How much have you lost, or expect to lose when considering a new car ?

Bogwhoppit

Buying a new car via a broker, and using the deprecation calculators, its scary how much is wiped off after just three years. 

If I pay £9k for a small city car, keep it for 5-6 years and then sell for £3.5, it costs me around £1k a year (excluding running costs). Because I require a new car due to ill health etc., I have no choice. I'd struggle to justify £14k upwards on a small family car costing me around £1.5k year, not to mention if it was on finance.

There is no way I could justify something like an Audi.The 'Audi A4 Avant 1.8 TFSI 170 SE Technik 5dr' which is a common site on the roads can be had for around £23k from a broker ( list £28k), after three years its value is circa £11.5k, that's £3.8k a year - or a CC Gibson. I couldn't sleep at night losing that amount.

menamestom

We just bought a 15 month old Ford C-Max for £10k, with 13k miles on it. It looks and feels brand new. Somebody paid around 17k for it new. I've had a company car for years, but now plan to just buy cars from about 1-2 years old where a large chunk of the depreciation has already happened, just the car is almost new and in warranty.

fretmeister

Bogwhoppit;38849" said:

Buying a new car via a broker, and using the deprecation calculators,

its scary how much is wiped off after just three years. 









If I pay £9k for a small city car, keep it for 5-6 years and then sell

for £3.5, it costs me around £1k a year (excluding running costs).

Because I require a new car due to ill health etc., I have no choice.

I'd struggle to justify £14k upwards on a small family car costing me

around £1.5k year, not to mention if it was on finance.









There is no way I could justify something like an Audi.The 'Audi A4

Avant 1.8 TFSI 170 SE Technik 5dr' which is a common site on the roads

can be had for around £23k from a broker ( list £28k), after three years

its value is circa £11.5k, that's £3.8k a year - or a CC Gibson. I

couldn't sleep at night losing that amount.

So buy a used one then.

dindude

I've bought new cars for the last 12 years. You lose money. I like new cars and I can reconcile the loss, If it bothers you, buy used.

Forge

I just bought a 2.0 diesel VW demonstrator (7 months, 5k miles) for half the retail price...it's a buyer's market if you're not hell bent on Audi/BMW/Merc...

Bogwhoppit

fretmeister said:

So buy a used one then.

I've always owned cars circa 10 years old and maintained and repaired them myself. Most initially cost around £500, with subsequent costs of around £90 -£110 a year including MOT and parts. However, I became seriously ill back in 2009, and in case the worst happened I wanted a new car for my wife so she had the protection of a five year warranty, three years service plan, and no MOTs for three years. The car I bought cost me £7k and offered me those advantages. I replaced it with the same type of car around a year ago, but this time at a cost of £5k plus my existing car.

In my current circumstances, the £1k a year it costs me offers peace of mind in case the worst happens. If I was able, I would buy ten year old cars.

Because I only require a city car, buying new makes more economical sense then buying a 2 or 3 year old used one, with a limited warranty and hardly any MOT buffer.

I was curious about other peoples viewpoints.

jpfamps

The most I've ever spent on a car is £1700 (my current vehicle), which I've now had for around 6 years.

When you factor in insurance, MOT/ mainenance, tax, fuel and parking permit, the purchase cost becomes relatively insignificant.

Bogwhoppit

jpfamps said:

The most I've ever spent on a car is £1700 (my current vehicle), which I've now had for around 6 years.

When you factor in insurance, MOT/ mainenance, tax, fuel and parking permit, the purchase cost becomes relatively insignificant.

When you view it like that, its hard to disagree. My insurance is £131, I get around 50 mpg  and there's no tax. My gas/electric cost £500 a year more than my car, my council tax a further £400 more and toilet rolls - well lets not go there !

musicegbdf

Pays your money .....
Depends what you want from a car. If you are looking for just a mode if transport, then something like a two year old Kia seems a good idea(still have 5 years of warranty).
If you live in a city then better off with either taxi or the city hire cars.

