New or used car?

OddballJamie

DKLS wrote: »

7k that much :eek: I had one on hire after a bump and it was terrifyingly under powered, pulling out at roundabouts was especially fun. It went back after 2 days for an i30 which could keep up with the traffic.

Sounds like they gave you the 1.1 66bhp one, supposedly the 1.2 85bhp is pretty nippy if you're not too heavy.

DKLS

OddballJamie wrote: »

Sounds like they gave you the 1.1 66bhp one, supposedly the 1.2 85bhp is pretty nippy if you're not too heavy.

Being a hire car I would guess it was the 66bhp model, put your foot to the floor and nothing happens except a lot of noise :eek:

I used to criticise i10 drivers when I was behind them at a roundabout, and used to shout "you waiting for a postcard for when its safe to pull out" after driving one I fully understand.

Ultrasonic

Sarita_86 wrote: »

I do a lot of miles in my car due to my living situation,

Approximately how many miles per year do you drive?

My family say get a new car at around £7-9k for peace of mind and my OH says second hand at around £6-8k. ARGH!

Well they're not offering very different opinions really. What sort of car do you want/need? I'd probably be looking at spending something like £5k max. second hand, and plan to keep the car for at least 5 years.

I totally agree with what Richard posted above, new cars are luxuries and if your priorities lie elsewhere then save money and buy something cheaper. You lose a lot of money in depreciation on a new car, far more than you're likely to have to spend on repairs of a sensible second hand choice.

Leasing (Lingscars or similar) is an option that suits people who for whatever reason don't want unexpected bills, but you pay more for this certainty.

silverwhistle

neil_999 wrote: »

I spend £900 a year on cars, .

Cor, that's expensive.;-) I think my first buy wasn't too shabby (although the car itself was!). £100, which I sold after 10 months to the guy next door for £70! O.K. - that was a few years ago now.

I'm getting rid of my current car for whatever I can get for it. €4500 for 7 years motoring isn't bad, and I'm only getting rid of it as it would cost more to import into the UK than its worth.

I'll probably spend a little more on my next one, but it really depends on what comes up: not having too many pre-conceived notions about what you want helps.

jenniemiller177

Definately go for a car that's a couple of years old. I got one that was 9 months old and saved £3K off the list price. Its madness to think it goes done so much and so quickly.

plane_boy2000

jenniemiller177 wrote: »

Definately go for a car that's a couple of years old. I got one that was 9 months old and saved £3K off the list price. Its madness to think it goes done so much and so quickly.

But in reality people do not pay list price, so the differences are not quite as big as people perceive.

Its not unusual to see < 12 month old cars selling for similar prices to broker discounted new models

OddballJamie

jenniemiller177 wrote: »

Definately go for a car that's a couple of years old. I got one that was 9 months old and saved £3K off the list price. Its madness to think it goes done so much and so quickly.

The majority of car buyers don't pay list (unless it's something exclusive or sort after) so you didn't save as much as you think.
I bought my car new and saved about £8-9k off list and got it for £2k less than year old ones were going for at the time.