A growing number of buyers of used cars are choosing to ‘go
private’ and bypass second-hand car dealers altogether – which
could negatively impact volumes of used car finance.
A survey on behalf of Exchange & Mart found that the
proportion of people preferring to avoid buying a used car from a
dealer grew by 11 per cent over the past three years.
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The shift to private buyers is more bad news for dealers,
already hit by a toxic cocktail of falling consumer confidence,
plummeting car sales, rising stocking costs, greater difficulty in
providing finance for car buyers and a downward trend in residual
values.
Manheim Auctions said it has also noticed more non-trade buyers
at its sales, too. Chris Cush, general manager of Manheim Auctions,
Colchester said: “With pressures on family budgets rising as a
result of the credit crunch, we have noticed a significant increase
in the number of private buyers attending auctions throughout the
UK.”
