I thought I’d add more comparisons to my Chevrolet Matiz comparisons. I wasn’t going to as it’s soon to be replaced.

However as car buyers might be interested in Chevrolet’s run-out deals I’ve decided to complete all the comparisons.

I’ve broken off from publishing just to alert you to the my Chevrolet Matiz vs Ford Ka comparison. 10-years and 12-hundred pounds separate these two. So how far has the small city car travelled in those years? It’s interesting and I may get back to you on the subject.

Regards
Ralph

I’ve updated my Suzuki Splash car comparison charts which put the Splash side-by-side with small MPVs like the Modus, Jazz and Agila. I’ve added live lists of real time market prices so you can now compare prices and cars.

The Splash is virtually the same as the Agila but for small style detail to the front and back and different engine options. The big difference is the Splash has ESP (Electronic Stability Programme).

The difference between the Splash and Renault Modus is the Modus is 5-star Euro NCAP rated without ESP as standard across the range. The Splash is 4-star with ESP. You’ll have to double check that as things can change in the car industry.

The dilemma is ESP aids crash prevention whilst an NCAP rating is concerned with crash protection.

Renault say you first perceive a hazard in order to prevent it – before you need protection. Luckily all the cars in this class have good all-round visibility.

Other cars in this class include the Fusion and Meriva. You might consider a Roomster or SX4 as interesting alternatives.

You can compare them all at Small MPV Comparison Charts.

Regards
Ralph

Shopping for cars on the internet is convenient, fun and private. Also, reading car reviews and comparisons is a good way of doing your research.

However, it’s easy to get carried away thinking about things like bargains, style and prestige. It’s easy to overlook more important aspects of buying a car.

Part of the problem is people are isolated when they are sat at a computer. They don’t have the social aspect to challenge their thinking. In other words they are not being asked to prove their ideas as true or useful by questions from family, friends and salespeople. They like that privacy.

We act on our ideas and it’s easy to make mistakes. Car buying mistakes are hugely expensive.

So there is a need for a car buyer to ask themselves some simple questions. These questions are so simple they can seem silly. Your response might be that you knew them but that’s the benefit of hindsight. Test yourself and list 10 questions you should ask yourself before buying a car.

Here’s the first question, ‘what’s your present cars?’ It sounds like a stupid question but it’s an important one and one every salesperson will ask you.

When a car salesperson asks you ‘what have you got at the moment?’ your answer gives them a huge amount of information even if your answer is, ‘a Fiesta.’ They then pump you with more questions or more subtly guess wrong. ‘5-door?’ ‘No, 3-door.’ ‘What’s that a 1.2?’ ‘Do you know I’m not sure?’

‘What is your present car?’ is an important question because the answer represents your current situation. It partly determines what – if anything – you can do. It is the basis for improvement. With these ideas you can start to plan your actions.

Just saying, ‘I’ve got a Fiesta,’ isn’t good enough. You need to write all the details down in a table so you can make comparisons.

When a car salesperson asks about the number of doors a buyers present car has, some buyers have to think hard about it. Most buyers don’t know the size of the engine in their car and almost all can’t name the trim level.

Almost all car buyers couldn’t tell you the facts and figures regarding their present cars performance, economy, emissions and safety. Yet they have strongly held opinions about these topics.

So it is important if you’re going to DIY research a car online to know:

1. about cars, and
2. about yourself.

Here’s how you simply describe your own car to yourself.

1. Simply go to carbuyersinfo and find your type of car.
2. Highlight  the data table, right-click your mouse to copy and right-click again to paste it into a word document.
3. Then edit the detail to exactly match your present car.
4. Save this word doc, it will prove very useful later on.

You end up with your edited version of this:

 Armed with this simple information you have a good idea about your present situation, the beginning of ideas about what you want, what it means to you and what you need to do.

Here’s an easy way to remember this. Salespeople call it SPIN:

S = Situation
P = Problem – a thwarted goal – an objective not immediately available
I = Implication – suggestions
N = Need

Happy Hunting
Regards
Ralph
carbuyersinfo Car Comparisons Differences & Similarities Revealed

The Mini Clubman is a small estate car which is fun to drive but comparatively expensive to buy. Over on carbuyersinfo you can see how it compares with its rivals. Here’s a summary.

For about the same money as a Mini Clubman you can buy a Ford Focus, Peugeot 308 or VW Golf  Estate which are bigger, 5-doors and roomier. 

For over £1,000.00 less you could buy the Hyundai Focus equivelant – the i30 Wagon or a Kia Cee’d SW, although the i30 is only 4-star Euro NCAP rated. The Cee’d is 5.

For the price of a mid-range Mini Clubmanyou could buy a huge Ford Mondeo Estate, Mazda6 Estate or VW Passat.  A Skoda Octavia estate has an entry price £1,000.00 lower than the Mini Clubman.

Comparing apples with apples, you could buy a 5-door Peugeot 207 or Renault Clio estate for between £2,500 to £3,000 less and have more space with equal dynamics and style.

The entry price of a Skoda Fabia estate is £5,000.00 less than the Clubman. In other words the Clubman costs 50% more than a Fabia estate.

It’s very difficult to justify the Mini Clubman in terms of price or space.

The Mini Clubman is a nice handy size and easy to park but so are the less expensive 207, Clio and Fabia.

