To think newer cars can be cheaper overall

[forsythg]

Hear me out.

My car has been in the garage countless times for car repairs over the last few years for my 10 year old 1.2l motor. Random faults, like needed a whole new computer unit as the electrics have got a bit confused, down to more expensive mechanical parts. It’s a city car, really, not designed for long distances. It’s done short of 45k miles and I am only the second owner, if it does 6,000 a year that’s all it does. It’s wear and tear related stuff and some random issues too along the way.

I could ‘afford’ a newer car with a bank loan, paying back £200 ish a month. Surely this is peace of mind that there won’t be any wear and tear, so should limit the amount of times in the garage? I have always tried to live humbly and own a cheap car outright as I think this is fundamentally better than being in debt. That said, I use my car more and more for work and will be doing especially as we start a family, I want something reliable that can be trusted.

I hate the uncertainty of things going wrong currently and don’t have much faith in my car. AIBU to think there’s some savings to be had with a new car despite the monthly outgoing?

I agree. Second hand cars are only economical if you can do your own maintenance. Which I can't. Which is why I've always brought brand new cars or had lease cars.

I'm convinced that in the end there's no difference in cost, plus new cars don't break down so no stress either

Thank you. I’ve literally only just come to realise this! Would you recommend leasing over buying a new car?

I would, yeah. Change every 3 years. I lose work (ie, money) if I don't have transport so have to factor that in too. Not to mention all the ringing round trying to get into a garage. Nah, not for me.

Do you not have to ring round garages with a lease then, is it all inc? I’m totally ignorant to it as I’ve always owned cheaply outright

Buy a new car if you want one, but don't try to fool yourself that they're cheaper.

I disagree.

Ive always leased or had PCP. An average car was around £350. You won’t get much for £200 per month.

I run bangers now and it’s much much cheaper, even with the odd repair bill. It’s fine to want a new reliable car, it’s your money but having experience of both it’s not cheaper at all.

If you are talking about "newer" that is one thing.

If you are talking about buying a brand new car, then YABU. The depreciation when the first owner drives it off the forecourt is huge. Financially, you could totally replace an old car several times over, in order to recover that loss.

I mean, I'm obviously glad some people do, or there wouldn't be 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th hand cars for others to buy, but financially it is never going to be cheaper.

Well they don't really go wrong so you shouldn't have to take it into a garage at all. Plus, women get fucking ripped off in garages, even today lol

I bought a new car 7 yrs ago, paid £300 bank loan per month for 4 yrs. I've been driving it at minimal cost ever since with only basic mot costs. All expensive repairs were covered by warranty.
It's expensive at the time but has worked out well for me.

Surely it depends on the car. I’ve had used cars that haven’t been any trouble at all - never broken down or needed work, always passed the MOT (with the odd very minor point).

I usually buy new and change every three years. I don’t want the uncertainty associated with used cars. Depreciation isn’t really a problem at the moment. My 2021 car is worth more now than when I got it new. This won’t be the case forever of course and previously I have accepted the depreciation as one of those things. New cars aren’t for everyone but it’s one of the things I like to spend money on.

I think it depends on the car, if you buy cars/brands that are known for reliability you'll be better off than not

My car is never in the garage, its 14 years old, done 125k miles and I expect it to do the same again. It needs the usual brakes/tyres/suspension bits and bobs now and then through normal wear and tear, plus new battery a while back

Previous car also was the same, very reliable

We tend to buy new or ex-demo, so never older than six months. We keep them forever until they literally fall apart. The current two we have are 15 and 8 years old respectively, and other than scheduled services neither have broken down nor had any unexpected repair bills.

I just don't recognise the "reliability" issues, break downs, etc. In over 40 years of driving, I've only "broken down" once and that was when the engine blew in a car I'd had from new that had hit 195,000 miles but had a water leak and I idiotically forgot to fill it with water before a long motorway journey. My fault entirely, I should have got the leak fixed or at least remembered to fill it with water (I even had a big container of water in the boot, but somehow forgot!). Obviously that was the end of that car and it was scrapped after recovery, but it owed us nothing - 195,000 miles is pretty good going!

Nor have any of our cars suffered expensive unscheduled replacements, such as gearboxes, clutches, exhausts, etc. - I keep hearing of people with cars needing such things and I do wonder whether it's more a matter of bad driving?

I'd never lease a new car - it's a mugs game. However people try to justify themselves for doing it, it's basically vanity of having a new car, and they pay for that.

