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I have just come back from my local BMW garage and seen an absolute stunner of a car. The new X6, which has now made the X5 the baby of the family is a beautiful 4×4 in the mould of a coupe. This in itself makes it unique as I am yet to see a vehicle that combines the two types of styles. Whilst it seems that the only colour being promoted is a brilliant black metallic, I must say that it certainly managed to get the attention of many customers and has already been critically acclaimed by car enthusiasts and review Websites. One sticking point though may be the price, which starts from £45,000. Now in the current climate I highly doubt that many people will be able to afford such cars and so no doubt this will therefore contribute to the sales numbers. The reality is that the new cars markets have been hit more than the used, which makes new additions from the production line much harder to sell. Still though, it didn’t stop a few potential X6 buyers from requesting further information on the car itself, which is probably to use for the future given the uncertainty in the marketplace. In fact BMW had quite a variety of car up for sale with most of their efforts concentrating on the used second hand area. There were some great deals on show for 2008 registrations, which have obviously been sold back to them by sellers due to the credit crunch. So, to summarise then – BMW still seem to be providing customers with a wide range of vehicle for them to choose from – even if the market isn’t quite ready to give people the confidence to buy. Finally, just to mention once again – the new X6 model in my opinion will cause quite a stir once it fully hits the UK roads. When that will be though is another question…..

Me – I am an avid purchaser of second hand cars. Why? Well, I suppose it comes down to personal choice and opinion really and I am certainly of the opinion that used cars provide not only better value than new cars but also better performance as they have experienced the road and have had chance to have their engine worn in. Of course, there are different levels to used cars and so I am not talking about those that are five to ten years old. No – I am talking about nearly new cars that are maybe six months to one year old. These in my opinion are the ones that provide the best value; cars that were only brand new a few months previous, the engine has been worn in, that new car smell is still present and the car itself is still well within the “new” category among the manufacturers and buyers. As we know, any new vehicle that is purchased immediately loses around 17.5 percent of its value the second it is driven from the car showroom. So, immediately its residual value decreases, which is good for us used buyers. Now if you are a little bit clever – the ideal cars to purchase are those that are taken on short term leases by people who actually given the car back to the dealership within a certain amount of months (avoid business users though as the mileage that they can accumulate can be extraordinary) and then jump in with an offer. Or, better still, keep a close eye on the car showroom forecourt and look out for vehicles being returned from owners after they have decided not to go through with the purchase. In some cases, people are given a trial period for the car in which they can bring it back in to the dealer if they are not satisfied with its performance. But, upon being give a new vehicle, by the time it is returned, it is used, which makes for a cheaper price. Another really sneaky way of buying used cars is to purchase a test drive vehicle that has only been used for testing. This way, the price can be even cheaper. All in all then – in my opinion, used cars do indeed provide a better value to the customer than new cars simply because of their price. Whilst it would no doubt be nice to have a brand new vehicle on the driveway, I’m afraid the depreciation value that it brings would be too much for me.

I must admit that this is probably my all time favourite mid-range automobiles – not just from Audi – but from any of the car manufacturers. I think that it is absolutely outstanding. I always liked the A5 but due to it being such a big car, the minimum 3.7 litre engine was required in order for it to be a force on the motorway. Now, like the previous whirlwind the R8, Audi have released an ‘S’ version of the model. So, my dilemma is this; I was never going to afford to buy a brand new A5 model and so was waiting to be a used one when they became available. However, having looked at the S5, I am debating whether or not to wait for a used version of this instead? Obviously a second hand S5 would be more to my liking but I do have to think about price, car taxes and insurance premiums etc. Whilst a brand new purchase is probably a little bit out of my league, buying a nearly new isn’t. The only thing that I have against used cars of this type is that you never know how the previous owner treated the vehicle. I mean even though it is an ultra fast car, I very much doubt that I would over rev or push its speed to the absolute limit. In fact I would take great care to ensure that it was well looked after both for me and the next owner. We all know that Audi make exceptional cars that are built to withstand a lot of pressure and speed but knowing that it has been used by someone else just makes me want to buy new instead. But, again the problem of finance kicks in and so I get brought right back down to reality! So in answer to the question of which type of car to buy; a used A5 or new A5, unfortunately it all depends on what you can afford. This time, for me – it looks like I am going second hand.

Has anyone else been surprised by the amount of new 58 registration plates on show? At first I thought that things may have started off a little bit slow but we are half way through October 2008 now and although there has been a definite increase over the last few weeks, there is still much less than there normally is. I remember over the last few years on both the 1st of March and 1st September the amount of new cars that hit the road. Now, though it seems that although there are still a fair number out and about, used cars seem to be the more popular (and affordable) choice among car enthusiasts/buyers. This is obviously as a result of financial pressure due to the climate and so I suppose it is to be expected. Many local dealerships selling new and used cars have had to cease business as the amount of people buying is much less than it was. Also, the fact that property prices have also decreased means that dealers cannot afford to use their equity of their property as a way of affording a business base. But in terms of new vehicle registrations, maybe March 2009 will see an increase at a level more than in September. By then, it may be that the financial situation has picked up a little, which will no doubt impact on the car market and other industries. Also, with the introduction of new designs being made by the car manufacturers, it may just help new car sales that little bit more.

