I don't understand, the UK is about to enter a triple dip recession and there's more people than ever buying new cars:
[url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20931602 ]New Car Sales Up[/url]
How is it at a time when people are supposed to be struggling with their rent and mortgages that millions can still afford to buy or lease new cars? The depreciation on these new cars must be horrendous for starters.
Never understood the new car thing personally. I'd far rather buy a 3-5 year old car and get something that's much better than I otherwise could have afforded new, at a fraction of the cost. Currently thinking of a 5yr old Audi RS4 Avant next for around 15k. If I bought new, for that price then options would include the terminally dull Hyundai ix20 1.6 CRDi, or perhaps a Fiat Punto 1.3 Multijet.
If you asked someone the same question but in a context relating to girlfriends then it would read something like: Which would you rather have, an ugly virgin who likes to lead a frugal life, books and knitting (cheap new car), or a supermodel with a taste for kinky sex, champagne and fine dining who'd just happened to have had a couple of previous relationships? Life's too short, I know which one I'd choose.
Yes the Hyundai will easily do twice the MPG and cost a lot less to tax, insure and service, but surely the only reason for buying a boring economical car like a Hyundai in the first place is to try and save some money?
In which case why by new? Why not spend 7K on a Hyundai that's 3 years old and then spend the 8k you've just saved on something else entirely different . . . . . . like a supermodel girlfriend perhaps, or the more likely option if you happen to be seen in public driving a Hyundai ix20, a small but expensive Korean prostitute!
Honestly I can't get my head around it, who's buying these things?
I bought a new car about 4 weeks ago,it's a 1998 Nissan Micra 1.0,£400 and an absolute bargain,I don't know where the others are getting their money from though.
Ian
I am (well, one Skoda Fabia VRS anyway - not all of them!!)
Why? Well, mainly because I want to.
Edit - was under £15k for a car with 180bhp, DSG and lots of toys.
Rachel
Cause thanks to the crappage scheme, there is a destinc lack of older cars, and even less so of quality for a reasonable price.
If you asked someone the same question but in a context relating to girlfriends then it would read something like: Which would you rather have, an ugly virgin who likes to lead a frugal life, books and knitting (cheap new car), or a supermodel with a taste for kinky sex, champagne and fine dining who'd just happened to have had a couple of previous relationships? Life's too short, I know which one I'd choose.
1 - you are weird.
2 - even a bentley can't make a bacon sarnie like my OH 😉
I bought a new car......9 years ago.......still got it 🙂
Some good deals about and leasing finance type stuff.
Same question could be asked of people buying new bikes when you see what can be picked up in the classified.
Looking at average wage though and considering the recession, i do see a surprising number of new £40k+ cars about and do wonder who's buying them. Still, keeps the used car market healthy.
Cause thanks to the crappage scheme, there is a destinc lack of older cars, and even less so of quality for a reasonable price.
Given the scrappage was only worth £2k, unless you're dabbling in that end of the market (in which case you surely wouldn't even be considering a new car) I can't see it really makes any difference. Rather bizarre to suggest you can't get a s/h car for a reasonable price when the prices are a lot more reasonable than new ones! FWIW I just bought a s/h car for £4k.
motobility cars, fopr the disabled are quite a big buyer/funder of new vehicles, then there are a lot of people buying new vehicles out of their redundancy ,possibly to be able to claim benefits by spending the cash they got and reducing the amount in the bank, making them eligible for benefits
Probably because they are either a) Company Cars, or b) those without lump sums to buy cars outright prefer to spread the cost monthly and often a new car can have monthly lease payments similar to a loan. They don't care that they'll never own it. A lot of people still think newer registration plate = better car....
i'd buy new if i could afford it, and then afford to buy new again after 3 years etc
i looked seriously at a new vwt5 camper a few years back, after 3 years the cost to sell and then buy new again was not far off what i'd lost, and had cost me in repairs, on the (rubbish) kia it had been my utter misfortune to buy.
the only downside was dropping about 30k on a van.
I'd guess a fair few are company cars... 3 years rolls around and BANG, new car!
