Hi, so I have 6-8k available to fund/ put towards a car. Thinking maybe a golf or focus or similar, maybe a civic. What’s the best route to go down? New with free stuff like insurance or no need for mot, one 2 or 3 years old or go for something much cheaper? Quite like the idea of new but aware of the instant depreciation etc.. Thoughts appreciated.

Personally, always buy 1-2 year old motors and keep for 2-3 years. Still usually get some warranty and most manufacturers will sell extended ones (careful what they cover though).

New just loses too much money and unless you have more money it isn’t going to be that nice.

Other alternative is spend 1/2 on something quite a bit older and keep the rest in the bank for possible repairs etc. 4 grand would get you a 7/8 year old Golf vs 4 yr old for 8 grand.

It’s a bit hard to say from that information alone. How many miles do you do? How essential is your car for work etc? Are you at all snobbish about what you drive?
You’ll find that cars a size larger than your talking of are better value second hand (mondeo vs focus etc) and I’d also never buy new as the depreciation is too great.

Not too snobbish, this is the first time I will have been able to research/choose/haggle as every other car I have had as been an emergency purchase as the previous had died. Decided to run the polo estate into the ground, so we will have 2cars for a while.

Not going to be doing a high milage as I bike to work a lot although if I do drive it’s a 50 mile round trip.

Would just like something a bit nicer than the bargain basement cars I would normally get.

I kind of had this dilema a couple of years ago. Would never buy a brand new car as the depreciation is just silly.

My wife bought a nearly new Seat Altea 4k miles 8 months old with £7k off the list price. She does about 10k miles per year.

However I do about 25k miles per year so bought a 54 plate Mondeo diesel with 38k miles for £4k. Nothing has gone wrong with it for 2 years, however stuff is starting to go wrong ie new brake pads, air con recharged, new exhaust.

Because I do so many miles I thought it pointless spending more money on a car because of the high depreciation I would put on it for doing the mileage. To be fair in many ways it drives just as well as my wifes car which is 6 years newer.

You can get some very nice cars for £3k to £4k.

I just bought a BMW 330 CI Sport for £3300. I’d spend half your budget and keep the rest for other treats

however stuff is starting to go wrong ie new brake pads, air con recharged

This isn’t stuff going wrong!…these are consumables and will need replacing on any car (especially if you’re doing 25k a year).

With 8k you have all the choice in the world (almost 🙂 ) for 3 year odl cars. A lot of people get shot of cars at 3 years cos of warranty, however you waste far more money buying new cars than you would ever spend repairing them.

3yo car for me every time, I reckon. The new car niggles have been ironed out, and the old car stuff is still years away.

Molgrips speaks a lot of sense. I usually buy my cars pre-reg or nearly new, you get all of the benefits of a new car and still save money. Once saved 9 grand on a new car that had done 7 miles.

We bought the Prius ex-demo with 4k. Only saved 4k tho.

I would not over-estimate the benefits of a nearly new car. You have a choice of a nearly new cheaper car, or a less new better car. In 5 years time the nearly new car will be an old cheap car, where as the better car will be an old nice car.

Newness does not last, spec/quality/engine etc does last.

2 – 2 1/2 years old is about perfect. It will still have some manufacturer warranty remaining so any issues can be sorted at no cost, plus it will have already lost 40-50% of it’s original value. High mileage cars are good value as they will be cheaper and will probably have done lots of motorway miles rather than spending their life stuck in traffic which knackers them much quicker

As said above, you could get some nice stuff like quick BMW’s etc, but be aware that your servicing and parts costs plus and damage will be much higher than less expensive brands.

If you are only doing 10k ish miles a year definitely go petrol, not diesel. Diesel cars are more expensive to buy and fuel is more expensive – the break even point is about 15k miles a year

the break even point is about 15k miles a year

Doesn’t that depend on how quickly you want payback?

the break even point is about 15k miles a year

Doesn’t that depend on how quickly you want payback?

I take the point, but I assume that the calculations are worked out on an average ownership period of probably 2-3 years that the majority of people probably keep their cars. Diesel is still more expensive than petrol, and some diesel cars have the issue of replacing the dual mass flywheel at 60-80K which can cost getting on for £1000

an average ownership period of probably 2-3 years that the majority of people probably keep their cars

Really? Got a reference for that? (Genuine interest, not being an arse).

I suspect many NEW cars are kept for that long, but I’m sure that doesn’t apply to second hand…

Diesel is more, true, but only a bit, and the car should be much more economical although in certain situations/driving habits and with certain cars that can be not the case. I reckon 40% more economical is a good average figure on long trips.

It is true about the more complicated bits tho, but I suspect it’s down to short trips again which sort of ties in with the low mileage suitability for petrol – assuming low mileage cars do more short trips.

However DMFs are not a service item – they should last a long time, but on some cars they are unreliable afaik.

Depends entirely on what you want to do with it. I’m still running a 16 year old Almera as essentially it either takes me 16 miles to work and back, or carries garden waste to the dump. The funny smell makes me ride my bike to work more. Non – DMF, a new clutch cost me £180 fitted and that’s all I’ve spent on it in about 5 years.

What I save here goes on mrs brassnecks daily drive as she needs the space to cart various feral children (ours and others) in child seats around in a degree of comfort and safety. Still smells funny though.

I bought modern cars for mainly safety reasons. And comfort, I was going a long ish way.

cheers all some good info there..

I think some of the Diesel / petrol saving calculations described above are a little spurious. As far as I can calculate I can nearly always be better off with the diesel equivalent. I bought a diesel seat leon recently. I reckon on it doing c8000 miles a year and expect the payback in fuel saving to take 2.75 years including a higher residual price at the end of ownership. So I’ll be better off after 3 years certainly.

I bought my current 2 cars at 3-4 years old with an extended warranty. That way, as Mol says you have the niggles generally sorted and the big stuff hasn’t started to go wrong. So thats a Skoda Octavia L&K, 21K car for 8.5K, and a Seat Ibiza, 12K car for 4.5K. I’m my eyes you’d have to be a mental to lash out 33K for the same 2 cars.

Yep agree that the petrol/diesel saving calcs are a little out.

In the real world diesels will always be better on juice so even if you do modest mileages that extra trip to the shops say will have you put another £10 in a petrol while the diesel car will have that trip in it. I speak from bitter experience..

So while the diesel is more expensive in the first place my view is it costs less day to day which in the real world makes sense.

The diesel will also sell for more when the time comes and be easier to sell.

I think some of the Diesel / petrol saving calculations described above are a little spurious

Yep agree that the petrol/diesel saving calcs are a little out.

In the real world diesels will always be better on juice so even if you do modest mileages that extra trip to the shops say will have you put another £10 in a petrol while the diesel car will have that trip in it

Sorry guys, but I would prefer to believe industry and magazine analysts who have done detailed investigations over many years and many cars to anecdotal evidence from a few individuals. The analysts reports will reflect general ownership patterns – i.e Mr/Mrs average user.

Also, popping down to the shops is much worse in a diesel car. Because diesels are more thermodynamically efficient than petrol engines they take much longer to warm up, giving higher fuel consumption than petrol equivelants on short journeys