Is there a 'sweet age' when purchasing a 2nd hand car?

chubsta

Although I have spent a large part of my life driving beat up old cars, my last 3 cars have all been owned by me from new, I am looking ahead to retirement and thinking I won't be doing quite as many miles so doubt that buying a brand new car would be the best deal for me (and yes, I am aware it has never been the 'best deal' but there you go...)

Looking back to my youth of rusty and unreliable old cars that always broke down I can now see that cars last a hell of a lot longer with fewer, albeit potentially more expensive, problems. So I am considering getting a 2nd hand car for my next one - nothing expensive, I wouldn't really want to spend more than £10,000 at the very most, and hopefully mush less, I only need a small hatchback.

So, is there a 'sweet spot' in terms of age of vehicle where it has depreciated enough to be far cheaper than new, but it is still going to be reliable etc, as long as the mileage isn't too high and it is regularly serviced.

Of course there are huge numbers of factors that can affect an individual car, but would you generally buy a 3 or 5 or 7 year old vehicle with confidence?

Alter_ego

I generally buy with a year of manufacturer's warranty remaining.

EdGasketTheSecond

Mine are generally nearer 15 yrs old; no depreciation costs by then. In fact one car I bought for £400 I made a profit on as it was written off twice by the insurance and I got £200 each time plus a further £100 for poor service by the insurer. Result. I had the car for around 8 years too.

DoaM

You can get a new Dacia Sandero (plus change) for £10k.

Otherwise I'd suggest 2 years old, or 3 years old (but after the MOT is done) ... that way most of the depreciation is spent, some manufacturer warranty is still available, and you should (hopefully) still have many years of trouble-free motoring.

alan_d

I've bought a few cars around 3-4 years old, with over 100k miles on them and full history.
I'm not concerned about 'high' mileage on a 'young' car, as it must have done lots of motorway miles (when the engine is hot etc) to clock up that in such a short time, which is far better for it than loads of short journeys over a longer period.
I ran my last Volvo V70 (bought at 3 years / 120k miles) to ~278k miles, when I sold it to a mate, who's still running it, and no big bills at all in my 11 years of ownership.

NeverEnough

You could buy an Approved Used Car from a main dealer and get a very comprehensive warranty on a vehicle - I did this with our BMW X5s and it was really good and can be renewed yearly for as long as you like - obviously buying privately is far cheaper but with far less back up if things go wrong.

harz99

I would be looking for something without too many bells and whistles, which started life with a 5-7 year manufacturers warranty, sensible mileage of around 12k per year, that has been serviced correctly by a main dealer to both time and mileage requirements, is around 3 years old, has its first MOT, and with no obvious signs of abuse.

Or, maybe just keep driving the car you already have on retirement until it dies?

Goudy

On pure depreciation, cars in the 3 year old slot tend to be the best value.
Most will lose around 50% in 3 years, then the depreciation starts to flatten out.

Cars in the 1 to 2 year old slot tend to end up on dealer forecourts and priced higher than they are really worth, often only slightly cheaper than buying a new one.

So a 3 year old car would have lost the most value in the shortest time.

Most car warranties are 3 years, but more and more are offering 5 or more, so at 3 year old model could still be had with a few years warranty still on it, though dealers will factor this into their prices.

Now if you do little mileage, you could look out for something with above average mileage and by the time you're done with it it's now average or even less, so you might be able to edge a bit of future depreciation in your favour.
I know a few people who do this, buy a premium model a few years old with a good few miles on the clock cheaply, run it two years but don't actually do that many miles and then sell it on at the top price for that model and year.

Now if you're not too fussed what it is and want a fairly new car, DoaM's suggestion of a Dacia isn't a bad call, sure they drive pretty average but most of the parts are tried and tested as they're off older Renaults, though now all the engines are pretty modern.

I had my last car stolen and needed something fuss free and quickly.
I picked up a top spec 2 year old pertol Sandero Stepway for £7200 from an out of town dealer.

Recently I decided to properly replace the stolen car with a new Clio and they're giving me £7200 trade in.
I've put 8,000 miles on it in just over 12 months and it cost me the price of it's first mot and an aerial (either someone nicked it, or more likely it fell off).

The dealer told me not to bother with it's next service as they'll have to put it through their workshop before they sell it anyway, they also told me mine is they best model when it comes to depreciation and selling on, seems people go mad for them with a few toys on.

Mistral001

I would put reliability of make and model at the top of your priorities, rather than the age of the car. Some makes and models of cars have a good reliability track history. You will find many youtube videos on this subject.

harz99

Mistral001 wrote: »

I would put reliability of make and model at the top of your priorities, rather than the age of the car. Some makes and models of cars have a good reliability track history. You will find many youtube videos on this subject.

Hence my suggestion for a vehicle with an original 5 year plus warranty, they tend to be the most reliable...

DUTR

chubsta wrote: »

Although I have spent a large part of my life driving beat up old cars, my last 3 cars have all been owned by me from new, I am looking ahead to retirement and thinking I won't be doing quite as many miles so doubt that buying a brand new car would be the best deal for me (and yes, I am aware it has never been the 'best deal' but there you go...)

Looking back to my youth of rusty and unreliable old cars that always broke down I can now see that cars last a hell of a lot longer with fewer, albeit potentially more expensive, problems. So I am considering getting a 2nd hand car for my next one - nothing expensive, I wouldn't really want to spend more than £10,000 at the very most, and hopefully mush less, I only need a small hatchback.

So, is there a 'sweet spot' in terms of age of vehicle where it has depreciated enough to be far cheaper than new, but it is still going to be reliable etc, as long as the mileage isn't too high and it is regularly serviced.

Of course there are huge numbers of factors that can affect an individual car, but would you generally buy a 3 or 5 or 7 year old vehicle with confidence?

What about having a 4th new car BEFORE you retire to keep after you retire?