too many options to consider (car buying)

little_green

Looking for some advice re getting a new car as the options feel overwhelming.

Buy used

Buy new

Private
Garage

Finance Pcp pch
Loan
Purchase outright

Lease

The Kia ceed is appealing to me I hear there is a facelift model due out towards the end of the year. Once this happens I guess it's likely the existing models although same shape really should decrease in price slightly as they aren't the new facelift version. Though how much of a drop I'm not sure. It's still a bit pricey for me to bite.

Every car I get seems to always need some work done to it. My current car is only 7 years old & last mot needed 1k worth of repairs  yet people seem to run around it cars 20+ years old!? I'm torn between going for brand new - no mot for 3 years, - not sure if it's true but I was told if you have a car on finance then if anything goes wrong with it then you wont have to cover the cost of the repairs if so then peace of mind,  but even on finance my understanding is the depreciation on a brand new car is awful. 

Ive heard you can get good deals on pre-reg vehicles how can I go about finding one specifically for the car model etc I was? Or is that too demanding? The new facelift version I'm guessing will be released with a 71 plate and probably more in march 22 my understanding is a pre reg I would get march 22 but it would have a 71 plate this would be cheaper? Typically how much cheaper? (Or does it depends on the manufacturer). Isn't finance only actually good if you plan on trading the car in at the end of every term? as otherwise you've to pay the balloon to keep it which would in most cases make total repaid more that the list price,  but if that's the case (that it's only good if you want to trade in at the end of every term) then aren't you better just leasing?

Or maybe there is a sweet spot of getting a car about a year old so your not taking the initial hit or depreciation? Or is it less about age and more about if your the very first owner.

finance is encouraged these days so trying to negotiate a good deduction off tag price of I was to buy outright seems pointless. I've head people say there are better deals with finance such as manufacturers contribution. It seems some manufacturers offer higher deposit contribution o brand new vehicles over those that are say a year old or have had a previous owner thus the point in paragraph above gets confusing.

What are people's thoughts? I essentially want to do the most cost effective option but still have a relatively new car. Tbh I don't even care about it being a new car. There's lots of models I like that are maybe 5 years old but given my car is only 6 & the number of problems I've had I feel like that would be just buying more problems. There's actually a car I really like at the moment which is 5 years old but I'm not sure whether to go for it as that's only 2 years younger than mine. Aside from that it ticks all the boxes of what I'm wanting & of course it falls into a nice price bracket than a newer Kia ceed (11k vs 22k). It's from a private seller though & i feel that's a lot of money to pay someone privately..... but of course garage's tend to be more expensive. 

Advice appreciated or even just what you opt to do & why. It's always nice to hear others opinions and perspectives

Grumpy_chap

Hello, that is a very long and very broad question.

Regarding:

little_green said:

not sure if it's true but I was told if you have a car on finance then if anything goes wrong with it then you wont have to cover the cost of the repairs if so then peace of mind,

This is not true.  A new car under warranty should be less likely to go wrong and will cover many items, but not even the best manufacturer warranties cover all items.  It's certainly not a direct link with the car being under finance and no repair bills.

Before deciding what car to buy, you need to decide whether you are going to keep the current car or change in the near term.  Is a change of car a need or a want?

This is not sufficient to establish a need:

little_green said:

My current car is only 7 years old & last mot needed 1k worth of repairs  

What is the current car?
How many miles?
Is it generally reliable?
Does it meet your needs in terms of space etc.?

Needing £1k to pass the MOT is not necessarily exceptional. 
Did you have the MOT and annual service together?
Any car will require regular maintenance and consumable items such as tyres, light bulbs, brakes may need to be changed to pass the MOT and can easily accrue up to £1k.
What was it your car needed?
What other maintenance costs have you incurred in the past year?
How much of that maintenance cost would you incur in any case with any car?

If, having assessed the above, you still need or want to change your car, then start by answering the following questions as a process to short-list what to go for:

1. How many people do you need to have in the car?
2. How much luggage?
3. What is the main use of the car?  Social only, shopping. days out?
4. Do you need the car to go to work?  Or for business use?
5. What type of mileage do you cover?  All in town?  Motorway?  Country lanes?
6. What budget do you have available for a cash purchase?
7. What budget do you have for a monthly payment?
8. How long do you intend to keep the car?

Hopefully, the above gives some support to start the guidance for the next steps.  Please try to answer all the queries raised as this will aid members of the forum in providing constructive support to allow you to make your decision.

Please be aware that there will be conflicting suggestions arise through the responses, so the forum can only provide suggestions and aid the decision process.  There is no absolute right or wrong answer with a case as broad as this.

Good luck.

born_again

Pre reg prices are crazy now, just like 2nd hand ones. I would also not bank on old pre facelift models getting cheaper. Given the global shortage of new cars.

I paid £20K end Jan for a 3 month old pre reg with 3K miles (dealer demo/staff car) to get the same now is £25K New price was/is £30K

Ectophile

£1000 to keep an old car going for a year looks expensive. More so as the value of the car goes down over time.

But compare it with the cost of a lease or PCP on a new car, and suddenly it's actually quite cheap.

That's why people keep driving old cars.

Grumpy_chap

Ectophile said:

£1000 to keep an old car going for a year looks expensive. 

That's also not necessarily £1k to keep the old car going.  We don't know how much of the OP's expenditure was routine items that would be needed anyway on any car - regular service and MOT fee, for example.

little_green

Grumpy_chap said:

Ectophile said:

£1000 to keep an old car going for a year looks expensive. 

That's also not necessarily £1k to keep the old car going.  We don't know how much of the OP's expenditure was routine items that would be needed anyway on any car - regular service and MOT fee, for example.

Mot & service at same time. I pay a service plan though so the 1k was purely mot costs

Grumpy_chap

Still, £1k to pass the MOT can be accrued very easily if it includes "consumable" items and aiming for no advisories.  A set of tyres would be well into that - on some cars, just one tyre would eat all of that £1k.

caprikid1

Grumpy_chap said:

Still, £1k to pass the MOT can be accrued very easily if it includes "consumable" items and aiming for no advisories.  A set of tyres would be well into that - on some cars, just one tyre would eat all of that £1k.

agreed many cars get scrapped due to accumulation of routine maintenance leading to a large MOT Bill , tyres ,exhausts + due a cambelt..

Flight3287462

OP get a spreadsheet up and running and stick in all the options and that will give you the answer.  The new car will be most expensive 99% of the time but you can factor in the lack of hassle a new car brings and decide how much that is worth to you.

Lots of folk go down the banger route which is fine if you have the space tools garage and willingness to get your hands dirty (which for me decreased with age)