Older Cars Editorial - May 2010

With the hard winter now a distant memory, the older car market has an increased number of cheaper 4x4s that were handy for ferrying families about in the snow. Now summer is coming and fuel prices are crawling up again, many of these ‘convenience’ 4x4 owners have decided to get out of all-wheel-drive, and bank whatever cash can be raised.

Let’s take Land Rover Discovery as an example: perhaps the most widely available older 4x4 in the UK. A look through the list of recently sold items on one of the big Internet auction sites made interesting viewing.

Searching for Land Rover Discovery up to £2,000, 635 individual Discovery auctions have been concluded (sold or unsold) up to that price in the last 14 days. This compares to 554 items in the same search, 6 weeks previously. Can the current market absorb a rising number of older Land Rover Discoveries, sold online in various states of repair over the current two-week period? This is the $64,000 question.

Most private buyers looking for a 4x4 for under £2,000 want the car for fun: towing a boat, or horsebox, or just for tip runs with the kids at the weekend. Very few are looking for daily transport and no one is expecting the return to bad weather. As the priorities are different, the prices may also be different.

At this price level, we’re looking at vehicles up to 15 years old, with anywhere up to 160,000 miles on the clock and a list of previous owners that might take three hands to count. Yet, advertised strongly with good pictures, honest details and polite, timely answers to questions, such cars can still fetch reasonable money when shown in nice condition.

Problems for Discovery models of this age include rusty rear wheel arches, temperamental electrics (ABS lights, window and sunroof wiring), flimsy trim and door handles, leaky sunroofs and corroded aluminium parts. A few dents and scratches are inevitable, as are worn tyres and patchy service history. Even cars with some or all of these problems can find buyers, if the overall appearance is acceptable.

LPG conversions are relatively common and diesel manual versions are readily available: much more so than their Japanese counterparts, which can be hard to find with diesel power and manual transmission. With mainly leisure owners looking at low mileage use, the premium for an LPG conversion is reduced, though it still exists. Decent diesels remain the best sellers.

I am constantly asked where older 4x4 prices are going. Like anything else, that depends on supply and demand. 635 cars a fortnight seems like more than enough supply for expected demand at this time of year. That the numbers available are rising, versus stagnant or falling demand, does not bode well for prices. Prices for good examples of diesel-engined Discovery should hold up okay, but lesser models are now looking precarious.

The same pattern is likely to apply for other easily available older four-wheel-drive product: only the best examples stand a chance of holding their current positions. I’m not predicting a collapse, but average values should certainly soften in the next few months.