BROADCASTS.com

You can help support the podcast, securely via PayPal:

Or paste this code into your browser du jour: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=DSL9A3MWEMNBW&source=url

Today's question:

"New cars have a build date and a compliance plate. If a car has an August 2019 build date and the same year for compliance, how can it be a 2020 Model? My daughter is buying a car and it is supposed to be a 2020 model but both plates are showing 2019. Your help please." - Daryl

There are four dates: the build date (which is self-explanatory - that\u2019s when your car rolls off the production line) plus the compliance date (when the compliance plate goes on) the Model Year (or MY) and the first registration date.

Build date - easy. Compliance date - that really just tells you which version of the regulations the car complies with. There\u2019s all these compliance standards for everything from emissions to the placement of headlamps and tail lights. We call them ADRs (Australian Design Rules).

These days, ADRs are really just cut-and-paste Retardistani or Eurotrash regulations (called FMVSSs or UN ECE regulations, respectively). There might be the odd exception, but the regulations are essentially globally homogenised to reduce compliance cost in particular markets.

Compliance regulations evolve over time, so the compliance plate basically draws a line in the sand and says \u2018here\u2019s the time stamp for regulatory compliance for this vehicle\u2019. Compliance date really doesn\u2019t matter much to owners.

Then there\u2019s Model Year - which does a lot of people\u2019s heads in. This concept of Model Year was invented by the Retardistanis, which explains a lot. So, in general, a MY20 (2020 model year) cars start getting built in the fourth quarter of 2019.

It\u2019s completely arbitrary. MY19 cars can be identical to MY20, or there might be a refresh, or a minor spec upgrade with 2020, or MY20 could herald the introduction of an all-new vehicle. Often, there\u2019s no change.

Historically, the fourth quarter adoption of the following model year was to give sufficient lead time to things like TV advertising. This was in, like, the 1950s, when things took time - before the world got hooked on crack and because the delight we experience daily.

And then there\u2019s first registration date - which is when you buy the car. Pretty simple.

So, right now, in October 2019 you can be looking at an MY20 car built in August 2019. 

So - four different dates. And here\u2019s where you need to look out, and protect yourself. At trade-in time, the dealer is likely to use the build date to talk you down on price. If he gets this bullshit proposition across the line, and you buy it, he adds another year\u2019s worth of depreciation to the trade-in equation and guts you just a little bit harder.

Then he details the car and sells it as a 2020 model. Because \u2026 hey, there\u2019s a body of evidence in support of the thesis that car dealers are just immoral cocks.

Just be firm.

Right at the moment there\u2019s a potential minefield out there. Holden, for example, has thousands of cars on ice, essentially rotting away in paddocks because nobody wants them. I\u2019m sure you can buy an allegedly brand new 2017 model if you look hard enough.

Volkswagen is defecating in its trousers right now, too, because they have a surplus of unsold 2018 Touaregs on hand - so you\u2019ll get a discount there if you achieve \u2018polite arsehole\u2019 negotiator status.

But on these old \u2018brand new\u2019 shitheaps, the problem is: trade-in. What\u2019s the benefit of saving five grand up front if the trade-in costs you an additional $5k in depreciation? You would have been better off in a brand new, brand new car.