Old or New?

[Steven]

I've been wondering about this for a while now...

Society conditions us to want to own the newest, best and fastest of everything. Most of us have bought new or nearly new cars at some point which put us into thousands of pounds worth of debt.

My Panda cost £100 to buy and another £100 or so for a service/parts, etc, and now has a full years MOT. This is roughly equivalent to 1 months payment on the Punto I bought in 2002. The Panda does everything the new Punto did. It may not be new and shiny, but it's undoubtedly cheap and cheerful. It's also reliable now I have it sorted.

I've been toying with the idea of changing my Brava for a new car, but I can't justify taking on debt when I have a car that does the job required perfectly.

What do you lot think? Do you keep up with the Jones' or do you suit yourself and sod what anyone else thinks?

 

[AceOfSpades]

Suit yourself and sod what anyone else thinks for is the way to be mate, it's stupid getting into debt just for a newer piece of metal to drive about in. It is nice feeling to have a new or new(ish) car though, but if the old car is still in good shape and reliable then just keep it unless you're really bored of it' and spend your money on holidays, more nights out ect... The best thing to do is try and save up some cash so you can pay for ALL of it in one go like i did with the two-and-a-half year old HGT i got. It had already lost practically half it's value from new so it was a good time to get it. Or at least pay off most of it cash and then get a loan for a grand or so' most cars depreciate a fair bit after a year or two and Fiats depreciate like crazy and there is no way i'd ever get any car on finance or take out a loan for one now anyway.

 

[Alex]

Steve, you're right, there are loads of nice cars around for bargain prices. Personally I quite like the concept of bangernomics (buying old cars for peanuts, and throwing them away when they no longer are road worthy). But I think it would be nice to once in a while own a car that is still in current production. I don't think I'll ever buy a new car.

 

[Ems]

I've always bought outright until I got my HGT but it was a bargain - and just like yours, AceOfSpades, it was two and a half years old and had depreciated like hell. I didn't have the time to save up for it as it was due to be shipped off for auction that week! My old Mk1 punto was reliable and cheap to run but at the end of the day little niggly things had started to go wrong and I was toying with the idea of something with a bit more poke for motorway driving anyway. If there hadn't have been anything wrong with it I certainly would have kept it and stuff what people think of it!

 

[chaos]

There's a site you lot need to see - http:\\bangernomics.tripod.com

My friend bought a 54 plate Clio brand new. Cost him so much that he was a bit skint. Nice car though. I'm happy with my cinq - it was a bargain all things considered!

 

[Gav]

To me it really depends on lots of things. Finance is the biggest factor, having loads of disposable income means someone can afford to buy new and chaneg often. But not many people have loads of disposable income!

Next up is your needs. If you do a lot of miles, you want an ecomonical car. Everyone wants a reliable car, and you need to take into consideration what the car is to be used for. Then you get onto your luxuries, A/C, stereo, alloys, etc. If you don't care for the newer ones, an older car is suitable, and you can opt out of the depreciation. If you need the standard ones, nearly new is always a good choice, getting some warranty and a newish vehicle. If you have specific needs regarding extra's, it's rare to find exactly what you want, so new might be the only way.

Personally, I think nearly new is best for me, saving up for the maintance and a replacment. Having a budget of expected costs, and knowing how much it will be worth in 1/2/3 years. As I know from recent experience, you can find that as your car gets older it's still worth repairing to stay on the road, but that repairs can mean you're still loosing as much money as a newer car. My ideal way of doing it? Not sure if I should share it... Nearly new, keep for a few years and then go for another. Having had the head gasket go this week, after recently getting new Michelins for the front, I wish I'd sold up a few months ago...

 

[Ems]

I watched a programme following people who only ran bangers - made quite a bit of sense! I rely on my car for work because of funny hours so I couldn't do it, but my Dad runs old cars as runabouts

 

[Liam]

Who cares what other folk think!

Drive what you want and not what others like or would get you noticed.

Liam

 

[Nuova500]

Ive done both, used to run old bangers, and I mean bangers not just old cars! Very cheap and satisfying when you improve on them cosmetically. Also older cars have a sort of character in them. Had new cars and its very nice too... but as most dealerships give you the run around and all new cars have some problems I think itas best to buy used. Let the first owner take the depreciation and get all the faults fixed.

 

[Stu DemonD]

I personally do things to suit myself, and sod what others think.....

We bought the Ulysse new 18 months ago - at the time, wanted an MPV, and having looked around at second hand cars [Galaxys, Espace, etc] decided that none of them met our criteria. The Ulysse seemed to fit the bill, and cheaper than the Citreon/Peugeot variants. A new Grand Espace was way too much money....

Just thankful that the HP runs out in August, lol. Spares up some cash

Ran the Mondeo for 5 years, and that was a great second hand purchase, that never failed me. I added 85k miles to it, and basically got bored of it last year, with 135k on the clock [I gave it away to my gardener for fitting some new gates to the driveway ]. Bring on the Stilo, another second hand car.

HOWEVER, I reckon the next car I buy will be brand new, but it will be through the business - nice