The Clubman is stylish but so are all of the above cars. You might say the Mini Clubman has a certain image but all the above are very highly regarded and some have bags of street cred’.

Certainly every one of the above cars is more spacious than the Clubman and space/versatility is what an estate car promises.

That only leaves driveability but the Clubman is up against some of the best cars on the road when it comes to driving.

So I don’t get the Mini Clubman, maybe you can comment.

Regards
Ralph
Car Comparisons

I say keep an open mind because I can recall in my 43 years of selling cars so many people having fixed ideas but buying something completely different and being delighted.

Over on carbuyersinfo the home page classifies car comparisons as

• Small cars
• Small MPV cars
• Medium small cars
• Medium size cars
• Large executive and luxury cars
• Family estate cars
• MPVs
• SUVs and 4×4s
• Sports cars, coupes and convertibles.

In the listings are links to my top 50 cars for sale in the UK.

If you go to the bottom of the page and click the recent link you go to a page and will see in reverse order to the list above, with something like 200 cars for sale in the UK. It’s worth looking at any car that takes your fancy – keep an open mind.

Differences in fuel consumption, CO2 emissions and performance may not be what you think. There can be big differences in prices only justified by brand equity. I do recommend you go for a Euro NCAP 5-star rating and ESP.

Regards
Ralph
Car Comparisons

Some how real time listings in my Nissan Micra Comparisons included the Ka. They’ve now been removed.

Today on MSN they published a Sky News report stating used car prices have gone up. I’ve been blogging about this since the spring. However Sky News say this is, ‘for the first time ever.’ Not true.

In the UK we’ve had a stop go economy since the 50s. Used cars depreciated because they rapidly deteriorated usually with rust but later because complicated engineering made repair not worth it at a certain age.

Despite that there have been times when used cars have appreciated. In the early 70s you could buy a new Vauxhall Viva and part exchange it a year later for more than you paid for it brand new. By the late 70s a year old Jaguar, Rover, RR or Ferrari sold for more than they cost new. So it’s not, ‘the first time ever.’

These were times of inflation. The thing to watch out for is new car prices rising 3 or 4 times a year. It’s an indicator inflation is on its way. Car ownership takes about 25% out of your clear money. It’s important to the economy as we’ve recently learnt.

We should watch out for inflation because historically governments have paid their debts with a depreciating currency. If inflation kicks in politicians will make a lot of noise and blame the previous administration but they’ll let it happen because it makes it easier to repay debt.

Ask your grand parents, many will remember losing their savings to inflation in the 70s and 80s.

Regards
Ralph
Every day I’m inserting real time live online listings so you can compare cars and prices at carbuyersinfo car comparisons and supply is chronically short.

This morning I inserted real time listings in my Mercedes Benz C Class comparison pages so visitors can compare both cars and prices.

It’s interesting that although the Mercedes C Class has grown a little at 4.6m, many of its competitors have grown even longer. For example the Mondeo and Insignia have now grown to about 4.8m.

In other words they have grown to the size of an E Class. Obviously the C Class can’t grow into the same space. The BMW 3 Series is in the same situation.

Why these cars are growing out of the medium size sector into the large car sector, I don’t know. Cars like the Mondeo were spacious with big boots at their old size. The price of these cars has not increased and engines are getting smaller.

Eventually cars like the C Class will stand alone in the medium sector. Having said that, cars from the medium small sector – like the Focus – are growing. The new Chevrolet Cruze – which is the new Astra in a different envelope –  is 4.5m. So it’ll be interesting to see how big the all new Astra is.

A Chevrolet Cruze is near half the price of a C Class. The Mondeo and Insignia enter at half the price of an E Class.

Question is, is the Merc marque twice the car. Size wise it’s not. What’s the price of prestige?

Regards
Ralph
see Mercedes Benz C Class Comparisons

I’ve just read on-line – and I don’t know if it’s true – the Hyundai i10 was the best selling car to private punters in the UK last month making Hyundai the 3rd best selling car in the UK, pushing Vauxhall into 4th position.

I rushed over to my comparison charts to see why and to compare the i10 with the UK’s cheapest car the Kia Picanto.

The i10 seems to have all it needs in terms of car features. Where it does stand out is in its value.

The Hyundai i10 is honestly priced. With some other popular makes, cars are sold at premium prices to private punters while they deeply discount to hire companies leaving the poor punter to buy them near new if they want value.

If you go to my Kia Picanto Comparisons and compare it with the i10 you can see live listings of both cars on eBay – there are next to none for sale. So you can only buy new but buying new is value  with Kia and Hyundai.  If you see what I mean.

Why can’t we have transparent pricing across the board?

Regards
Ralph

If you’ve read my recent posts on this blog or visited ‘carbuyersinfo’ you’ll know I’ve been posting real-time live listings of cars for sale on eBay so visitors can compare prices as well as cars.

It seems to me near new cars are in very short supply. One, because so few were sold new last year and two, because they seem to be selling so quickly.

Lasy week I embedded a link to a listing on my Chevrolet Captiva Comparisons and when I checked it today there seems to be none for sale.

I know Captivas are a bit exclusive but even ubiquitous cars like the Mondeo and Golf seem to be in relatively short supply.

Interesting and worth keeping an eye on if you’re considering changing your car.

Regards
Ralph