Was that the HPI thread jobbie aracer? Assume all went smoothly?
...but other than that i don't know how anyone can afford anything these days. heck, now that tesco have increased value mushrooms by 40% i can't even afford to have a few with my eggs every morning.
and god bless store brand value biscuits i say.
I don't understand, the UK is about to enter a triple dip recession and there's more people than ever buying new cars
Well maybe the increase in new car sales will help avoid a triple dip recession ?
Would you rather nobody bought anything and guaranteed it ?
Company schemes like the NHS one where I work, lease cars available to all and sundry, sometimes there's a cracking offer, like the one where you could get the new Range Rover Evoque for £240-odd quid a month. Sadly this was a year after we ordered our car.
The thing about this recession is that the people who had plenty of cash to start with, have now got more than ever. Otherwise, what would be the point of a Tory government?
So why not treat yourself to a new Range Rover? Because your worth eeet
There maybe not as many as you think. Garages buy, register and stockpile to say ' we have sold this many, so must be good cars' theory and also company cars being sold and cars dying quicker due to DMF, diesel repair costs etc as well.
My lease ran out and I had to get a new car through work... So I got one.
Company cars and mobility schemes.
I can't understand why someone leases a new car privately. My BiL has a VW Polo on a 3 year HP agreement. In 3 years he can buy it for about £7k, carry on paying and have a new car or give it back and walk away. Thing is he used his fully paid off 06 plate Polo as deposit. Only got £3k for it even though it would have sold for close to £5k privately. The desire to own a new car far out weighed all sense as far as I can see.
Leasing them seem to be the way my mates are financing them.
If you've got a spare £15k to drop on a car, you probably fall in the actors you're talking about!
Yeah for me it was the lack of a lump sum for a second hand car so a new car on pcp was actually very affordable and guaranteed for 3 years
also silly question but if you want a nice second hand car for £15k how on earth do you come up with that kind of money? Loan? Savings?
3 reasons
1/ Lease cars, fixed amount a month hassle free motoring, if you are a business user there is no VAT
2/ Some new deals are more attractive than nearly new, lower APRs and lots of discount to be negotiated.
3/ Company car users
I'm very tempted by a run out octavia VRS. 17K including satnav and full leather. RRP would be 25K ish for that.
Yes, DD. It checked out and all good so far (not done the cambelt yet, but got so much more for my old one than I expected it won't be too painful to fork out for that myself). I still reckon it was a good deal for a 4.5yo car.
Lots of finance out there if you want it..
Same deals as back in 07/08...
Banks like financing stuff.
We have just changed our car for a number of reasons;
Got what we considered a good deal, actually better than last summers offer ❓
New caravan meant old car was on the limit wieght wise
Old car was likely to need new clutch and possibly other remedial work soon
New car has 7yrs warranty
We retire in 4or5yrs so plan on keeping this car for at least 5yrs or up to the 7yr warranty runs out at which point we will be downsizing due to auld age 😉
I know plenty of people who are "scrimpers" and rarely buy anything new and seem to prefer spending time fixing stuff. They get their kicks from doing this it would seem.
Each to their own and good luck to them 🙂
My days of crawling about under cars are long gone and I cannot be arised spending hrs searching e-bay and the likes for spare parts 🙄
Been there, done that and the T shirt is in the bin 😉
Buying new car does mean;
No new bike
No foreign holiday
No money going into savings. At current interest rates is there any point?
Etc......
There maybe not as many as you think. Garages buy, register and stockpile to say ' we have sold this many, so must be good cars' theory ....
Errrrm, nope. No dealership can afford to 'stockpile' cars. Pre-reg cars need shifting sharpish as they are both subject to interest and depreciating. 75-80% of cars bought at a main dealer are bought on some kind of monthly payment and because manufacturers are subsidising finance, they can be more attractive than a nearly new to three year old car. Factor in Motability, NHS fleet and masses of company cars out there and that's where all the new units come from.i
Double post.
