THE Prime Minister sent another memo to the Cabinet this week telling them stay focused on budget cuts. Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, has made it clear that there won’t be any new scrappage-type schemes as the car industry needs to stand on it’s own four wheels. But are car buyers going to help the dealers by continuing to borrow money and buy expensive cars? Or are they going to get on board with the ‘Age of Austerity’ and start looking for the cheaper motor? Taking two samples of 3,000 people that registered with my advice site at www.UsedCarExpert.co.uk in April and July, I can tell you that the average value of a car people want to buy has dropped by three per cent to £7,600. That doesn’t sound like much I know but multiplied over seven million used car sales in the UK each year it becomes a huge £1.4billion. If this trend continues then there are going to be absolute snips to be found at dealers, but selling cars privately is going to be harder and trying to get a decent price on your part exchange, almost impossible. Here are the kinds of examples we’re seeing in the market: 2008 Mazda 2 (75PS) TS 8,577 miles on the clock, 1,300cc manual engine, black Cloth, 1,349 cc, ABS, electric door mirrors, electronic brake distribution, emergency brake assist, ISOFIX child seat. Was: £7,890. Now: £6,790. UsedCarExpert.co.uk price & mileage guide: 8,916 miles is average and a fair price is £7,795. 2007 Vauxhall Astra 30,000 miles, diesel engine, 1.7 CDTI, hatchback, tiptronic gearbox. Was £7,490 to £6,990. UsedCarExpert.co.uk price & mileage guide: 55,300 miles is average and an adjusted price for a 30,000 mile car would be £7,268, while a fair price for a 55,000 mile car is £6,200. Dealers seem to be dropping prices below the market average of the last three months. This means there are lots of opportunities for car buyers. Make sure you keep up to date with the market average price - which will change to reflect price drops. | 
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