Who buys a new car?

[Merco]

I do and as some on this forum will know, I am awaiting delivery sooner rather than later (hopefully!).

But, having been on this forum for a little while it seems that the majority of newbies joining and being welcomed, as well as some of the old dog veterans who really know their stuff, are buying used cars, secondhand cars in good nick, either to drive or to tinker with. There is a noticeable paucity of members who have/ are purchasing cars new. Of course, that might just be my impression and am happy to stand corrected if wrong and apologies in advance if that proves to be the case.

However, if it is the case - is this a reflection of new MB prices, the perceived value of a new car, my own foolishness, or a general indication of the economic state, etc etc? Although, with the latter, one might expect purchasers of a prestige marque such as MB to be more robust in tough economic times.

I am of course referring here to private buyers and not fleet/ company car purchases which are subject to different dynamics.

I'd be interested in your thoughts...

 

[AMGBlack]

I have bought all of my mercs new . . . . . except . the only Merc I bought second hand was my SL600 ..
And it was pants. . nothing but trouble . .112 days in the workshop in the first year.
Dealer / warranty spent over 30K trying to fix various issues. . (would always after 3 days from coming out the dealer go into limp mode .. ) New everything was fitted and it still did it. . so crazy!!

If it was new the car would have been replaced.. as it was second hand. .just had to stick with it. . argh . . in the end took a bigger hit than I would if it was new because I was fed up with it when I said to the dealer px ex for something that works!!

So hence I burn money on new mercs.. . high price for peace of mind, but I do 40,000 miles a year and being self employed I cannot afford time off. . new cars come with more support and assistance if things go wrong. IMO ..

Current "work" merc is my E 320CDI . 80,000 miles in 3 years on it (the other 20K in the black when the weather is nice . . so I guess I am not your normal user in as much as a second hand one would get killed in 18 months, so new it has to be. .

Horses for courses .. . for me , it has to be new.
(and for the smell lol)

 

[Merco]

I sympathise with that. This is actually my first new car of any type but the magnetic allure of the smell and the first crisp drive was too much. That and the fact that I have had pretty dreadful luck so far with cars. I also do a lot of motorway miles for work over the course of a year and just thought I'm better off spending the money on a new car of a fine marque which will hopefully buy me peace of mind and reassurance that everything's going to be OK! It's a vehicular cuddle!

 

[MJH]

Personally, I've done the new car thing a couple of times in the last ten years (company car allowance) but to be honest I got fed up of seeing half the value of the car blown away in the first couple of years and I just couldn't see the point blowing all that cash just to have the latest model with a new plate on it.

I've now gone to the other end of the scale and started buying older motors and rolling them on every 12mths or so, most of the time it'll costs me no more than a grand over a 12mth period, occasionally you get more back than you paid if you buy right but it's small beer compared to the sort of money you lose on a new car. That said it's more of a gamble if something big goes pop but I would imagine it's still likely to be less than the depreciation on a 30K+ car would take.

Horses for courses but if you can afford it then why not and good luck to you if you can

I need someone to buy them so I can get hold of the second hand bargains

Mike

 

[Merco]

Don't you find that a ton of hassle though Mike? Having to hunt down and buy the right car every year and sell the one you have? I'm not sure I'd have the time or patience for that so you're a better man than I!

 

[st4]

I'll be honest, I'd love to buy a brand new Mercedes. Money being no object. I'd know for sure it hasn't been pranged, resprayed, how its been driven (not a massive factor as I drive mine hard anyway).

More importantly, I'd spec it. Although I am not a massive fan of heaps of toys, to have a brand new merc built to my liking would be a lovely thing.

 

[Merco]

So do people not buy them new because a private buyer with any sense simply wouldn't do that!? In which case, I'm an idiot!

 

[MJH]

Don't you find that a ton of hassle though Mike? Having to hunt down and buy the right car every year and sell the one you have? I'm not sure I'd have the time or patience for that so you're a better man than I!

I suppose it is a bit of hassle but it's also the thrill of the chase, finding the right car, getting the best deal. I actually quite enjoy it. The bit I don't enjoy is selling the old one, so many idiots and dreamers about who waste your time if you aren't wise to it.

It took me a couple of months to find my latest car, the E class was a completely new direction so I needed to do lots of homework before commiting to a purchase. I probably drove/looked at a dozen different cars locally before buying one from High Wycombe, which is a 2hr drive but by the time I looked at this one, I knew what I was after and the deal was right too.

OR................ maybe I'm just a tightwad

 

[markjay]

Personally, I think it's either a new car on Finance, or a second-hand for cash. I have always done the latter, i.e. bought nearly-new cars for cash, where possible only a few months old and under 10k miles. I just don't see the economical logic in sinking a huge amount of cash in a new car. But others may see things differently....

 

[312 Sprinter]

I don't like the depreciation, even on nearly new cars though I've had a few. My current every day driver is a 1996 Volvo 940. I paid £4000 for it at 55K miles about 5 years ago. By the time I had it in the condition I wanted it, new tyres, Alpine sat nav and CD auto changer, LPG conversion, phone kit and some paint work it cost me a little shy of £10K.

I've now hammered it around Europe for a few years and it is on 220K miles. I service it religiously, it has only let me down once, in Sweden when the alternator tensioning bolt broke and it discharged its battery. I turned down an offer of £2200 for it the other day, but that is probably a fairly reasonable estimate of its current value. It's lost £8800 of it purchase price, excluding maintenance etc in 165,000 miles, about 5 pence per mile.

