Age 'sweet spot' for buying a nearly new car?

Noctu

I'm a bit clueless when it comes to new cars (never spent more than £2.5k on one) so please bear with me!

In a nutshell I test drove the new Kia Picanto at the weekend and loved it. However the model I would like (the top spec one) is over £10k new.

I was thinking of waiting until the demonstrators are being sold from the dealerships, or waiting 6 months/1 year for a used one.

However my husband has just bought an 09 plate car for £8k, looking at info about it online it originally sold new for £17k. This came as a bit of a shock!

Obviously cars will always depreciate year on year but is there a particular age where you might get the best value for money? Maybe 2 years?

Or is it, as I'm suspecting, a question of 'how long is a piece of string'...? ! :rotfl:

Ghostrider

It really depends on the car to be honest, different cars hold their value in different ways.

The best way to check is to have a look about for a similar model to yours at the dealers or on Autotrader and see what they are selling for at 2,3,4, 5 years old and that should give you a fair idea. It also depends on spec, mileage when you come to sell it, how long a warranty it has left etc etc.

27col

I have had several demonstrators over the years. You usually get a good reduction. My present car is an 03 Fiat Stilo Estate. It was also a demonstrator. I have the original paperwork for it and the list price was £18k with all the high specification extras. I got it for £12k when it was 15 months old. The depreciation means that it is not worth much now, but It is well worth it to me to keep it almost indefinitely. It is starting to need a bit of money spending on it, but even with that expense it is still worth hanging on to. To replace it with something of the same specification would be far more than I am prepared to spend.

flashg67

Also depends on how long you want to wait to get the car of your dreams! In general, the 1st year sees the biggest depreciation. The Picanto will be a popular car so there should be a choice around in a year or so, and with a 7 year warranty, there'll still be a decent warranty left. Financially, it makes sense to wait, but IMO, there's little to compare with the smell of a new car!

reeac

The newer the car the faster the depreciation - the old saying that driving the car out of the showroom costs thousands - hence the attraction of demonstrators but, as already said, it's how long is a piece of string? The present trend towards longer warranties makes slightly older cars atractive, however.

jackyann

Agree with checking on different models. Estates & MPVs hold their value better.
Also depends on cash flow: about 16 years ago we were able to buy a new Toyota Previa. It kept going for 140,000 miles with the only cost being routine serving & normal wear & tear.

rev_henry

Over £10k for a picanto!? The old model was about 7k for a special edition one with most of the creature comforts one needs, wasn't it?

Kilty_2

rev_henry wrote: »

Over £10k for a picanto!? The old model was about 7k for a special edition one with most of the creature comforts one needs, wasn't it?

The list price of a 1 (base model) old shape was £7300 - I paid £5500.

New shape starts at £7795 and there will be no discount at the moment apart from PCP deposit contribution if they're still doing that.

The new shape in base model trim is FAR, FAR, FAR better equipped than my car - I don't know what you're having to spec to cause it to cost over £10,000.

marlot

It varies hugely. The annual depreciation on my landcruiser has been lower than the depreciation that I had on the Mondeo that preceeded it!

getmore4less

However my husband has just bought an 09 plate car for £8k, looking at info about it online it originally sold new for £17k. This came as a bit of a shock!

was £17k list price or actual new selling price they are different

what car was it?

Look at the sort of discounts you can get on new,
http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/best-deals/new/


If OH is so good at getting deals get him to buy you a car :T


List looks very expensive and little discounting on new
http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/kia/picanto-2011/?section=data


With this budget there are loads of option in the nearly new - 3 y bracket

alanrowell

I always use the theory that up to a year old - gives time for defects to be noticed but still leaves it fairly new