To buy an older car

[Newcarconfused]

Currently drive a 20 year old car so no stranger to old cars.

Got 2 cars reserved from Kia. Same models but different specs and years.

Car 1: 13K. 2022 plate. Max spec.

Car 2: 9K. 2019 plate. Lower spec but has everything that I actually need spec-wise.

So spec isn't actually an issue for me. It's the 4k difference.

Am I crazy for going with a 2019 car when it's currently 2025? I've driven an old car for so long that I think maybe it's wiser to go with the newer vehicle for safety and longevity?

Buying in cash and both are affordable. I just can't help but think the additional amount of long weekends I could go on with the 4K saved. At the same time, I don't want to buy an older car and have to get a new one again in a few years.

I bought a 10yr old Toyota in pristine condition. I had a Nissan for 25yrs and only replaced it to get newer features, still ran great.

2019 is new by my standards!

2019 is only 6 years old. I'd be looking at the mileage rather than the age. I drive a 13 plate with no issues so 2019 seems virtually new by comparison.

I would go with the cheaper car, but with one reservation: obviously you want your car to last as long as possible after the sale of new ICE cars is banned in 2030, and the more recent model might give you a few more years before before you find your mobility restricted to that of a medieval peasant. I usually drive old cars but now I’m looking to buy something that will last me the rest of my driving life—probably about 20 more years.

The 2022 has 20,000 miles. The 2019 has 30,000. So both pretty low I think.

Yeah my current car is 20 years old so most cars seem new to me too. I was just anxious as to whether I should be going newer so it can last as long as my current car has lol.

I'd definitely go for the older one. My car is a 2016 and I don't consider it to be particularly old.

That's a good thing to think about. I'm 31 so still got a long driving life to go (hopefully). And I envisage that I will eventually have an electric car. With petrol stations potentially fading out at some point too, part of me thinks I should just go for the older car and then get an electric a few years after the ban comes into effect.

Hard to decide though as lord knows how fast the changes will all take place and how consumer habits/stations/charging will be affected at what pace.

The newer car will last longer so you'll regain the extra £4k at the other end, so might be worth considering especially if you normally keep a car long time and the newer car is also nicer, which you might come to appreciate.

The thing that would sway it for me would be that Kia do a 7 year warranty, so you’d be getting at least 4 years cover with the newer model. I say that as someone that bought a 10 year old car last year and have had a million problems with it

@Bjorkdidit I see what you mean, although cars do seem to depreciate rapidly so I'm sure the difference between the 2 would be less than 4K by the end of it but would be nice ha!

@Avelina yeah the warranty period was what drew me to the 22 plate in the first place. Not many used cars get that long of a warranty. Although hoping I'll rarely have to use it! On the 19 plate, warranty expires at the start of next year so a bit of a risk maybe.

Just the practicals here. Insist on a 12 months MoT if purchasing from a dealer so they will need to rectify and pay for any failure faults that might have crept in between now and the last MoT. Also if possible go for car with a full service history and check length of any warranty provided by the dealer and what it actually covers.

(Is it a Picanto?)

My car is 2019 and was my first brand new car. It still feels like new to me! But then I scrapped a 17yo Clio to get £2k off.

@CenotaphCorner with Kia they only do a service and MOT if there's less than 6 months left. Both of these were done not long ago so I'm doubtful they'd do another one unfortunately. They do state they carry fully full checks though.

Yes a Picanto! Level 3. Wanted the sat nav and the folding mirrors, plus electronic key fob. Which the 2019 vehicle has.

The 2022 is much more high tech with start stop button, which worries me tbh in case my fob stops working and I can't manually start the car! And it's got heated seats steering wheel etc not that I think I'm going to need all that lol. But it's a nice touch.

Whichever one you get (I wouldn't be able to decide either), enjoy it. I love mine.

Which one do you have, if you don't mind me asking?

No what I mean is that it should take 3 years longer to get to the 'needs replacing' stage because it's newer to start with.

If the endpoint is 20 years old and more or less worthless a 3 year old car takes 17 years to get there compared with 14 for the 6 year old one.

The older one wouldn’t bother me, if you check everything out, it’s still barely a baby at 5-6 years old, when you think modern cars last an average 13-14 years and a fair amount last 20 years. I don’t think there’d be much difference in safety standards. Just check the mot history online to look to see if it’s had any failure reasons or advisories which may suggest it’s been badly driven, ie springs, shocks, wheel damage etc. Also lack of a full service history would be a deal breaker for me - preferably at a Kia dealership so check the service history record book too to ensure it’s been serviced to schedule. I assume it’s low mileage - that’s another deal breaker, I’d not buy a car with high mileage, or even average mileage - lots out there below average, doesn’t have to be ultra low, just less than average. Hopefully you’re getting it from a reputable garage rather than a dodgy bloke in a lock up on the industrial estate, so there should be a 6-12 month warranty provided by the garage, preferably underwritten by a proper warranty firm in case it turns out a dud.

One of our cars is 17 years old and doesn’t feel “old” to us at all. Never had any problems with it and will be sad to see it go. In fact a moronic neighbour wrote it off 3 years ago and we bought it back from her insurance company and had the damage repaired to keep it on the road.

Personally we don’t like the modern ones with everything electronic as so much can go wrong and disable the car. I far prefer a key ignition rather than a button, a manual handbrake rather than electronic, and prefer control knobs instead of screen for things like heating and radio. Heated seats and heated steering wheels are just gimmicks and those kind of things are future points of failure likely to reduce a cars life or increase repair costs.

I'd take the holidays over the slightly newer car if I'm honest! But I don't drive a huge amount. My car is a 61 reg mini countryman so she's a pretty old girl but I really love her.

The basic model. There was a 3k difference between that and the next model up which I couldn't justify at the time and I figured brand new would be better than used for me in the long term as I expect to run it into the ground. Ironically, when used cars were in short supply and ULEZ was coming in, the dealership offered me £3k more than I paid to buy it back!

But it's fun to buzz around town and it does okay on the motorway.

I wouldn’t worry about this. It isn’t going to happen.

2022 will have another four years of warranty left, 2019 only has a year.

Kia 7 year warranty is actually the best out there and pretty much covers all parts up to 100k, so I'd spend the extra 4k and enjoy a good car with lots of warranty.

Kia use a GDI engine, which can have problems with low mileage and short trips. Which is what the 2019 appears to have a history of.