Used Car vs New Car

EssexExile

It depends how you view cars. In my younger years I'd buy a different car every year or two because having the "right" car was important. Now I'm old(er) I don't care. I was going to buy a nearly new car a few years ago (alright, several years ago) when I realised that I could buy a new car for not much more & get exactly what I wanted. My last three cars have been brand new & I keep them for about 10 years, yes I'm that old.

It depends what cars you are talking about too. I bought a couple of nearly new Vauxhalls years ago that were half the "new" price, one was only 3 months old. When I looked at nearly new Volvos (yes, I'm that old) there wasn't anywhere near that difference.

misiek404

thescouselander wrote: »

For me I prefer having something covered by the manufacturers warranty - especially on today's complicated cars where there is a lot to go wrong. Also, as already mentioned £450 pm is a lot to pay for an older car which could then hit you with a large and unexpected repairs bill.

Define large and unexpected repair bills on a 3-4 year old car with average mileage, fsh, clear hpi and 1 owner from new?
Example from autotrader, Volvo V60, new car circa £20k. Used, with fsh, one owner, 3 years old, 60k miles circa £10k. That's £10k in my pocket for all the "unexpected bills" I can imagine.
Oh and to keep the warranty you have to have the new car serviced by the main dealer. We all know how much that costs.

thescouselander

misiek404 wrote: »

Define large and unexpected repair bills on a 3-4 year old car with average mileage, fsh, clear hpi and 1 owner from new?
Example from autotrader, Volvo V60, new car circa £20k. Used, with fsh, one owner, 3 years old, 60k miles circa £10k. That's £10k in my pocket for all the "unexpected bills" I can imagine.
Oh and to keep the warranty you have to have the new car serviced by the main dealer. We all know how much that costs.

Main dealer servicing isn't expensive on new cars - usually around £200 a service in my experience and then they crank up the price for older cars. That said you could always get the dealer to throw in a servicing package as part of the deal.

As for repair bills that probably ranges from £0 to several thousand depending on what might go wrong. In the worst case I've heard of some cars needing replacement engines for various reasons. I don't understand the point about having £10k in your pocket though, surely that would only apply to people who intended to buy the car outright with cash - very few people actually do this.

Iceweasel

Scouselander is right - dealers aren't stupid - they want to keep the cars in the network - so prices are much more competitive than a few years ago.

People keep on saying that BMWs are expensive to service and repair.

Nothing could be further from the truth in my experience.

£450 for a 5 years service plan - which you could get the dealer to throw in as an extra incentive if you buy at the right time of year/month.

You could always go to an independant - but then you can forget any goodwill once you are out of warranty.

I extend the manufacturer's warranty after the 3 years original is up - no worries for me.

That way I have everything costed in advance - no surprises.

Yes, modern cars are complex - that why I wont let an 'under the arches' mechanic near it - even if he only charges £80 a pop - false economy in the long run

System

I would just buy a 13 year old car with 1 years not for £400, then when it dies take it for scrap

JJ_Egan

As above or if a new car then its always a dealers ex demo model .
Demo models are swapped frequently and are used by the staff as a company car with problems getting shoved straight to service dept .

DUTR

JJ_Egan wrote: »

As above or if a new car then its always a dealers ex demo model .
Demo models are swapped frequently and are used by the staff as a company car with problems getting shoved straight to service dept .

Sometimes ex demo's can be more to purchase than brand new, especially if going via a reputable broker.

thescouselander

I agree. If the car is ex demo then its not new. Also it could well be the previous model year and not the latest spec (which is why the dealer will be moving it on). Far better to negotiate a good deal on a new car.

bigjl

Iceweasel wrote: »

Scouselander is right - dealers aren't stupid - they want to keep the cars in the network - so prices are much more competitive than a few years ago.

People keep on saying that BMWs are expensive to service and repair.

Nothing could be further from the truth in my experience.

£450 for a 5 years service plan - which you could get the dealer to throw in as an extra incentive if you buy at the right time of year/month.

You could always go to an independant - but then you can forget any goodwill once you are out of warranty.

I extend the manufacturer's warranty after the 3 years original is up - no worries for me.

That way I have everything costed in advance - no surprises.

Yes, modern cars are complex - that why I wont let an 'under the arches' mechanic near it - even if he only charges £80 a pop - false economy in the long run

There is a caveat with your statement that BMWs are cheap to service and repair.

Basic servicing and brakes yes.

But when a big ticket item gives trouble they have huge bills.

Camchains would be one of my concerns with the common 2.0d for example.

The AirCon packed up on our 1 Series just after buying it and that wasn't going to be cheap to fix, flogged it with the fault.

bigjl

MatthewAinsworth wrote: »

I would just buy a 13 year old car with 1 years not for £400, then when it dies take it for scrap

How is that relevant to the thread?

Not everybody wants to drive a car full of nasal mucus and farts.....