Cost of living - spain
Apr 20th 2010, 9:59 am
#16
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 7,749
Re: Cost of living - spain
My theory is that it's not necessarily the spanish market that's ridiculous, but the british one. In the UK cars depreciate much faster than their usability drops. So a 2 year old car is almost as reliable, safe, economical and comfortable as a brand new one. Yet the price is massively less than new. Why? Because the brits attach such a lot of ego to their cars and don't view them simply as a means of getting from A to B - but as a demonstration of their success, social standing or wealth.
If you just used a car as a means of transport, it wouldn't matter how old it was provided it did the job. A few scratches down the side (like a lot of spanish cars, even news ones have) would make no difference to its ability to transport you. Hence, it's value would be very close to what it was when new.
There's also the very popular view in Spain that all brits are rich (just look at how we overpay for crummy old houses :-) ). So why should a dealer or shopkeeper give them discounts when they can afford full-price (or even the higher extrajanero price), when there is a spaniard who deserves the discount more?
If you just used a car as a means of transport, it wouldn't matter how old it was provided it did the job. A few scratches down the side (like a lot of spanish cars, even news ones have) would make no difference to its ability to transport you. Hence, it's value would be very close to what it was when new.
There's also the very popular view in Spain that all brits are rich (just look at how we overpay for crummy old houses :-) ). So why should a dealer or shopkeeper give them discounts when they can afford full-price (or even the higher extrajanero price), when there is a spaniard who deserves the discount more?
Apr 20th 2010, 10:31 am
#17
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 3,171
Re: Cost of living - spain
My theory is that it's not necessarily the spanish market that's ridiculous, but the british one. In the UK cars depreciate much faster than their usability drops. So a 2 year old car is almost as reliable, safe, economical and comfortable as a brand new one. Yet the price is massively less than new. Why? Because the brits attach such a lot of ego to their cars and don't view them simply as a means of getting from A to B - but as a demonstration of their success, social standing or wealth.
If you just used a car as a means of transport, it wouldn't matter how old it was provided it did the job. A few scratches down the side (like a lot of spanish cars, even news ones have) would make no difference to its ability to transport you. Hence, it's value would be very close to what it was when new.
There's also the very popular view in Spain that all brits are rich (just look at how we overpay for crummy old houses :-) ). So why should a dealer or shopkeeper give them discounts when they can afford full-price (or even the higher extrajanero price), when there is a spaniard who deserves the discount more?
If you just used a car as a means of transport, it wouldn't matter how old it was provided it did the job. A few scratches down the side (like a lot of spanish cars, even news ones have) would make no difference to its ability to transport you. Hence, it's value would be very close to what it was when new.
There's also the very popular view in Spain that all brits are rich (just look at how we overpay for crummy old houses :-) ). So why should a dealer or shopkeeper give them discounts when they can afford full-price (or even the higher extrajanero price), when there is a spaniard who deserves the discount more?
Funny you should mention the two price thing, I always ask for the Spanish price not the guiri one, it gets a few laughs and I usually come away happy
Apr 20th 2010, 11:20 am
#18
Yaaarp
Joined: Oct 2009
Location: Trying to get the hell outta Spain!
Posts: 1,354
Re: Cost of living - spain
I don’t understand why, but the second-hand car market in Spain is ridiculous. I’ve been trying to part-exchange my Spanish car for a newer and smaller one for over a year now, unsuccessfully.
I went to a large Spanish dealer recently and tried to do a deal which would have earned him around £3K. He had an identical car to the one I was part-exchanging, and I was prepared to buy one that was overpriced, but his offer would have earned him £10K on the deal, rather than £3K.
I noticed the same attitude with a commercial unit that was for rent at too high a price. The Spanish owner refused to drop the unrealistic price and it’s still lying empty, just like the car I wanted to buy which is still unsold.
Supermarkets appear to be more sensible, when their Spanish customers deserted them for Lidl and Aldi, Mercadona and Consum dropped their prices. I suppose carrots don’t last as long as cars or empty shops.
I went to a large Spanish dealer recently and tried to do a deal which would have earned him around £3K. He had an identical car to the one I was part-exchanging, and I was prepared to buy one that was overpriced, but his offer would have earned him £10K on the deal, rather than £3K.
I noticed the same attitude with a commercial unit that was for rent at too high a price. The Spanish owner refused to drop the unrealistic price and it’s still lying empty, just like the car I wanted to buy which is still unsold.
Supermarkets appear to be more sensible, when their Spanish customers deserted them for Lidl and Aldi, Mercadona and Consum dropped their prices. I suppose carrots don’t last as long as cars or empty shops.
There is a huge range of choice of second hand cars in the UK as the British have had the money to buy cars for a long time therefore there has been a huge range of cars to choose from in the second hand market for a very long time which in turn drives (yes pun intended) down prices. Also, the Spanish don't "care" for a car in the way that the British do which sees cars ending their time prematurely, couple this with the fairly recent influx of money which has given them the means to purchase a car and the second hand market is pretty sparse in comparison with many other countries keeping the value of a second hand car higher
My theory is many business`s and premises are inherited and the current owners have very little idea what they are doing.QUOTE]
This is very true of my boss, his grandfather started the buisness and it was a very succesful one at that, he passsed this to his son who also did very well. It is now in the hands of the third generation who hasn't got the faintest idea what he is doing. Our sales reps are frustrated at the amount of work they could bring in but the boss keeps putting up the prices as a "solution" to the crisis. It's a shame to see a factory that in its' peak had 198 employees and now only has less than 20.
Yes that may be it. Plus the landlords and people who have many houses lying empty tend to be very rich people anyway.
In Andalucia there is a bit of a "mogul" tradition when there are a few rich business people in the community who are given maximum respect. They must feel like they are somebody and so are unwilling to negotiate regarding business. Things must be done on their terms. (only a theory!)
This is very true of my boss, his grandfather started the buisness and it was a very succesful one at that, he passsed this to his son who also did very well. It is now in the hands of the third generation who hasn't got the faintest idea what he is doing. Our sales reps are frustrated at the amount of work they could bring in but the boss keeps putting up the prices as a "solution" to the crisis. It's a shame to see a factory that in its' peak had 198 employees and now only has less than 20.
Yes that may be it. Plus the landlords and people who have many houses lying empty tend to be very rich people anyway.
In Andalucia there is a bit of a "mogul" tradition when there are a few rich business people in the community who are given maximum respect. They must feel like they are somebody and so are unwilling to negotiate regarding business. Things must be done on their terms. (only a theory!)
