New or nearly new?

bouicca21

I'm looking at buying a new to me car. I know diddly squat about cars, so my initial thought was to buy a nearly new - after all, the standard wisdom is that a new car loses 20% of its value as soon as you drive it off the forecourt. And to buy from a dealership for peace of mind.

But nearly new cars from dealerships, I.e. 2-3 years old seem to be roughly 80% of the list price for new. In fact more than 80% if you look at the kind of discount you can get through Wow. Plus heading into requirement for MOT. A new car on PCP looks as though it will work out at very little more.

Decisions, decisions ...

OddballJamie

All depends on the deal you can get at the time, I was initially looking at year old cars when I bought my last car. Until I stumbled across a dealer selling a new one with the options I wanted for less than I could get a year old one.

If I had bought the used one I would've already been out of warranty and be closer to replacing wear and tear items.

What car are you looking for?

bouicca21

I'm after a small 5 door hatchback. 1.2 or better. Seriously looking at a kia picanto, far cheaper (I think) than a Fabia which I was also considering.

EssexExile

I agree with Jamie. Everyone used to say buying nearly new was a lot cheaper but when you actually get out there & compare there's not much in it. If you keep cars a long time like I do the difference over the life of the car is negligible anyway. Buying new you're more likely to get exactly what you want rather than what others don't want any more.

Jimi.K.

I had the same dilemma back in the summer. I think because they’re so popular with first time buyers, smaller cars hold their value particularly well in the first few years. Ended up getting a brand new Hyundai i10 for a very similar price to 6-12mth old models and with interest free finance to boot.

If you’re considering the Kia Picanto I’d definitely test drive the new generation i10. The Picanto is based on the old generation i10, whereas the latest i10 is a completely new car from the chassis up and gets much better reviews from the critics. All models are 5-door and there’s a 1.2l model available as well. You’ll find it feels much more refined and grown up than other city cars so will be more similar to the more expensive Skoda Fabia in that respect.

Foxy-Stoat_3

bouicca21 wrote: »

the standard wisdom is that a new car loses 20% of its value as soon as you drive it off the forecourt.

But nearly new cars from dealerships, I.e. 2-3 years old seem to be roughly 80% of the list price for new.

What standard wisdom, yours or urban myths? No one would buy a new car, drive it off the forecourt then reverse back onto the forecourt and sell it back to the dealer and take a 20% hit.

100% - 20% = 80%, so its about right then, if the 2-3 year old car had low mileage and looked after then its about right.

Sorted

motorguy

bouicca21 wrote: »

I'm looking at buying a new to me car. I know diddly squat about cars, so my initial thought was to buy a nearly new - after all, the standard wisdom is that a new car loses 20% of its value as soon as you drive it off the forecourt. And to buy from a dealership for peace of mind.

But nearly new cars from dealerships, I.e. 2-3 years old seem to be roughly 80% of the list price for new. In fact more than 80% if you look at the kind of discount you can get through Wow. Plus heading into requirement for MOT. A new car on PCP looks as though it will work out at very little more.

Decisions, decisions ...

If you're not that "in" to your cars, i'd be buying a Dacia Sandero with aircon, metallic paint, alloys and colour coded bumpers - probably around £8.5K.

OddballJamie

As the new Fabia is due out, dealers may do the current model at a good discount.

colino

OP I think you may be confusing the number that is on the dealer price list for a new car and the equally confusing price chrome and glass palace dealerships put on their nearly new stock. Both numbers can be disregarded in the real world, establish what you really want, what your real, affordable, budget is and go hunting.

marlot

I find it varies. We have three cars in our household. One bought at 11 months old, one at 4 months old and one new.

In each case we looked at the best price for now from brokers, and took it from there. For both the used cars I had to travel - 200 miles for one, 100 miles for the other.