So I finally got around to visiting my local Honda dealership and was pleasantly surprised to see the reduced prices of certain vehicles and the fact that there were many different promotional offers on display. I thought to myself at this point that I would almost certainly get a cracking deal on a new car and proceeded to search through the different cars on show. I kind of like the new Honda Civic Type R that was sat on the courtyard. Full leather interior, a few little smart gadgets on the dashboard and the metallic paint was my ideal colour; brilliant red. The alloy wheels were 19 inchers, which gave the car a more robust and solid look. I particularly liked the rear of the vehicle and more specifically the rear spoiler, which has a totally different look to that of the older version. I got chatting with one of the salesman and discussed the possibility of part ex on my current car. Having looked at it intently, he gave me a price, which I must say was at least £1,500 less than what I thought I would get. He proceeded to explain that the cost of used cars has indeed decreased over the last month of two and that if I were to search around other dealerships, a similar price would apply. It was at this point that my day suddenly turned a bit sour as I was very excited about maybe purchasing the Civic. However, in the end I declined the salesman’s offer but did take him up on the advice that he gave me and visited a few other car dealerships to get a different point of view. Whilst some of them offered slightly more for my vehicle, overall the same price was quoted. Some were more, some were less and some of the dealerships actually offered exactly what the chap at the Honda garage did. Maybe I will wait a little bit longer…..

First of all let me explain that I have and always will be a new car buyer. Why? I put it down to the satisfaction gained from knowing that no other has had their paws on it! However, looking at the roads lately it seems that there are less new cars being driven than ever before. Of course, this is no doubt due to the current credit crunch that we find ourselves in but nonetheless, I am quite surprised at the amount of the new registrations that I seen. It seems that more and more people then are turning to used cars if they are upgrading – many are not even doing that and are simply keeping what they have got. So we are nearly half way through October, which is around six weeks since the new registrations were introduced to the cars market and being honest, I must have seen around a dozen 58 plates on the roads. However, people around me are indeed upgrading their cars but not for a new vehicle. Instead it is a short trip to the local used cars dealer who they visit and bargain with for an upgrade. I remember the good old days where on the 1st of March and the 1st of September there would be a huge influx of new cars being sent out in to the open from the local dealers and car manufacturers up and down the country. Let’s hope by the time the 2009 registrations are due to be released, these good old times will re-ignite.

I would love to see a new version of the BMW 6 series even though the current model is only a few years old! Why? Well it is one of my favourite cars for a start and I think that with a few modifications and updates, it could quite possible be one of the very best. I was hoping that there would be some ever so slight changes to the exterior of the vehicle in that the back end could offer more of a curvy shaped spoiler with the back brake light being more levitated (like on the new Honda Civic cars). Everything else is just fine as it is but maybe they could increase the wheel arch a bit more to allow for bigger alloys (that’s just me being very picky though to be honest). On a separate note, I would love to see a new 4×4 model be introduced into the BMW range. The X5 are nice used cars, the X3 less so, but I think a bit more could be done to enhance the BMW range of such cars to bring them more in line with Land Rover as they, in my opinion, set the benchmark for 4×4 designs. We have already seen Audi introduce a new 4×4 vehicle into their production range as a way of enhancing their already sleek looking Q7 model. So, I suggest that BMW get their act together and come up with something special before they get left behind.

Yes we all know about the credit crunch but that isn’t stopping the big car manufacturers from introducing more advanced and visually stunning new makes and models. So what do we have to look forward to? What about the new Q5 from Audi. It is similar to its Q7 design but with that extra bit of class. You will find that us is a modern day 4×4 / estate vehicle that will come in three different engine types and believe it or not will be quite eco friendly. Costing a reasonable £30,000 it is expected to rival the BMW X3. The cars handling has been greatly improved on over the Q7 and it apparently feels and drives more like an estate than a 4×4. The minimum engine size will be a 2 litre turbo, which will be available in both petrol and diesel. As with the Q7, the new Q5 will include hill-descent control. This to me seems to be quite standard with these types of cars. Although I am not much of a big wheel driver, I must say that with the introduction of the estate driving experience, I am intrigued as to how well initial unit sales will fair.

Are things picking up? It does seem that there are less new cars on the road at the minute as opposed to this time last year. Why? Well it all comes down to what is going on with people finances. We know that the used cars market has been hit due to the credit crunch yet we had to wait to see whether the new cars market was going to suffer similar consequences. Yes there are less new registrations on show but the important thing is that people are still buying cars albeit at a slower pace than normal. When however new cars purchases begins to slow down - that is the time to worry! I suppose the next time we can fully evaluate the situation is next March when the 2009 registrations are introduced to the car market. Hopefully by then the industry as a whole will be booming once again.