Opinion: Is there a good time to sell a valuable car? Car News

You will have seen all the reports of semiconductor shortages and used car prices soar. Lots of people have stepped in, taking advantage of the windfall used and making the most of the buoyancy while it’s there. Including our own John Evans with his Mazda MX-5.

And why not? When was the last time car owners paid money for retained values?

So among all of this, I decided to sell my pride and joy. It’s an Audi S1 ​​- the hot hatch, not the ’80s icon – and it’s the first car I bought new. I drove a few of these when they launched and vowed to own one someday. For me, it was and still is the perfect hot hatch: entertaining enough to make every trip exciting, with just the right mix of sass and sensibility to adapt to 21st century living.

Above all, it adapts to our overcrowded island. With 228 hp, it’s not that powerful that you might crash over the horizon, but it packs enough oomph to keep the expensive multi-link suspension setup on its toes.

This is how I came into contact with an online auction site, because I thought the S1 might appeal to the kind of people who frequent it. Pick your audience, I thought, and hopefully that might add a thousand or two to the value.

The hard and cold math made sense. I bought the S1 as part of a PCP program, so with a good discount to new condition, my total bill over the three years, including the lump sum payment at the end, was over £ 20,000.

I had tentatively set the reserve as a teenager and was hoping to bring it closer to £ 19,000 or £ 20,000 by the time the virtual hammer fell. The four-year-for-four thousand property felt like a bargain.