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New car vs 2nd hand?

Leanne1812
Leanne1812 Posts: 1,688 Forumite
Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
Hello forum,

Not sure if this is where this query should be but here goes........

My son is looking to purchase a car when, hopefully!, he passes his test in May. We have been looking online at various offers through garages and at autocar too. Our dilemma is should we go for a new model or a nearly new? He has savings of £3000 but some of that will be used up for insurance( average quote with me as policyholder and son as named driver £1000) so, with £2000 deposit is it wiser to go for brand new as there are so many incentives and low interest finance deals or stick with nearly new? He is keen on vauxhall corsa which is available at £6995 at the moment. Any thoughts folks?

Many thanks for any suggestions.

Leanne
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Comments

  • Millionaire
    Millionaire Posts: 3,748 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    edited 13 April 2009 at 12:56PM
    I would never buy a new car. The depreciation on driving a car off the forecourt is estimated at 28% by a survey. Then the levels of depreciation within the first 3 years is huge.

    I would personally buy only cars that are 3year+ in age. You can find immaculate cars at a fraction of the cost.

    In regards to the Corsa, what spec is it? I'm guessing most likely one of the lowest.
  • Try to dissuade him from being in debt with his very first car.

    Be perfectly honest here, i will, i managed to prang my first car at some point, i believe most of us do, except for the saints i hear now putting finger to keyboard.

    try to get him to buy a low ins group used car for max £1K. Should he then bend it by his own fault he hopefully won't have an insurance claim (it won't hurt him to scrounge round the scrap yards for bits to repair it and get his hands dirty either, it'll make him learn quicker) unless he hits another car.
    When he's got 12 months no claims and some driving experience under his belt he'll have more idea what he wants car wise too.
    And on that subject he should get his own insurance immediately, if you insure the car as main driver when its actually his it would be classed as ''fronting'' and he would be technically uninsured, the ins companies are not stupid they know this goes on.

    Loads of perfectly good relatively simple cars around under £1K...Pug 106 and its like, good little motors, nicer to drive than many.
    One of the best small cars ever made is the old shape Nissan Micra but it looks like Noddy's car (as does the new one) so i doubt he'll want one of those.
    I wouldn't advise you to go new for the above reasons and nearly new small cars are ridiculously overpriced at the moment.
  • shelly
    shelly Posts: 6,394 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Leanne1812 wrote: »
    average quote with me as policyholder and son as named driver £1000


    If your son is going to be the main driver he should be down on the policy as so, not as a named driver.
    It will be expensive but you can add yourself as a named driver to bring the price down a little.
    :heart2: Love isn't finding someone you can live with. It's finding someone you can't live without :heart2:
  • candice56
    candice56 Posts: 509 Forumite
    Hi Leanne,

    Even a nearly new car loses a heap when you become the owner, the garage of course will be making a clear profit on either new or used. The choice has to be yours but I would factor in paying extra for a 'GAP' policy from the garage or internet so that the car is paid off in the event of a write off.

    Do not just pay the advertised price but dont waste anyones time, shop online, print and be prepared to buy if the garage price matches.

    If your son wants a Corsa they are dirt cheap at the mo but will be worth very little by time his finance ends- he must accept this and commit to keep the same car at least 3 years to get his monies worth.

    It may be worth considering contract hire/leasing for a while to get used to monthly payments etc.
    :j
    Baby born May 29th 09
    :j
    If you didn't know how old you were, how old would you be?
    :A
    I won a Mauve Lip Gloss (17/8/9)
  • Sidmon
    Sidmon Posts: 162 Forumite
    He must be absolutely insane even thinking about a new or even newish first car. Being his first he's bound to bump/scrape it and will lose a fortune in depreciation. Tell him to get something older/cheaper and disposable!
  • anewman
    anewman Posts: 9,200 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    After passing I only managed to bump something once (those things they put around lamp posts in car parks) and as my bumpers are black (not the painted ones where the paint cracks off) it caused no damage at all.

    I agree though, a banger is the way :)
  • custardy
    custardy Posts: 38,365 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    i would say spend the £2k on the best most sensible car he can buy outright
  • motorguy
    motorguy Posts: 22,617 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Leanne1812 wrote: »
    Hello forum,

    Not sure if this is where this query should be but here goes........

    My son is looking to purchase a car when, hopefully!, he passes his test in May. We have been looking online at various offers through garages and at autocar too. Our dilemma is should we go for a new model or a nearly new? He has savings of £3000 but some of that will be used up for insurance( average quote with me as policyholder and son as named driver £1000) so, with £2000 deposit is it wiser to go for brand new as there are so many incentives and low interest finance deals or stick with nearly new? He is keen on vauxhall corsa which is available at £6995 at the moment. Any thoughts folks?

    Many thanks for any suggestions.

    Leanne

    Please dont go down the route of you as policyholder and son as named driver. This is known as 'fronting' and if he has an accident you wont be covered. They will check whos name is on the tax book, finance docs etc and will declare the insurance null and void.

    Use www.broadspeed.com to find the best deals, then get your local dealer to price match. Play several dealers off against each other too.
  • Leanne1812
    Leanne1812 Posts: 1,688 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Thank you everyone for your most helpful advice. I will definately reconsider taking out an insurance policy in my name as there's no way we'd want to be in a situation where we find the cover is null and void. Cheers for the link, I will definately check them out and try to play the brokers off each other.

    I know most of you feel my son should only spend a small amount on his 1st car but he has been saving for a long time and working extra hours so he can have a nice car. You know how it is with boys, most of his friends have newish cars and he wants to impress them and of course the girls too!:rotfl:

    Thanks again for your replies.

    Leanne
  • spend 1-2k on the first car, if he hasnt crashed it a year later buy a better one
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