At the moment I am looking to buy a car to replace the ageing one I have right now, as it has reached the point where repairs needed to keep it on the road are significantly higher in cost than what the car is actually worth.
Having looked at various websites to see what deals are available both for new and used cars, I have come to the conclusion that it makes more sense for me to buy a used car. I know that I would benefit from having a totally new car that no-one had ever owned before if I went down the new car route, but it just doesn’t make financial sense to me.
If you are in a similar predicament and aren’t sure whether to go for that shiny new model or an equally shiny but used car, here are some reasons why buying a brand spanking new car is a really bad idea!
Cost
Let’s use the humble old Ford Mondeo as an example. If you were to buy a 2.0 TDCi Titanium X Sport estate, it would cost you £28,595 brand new from your local Ford main dealer.
But if you scoured the used car market and checked out websites such as A1carriages.co.uk (they are a used car dealer), you could pick up a four year old used model with average mileage and in excellent condition for only £9,000 – that’s a saving of £19,595 or to put it another way, 69%!
As you can see, depreciation is really bad on this particular model, but actually it’s pretty bad on many cars; even sports cars and exotic supercars suffer from a similar problem too!
Then there’s the cost of finance, unless you have managed to put by enough money to buy your new car in cash. Not only would you have to pay a potentially large amount of money each month to pay off the car, but you are also paying a lot of money back in the form of interest.
Stress
Aside from the obvious financial implications of buying a brand new car, the other thing that is often added into the mix for many people is stress.
You will be much more stressed out the moment your shiny new motor starts to get chips, scratches or worse – it gets “keyed” by people jealous of the fact that you have a new car and want to express their anger by vandalising your pride and joy.
When you have a car on finance, the company lending you the money expect you to keep the car in good condition – and this includes the paintwork too. So you’d have to spend money getting any scratches, supermarket dents and so on sorted out on top of the money you would have to pay each month for finance.
Maintenance
Obviously you will need to service and maintain any car on a regular basis if you want to ensure its longevity, but did you know that many used and nearly-new cars still come with the manufacturer’s warranty?
This means if your car were to experience any problems and they were caused by manufacturing defects, it can be fixed for free just like a brand new car would.