Probably because they are either a) Company Cars, or b) those without lump sums to buy cars outright prefer to spread the cost monthly and often a new car can have monthly lease payments similar to a loan. They don't care that they'll never own it. A lot of people still think newer registration plate = better car...
This.
Even if I had the money I'm not sure I could bring myself to buy a new one. I have lots of bikes, all but one cost four figures, and a couple of them were [i]really[/i] expensive. And yet when going around looking for a new-to-me car I still found myself saying "Two grand!? For a car!?"
It's all about priorities, some people would rather spend silly sums on cars than pay off the mortgage or buy a nice bike.
.
The whole 'green' thing appears to be constructed by the manufactures to shift more cars too, "buy the new one, it does 5mpg more so you'll save the planet". Bollox. The vast bulk of a car's pollution comes from the manufacture of it. Even Friends Of The Earth agree it's better to keep an old one going as long as possible.
Did the maths with mine (9yrs old and 42mpg) and then-GF's (brand new and 65mpg) The breakeven point is 600,000 miles... Mine died at 140,000 and she rolled hers and wrote it off at 4,000.
i chose to lease a car, just out of redundancy old car beyond what i regarded as economic repair, needed a reliable car, no cash to buy a new/old car, actually no money to fund all the repairs the old car needed either.
I could take a loan for a cheap old car and hope it was ok, and hope i could save enough for the repairs if needed. Or get a lease on a newer car with a warranty that would hopefully cover most of the costs if something broke whilst having some time to get some savings etc and start rebuilding my life a little.
Will i get rid of the car at the end of the lease, well... not sure, i am not doing the lease mileage, i like the car, how will i feel in a couple of years who knows.
We've just bought our first ever new car after 30+ years of car ownership. Old 2.0L Focus needed replacing and 5years interest free credit on offer at local dealership. We have halved our monthly fuel bill and car tax is very low compared to the Focus, we bought a Corsa 1.2 very uninspiring on reflection but it fits our needs and is affordable for our budget.
Currently thinking of a 5yr old Audi RS4 Avant next for around 15k. If I bought new, for that price then options would include the terminally dull Hyundai ix20 1.6 CRDi, or perhaps a Fiat Punto 1.3 Multijet.
Absolutely agree, i have one. It's a superb car AS LONG AS it has been maintained and you have a very relaxed approach to large repair bills if anything goes wrong. And the brakes have been done. And its been carbon cleaned. And the DRC has been checked. $180k car here in 2008, i got mine in 2010 for $80k. Waiting for 12months of the B8 and will then get a nice used one of them. I love new car buyers !
I had a 993 which was biught instead of a Golf - slightly cheaper as well, cheaper to service and lets be honest while less practical it was a nicer place to be !
Currently thinking of a 5yr old Audi RS4 Avant next for around 15k. If I bought new, for that price then options would include the terminally dull Hyundai ix20 1.6 CRDi, or perhaps a Fiat Punto 1.3 Multijet.
And the Audi will be a lot cheaper once you factor in depreciation.
Markie - Member
I'd guess a fair few are company cars... 3 years rolls around and BANG, new car!
This.. I'm just trying to decide what to get in time for March.
But I really don't want a '13' plate... 😯
I know plenty of people who are "scrimpers" and rarely buy anything new and seem to prefer spending time fixing stuff. They get their kicks from doing this it would seem.
Or maybe they just prefer saving money, having new bikes and foreign holidays. I'm just amazed at how people on this thread seem to be trying to make an economic argument for buying a new car when the depreciation on one dwarfs any of the costs you get with a s/h one. Meanwhile from what I can work out, people seem to spend as much money on servicing their new car as people do on paying the garage to fix an older one (no crawling about under a car for me - I just find a nice independent garage to do the work).
I know plenty of people who are "scrimpers" and rarely buy anything new and seem to prefer spending time fixing stuff. They get their kicks from doing this it would seem.
Each to their own and good luck to them
This is me. That's why my car has 157k miles on it
Company cars. lease cars and I guess some will be on finance.
I can't remember the last time I had a spare 25k. We just buy 6 month old motors and run them into the ground, we have a 10 year old motor that's yet to reach 60K, so you see why.
