Newer car or not

kiloalpha

I am looking/thinking to change my car and was looking for some options.
I am driving a zafira at the moment and it returns about 45mpg which as per some of my friends is very good for the size of the car. The problem is I need a seven seater for like a month in whole year. Earlier it was not an issue as I hardly drove it, but lately I have changed my job and doing about 15k miles per year. I was thinking if i buy a decent 2 or 3 year old car will i save any money? The zafira at the moment is fine but it does have 70k on the clock and I did 10k miles in 8 months. My driving is mostly motorway, I would say 70 out of 80 miles.
If I dont go for another seven seater i would need to hire one for a month when I need it every year, I could easily do with a polo or golf as I am alone most of the times but I do need to fit in two car seats for the weekend mostly.
I dont know if buying a newer car will save me enough to compensate for it. This one is 2010 so not that old but I am begining to feel i will need to spend some money now if i need to use it for long. All 4 tyres have minor cuts on the sides, the tread looks ok but it could be dangerous specially coz I do so much motorway mileage. The alloys are twisted from one or two places and could need changing, I am due to fork out 220 pounds for tax in next few months, clutch is feeling slightly funny too and it will need a service soon. I have done about 11k since last full service. I dont think I want to keep two cars too as this one will just sit and be used for a month and then back unuseable.

Any ideas would help.
TIA

BeenThroughItAll

By the time you've changed the car, you are unlikely to have saved much money until you've had the new one for some time.


You've painted a picture of a car that's not very well looked after, and the most likely cause of significant costs is neglect.

forgotmyname

Will you save money buying a newer car, unlikely when you take depreciation into account.

Rough estimates here..

15000 miles at 45mpg £1800 in fuel.

15000 miles at 60mpg £1365 in fuel

Saving over £400 wohoo, except your new car will depreciate by over £1000 a year sob sob... My guess £at least £50 a month worse off.

Assuming you buy the car outright and not paying interest on a loan also. Which will make you even more worse off.