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Runaway inflation
For some time, I’d had the feeling that new car price inflation was racing ahead of wage increases but lacked any hard evidence. Then I received an invitation to visit my local Mini dealer, as my Cooper S three-door was 30 months old and perhaps I would like to consider swapping it in for a new one. With the help of the salesperson, I specced up a replacement car that just happened to be identical to my 2019 car except for a different metallic body colour.
The first clue came when the monthly PCP bill worked out at £60 a month more than I’m currently paying. So I made a comparison of the list prices, including the extras. In 2019, according to the invoice, my car retailed (before haggling) at £23,519 on the road, and a 2021 car with exactly the same options comes to £26,875. By my calculator, that’s an increase of more than 14%. I’m sure there are even better examples of prices leaping up, but this one is close to home and means I won’t be trading in my current car just to get the latest registration plate any time soon.