Despite what the media say, the only ones who are really feeling the triple dip recession that we are nattering are those on lower family incomes, I.e less that £50k especially if there is a couple of kids in the family to. There are a very large number of people in this country who still earn big bucks and really are unaffected and hence are buying new cars.
My car is 10 years old and it's running great. No reason to change for at least another 5 years.
I bought a new car about 4 weeks ago,it's a 1998 Nissan Micra 1.0,£400 and an absolute bargain,I don't know where the others are getting their money from though.
Ian
Well done. In all seriousness one of the best small cars ever made and the only one that takes the genius of the Mini concept and refines it. 810kg = nuts mpg, all aluminum engine with timing chain, ridiculously easy to work on, cavernous inside (they could make the interior panels very thin due to the strength of the bubble shape).
I'd buy one now as a run about but the idiots didn't import them to North America.
Totally agree with the OP, god knows why people buy these crappy new cars that are increasingly weighed down with safety/electronic crap etc.
1998 Nissan Micra 1.0
Great little car for what it is, just don't hit anything with it. It'll end badly.
Rscott - Member
Cause thanks to the crappage scheme, there is a destinc lack of older cars, and even less so of quality for a reasonable price.
What??? Just been helping a mate spend £5k on a motor and was astonished at what you can get for that sort of money, which lets face it isn't very much at all these days.
Hondas, Zee Germans and pretty much everything else were were on offer in some form for £5k...
Politically driven reporting. "Highest since 2008", the year which was a massive new low after a steady decline and then crash between 2003 and 2007.
Honda have just slashed production permanently in the UK stating that they don't see car sales increasing at all in the next few years.
Can't see the point in a new car when You can get one for half the price after 3 years. FWIW, our Audi 1995 A6 has done a pretty incredible 288,000 miles, absolute bargain.
If you could afford one/were not so tight, you would buy one too 😉
Before we moved to Aus, we had a brand new Fiat 500.
Over the three years of ownership it lost less than £1000 in depreciation and had two services.
Arguments toward a new car, safety and reliability.
We bought a used car out here which was fine, a 2005 Fiesta Zetec, ran it for 6 months, then when the OH started commuting we bought a new car. She puts 500km a week on the clock, plus the new car is 5 star ncap rather than 3 star of the older Fiesta. Slightly better on fuel which is neither here nor there, but when questioned why I didn't buy a big Aussie V8. Why would I want one, you can only do 100kmh. All a V8 would do is cost me over $100 a week instead of 50. The same argument applies to your RS4.
If you think the target market for the diesel I20 is the same as the sort of person who buys a used RS4 then you would be wrong. Replacing the brakes on the RS4 will cost more than a lifetime of servicing on the Hyundai.
Anyway, you would be best with a model under 2 years old which has suffered mega depreciation but still has manufacturers warranty remaining on it.
I've just bought a new car. Now my commute is an 85 mile round trip I wanted something comfortable, economical, and with sufficient toys to make the M25 bearable or keep me safe when dozing off to Radio 4 at 2am.
Great deal on new Vauxhall Insignia last year with 5 years 0% finance (no deposit either), lifetime warranty, and a £500 fuel voucher. Negotiated nearly £6.5k off the list price by the time I signed the deal, and it comes this week.
I wanted a new car for the fixed price of ownership - and 'cos I wanted my choice of specification and colour.
Honda have just slashed production permanently in the UK stating that they don't see car sales increasing at all in the next few years.
Is that a bit of.....
Politically driven reporting.
Honda blamed sales figures in Mainland Europe for the job losses.
Not the UK.
I can't afford to buy or lease one, even leasing one costs £300 and up, beyond my reach, depressingly...
According to the SMMT 41% of the 123,000 2012 new car regsitrations were private. The rest were fleet/business. I don't think that 50,000 new cars bought privately is a "so many" number for a country with 37 million people holding driving liceneses. It's 0.135% of the population or 1:750.
Personally I buy cars 1-2yrs old and let someone else take the maximum depreciation hit.
