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A healthy return
With lower road tax and fuel costs firmly established in the minds of second-hand buyers, it follows that the swathe of eco sub-branded vehicles (Volkswagen's Bluemotion, Ford's Econetic, BMW's Efficient Dynamics etc.) on the new market should see a healthy return used, and may even be worth procuring over and above a standard variant on this basis.
Metcalfe reckons that demand rather than price is what those vehicles have in their favour: "If somebody is looking for a small car, then to opt for a low-emission vehicle that would have a low road fund licence ticket makes perfect sense. Having said that, I would not say that eco sub-branded cars are actually worth any more money, but if two vehicles were sitting side by side at auction on the forecourt, why wouldn't you choose the one with a cheaper tax?"
Not everyone is convinced though, mainly due to the lack of such vehicles in the marketplace in comparison with their conventional and far more common alternatives, and their relative youth.
Mitchell explains: "Very few car makes are seeing brand loyalty for their green car brands. Instead purchase price, mpg and five doors tend to be the reason for purchase."
While tentative, Henstock says eco sub-brands do command more money second-hand, but that's largely due to their rarity and the fact that they're still quite new. "The numbers of these cars reaching the remarketing arena still remains low and - as the technology is relatively recent - it means the cars that do appear tend to be late-plate, higher-valued examples."
Used vans, on the other hand, are showing signs of change to reflect a demand among owners for better efficiency. Traditionally, they have been purchased based purely on their suitability for the job in hand, with scant regard for anything else, but decent fuel economy - and even alternative fuels - are drumming up a lot more interest than they used to.
"Running costs have come to the fore in recent times, largely as a result of rising fuel costs," says Henstock. "There is undoubtedly a lot of interest in alternative and more economical power choices to combat the rising cost of traditional fuels, with. end users looking for environmentally friendly and economical alternatives in the commercial vehicle sector.
"For example, on the rare occasions that electric LCVs reach the remarketing arena there is widespread interest, which suggests both buyers and sellers are looking very closely at the price performance of these vehicles."
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