Car Insurance Latest News
Car Insurance and RV's Cost
Owning a car these days is getting more expensive by the month, let alone
each year. Recent rises in car insurance from some of the big players mean
that saving money is paramount, to avoid costs spiraling out of control.
There isn't much you can do about your motor insurance policy once it has
been purchased, but you can look at cutting other motoring costs.
The RAC has recently announced, through their Cost of Motoring Index, that the cost of running the average car has gone up
by almost £540 over the last year. This affects over thirty million drivers in this country.
Fuel prices have been up and down a myriad of times of late, but show a fall overall on last year.
Hard to believe eh?
The RAC index takes into account a number of things in its calculations including:
- Vehicle depreciation, fuel, finance, insurance , maintenance, road, tax and RAC Membership.
The running costs of 17 common makes are included in the survey and show the annual costs as -
- Quarter three of 2005 - £5000
- Quarter three of 20006 - £5539
Although inflation has been kept relatively in check, by
increasing interest rates, the UK's motorists are having to dig deep as
owning a car has gone up again overall by 11 per cent.
The main increase in owning a car has come from falling RV's (residual values),
the depreciation, and increasing insurance premiums. The RV is the expected
selling price of a vehicle at a set time in the future.
The RAC figures showed that residual values dropped from 52% to 45%, in
three year old vehicles over the survey period. Although no future value
is guaranteed if you own the vehicle outright, it can be guaranteed when
written into a purchase contract of some type.
When the vehicle is financed in some way, for example on a personal contract
purchase agreement (PCP), it will have guaranteed future value. Then after
an agreed period of time and set mileage, say three or four years, you can
either pay the outstanding balance still owing or hand the vehicle back
with no further commitment.
The fact that the RV plays such a big part in the overall ownership costs
of any car, means you should consider whether the car you are intending
to buy, particularly a new, is expected to have a good residual value.
Generally speaking, premium brands hold their value better than everyday
run of the mill cars. Premium brands however have a much higher list price
than typical volume cars, so if you're borrowing a larger amount of money
your interest costs could be much higher.
Here is an example of typical predicted values of some average family cars:
Costs predicted over 3 years with total of 30K miles (source Carcost).
So, what vehicle makes the most sense?
Motoring News:
- Skoda offers 'No VAT' deal
Skoda is offering a ‘No VAT’ deal on selected cars, as well as a range of finance packages across all of its models. - Audi A3: best used car values
Audi A3 hatchbacks hold their value better than any other used , according to a study released today by Auto Trader. - A bargain Lotus for every budget
Lotus represents some of the greatest qualities of British engineering; ingenuity, design and flexibility.
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