviously want to earn something on the re-sale of the car, wouldnt a private buyer be inclined to pay private seller a bit less due to the risks involved? - i.e. no comeback if things go wrong with the car.

You'll usually get more from a private buyer than you would as a trade in, plus once you have cash in hand you are in a much stonger position to deal with a garage.