I've been keenly anticipating the launch of the new Alfa Giulietta…

… but groaned when their pricing was announced.

But flicking through the car mags in WHS at lunch time it seems like 20-25k is now the going rate for a decently specced mid sized hatch

WTF???

Well what do you consider a decently specced mid sized hatch?

Why not wait two years until its lost an eye-watering significant amount of money?

Its a re-badged fiat anyway…….

You're looking at a 'luxury' product and wondering why its more expensive than the basic one? A mid sized hatchback isnt £25k, its probably nearer £10-£15k, you just want something shiny.

Agree- its a lovely trimmed interior on a Fiat.

But sometimes a lovely interior is worth paying for. I think so, which is why I like VWs over Skodas, and I fancy a Jag over a Mondeo.

£20-25k for a rebadged Fiat Bravo with FWD?

Nope.

and I fancy a Jag over a Mondeo.

Have you reached retirement age yet.

20-25k is now the going rate for a decently specced mid sized hatch

Really?

25k is a LOT of money unless its a company car.

Wait two years and pick it up for 15K.

Short of having a company car, being really quite well off or a member of the British military deployed in Germany (and subsequently able to make use of tax free cars with a NATO discount on top) I really can't see the point in buying brand new.

Wait two years and pick it up for 15K.

Then sell it quickly one year later when the warranty runs out!

A mid sized hatchback isnt £25k, its probably nearer £10-£15k, you just want something shiny.

It's not really near £10k, £15K perhaps…cheapest Ford Focus 1.6 Style 3 door listed in What Car at £17,945 !!!
That really is a crazy price but not as crazy as anybody paying that (Target Price of £14403 so if you're clued up you'll get it for that and a few will get it for a little less)

Even that "reasonably priced car" on TG is around £15k…!

but nobody pays the retail price.

do they?…..

Still cant believe nobody noticed the sudden 2k price increase when whe scrappage scheme came in. They don't seen to have dropped back down either.
Who would pay 18k for a focus? Madness!

Last new car I got was a megane, list price 16k at renault, got it for 10k an motorpoint. Exactly the same car.

Well, I initially thought Alfa had cocked up their pricing strategy – putting the Giulietta up against the BMW 1 Series (which is a munter anyway)…

… but according to one of the car mags it sits between the VW Golf TSi and Astra SRi – I was gobsmacked.

23k for an Astra, 21 for a 1.4 Golf !!!! – I thought the Golf GTi was still in that 22-23k bracket

(and re-badged Bravo is a bit wide of the mark at the moment… although future Bravos will use the same platform. Giulietta is the first car to make use of the Group's all new mid sized platform)

Prices have gone nuts – especially with mainstream brands like Ford. A decentish spec Mondeo is now not far off £30k…!

Ive had new cars for the last 9 years and thought was doing ok, but looking at new car prices, i think my next one will be a second hand, even a pre-registered one if i can find it!

What ive noticed is no-one does sporty little cars anymore, or any that look good, even the coupes or 3 door normal cars seem to be going. I like little french cars ( i know badly built and cheap plastic etc..) but i like them and was looking at citroens the new range so the C3 doesn't come in 3 door and the C4 coupe now discontinued and the C2 which i currently own has also been discontinued, the DS3 is an overpriced mini lookalike, so where to go to find a funky car now, not happy.

I don't think it's badly priced at all – they do a poverty-spec Turismo for £17k (and even then it's not badly specced and with a reasonable engine). List for a 1.4 170bhp Lusso is £19495 (so just under £20k unless you want it in flat black). That includes niceties like dual-zone climate, auto wipers, bluetooth, cruise control, steering wheel controls, etc.

A Golf with 10bhp less and optioned with the same stuff is £22500, Astra is £22275 (but with 10bhp more), a much slower 2.0 Focus would be £21590.

Of course, list price is less relevant than actual likely sale price but it seems to be pretty competitive if you're in the market for that sort of thing. If I was mental enough to buy a new car I'd definitely be giving it a look.

A 22k Astra? 😯

How fast does that depreciate? 70% in 3yrs? Bet its not far off.

The Focus- we all know the Fords are wierdly over-priced with massive discounts available though.

try going to Ford or Vauxhall's website & using their car configurator or whatever they call it. Very easy to get a Mondeo (for example) into the mid £k20s, but you try find an equivalent spec car on any Ford dealership with delivery miles or less and I doubt you'd pay much more than £18k.

I'm sure the Giulietta will be not dissimilar. I've had 2 Alfas (146 & 156) before now & they're lovely cars, reliable enough if you keep them properly serviced.

My 146 got to over 130k miles before I traded it in, probably would have gone on a lot longer if I hadn't taken it to a cheap fast fit place for a new clutch… you know what they say, pay peanuts, expect monkeys

Same with vans as well, VW transporter 140Bitd with DSG and a few comfort extras is nearly £26,000, over £30k for the 180Bitd engine with DSG.

I paid £22k for a 2 year old, 16k mile 335d Touring with a load of toys last year – cheaper than a new Astra!! The car listed at just under £40k.

Prices really have gone crazy – over £20k for a fairly basic hatch – is ANYONE paying that for them?!

We paid £16,500 for a brand new 2005 Astra 1.9CDTi Estate (top end diesel at the time) – over £2k off list and it had only just come out. What the hell does the current version cost? Must be mid £20k?! Just for a depreciation check, got over £6k p/x for it with almost 60k miles on the clock at a nadge over four years old. Not too bad IMO. My "depreciation proof" Golf R32 lost way more on a per year basis.

You what?
That's why I paid £15k for a Fiat Ducato van, 6 metres and 3L turbo / 160hp of graphite loveliness.
And after conversion it was still less than a mid-range Beemer 5-series, but was complete with beds, kitchen, bathroom, roof windows, bike-rack, etc.
It's looking more like a bargain each week.

If you are going to buy new, make sure you do a deal (such as a run-off model) and then keep it for ever, otherwise buy at +5 years when the bulk of the depreciation has gone, and probably replace every 3-5 years.

Taking this advice, my wifes car was £19k new rather than the original £25k – currently 4 years/60k/£10k. While my car was 10 years old/80k miles/£2.5k, currently 12 years/110k/£2.5k.

Keeping both until they die, and probably replace hers with a new one while I'll get another big old car.

I'm with Surf mat. Avoid the new car thing and get something much more interesting. Just picked up my E320cdi estate (sorry Mat loved the 335d but it was just too small for me!). 2years old and Focus money, but a lovely 398lb/ft of shove (before it's remapped :))

3.5 year old Passat 2.0 TDI SE DSG – £10k.

I just would not pay more than 10k for a car these days, completely pointless..

I think about all the cars I have had and the money I wasted on them and it makes me cringe!!

3yr old A6 2.7 Tdi S-Line £11k – ok, it had a few miles on it, but my last one went to 175k with no issues.

It also depends on how long you are going to keep the car for.

My mum bought an MX5 brand new (with 4k knocked off) in 1999 and it's still bags of fun and going strong…

Tony – nice! Ours isn't the right car if you need loads of space tbh. Enjoying the torque?

Not mine but one of these for 3.4k (full Subaru history) 😆

TBH my last couple of cars have been bought at 1-2 yrs old. (well all actually except a couple of company cars in late 90s)

Wife's (small) cars have been bought new / pre-reg and then kept for quite a while.

I currently run a Ford SMax diesel which is great, and wouldn't want to replace (through choice anyway). Would have kept the Fat Max and swapped in mrs rkk01's Punto for a Giulietta – but not at that price…