New or used

[David Bird]

For the life of me i could never imagine buying a brand new car - Just cant see the point,apart from the obvious extra cost of new over used its the waste that would annoy me . Never had a new car but do tend to look for as near new condition as i can find. I find owners clubs etc to be a great showroom for pristine well cared for examples .

 

[wemorgan]

There was a time when it was only between new vs used. Now it's new, used, cash, loan, leased, hp, pcp, company, personal. And that doesn't include some hybrids which come with a monthly payment for the battery.....

 

[jaymanek]

Yes many of us are the same... I cant stand depreciation.

If I wanted a modern car id wait until its 3 years old and find the best one possible.

Older modern classics are just much more satisfying... cost of ownership is just the cost of maintenance as most of the time you can recoup your investment if you are careful.

Hence why I come to work in my 190E and not a CL63 AMG.

There are those that think of a car as a monthly expense. So if they allocate £X to a car every month and they can buy a new car in that budget, then why not.. They will have very few surprises and they just start again after 3 years.
Only issue with this approach is if you are unemployed and your budget is no longer manageable... which of course is what happens so often.

 

[wemorgan]

Only issue with this approach is if you are unemployed and your budget is no longer manageable... which of course is what happens so often.

That's a valid point. That's what put me off the 3-4 yr lease deals. I just couldn't look that far in to the future and be certain of my income. A 2 year lease was as long as I was willing to go. Even then if I were to run out of work during this time it wouldn't be nice making the payments, but still possible.

 

[bpsorrel]

Couldn't agree more!

The "newest" I buy is pre-reg or ex-demo. Would never waste the thousands in depreciation a new car brings. After all, the "new" feeling doesn't last that long but the glowing feeling I have with that extra dosh in my account feels good for a long time!

 

[David Bird]

What % of newish cars are owned outright ? I remember in years gone by the vast majority of new were company cars . New cars need expensive servicing done as a matter of course . Most of my cars (probably just been lucky) have needed little or no ongoing expense apart from the odd oil change and new brake pads .

 

[RBYCC]

Jay has it correct..

If you want a modern Merc be it standard or AMG wait for someone else to take the depreciation.
In the USA Mercedes offers CPO ( Certified Pre Owned ) which are available through the MB dealer network.
A bit more expensive but they add an additional year to the original factory warranty period.
Options to but up to a total of seven years or 100K warranty.

I prefer the older cars but do own two newer which were purchased CPO'd..
2005 G55K with 48K miles, cost new usd $105K, CPO @ $52K, present value about $50K+
2008 CLK63 Black Series with 6500 miles, cost new $140K, CPO @ $78K present value $75K+

If you buy a used warrantied newer Merc at a good price (50% of original new price ), you can drive it for a few years and be able to get most of your purchase price back when you decide to sell

Ed A.

 

[big_amir]

If you purchase cash a used car makes sense, but on finance it is often cheaper to go for new, due to interest rates. When I bought my c class, it was cheaper by 50 a month to buy new than used.

To me that was a no brainer.

 

[RBYCC]

If you purchase cash a used car makes sense, but on finance it is often cheaper to go for new, due to interest rates. When I bought my c class, it was cheaper by 50 a month to buy new than used.
To me that was a no brainer.

Even with low interest rate, new purchase will still have you "upside down "on the loan amount for the first half of the loan.
This is due to depreciation.
If you find that you have to sell in that period you'll have to come out of pocket to settle the note !
Don't look at the monthly payment but the depreciation if purchased new or the residual value if leased.

Merc in the USA always offers special loan rates on CPO cars.
Current deal is 1.99% for 66 months on 2009-2011 C Class.

With any major purchase be it car or home, you want to own it, not it own you

Ed A.

 

[Rory]

If I wanted a modern car id wait until its 3 years old and find the best one possible.

If you're going to keep the car for many years then that would work, but a lot of people buy at 3yrs and then sell at 6. If they're changing each time at a franchised dealer, then they're paying top whack for the 3yr old car and p/xing a 6yr old car which the dealer probably doesn't really want due to its age so doesn't attract a good price.

Add a couple of repair bills to the 3-6yr period, or the cost of renewing the warranty each year, and you probably find the total cost is in a the same ball-park as leasing or PCPing a new car.

 

[Deleted member 65149]

All depends how fussy you are. There's no way I could find the spec I wanted on a used car so I bought new, knowing I was taking a massive hit on depreciation the moment I drove it out of the showroom. I was also fortunate enough to have the cash to do this, there being no way I'd pay a penny in interest on top of that depreciation loss (I was getting virtually no interest on the money in savings anyway!).

