How much would you spend on a new car?

redux

Nearly 12 years ago I bought a 4 year old and 24,000 miles Citroen Xantia for £4500, about a quarter of the original list price.

I still have it, and it passed 200,000 miles a few weeks ago.

Yes it's had mechanical work done, but certainly not a string of disasters.

Depreciation works out to 2.2p a mile, a lot less than the 50p and more that some people suffer. Service and repairs a bit less.

Richard53

Ozzuk wrote: »

I always said I'd never had a brand new car due to depreciation in first few years. I've had nearly new a few times. Then I found out the new Mustang will be RHD and so ordered one last December. Still waiting for delivery and the depreciation will be eye watering but don't really care!

It depends on the supply, and the level of demand. There was a time when 1-2 year old Morgans were selling at well above the new list price, simply because the factory couldn't keep up with demand. The Mustang is a sufficiently unusual/desirable car that this may happen here too.

thescouselander

Well I've just bought a new car (for the first time in fact) and I was surprised to find out putting it on finance actually worked out to be a very good deal indeed - especially since it's 0% interest and the dealer gave me a decent deposit contribution. I was also looking at buying a car that was maybe a year old but it actually worked out at a similar price the the brand new one. Basically I was of the view that new cars were too expensive until I realised you don't pay anywhere near the list price.

I would say have a good look round for a deal on a new car - use sites like Carwow to get the dealers to compete against each other. Also don't discount leasing - there's some really good deals about if you're not fussy on what car you want. Either way I suspect you could get sorted for the money you want to spend.

Just as a point of reference I picked up a top spec Mazda 6 with auto box and fancy metallic paint for £25k and that also included a load of freebies from the dealer. I could have had a lower spec for a lot less (a good bit under £20k) so I'm not sure how you're getting to £25K-£30k for a medium saloon.

FreddieFrugal

thescouselander wrote: »

Just as a point of reference I picked up a top spec Mazda 6 with auto box and fancy metallic paint for £25k and that also included a load of freebies from the dealer. I could have had a lower spec for a lot less (a good bit under £20k) so I'm not sure how you're getting to £25K-£30k for a medium saloon.

nice car, love the new look mazdas. I wish they made a mazda 3 estate in this country rather than saloon option over the hatch.

I could never ever justify paying 25K though, when a quick look on auto trader finds a 2 year old (still a toddler) Mazda 6 2.2L diesel Sport Nav (top trim), with good properly run in 30K mileage for £15,500

If you can afford that difference great, but I'm always going to go for the best value deal. Did the extras thrown in on an already pretty expansive equipment list make 10K difference to its value?

Personally I'd have gone for SE-L trim which has all I'd need - that's £13,500 for same age and mileage

EDIT: sorry figures I quoted there were for manual transmission. Autos are £1000 more than I quoted. Still significant saving buying used.

mcjordi

im with lee and the bangernomics gang.. probably around 500..im handy with spanners and have a reasonably priced mechanic mate who does stuff i cant (timing belts mainly) depends on how much i have at the time i need a car..

certainly less than £1k

redux

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

It seems as if I can get a fairly low mileage volkswagon golf or mazda 5 around 1-2 years old for around £12k which is affordable and would still be reliable. I also need to look at the Renault megane, Vauxhall astra and ford focus. I do not want to get anything which needs to be constantly in the garage and as I do motorway journeys every month I want something comfortable. It also needs to be able to transport a young baby and on occasion 2 80+ year olds!

The next door neighbours recently bought a 3 year old Skoda Fabia to replace a 15 year old Astra.

I don't know what they paid for it, but a glance through Autotrader suggests a good guess would be £5000 to £5500. Two year olds from £6500.

thescouselander

IanRi wrote: »

nice car, love the new look mazdas. I wish they made a mazda 3 estate in this country rather than saloon option over the hatch.

I could never ever justify paying 25K though, when a quick look on auto trader finds a 2 year old (still a toddler) Mazda 6 2.2L diesel Sport Nav (top trim), with good properly run in 30K mileage for £15,500

If you can afford that difference great, but I'm always going to go for the best value deal. Did the extras thrown in on an already pretty expansive equipment list make 10K difference to its value?

Personally I'd have gone for SE-L trim which has all I'd need - that's £13,500 for same age and mileage

EDIT: sorry figures I quoted there were for manual transmission. Autos are £1000 more than I quoted. Still significant saving buying used.

On the Mazda 6 Specifically it's just had a face lift with most of the changes being done to the interior which is far better than the previous version. I also considered an older 6 (18 months to 2 years old) car but I didn't like the old interior so it was a non starter - for me at least they were different cars. Also there's a load of new equipment on the face-lift model such as head up display and full LED headlights - the new version is a lot quiter and the suspension has been tuned for a more comfortable ride.

It might be worth having a look at the currently outgoing A4 too. I saw some really good deals on these but since I've been driving one for the last 5 years I didn't fancy another one.

Kernow666

never bought a brand new car and never would even though i could afford it
tend to stick to 3-5yr old cars as better value for money
my current 07 plate fiesta cost me 4k when i had it on 2010 and running costs are cheap , get 100miles out of it for £10 of diesel and costs me £30 a year to tax and £150 fully comp insurance

even if i ever won the lottery i wouldnt buy a brand new car for 100k+