JOY OF PRE-LOVED

Firstly, thanks for publishing my letter in the September issue ... I’m now looking forward to being punched at 3:30pm given my opinions on the new Ford Ranger series on the school run!

Can I however run an idea past the editorial team? As a part-time scribbler for a number of UK publications over the years I can truly attest to the interest in and reality of the used market for most people. One of the more interesting and relevant pieces to see in a monthly mag such as Wheels would be a couple of pages dedicated to a used car of the month. As you know we consumers can only guess at the desirability and reliability beyond say three years and 30,000 to 50,000kms. Could you please consider such a piece on say three- to 10-year-old vehicles in the future?

As an example, I travel to Melbourne weekly and to Adelaide every month, so I bought a turbo-diesel earlier this year. So far so good, as I pack on the kilometres, but being a four-cylinder, four-door Euro sedan, I did find it for a song, despite its full service history and top condition. Such cars and others for real-world purposes are still desirable, are often nice places to sit and have become genuinely affordable.

We hope there’s something for you in Gold Star Cars next issue, Simon, which takes a pragmatic look at the new car market, with a particular focus on retained value. Meantime, we’ll run your used-car suggestion past the Wheels brains trust. Stay tuned – Ed

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