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

IamNotAllowedToUseMyName

The other factor is that small cars don't seem to age as well as bigger cars, but the big cars depreciate quicker than small cars.

So often large cars are seen as good secondhand buys as opposed to cheap and cheerfuls.

Add in that, assuming that you cannot necessarily afford a new car, especially a luxury one, there is also the factor that if you go for an older model, you can have something of a car to be proud of. That's worth something.

Big cars, less stressed, hopefully not going wrong. In older times they were still straightforward. I am not so sure that is the case now and we have yet to see the impact of the maintenance cliff on the current generation of super-complex small luxury brands like the A4, 3 Series and C Class.

Slightly perturbing to see this is what is under my bonnet now:

http://paultan.org/images.paultan.org/images/Mercedes_OM651_4_Large.jpg

http://paultan.org/images.paultan.org/images/Mercedes_OM651_1_Large.jpg

Iceweasel

IanMSpencer wrote: »

Slightly perturbing to see this is what is under my bonnet now:

http://paultan.org/images.paultan.org/images/Mercedes_OM651_4_Large.jpg

http://paultan.org/images.paultan.org/images/Mercedes_OM651_1_Large.jpg

Wouldn't it be easy of you had access to the engine like that.

These days you would need a double-jointed dwarf *to get anywhere near most of the owner serviceable items.

Here's what is below my bonnet:



Small hands are required to access anything.

* Please note - nothing in this post (stated or implied) should be taken as a slur in any way on persons of restricted stature.

IamNotAllowedToUseMyName

Iceweasel wrote: »

Wouldn't it be easy of you had access to the engine like that.

I first realised just how bad access was getting when I saw my mate trying to adjust his headlight for continental use on his 57 plate Audi A6. A few knuckles less, a significant number of important parts dismantled to flip a lever.

The first car I drove was a Morris Marina - that had a tiny little engine surrounded by thin air. I think you could have climbed into the engine compartment and stood on the ground. Our Vauxhall Chevette had a more interesting engine with recirculation of fumes here there and everywhere. Citroen GS was very simple but so compact that you had to remove the exhaust to get to the starter, and the 4th spark plug needed a wing removing or drilling or the engine dropping out. My In-Laws Renault 4 was simple aside from a bizarre collection of springs keeping everything together.

Even the 4.0 litre engine in the Ford Explorer we had was accessible.

sh0597

It's going to depend on your mileage as well. Cars have gotten quite a bit more economic in recent years.

Herzlos

There's a lot more to factor in than age, as depreciation isn't linear or constant across makes, models or even trim levels. A brand new Dacia Sandero will cost less than a BMW 3 series will depreciate by over it's first 4 years.

For the cheapest total cost of ownership, buying something in good condition for £100 and maintaining it yourself. For those that don't have cheap access to parts and labour, the cheaper option is probably buying something a bit less popular whilst there's some warranty left on it and running it until it becomes too expensive to repair.

Essentially you want to get a car you're happy with and keep it as long as you can, as you'll lose a lot of money each time you change unless you buy/sell privately and are a good haggler, but you'll still pay more in insurance for changing cars / not having had them as long.

We bought a 3 year old Rover 75 (top spec estate) after they went bust for £7500 and kept it for 7 years where I traded it in for £1000, so it cost under £80/month for luxo barge cruising. I also bought a 5 year old MG ZT for £5500 and sold it 6 years later for £500, meaning again less than £70/month again for a nice car.

roswell

I tend to price the car at how much use I want from it on a simple scale of £1000 a year ish

Ok its rough maths but assuming 10 years use whats the best car I can get for 10 K ? or if im looking at a older car I reduce the budget but generally you can get a very good 3-5 year old car and run it for 10 years

so if you invert that so you assume most cars can run with just reasonable serviceing and repair costs for 15 years you can also set your budget accordingly.

ironically the last car we bought was brand new because we managed to negotiate a price that fitted the maths and a further discount that meants if we keep it to 15 years it will be below £670 a year, if it hits 10 years its still below budget.

I think a lot of the car market in the UK is full of wasted good cars that aren't properly maintained, many other countries around the world have greater residual value in there vehicles compared to the UK market. it should be expected that 98% of vechiles produced will do 100,000 miles with out major failure, a good section of them will do 150, 000 plus but normally if cars are over 5/6 year old at that point they seem to be deemed worthless or close to it.