Compare that to the W210 E320 CDI I had before the Volvo. I bought it from Mercedes for just over £22K at under 2 years old. After 7 months I decided I wanted to trade it in on a newer model E320 CDI as the car had all sort of weird W210 related electrical glitches, the damn thing drove me nuts. It was still within its 3 year warranty period. The dealer offered me £6K for it. Admittedly I'd done 30K miles in 7 months. To all intents and purposes £0.53 a mile excluding maintenance etc.

In the end the W210 went so badly wrong Mercedes bought it back from me but I still lost a big chunk of money. The Volvo was just a stop gap whilst I was arguing with Mercedes, but it's still going strong.

I've just bought a '94 W124 E220 for my brother in law. Basically for the same reason. His BMW cost him £6K in main dealer servicing and repairs in 30K miles, the car itself lost £9850 over that mileage. New cars are nice, but they're an awfully expensive indulgence. I simply don't think it is necessary to take that big a hit if you choose the right used car.

 

[Merco]

I do understand that - but for me, the thought of at least 3 years (and more hopefully) of worry-free driving doesn't seem like too much of an indulgence given my history of bad luck with cars. I'm just hoping that shelling out the extra for an MB provides even more years than that.

 

[davethemus]

IMHO It doesn't make economic sense, the amount of money you lose almost straight away and if it's a new car on finance then it's never really your car, until you pay it off and alot of people trade in for a newer model every year or two.
also there is an element of snobbery in it, don't get me wrong if moneys no object then why not, but if all you are is middle-class working a job then it's money wasted imo, i'm not saying this about every one that buys a new car but i think for alot of people this is the case.

 

[bpsorrel]

I have bought the occasional car new in the past, but for me, pre-reg or ex-demo is the way to go. The savings off new price are significant, the car is as good as new, usually with current registration (irrelevent for me though as I usually stick a personal plate on) . For example, my Saab Convertible. February 2008 registered, bought in May as a fully loaded demo, £21K instead of £33K! No brainer to me! (of course, with this example, if I'd waited a few more months I'd have got it even cheaper 'cos of the scare about Saab going down, but you get the idea! LOL) Who wants to take the hit on depreciation? I thought only company car owners bought new these days...

Out of interest, totally different story here in Russia as cars don't seem to depreciate!! In some cases you're better off buying a new car as even after 3 years there's not much difference in price! Weird eh!

 

[PXW]

I buy at 1 to 2 years old - mainly because of the depreciation hit in the early months. However, I pay cash - if I were to be financing the car then I might get tempted by a newie at one of the 'special rate' deals that appear from time to time. But otherwise, I can't justify the extra outlay, I'm afraid. I'm not bothered about the reg, but if I were, a private plate is much cheaper than even a few months depreciation

 

[crockers]

My car was my company car which I bought from the company when I retired. All my cars have been new as they were company issued. Bought my wife a new cr-v back in2002 and it's going strong still.

Would I buy new with my own cash now? Doubt it very much. Will always look for the 1-2 year old car. Or older with good history.

Hoping to keep mine going for a lot longer yet but expect I've now jinxed it.

 

[stumpy1]

I echo many of the sentiments here regarding depreciation and I also take into account tax reasons for against buying brand new. But the simple fact for me has been that if I didn't buy brand new then I would not have been able to reject 2 very faulty MBs.

 

[The Pan Man]

PXW I would have to agree with that theory. The VAT thing is all fine and dandy for company buyers or leasees as they can claim the vat back, as a private buyer if you buy a new car and drive it out of the showroom it has lost 17.5% soon to be 20% of its value so a £40k car @17.5% is £7000.00 eye watering that is why the depreciation is so heavy at the front end. Now in 2 - 3 years time that car comes on to the market at £20k - £22k It becomes a viable option for a private buyer, as it looks like a 2 year old car for about half price.

 

[The Pan Man]

I have just done a very quick calculation without fuel costs and as we stand in 3.7 years my car has depreciated £16250 or aprox £0.32p per mile. Is that good or bad I don't know but that is what it cost me. Now I have never expected running a nice big car to be cheap so it's only numbers. When I do replace it it will be the same all over again. It could have been worse if I had bought it new add the VAT loss to the £16250 and then take away the difference between a 53 plate and a 55 plate only £2 - £3k max, and using £40k as the base line the loss would have been £23,250 less the £3k difference £20,250 or £0.41p per mile which is aprox 25% greater. Now lets phone that dealer about this replacement car.

 

[Merco]

I take all these points but there is definitely peace of mind to be had when buying new such that you don't get when buying used. It might not be worth all of the depreciation, granted but it certainly matches up to some of it. And I think the argument is different if you plan on keeping the car for more than 5 years, up to 10. In that instance, you're only really gambling on '7 years' as you've had the 3 year warranty - as opposed to 9/ 10 years driving where the cost in any year could shoot up because of something going wrong. I think the key here is longevity and reassurance which is why I am buying new although I do understand all of the arguments here. I guess I just don't trust 'used' even AUC enough to enter into that, having been stung big time twice before (non MBs).

 

[Pappilo]

If you have the money, you buy new; If you dont, you buy used. New and used cars depreciate.