If you can afford it then owning a new car is great feeling. I generally buy new and keep five to seven years.
If you are careful there are good deals around. Audi is giving a 7k "deposit contribution" on an a5.
This is because it is about to be replaced. Tempting, but my a3 is only just over four years old.
For me I am prepared to pay £3k a year for the luxury, reliability and safety of a relatively new car.

boogieman

I don't understand why anyone would buy new. I bought my car from a main dealer when it was 5 months old and had 3.5k miles on it for £14,000 off the list price. Still had all the remaining warranty and recovery service included: for all intents and purposes it was a new car. It even still smelt new.

EricTheWeary

Our last car was a few months old, just a pre registered dealer thingy with about 20 miles on the clock. If a new car is, say, £10k then expect to lose the VAT at least so it would cost about £8k. Still got the majority of the warranty, balance of a year's RAC cover,etc.
The brand new equivalent was only tempting in as much as the finance deal available was much, much better. Had we needed Seat finance then we would have paid in total less,over three years, on a brand new car than the pre registered one. But we didn't so saved a couple of grand instead.

holnrew

1 or 2 lbs. Unless I stress eat.

ICBM

I'm curious as to why the lack of an MOT for the first three years is a consideration. OK it's a small expense, but it's also an important safety check. In my opinion *all* cars, of any age, should have one. According to my mechanics there are quite a few cars which fail their first MOT at three years old and hence should probably have been checked sooner.

But I treat it as something normal since I wouldn't even consider buying a new car unless the depreciation is no longer of any concern to me. (Lottery win or similar, basically.) Same as with guitars and amps, really. I've never bought a new one that wasn't heavily discounted for some reason, and very few of those.

Jalapeno

Motoring is always a cost. Just do your sums.

Bogwhoppit

ICBM said:

I'm curious as to why the lack of an MOT for the first three years is a consideration.

After spending years getting old cars through MOTs, its an hassle and cost I don't want on a brand new car.

Most new cars fail their 1st MOT on things like lights or wiper blades. Basic info is here http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-2590646/Why-car-fail-MOT-The-common-reasons-revealed.html

To keep the warranty on my car I have to abide by the dealers servicing schedule which covers safety checks every year. I think most manufacturers do this now.

sinbaadi

I decided to lease a Fiesta for 2 years because I was tired of running a used car, and the unpredictable costs that arose.  I will certainly buy a second hand car again in the future, but at the moment I just want transport- a reliable, warranted, modern car and the monthly payment is the way I want to do things just now.  Plus I've never had a new car, so why not.

As a lease deal it was seriously cheap.  The obvious alternative, and question I have been asked, is why didn't I PCP one?  Well no PCP deal came anywhere near it, and I would have been left with nothing to show for it at the end of the 3 years anyway.

thomasross20

Used to be able to get good second hand cars for £7-8k but these days I find it's more like £9-10k for anything half-decent. Need a mortgage to own a car!

capo4th

Buy a used car six months old 8-10k miles with two and a half years manufacturers warranty. Typically save 40% off new price.

Evilmags

I've owned a five year old Alpina B12. It had a 6 litre V12 engine with 420bph. It cost me less than a new Mondeo. I've had a six year old M3. It cost 9 grand.

Why the hell would anyone prefer a new skoda against that....

ICBM

Bogwhoppit said:

After spending years getting old cars through MOTs, its an hassle and cost I don't want on a brand new car. Most new cars fail their 1st MOT on things like lights or wiper blades. Basic info is here http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-2590646/Why-car-fail-MOT-The-common-reasons-revealed.html

True, but its not always 'trivial' faults - a friend of mine had his Ford Ka (1st version) fail its first MOT for seized and inoperative rear brake calipers... so I don't see any reason new cars should be exempt.

That was what I mentioned to the mechanics which is why they told me that it's not that rare.

The whole point is to ensure the car is safe. If it's a hassle to get an old car through, that's why it's necessary...

If the dealer services a new-ish car for you, it should be part of that.

CabbageCat

A £2k car nowadays will happily last you for five years with minimal expense on repairs (indeed, probably less than a new one because people are less likely to be fussy about expensive dealer servicing and bodywork). Anything more than that is vanity - entirely understandable vanity, but vanity nonetheless.