I do think buying older second hand is a bit of a lottery. However much you rely on a full service history, AA checks, etc., you're at the mercy of the previous owner(s) and how carefully they drove. That's why we don't do it.

Current figures show that cars last an average of 13 years and many make it to 20 years, the average being skewed by "early" write offs due to accidents, very high mileage owners, etc. So to think you need a car that's under 3 years old for "reliability" and to avoid break downs, is a very strange point of view.

They need servicing, so unless you can do that yourself, then yes, you need to send them to garages as per service schedule.

Bangers don’t have the odd repair bill. That is why PCP and leasing is so popular.

I bought a 5 year old low-ish mileage car outright 3 years ago from a dealership and it hasn't cost me anything apart from yearly services, new brake pads, and a set of new tires. It's technically a city car but I live in a rural area and its 1.2 litre engine does me just fine on rural roads and the motorway alike. I don't think I'd ever spend the money on brand new but I also don't understand the concept of taking out credit for a car - it's bananas to me for something that doesn't retain its value. I've done about 8000-10000 miles a year in it. It cost me 6 grand, it's still worth about 5k at trade in and I'd get more for it privately.

I got a new car on a pcp finance. The deal was £200 deposit, £200pm for 4 years then part ex for a new one, give it back or pay off the finance. It was on 0% interest. I had a bigger deposit so reduced the monthly payments to £100. With a service plan and GAP insurance its about £150pm all in.

Most people arent handy with maintenance of cars (including me!)

I totally agree with you and was thinking exactly the same thing today. I drive a 2y old SUV, supposed Gaz guzzler. It has an excellent eco mode which I have configured as its default. The mpgs is way, way better than my previous 10y old smaller car. There's been no repair costs so far, no MOT needed yet and it's emissions are surprisingly low, presumably because the manufacturer has got better at controlling them as it's far more of a selling point now that it was 10y ago as people are much more environmentally conscious.

It also can tell you exactly when it need a servicing, rather then taking it in once a year, so for example it's only just telling me it needs an oil chnage as it approaches the end of year 2, not even a full service yet. That has saved me a few hundred pounds.

Cars are so reliable these days that I think it's mad to believe it's cheaper to buy brand new. We've only ever spent around 4 or 5 grand on a car and dh used to drive 500 miles a week for work. They all lasted really well and ended up with well over 100,000 on the clock. In 30 years I only remember one car ever breaking down once. But two were written off by being hit by other people.

Also if you're buying an SUV for example then tyres are far more expensive than on a small car. The best SUV and the best small car have very similar true MPGS so it's not necessarily true that SUVs are gas guzzlers - but they're obviously a lot more expensive all other ways.

@Tracker1234 mine have never had massive bills. Current car is 2011 and has never needed anything major. Just flew it’s MOT costing £40.

I also have one from 1997 and another from 2014. The worst bill I ever had was £1000…this was roughly 3 months payment on a car I had on pcp previously.

Not sure if I've just been lucky but I don’t have any experience of the massive repair bills people talk about. Plus it can’t be great for the environment if we all write off cars as old after 3 years and replace them!

I see it as a case of 'if you spend more on a car, then you guarantee spending more money, whereas if you spend less, then you MIGHT have to spend more money.'

I've never spent more than £2.5k on cars over the past 19 years (though that will change this year I expect).

Last one was a Focus which I bought at 105k miles and kept to about 160k over 7 years. Biggest spend was a dual mass flywheel at £130k (hate those things). After I sold it, I worked out that my total spend on it, including repairs etc, was about £5k.

For 7 years driving I call that good value, and all my other cars have performed similarly tbh.

That's my thinking @Glowie

Like so many others, I don't recognise this "big repair bills" or "constantly breaking down" people seem to think it part of having older cars.

My current car is 20 years old. We paid £500 for it 6 years ago. Have only paid out for things like new tyres, and minor repairs, which you would have to do on any car when you get a puncture. That isn't exceptional, but has been typical over 40 years+ of driving.

If you buy the right second hand car then it's much cheaper. I bought mine at 1 year old and 10000 miles on the clock for 6700 9 years ago. It's now at 110,000 miles and nothing has gone wrong at all, just needed to replace tyres every now again. It's still worth about 2k so so far has effectively cost me about £50 per month which will go down the longer I keep it. I'm pretty sure it'll be ok for at least another 5 years.
I get it serviced at a reputable local garage.
it's a boring and uncool car but it's been good to me and I love it for how good it is on my wallet. With the cost of living, not having to spend £200-£300 a month towards a car is great, I'd be in the red if had to pay that. And that's the trouble with leasing, you are never free of paying for the car.