Bikes are often more valuable than cars, says judge as he jails thieves

jova54 wrote:

"In mitigation, Matthew Comer, defending Whatley, said: “All the offences took place in mid to late March 2021........."

So, it's OK to steal bikes provided you do it at the end of the financial year.

For years I had bikes that were worth more than my cars however, a recent acquistion means I'm now looking for N+1 in excess of £19,000 to redress the balance

purge week

That may have been true once - not convinced servicing is a big revenue stream now.  Service intervals have been rising for years and less and less parts are serviceable. 

tell that to my local dealer garage,they charge about 100quid an hour, so even minor servicing like an oil change or something trivial like that, can quickly become very expensive.

You would be 100% wrong on that. The margin on sale of a new car is minute. It's unique in that, whilst not being a particularly high volume industry, the margin is comapratively tiny. Almost all of the value in a car sale is the 'extras', including the servicing over its lifetime.

I work in the motor industry, for reference

Zebulebu wrote:

You would be 100% wrong on that. The margin on sale of a new car is minute. It's unique in that, whilst not being a particularly high volume industry, the margin is comapratively tiny. Almost all of the value in a car sale is the 'extras', including the servicing over its lifetime.

I work in the motor industry, for reference

I presume finance is a big part of it too

but everyone knows that property is valued more than life...the old adage that you should not shout for help, but call out that there's a fire to get more attention

My Rapha jacket is worth more than my 20 year old car

Captain Badger wrote:

An E assist cargo bike can cost 4-5k+ new. A new car can cost as little as 15k

The question would be why. In terms of materials, transport costs and labour, not to mention environmental cost, WTF are cars subsidised so heavily?

Economies of scale.

srchar wrote:

Captain Badger wrote:

An E assist cargo bike can cost 4-5k+ new. A new car can cost as little as 15k

The question would be why. In terms of materials, transport costs and labour, not to mention environmental cost, WTF are cars subsidised so heavily?

Economies of scale.

Not only that, but there is (or was) intense competition in selling cars and there was oversupply in the market. Buyers are also price sensative. BUT a customer who has one of your cars is a captive market for maintenance and spares.

So cars were often sold at very small profit margins, that would nto be sustainable seeling anything that didn't come with a 10 year maintenance burden.

srchar wrote:

Captain Badger wrote:

An E assist cargo bike can cost 4-5k+ new. A new car can cost as little as 15k

The question would be why. In terms of materials, transport costs and labour, not to mention environmental cost, WTF are cars subsidised so heavily?

Economies of scale.

I won't argue with you, but I'd love to see the breakdown.

30kg(?) against 1500kg of steel and plastic

Typical car has 20 man hrs work. Maybe similar for a cargo bike?

Regulatory costs?

Transport costs see above mass ratio?

Economy of scale certainly plays a part. Don't believe it's the whole story

Actually my take is that the judge knows only the stereotype of expensive bikes being a hobby for the "wealthy elites". Unfortunately I don't think there is anything positive from this characterisation.