Cars with low depreciation

seabass

Looking at buying a family car but unsure what to go for. Main critera is its safe and reliable with a decent boot size, dont care much about a fancy brand. Can anyone recommend some good ones to go for. I want the depreciation to be as low as possible. Some options i am considering.

Buy a cheap old car and run it into the ground then repeat.
Buy a new one with low depreciation... if that exists?
Buy a 3 year old one after depreciation starts to slow down.
Just lease a car

Jonesya

Why do you want low depreciation?

If you're buying a used car and keeping it until you run it into the ground, then you want high depreciation because you want to buy it as cheap as possible.

You want the first owner to drive it out of the show-room and its value to fall off a cliff, so you can pick up a great car for next to nothing.

Geoff1963

1) Buy a cheap old car and run it into the ground then repeat.
2) Buy a new one with low depreciation... if that exists?
3) Buy a 3 year old one after depreciation starts to slow down.

2) then 3) then 1) = buy it new, and keep it 10 years. A second-hand car is like second-hand clothes, you would pay a lot more for things you've owned from new.

Mercdriver

Geoff1963 wrote: »

2) then 3) then 1) = buy it new, and keep it 10 years. A second-hand car is like second-hand clothes, you would pay a lot more for things you've owned from new.

why that order? Why not buy at 3 years old and then drive it for 7 years? Some manufacturers give 5 years unlimited mileage warranties, so at 3 years you might still have 2 years manufacturer's warranty left (but check that services are up to date ).

Mobeer

Mercdriver wrote: »

why that order? Why not buy at 3 years old and then drive it for 7 years? Some manufacturers give 5 years unlimited mileage warranties, so at 3 years you might still have 2 years manufacturer's warranty left (but check that services are up to date ).

You get to order the car per your own choices, then know just how well its been looked after.

n217970

I have had some success with the cheap old car option but not sure I would recommend it unless you are handy with a spanner. Even with the intention of driving a car into the ground I end up being sympathetic to it and start replacing knackered parts. My depreciation bill is about £300 a year on the current one and has about £300 of parts a year for the past 2 years + cheap DIY servicing. So it has cost me about £1400 to do 50k miles in it (plus standard runing costs of course). If I was doing 10k miles a year or less I would have a lease - the depreciation is someone elses problem then.

As well as maintenance cheap old cars tend to be more expensive to run - fuel, tax, insuarance etc. Lower inital cost of course. If you can pay bigger running costs one benefit is you can buy high end models for small money.

Edit: It's also cost me a couple of Saturday afternoons with various parts spread around on the lawn.

onomatopoeia99

If you want low depreciation, then VW Transporter, particularly a Kombi, Shuttle or Caravelle (basically the ones with glass at the back do better than the panel van variant). If you buy it with all the options (DSG, 4motion, bitubro engine) the depreciatoin will be low. Even if you buy a basic model its still reasonable.

Mine (actually a Caravelle) is 30 years old now and its value is going up, not down. I don't know what the new list price was but it's probably worth 50% of that. Not bad depreciation, less than 2% / year over 30 years

daveyjp

Lowest depreciating cars those which are cheap when new.

Buy a £7k Dacia and after ten years it will still be worth £1500-2000.

facade

n217970 wrote: »

If I was doing 10k miles a year or less I would have a lease - the depreciation is someone elses problem then.

Erm, when you lease, you are funding the depreciation of someone else's car

forgotmyname

n217970 wrote: »

in it (plus standard runing costs of course). If I was doing 10k miles a year or less I would have a lease - the depreciation is someone elses problem then.

I agree the depreciation is someone elses problem.

But they are cleverer than you think and they pass the depreciation costs onto the leasee.

Leasee thinks they are getting a great deal by not losing money but they are deluded and may need new batteries for their calculator.

worried_jim

Get the right Porsche 911 turbo and it will only go up in price. Has four seats so sorted for the family and you will never look like a gimp driving one.