12:49 pm, September 30, 2026
Will aggressive new-car finance deals pull customers out of older used vehicles while storing up a residual value headache for dealers further down the line?
That’s what the Car Dealer team discussed on the latest episode of the podcast, as well as the other big issues that will be worrying dealers this week.
You can watch the video of the recording in full above, where the team report from their annual pilgrimage to Wales to test the best cars of the year, or listen to the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon or by clicking play below.
Discussing the changing market on the latest episode, James Baggott, James Batchelor, Jack Evans and Jon Reay questioned what will happen when cars currently being sold with low monthly payments, long warranties and servicing packages begin returning to the used market in significant numbers.
Baggott said the strength of some new-car offers was already helping customers who might previously have remained in older used vehicles move into brand-new cars.
He said: ‘There’s lots of these buyers have been dragged up from those used cars because they’re so cheap.
‘They come with these huge warranties, servicing plans, and actually the cars are very nice compared to a 10-year-old Vauxhall Mokka.
‘These things are gonna look like spaceships, and you can see why these customers are going for them.’
The discussion then turned to what those deals could mean for used values once today’s new cars begin appearing at auctions and on dealer forecourts.
Baggott described that as ‘the big unknown’.
He said: ‘What happens when these all hit the used car market?
‘At the moment when I look at them, when they appear on Carwow Motorway and then do an Auto Trader retail check on them to see whether they’re in demand, they’ve got terrible retail ratings.
‘But then is that because who buys a used car? Offers are so good. Why would you buy a used one?’
The team questioned whether manufacturers backing heavily discounted finance offers today could ultimately find themselves having to manage the effect on their own residual values.
During the discussion, they noted that this could become particularly important as greater volumes of relatively new cars begin feeding into the used market.
Some manufacturers are already attempting to address that issue through packages designed to remain with the vehicle beyond its first owner.
Aion was highlighted during the discussion for offering an eight-year package including servicing, which the team suggested could help support a car’s appeal – and potentially its value – when it eventually enters the used market.
But the wider concern is that dealers could face an increasingly difficult comparison between nearly-new cars and brand-new alternatives being offered on eye-catching finance packages.
The podcast team also argued that this is beginning to change where new-car customers are coming from.
Rather than simply competing with other new cars, some of the strongest offers may now be drawing customers away from older used stock altogether.
That could have implications across both sides of the market, with dealers potentially benefiting from more customers able to afford new vehicles while facing a tougher job selling those same cars when they return several years later.
The debate formed part of a special edition of the Car Dealer Podcast recorded in Wales during the team’s annual Cars of the Year testing.