Alan B'Stard
Well-Known Forumite
Bit of an odd subject header, maybe, but quite interesting when looked into.
My first car cost me £550 in 1989. A mini saloon 1000cc, bog standard, think it was a W reg, so 8 or nine years old. Back then, I considered that "banger" money. My brother (the family mechanic) looked at it and gave it the all clear so I bought it.
2007, I've just got my licence back after a brief (ahem) period of not driving and have chosen to buy another mini. The family mechanic is miles away, the most I know about cars is that you put petrol in them and that they have four wheels. So, I thought what was my banger money in 1989 worth today, what I considered all them years ago to be a worthwhile sum risking will have increased, but by how much?
Googalising, I found this site http://measuringworth.com/calculators/ukcompare/index.php
So putting in £550 in 1989 and a date of 2005 ('cos thats the latest figures) gave me these results
In 2005, £550.00 from 1989 was worth:
£916.71 using the retail price index (pretty straightforward)
£906.47 using the GDP deflator (puzzling, more googalising required)
£1,147.38 using average earnings (pretty straightforward)
£1,240.08 using per capita GDP (pretty straightforward)
£1,308.15 using the GDP (not sure about the difference between this and the above?)
So, finally, getting to the point! Just won an auction on Ebay for a stunning red Mini Cooper 1275 (Stage One Tuned as well!) for £1100 which according to the above measures is still "banger money" but does look rather lovely. Picking it up from Milton Keynes on Friday and then driving straight down to Somerset for a weeks holiday.
So looking at it this way, it does not look like I've paid much more for my car today than I did for my first one in 1989.
Although, there are two other issues nagging me, which may or may not equal themselves out.
1. Prices of new cars cars has dropped somewhat since 1989. (Was there not an EU ruling that forced manufactures to drop their prices in the UK? due to "rip-off" Britain charges?) This has surely had a knock on effect to the second hand market?
2. I signed onto www.parkers.co.uk which is supposed to be THE definitive price guide. Their guide for the one I've bought was £945 Top Dealer (not private sale, which was LOWER) price, every Mini I've seen on Ebay goes for much, much more than Parkers guide. Every Mini I phoned from the Auto Trader was sold, one guy, when asked if he had any more, said he wished he had 20 and had put the price up by £500!!!!
Interested to know some other thoughts on this, I might pick up a bag of sh*te on Friday, it might be the best Mini I've ever had, (being No. 4).
The website does get interesting though, especially if you are interested in "what my house is worth" figures.
I've mainly used it for banger prices and old buys, and for any body that remembers the Yamaha FS1E (fizzy) my first moped, (yeah right! I bought a restricted one, swapped it with a unrestricted '76 engine, cut off the pedals and it did 50+!!!!) I paid £55.00 for that in 1984 that according to top price is now worth £207.49. These are now worth 5x on Ebay!!!
My first car cost me £550 in 1989. A mini saloon 1000cc, bog standard, think it was a W reg, so 8 or nine years old. Back then, I considered that "banger" money. My brother (the family mechanic) looked at it and gave it the all clear so I bought it.
2007, I've just got my licence back after a brief (ahem) period of not driving and have chosen to buy another mini. The family mechanic is miles away, the most I know about cars is that you put petrol in them and that they have four wheels. So, I thought what was my banger money in 1989 worth today, what I considered all them years ago to be a worthwhile sum risking will have increased, but by how much?
Googalising, I found this site http://measuringworth.com/calculators/ukcompare/index.php
So putting in £550 in 1989 and a date of 2005 ('cos thats the latest figures) gave me these results
In 2005, £550.00 from 1989 was worth:
£916.71 using the retail price index (pretty straightforward)
£906.47 using the GDP deflator (puzzling, more googalising required)
£1,147.38 using average earnings (pretty straightforward)
£1,240.08 using per capita GDP (pretty straightforward)
£1,308.15 using the GDP (not sure about the difference between this and the above?)
So, finally, getting to the point! Just won an auction on Ebay for a stunning red Mini Cooper 1275 (Stage One Tuned as well!) for £1100 which according to the above measures is still "banger money" but does look rather lovely. Picking it up from Milton Keynes on Friday and then driving straight down to Somerset for a weeks holiday.
So looking at it this way, it does not look like I've paid much more for my car today than I did for my first one in 1989.
Although, there are two other issues nagging me, which may or may not equal themselves out.
1. Prices of new cars cars has dropped somewhat since 1989. (Was there not an EU ruling that forced manufactures to drop their prices in the UK? due to "rip-off" Britain charges?) This has surely had a knock on effect to the second hand market?
2. I signed onto www.parkers.co.uk which is supposed to be THE definitive price guide. Their guide for the one I've bought was £945 Top Dealer (not private sale, which was LOWER) price, every Mini I've seen on Ebay goes for much, much more than Parkers guide. Every Mini I phoned from the Auto Trader was sold, one guy, when asked if he had any more, said he wished he had 20 and had put the price up by £500!!!!
Interested to know some other thoughts on this, I might pick up a bag of sh*te on Friday, it might be the best Mini I've ever had, (being No. 4).
The website does get interesting though, especially if you are interested in "what my house is worth" figures.
I've mainly used it for banger prices and old buys, and for any body that remembers the Yamaha FS1E (fizzy) my first moped, (yeah right! I bought a restricted one, swapped it with a unrestricted '76 engine, cut off the pedals and it did 50+!!!!) I paid £55.00 for that in 1984 that according to top price is now worth £207.49. These are now worth 5x on Ebay!!!