This Or That - British edition
Each week we spend an inordinate amount of time on various for sale sites. Sometimes we see some very questionable prices and wonder why on earth would you choose that over something else on market for a similar price.
Each week we are are going to highlight some of our favourite “why on earth would you buy that when you can have this instead” moments.
For today’s this or that, imagine you are a in your mid forties, you’ve financially secured yourself to the somewhat upper echelons of life by selling off the majority stake of your small IT company, and now you are engulfed by the entombing sense of a early retirement. You’re in need of a comfortable car to shuffle yourself and the enhanced Chelmsford born girl you call darling down to the second house in the south of France for the summer. You’ve got the mortgage paid off on your 6 bed in Watford and the and want to treat yourself to a cheap little used people mover with some of the free cash burning a hole in your Saville Row slacks, its time to buy the British mile muncher you’ve always wanted while staying savvy.
Option A - 2012 Range Rover Vogue Westminster 4.4 TDV8 - £34,501 - 28,000 miles
You thought of nothing better to do with you £40k budget than to blow it on a aging JLR product, this is why you sold your shares at a all time low… Your friends around you says you are mad, £34k on a bloody L322, you must be mad. You thought that a L322 (often mistaken for the same characteristics as a medium sized canal boat or combine harvester) would be a great alternative than leasing a new Range Rover. You argue that its only got 28,000 miles from new, you say its got the bulletproof 4.4 tdv8 so you don’t have to worry about any problems (even though it will eat through a pair of turbos every 40k and rust its own backside out of existence). Your friends just stare back at you blankly like a deer in the headlights. You argue that its condition is immaculate and that L322’s are only going north in value (personally having owned a few I have no idea why) and that it’s a sure investment, look at Tonka green prices… You soon begin to realise after using it a few times that you can’t help but feel putting miles on it is starting to devalue it’s already over inflated value by simply driving to the shops, and that if you actually use it to drive to France a few times a year, you’ll end up with just another high mileage old JLR product just like the £7000 examples for sale. So you decide to sell it, and after sending through a Bonhams auction, it pulls a meagre £20,000 less that what you paid. You realise you’ve really f**cked up here, you meet your old friends down the pub on a Friday evening and tell them that you’ve now sold it and you got £14,000 for it. They in turn start roaring with laughter at your pure stupidity and ignorance, Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word by Elton John comes on the juke box, you order a Double whiskey on the rocks, that turns into another 6. You stumble home (The one from Chelmsford can’t pick you up as you sold the car) You get home later that night and as you close the front door you catch a glimpse of your reflection, you think to yourself “what a silly man I am” after another home poured Double Whiskey you scuttle off to bed with your new found drinking problem in tow and the unique ability to turn a £34,000 investment into £14,000. Don’t get me wrong, an L322 is a good vehicle, but only £6000-£10,000… the ones who disagree are probably owners of a leggy Clarkson spec 322 that thinks they are worth mega money. I am not a L322 hater, but they are completely over glazed and agricultural like in their build, values are not what they should be.
Option B - 2012 Aston Martin Vanquish - £36,750 - 107,500 miles
You spend a few days trawling through cars for sale, a particular car comes up and its a deal that seems to good to be true. Its a red 2012 Aston Martin Vanquish that looks a million bucks, a thoroughbred British GT car. It’s done more miles than most, but with a impeccable dealership service history and a insane amount of invoices, coupled with your knowledge that when maintained well, the 6.0 V12 is a notoriously reliable engine, you pop in a max bid of £40,000 with a day left. You watch the lot religiously the following day, it initially go’s up in thousands it then slows down, and bids only increase in the hundreds. The timer hits zero and to your misbelief you’ve won it for the awe inspiring low price of just £36,000. How has this happened, a V12 GT car for less than £40,000? Depreciation and miles are your friend! (personally I love high mileage heroes, if its been maintained well over a not so well kept low miler i’m in) It gets delivered the following day and you can’t believe it. The wife comes out and screams at you “why have you just spent £100,000 on a car!”. Calm down Chantelle, it was only £36,000, you can keep up your plastic surgery you say. The following week you set of for France, its a crisp morning, the cold calculated roar of the Aston sooths your eardrums as the V12 bursts into life. You stop at Cobham services for some petrol, all eyes are on you, granted most think what a poncy tw@, but some who know their cars envy your choice as you let the V12 fill out its rev range as you leave the forecourt. You pull up and there’s small queue to enter the Eurotunnel, you play your favourite song, Ride like the wind by Christopher Cross through the 1000W Bang & Olufsen BeoSound 13-speaker system until its time to board, Life is good. While exiting the Eurotunnel the raw sound of the V12 barks and reverberates off the carriage walls, and continues to be the soundtrack for the rest of your journey. You arrive at the house in Valence after your 700 miles journey, cool, refreshed and happy with your choice. The wife enjoyed the journey and you think to yourself what else could I of bought that could of come close, you look back at your new to you bargain, the Volcano Red beauty draped in the French sun sitting on the driveway and think to yourself, that was the right choice.
Picture credits to Collecting Cars