I just bought a new to me car 4 years old and 20k of depreciation from new i have a rather nice bike transporting machine.
If you could afford one/were not so tight, you would buy one too
Absolutely.
The problem with cars is the expense, I really want a 911 but cant afford one. So I'm loathed to spend thousands on something that's make do.
Though having a company car makes it all academic.
There was a time when I had to buy three cars, that was a bugger, ended up with three 5k'ish cars instead of one decent one.
How do you finance a £40k car...?
I mean seriously, what do you do...?
Is it just like a £4k car but all the figures x10...? 🙂
Folk really spend upwards of £1k a month on a car...
Just about to lease a nine seater. Its a business asset so offset and also get the VAT back. TBH I want a revolving door on the vans; soon as its paid up, sell it and lease another shiny new one (in Spain if you lease for 5 years you then own the vehicle).
Honda blamed sales figures in Mainland Europe for the job losses.Not the UK.
Is that not a bit political too, blame mainland europe, not the country where the jobs are being lost.
Doesn't change that fact that car sales are still well down on pre 2008 levels and this is non-news trying to pretend the economy is fine and picking up, when it's far from it.
UK car market is doing much better than mainland Europe.
Things about recessions is they tend to be quite black and white at the individual level - if you loose your job, you have no money, if you still have your job, not a lot has changed for you.
I bought a new car 6 years ago. I'm still driving it.
I won't buy another new car though depreciation is just too high.
Spending circa 10K on a three year old car will get me something nice with plenty of life left in it.
Spending the same amount on a new car wouldn't quite get me a Vauxhall Corsa.
Its difficult to argue with the OP's logic
Doesn't change that fact that car sales are still well down on pre 2008 levels and this is non-news trying to pretend the economy is fine and picking up, when it's far from it.
So if someone says "highest since 2008"
your reaction is to say they are being disingenuous because it was higher in 2007 ? 😐
Seems like all you want to hear is doom and gloom so nobody spends anything at all and we guarantee a triple/quadruple dip ?
Seems like all you want to hear is doom and gloom so nobody spends anything at all and we guarantee a triple/quadruple dip ?
Na, just some policies that actually encourage growth rather than kill it, and not pumping out news that just pretends it's all going well.
Also the OP posted "Why are so many people driving new cars", which suggests the news piece did what was actually intended.
I've got a car dealer in the family, believe me, 'lots of people' are not driving new cars.
So who's building all these second hand cars then ?
You'd better hope people/businesses continue to buy new ones 😉
TBH I want a revolving door on the vans; soon as its paid up, sell it and lease another shiny new one
You miht as well just rent one.
Presumably it was taken a boasting my Mr Muke ➡
I know a fair number of people who pay for their cars on finance - they think it's odd I save for the next car, as opposed to finance it.
We just got a brand spanking new car. Wasn't looking for one, but it was cheaper than an equivalent 18 month old car on the VW forecourt. One years free insurance, 3 years servicing for little over £300. This replaced a dead 12 year old golf. We'll have this for a similar period hopefully.
I've got a car dealer in the family, believe me, 'lots of people' are not driving new cars.
Depends which make he sells, Kia are up 23% year on year....
We paid cash for a three year old Octavia estate late last year. We were tempted to get something newer, but put it into the house move, instead. After all, we'll be paying for the house for a while yet, and every little bit we can knock off that amount helps a huge amount over time.
There's an estate of new builds just down the road from us. Every one of them is a buy-to-let property. All the cars, with one exception (24 to 1) are under three years old. Most are 2012 plates. I don't know what that means, but it does suggest that, if you're fairly well to do, but don't own a house, then a brand new car is something you buy or lease.
As said above, it's about priorities. We have a mortgage to pay (and overpay if we can), neither of us drive for work, and neither of us simply have to have the newest car possible.
Na, just some policies that actually encourage growth rather than kill it, and not pumping out news that just pretends it's all going well.
Well, nobody suggested that everything was fine. Just reporting the fact that new car sales are higher this year than they have been since 2008.
That's a good thing right ? Because it seems like it is to me.
