To buy or not to buy..........a new car.

[Tolkienista]

My car is an (almost )17 year old low mileage ford Ka. It's been fantastic over the years and really served me well. It's only in the last couple of years that it's started costing me, new battery, brake work etc, but nothing too expensive. My mot is due at the end of Oct.

I hate making decisions about new buys, but my dilemma is whether I should go for a brand new car ......at the moment I'm leaning towards a fiat 500, or go for a decent second hand car just a couple of years old, obviously with a service record etc. Just don't know what to do. My weekly mileage is currently around 50 miles, some weeks more, but I really doubt I'll be driving long distance in it.

Any thoughts? I hate the whole environment of salespeople in showrooms just hate it, but any advice/experiences would be gratefully accepted.

It is up to you, obviously, but I think buying a car from new is a complete waste of money. You drive it off the forecourt and it has depreciated so much. It just seems a waste to me.
OTOH, I am obviously glad some people do, or there wouldn't be used cars for the rest of us to buy.

Find out what the delivery times are on new cars, but also the price versus a decent second hand one. I don't know if this applies to all types of cars but there are considerable delays in manufacture at the moment (one reason being a shortage of chips) , which has driven up the prices of second hand cars for people who can't wait months for a new one.

I'd wait it out for a year or two if you possibly can. Used car prices are expected to come down once the current shortages ease up.

It's the 'if you can' which is the problem. If something expensive goes wrong, finding a replacement quickly may not be as easy as in the past.
Also re delivery times... back in May we ordered a new car, knowing there would be a long delivery time. It was due in September- that's now been pushed back to January.

Re the initial depreciation- of course no one with any sense pays full list price for a new car. And in these unusual times apparently some people desperate for a car immediately are offering more than would be normal - the garage said they'd had offers over list price for their demonstration vehicles.

I'm in a similar position. WFH. Hardly use the car but need one to ferry the kids about. It's old and costing us a lot of money every time in repairs.

I'm looking at getting a new one on lease soon. My thought process is that it's new and I won't need to spend a shit tonne of money on it, my mileage is low enough not to need to pay extra and I can hand it back if and when needed.

Battery and brakes are standard consumables. If the body is in good condition and does not need a new cambelt then keep it going. Otherwise consider buying a second hand Honda. I would not go for a 500 personally.

But if you only do 50 miles a week do you really need car? Get a bike and have your shopping delivered.

It's also worth considering, if you have very low mileage, if it would be more cost effective to use cabs and maybe an occasional hire car rather than buying, running and insuring your own. DH did the calculations for his DM when her gearbox failed; it was actually far, far cheaper for her to use taxis. And that was before Uber, and the costs of owning and running a car were lower then.

I’ve always bought new cars because I don’t trust car sales people but that’s just me (and like you I keep them for a long time). I ordered a car sept last year and it’s still not been built. So you might be waiting for a while if you were to buy new

If you can afford new and you’re only doing 50 miles a week I’d definitely look at fully electric.

But just be cautious as a lot of people will be choosing between keeping a car (paying monthly lease costs etc) or paying their rent/mortgage/energy bills with the cost of living.

Its looking highly likely that hospitality industries will only be opening 1-2 days a week due to energy insecurity so I’d be very cautious about any extra financial stresses.

I've had a really busy few days (60 miles of driving) so ive only just got around to reading all your invaluable comments, many thanks. As for the comments about my low mileage and the feasibility of ditching my car.........no way, I'm not on that page yet. A lot of my journeys are away from bus/train routes and at odd times of the day too, so I'm not ready to embrace a car free life in exchange for taxis for a good few years yet.