For total cost of motoring, what do people think is the best age to buy a car?

A._Badger

EdGasket wrote: »

I also disagree with the above. The most reliable car of any age is one that you maintain yourself. Then you know the job has been done properly and what state the car is in. My cars are rarely under 10 years old / 100K miles but hardly ever let me down.
You can have a breakdown with a car of almost any age. The best way to avoid that is to get under the bonnet and get familiar with your car.

Easier said than done with modern cars being so reliant on electronics.

EdGasket

A._Badger wrote: »

Easier said than done with modern cars being so reliant on electronics.

That's what an OBD2 reader is for; under £20 on ebay.

marleyboy

I would say about 3 Years, which is generally the lifespan of a lease car.

gilbert_and_sullivan

As said above, much depends on how much you can do yourself, if you can do virtually everything, and have no hang ups about an old or unfashionable car or the wrong badge, then buying cars 10 years or more old is where the real bargains are, especially if you like or want something with a larger engine as excepting some makes these cars can go on for many years and give pleasure too.

If you can't or won't do jobs yourself, then automotive washing machine world under makers warranty is probably the best bet, what a horrible thought though.

Horizon81

nobbysn*ts wrote: »

I found buying just under one year, so even one year warranty cars can be sorted out free, or £500 regardless of age. Then keeping them. .

Agree with this. Buy at one to two years old from main dealer - at heavily discounted price versus new. You'll still get a year or two warranty on it to get anything sorted that's not right. And then drive it for as many years as possible, maintaing service intervals and generally looking after it!

motorguy

The cheapest is always going to be buy old with a full years ticket and keep it until it wont pass MOT (for a reasonable cost) then scrap it.

Over and above that entirely depends on other priorities you may have.

For most people, its not all about total cost of ownership.

jimjames

motorguy wrote: »

For most people, its not all about total cost of ownership.

Very good point.

I think the important thing to remember is that whatever car you buy there will be a balance between the costs of servicing and maintenance and depreciation.

A new car may have very low service/maintenance costs but suffer big depreciation but an older car could have low depreciation and higher service and repair costs.

From some posts on here it seems that spending a relatively small amount on maintenance items can be seen as a make or break reason to sell a car. Yet the depreciation of a new one is seen as invisible and not taken account of.

So £500 on repairs to an older car may appear to be a lot of money but equated to the £3000 that a new car may depreciate in a year is actually fairly small.

The key difference that seems to have the biggest impact is that depreciation (often) comes out of the value of the loan so is hidden by fixed monthly payments but paying for repairs has to come out of monthly income. If people were better at budgeting, maybe putting £50 per month aside, then one off repair costs wouldn't be such a shock and may be the older car would be seen in a different light.

nomoneytoday

Iceweasel wrote: »

For me the answer is to buy at 2 years old and sell at 5.

+1 here too
Buy at a year or two after the first chunk of depreciation, and sell before the bills come in

[Deleted User]

Nice point jimjames, £500 for repairs to keep a car going and MOTd for another year is all of 2 months payments on a new car.

vansboy

Just had an add up for my Astra diesel, bought auction - ex British Telecom, part of the biggest fleet order given to Vauxhall, when BT changed over from Fords.

Registered January 2005 bought May 2009 - 4 1/2 years 67262 miles, with BT service history (3 services) £3900

Since then I've used genuine parts and Vauxhall oil for services at around 10-12000 miles, either doing myself, or independent garage.

I've had a cambelt change at 100,000 and some suspension work - pot holes and speed humps - and 4 Dunlop tyres. I also regularly clean it and detail clean 2-3 times year, with Mer polish and it looks very presentable, still.

Now on 117,000 miles and total spend on maintainence and repairs just under £1500, still drives well, returns regular 55+mpg, worth maybe £2000, so at a cost of £3400 for 50,000 miles (ex tax and insurance and diesel) less than 7p / mile cant be bad.

Choose an ex fleet car, from a good pedigree and you can have Moneysaving motoring.

VB