I don’t understand, the UK is about to enter a triple dip recession and there’s more people than ever buying new cars:

New Car Sales Up

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 really 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.