Also the OP posted "Why are so many people driving new cars", [b]which suggests the news piece did what was actually intended[/b].
It's reported some "news" factually. And people have read it and asked questions.
Just out of interest, Why do you think new car sales are higher this year than they have been in four years ?
I've got a car dealer in the family, believe me, 'lots of people' are not driving new cars.
More than any year since 2008 though, unless they performing below the national average ?
We managed to get a new Ford C-Max for less than a 2 year old one would have cost us at the same dealer. Why pay more for a second hand car. I'm not even taking depreciation into account, if we had paid in cash we would have had more change from the new one. It was even better when they worked out the monthly cost on Ford Options the new one was worth more at the end of the 3 years so cost less per month and that made it even cheaper overall.
You miht as well just rent one.
1) I get a 40% discount on new because I'm self employed. (so a 40k vehicle for 24k). The discount absorbs much of the depreciation over 5 years, depending on mileage, condition etc.
2) "Revolved" once I'm trading in a 5 year old vehicle so the payments for the next cycle are half or less (roughly 24k minus value of old vehicle / 60 + interest).
3) With renting the monthly cost goes up with inflation (or whatever the rental co' decide), with lease-buy its eroded by inflation and its a fixed (predictable) payment.
4) Its hard to rent a suitable vehicle (One that carries nine people and nine bikes with no trailer needed).
We will be getting a new car in the next few months through a lease scheme.
Worked out about the same as getting the same car 2 years old. No service costs, no tyre costs, no breakdown costs, no insurance costs etc etc.
"There's an estate of new builds just down the road from us. Every one of them is a buy-to-let property. All the cars, with one exception (24 to 1) are under three years old. Most are 2012 plates. I don't know what that means, but it does suggest that, if you're fairly well to do, but don't own a house, then a brand new car is something you buy or lease."
its a case of mixed up priority's - *sweeping generalisation* these will be the same folks that are complaining its too hard to get on the property *ladder*. We all know folk like that , nice car , nice phone , nice bike ......claims its just too hard to save a deposit on their wage.
* i realise some folk need the fluidity of renting but surely not everyone.
although being a fan of simple non electrical loaded french motors i am tempted to take a look at a dacia duster in a dealer when my frontera spits the dummy as its a price not to be sniffed at.
I pick up my new car on Thursday... 🙂
edit - not sorted out a roofrack yet!!
Rachel
Could well be that people aren't getting any interest on their savings so probably have the mentality of they may as well just spend it on something like an extension, new car etc.
Well done. In all seriousness one of the best small cars ever made and the only one that takes the genius of the Mini concept and refines it. 810kg = nuts mpg, all aluminum engine with timing chain, ridiculously easy to work on, cavernous inside (they could make the interior panels very thin due to the strength of the bubble shape).
What???
They struggle to do 36mpg! Our 1.6 Focus is better on fuel than those things!
They rust too.\
The older mk1 Micra was better on fuel, and a Fiat Panda of the same age wipes the floor with it!
I've been through the whole gammut of buying cars - Brand new ones, reasonably new second hand ones, and 10 yr old £1000 'old but good' cars - they've all just cost more money than is sensible. Final straw came 2 months ago when the 'sensible' 06 plate Golf GT TDI that we got 2 years ago for the GF,for £8k, low mileage, good nick, started costing money - pretty big money on smallish stuff - i.e. AC compressor failed - that's £1000 (not done it yet - not exactly needed right now!)...
There's no reason to actually 'own' a car in my opinion (having one is a yes, and essential for our location) - it's just a depreciating asset which ever way you look at it - new, nearly new, or old. they're all worth FA when you're done with them.
PCP however, just makes sense - I can lease a Merc C-Class estate for the same price that we pay per month on the Golf - £210. Except it won't cost me anything to fix, etc, and can hand it back when it comes to the point it might need bigger stuff doing. Maybe mileage would alter that significantly - we only need a 10k miles pa contract...
Of course, if I had a spare £15k, I might think differently. I doubt it though - I need to re-render the house and have a new porch built!
cx monkey where can you get the merc at that price?