So now I can drive around with a big smile knowing that I haven't compromised on anything. I don't have to think to myself: "I wish I had ..."

With money being a massive factor for most people, it makes no financial sense to buy new. You have to learn to live with almost right.

 

[big_amir]

Even with low interest rate, new purchase will still have you "upside down "on the loan amount for the first half of the loan.
This is due to depreciation.
If you find that you have to sell in that period you'll have to come out of pocket to settle the note !
Don't look at the monthly payment but the depreciation if purchased new or the residual value if leased.

Merc in the USA always offers special loan rates on CPO cars.
Current deal is 1.99% for 66 months on 2009-2011 C Class.

With any major purchase be it car or home, you want to own it, not it own you

Ed A.

Fair comment, which is why I put a largish deposit down. To make sure im not in negative equity and should the worst happen I can sell the car and not have anything left to pay.

If you put just the minimum down then yes I would say you are going to spend a lot of time in negative equity.

 

[ashadam]

I usually by new because I don't like to spend money on maintaining cars so have never kept for longer than 3 years but it is usually 2 years. Of course I lose a bit of money on the exchange but overall works best for me and I have generally factored in that potential loss prior to purchase and yes have had some shocks but I never over spec now. Unfortunately I can not work on cars (wish I did) so have to waste my money at dealers and they don't seem to be getting any cheaper with all these electronics.

 

[markjay]

You can still buy 'nearly new' cars - I bought a 4 months old car some years ago for and it had most of the 3 years warranty still in place.

Nothing wrong with buying new cars, bought a few of those as well, just to say that the warranty is not by itself a reason to buy new.

 

[ashadam]

You can still buy 'nearly new' cars - I bought a 4 months old car some years ago for and it had most of the 3 years warranty still in place.

Nothing wrong with buying new cars, bought a few of those as well, just to say that the warranty is not by itself a reason to buy new.

I agree but a lot of the times difference in price is not that great or might not be the spec I want, I have had a few nearly new vehicles but just from being offered a good deal or when I was younger to jump the waiting list.

 

[Moonie]

Anyone buying a pre-reg/ex demo needs their heads looking at.

Merc Dealer - C220 Sport 62 Plate, 1000 miles... £29,995

Same car brand new via DtheD... £25,490

I'd want £8k knocked off the dealer car before id even consider it - and that aint gonna happen.

 

[Dryce]

For the life of me i could never imagine buying a brand new car - Just cant see the point,apart from the obvious extra cost of new over used its the waste that would annoy me .

Dogma - for or against - is just tempting fate to prove you wrong.

Common sense screams out: buy used.

But if you're looking for a 1 or 2 year old used prestige car and comparing what the car will cost over say 2 or 3 years vs a new one - and do all your sums - you might be surprised depending on the deals available on the day.

Things are different with an older prestige car - there the balance of risk is such that you can get very good deals and susbequent low depeciation - but you have to trade that off against the risk that you get a bad one.

 

[David Bird]

Well the more i drive this elderly used C200 the more i love it - Took a while to get used to the Mecedes differences such as having to put in park to remove key - Foot on brake to remove from park - Fly by wire gas pedal etc etc . People comment about its gleaming condition whilst at the same time eyeing its number plate showing its advanced years .Everything works in much the same way as when it was new - no squeaks and rattles - drives as if new .I then weigh up the fact it cost me £1530 and struggle to understand why anyone would buy new or even 2/3 yrs old .It takes all sorts .

 

[st4]

Without new car buyers there would be no used ones.

I'd love to buy a brand new car like the one I've got.

But happy to drive and buy at 2 to 4 years old as I cannot afford a new Mercedes c class . I get a still fresh car as I'm not into cars that need little jobs doing etc

 

[st4]

Well the more i drive this elderly used C200 the more i love it - Took a while to get used to the Mecedes differences such as having to put in park to remove key - Foot on brake to remove from park - Fly by wire gas pedal etc etc . People comment about its gleaming condition whilst at the same time eyeing its number plate showing its advanced years .Everything works in much the same way as when it was new - no squeaks and rattles - drives as if new .I then weigh up the fact it cost me £1530 and struggle to understand why anyone would buy new or even 2/3 yrs old .It takes all sorts .

You got lucky with that car.

Plenty others have bought older higher miles cars only to wish they got something younger and a little more modest when the repairs started added up and extra trips needed to garages etc.