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Main con is the car will be out of makers warranty, which may or may not be of concern, though at this age you could be buying a Korean car which still has more years left of maker warranty than the German cars had when new, maybe a question worth asking is why can they do so and the Germans not.
Second major con, though linked driectly to the first, reliabilty and cost to fix some of the regular expensive and not easy fix faults some of these high image brands have that they really shouldn't have.
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Many or most will be ex PCP cars at that age, and will have had owners that treated them from a wide spectrum, good care to gross abuse. I suspect more biased to the latter. Quite a few may be clocked to get around the owners pcp contract mileage.
There will be little price difference between good and bad, again I suspect prices will be elevated by the over generous pcp terms on offer of late.
Tread very carefully, especially as 3 years ago, vag had lots of hidden design issues with cam chains, dsg boxes, etc. Also be wary of low mileage diesels and ALWAYS negotiate a years warranty.
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though at this age you could be buying a Korean car which still has more years left of maker warranty than the German cars had when new, maybe a question worth asking is why can they do so and the Germans not.
Think it's because they don't need to. They are already seen by most people as being reliable so why lose money offering a longer warranty?
Hopefully Hyundai/Kia don't get ideas and drop the warranty times that they provide now.
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I used to buy 3 year old cars and sell after 2 years, thought I was getting cheap motoring compared to buying new even after factoring the inevitable repair costs I faced.
But then I bought a brand new car and kept it 5 years. I looked after it and other than servicing never had to spend a penny.
When I looked at costs I saved nothing by buying used and changing 2.5 times instead of buying new. Bought new (or pre-reg if available) ever since.
Just negotiate yourself a good deal.
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But then I bought a brand new car and kept it 5 years. I looked after it and other than servicing never had to spend a penny.
Even better to buy an 8-month-old car and keep it 7 years, with the same result from a much cheaper starting point.
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But then I bought a brand new car and kept it 5 years. I looked after it and other than servicing never had to spend a penny.
Even better to buy an 8-month-old car and keep it 7 years, with the same result from a much cheaper starting point.
In general perhaps, but you can get some cracking deals from brokers meaning a new car for the price of a 1 year old used car. Most people will buy new from dealers, which will be the price point for depreciation.
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But then I bought a brand new car and kept it 5 years. I looked after it and other than servicing never had to spend a penny.
Even better to buy an 8-month-old car and keep it 7 years, with the same result from a much cheaper starting point.
In general perhaps, but you can get some cracking deals from brokers meaning a new car for the price of a 1 year old used car. Most people will buy new from dealers, which will be the price point for depreciation.
Over 20% on some VWs at the moment !!!
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But then I bought a brand new car and kept it 5 years. I looked after it and other than servicing never had to spend a penny.
Even better to buy an 8-month-old car and keep it 7 years, with the same result from a much cheaper starting point.
Even better to buy a 4yr old car and keep it for 11yrs. (my Audi A6, annual depreciation measured in hundreds, not thousands of pounds.)
This approach works well if you choose carefully and have a low annual mileage. I saved enough to replace it last year with a low mileage 2005 all aluminium A8 quattro with an unstressed un-turboed reliable engine (W12) requiring virtually no servicing which I hope and expect will last another 10yrs and will probably outlive me. Fun while it lasts!
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I once bought a 4 year old city car. The next car was new. The cheapest car was the new car. Servicing was cheap for the first 4 or 5 years, and not too bad for the next 2 or 3. The used car lasted 5 years, so the purchase price / years of ownership was higher for the used car, and the servicing was higher. My current car was bought new over 3 years go, and thus far costs almost nothing to service and maintain.
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though at this age you could be buying a Korean car which still has more years left of maker warranty than the German cars had when new, maybe a question worth asking is why can they do so and the Germans not.
Think it's because they don't need to. They are already seen by most people as being reliable so why lose money offering a longer warranty?
Hopefully Hyundai/Kia don't get ideas and drop the warranty times that they provide now.
If they're geniunely reliable they don't lose money by longer warranties - indeed they gain as more cars are franchised-serviced for longer.
The German 3 brands are so focussed on fleet/company sales they do very little for real retail customers.
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I think, with the VAG brand you may be as well to follow Skidpan's advice, these cars are very complicated whichever model you choose, and repair costs outside of warranty could bite you. The VAG brand reliability rating is decidedly average too, with a number of well known faults affecting both diesel and petrol versions. If buying at 3 years, plus I would stick to Japanese petrol, port injection, non turbo, keep it as simple as possible and with a brand known for reliability, robustness and good after care service.
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If they're geniunely reliable they don't lose money by longer warranties - indeed they gain as more cars are franchised-serviced for longer.
Even very reliable cars will have more failiures in the later years so the warranties provided by Hyundai and Kia will certainly cost the company money and doubt they will get that much back from the servicing as that money goes to the dealership instead of to Hyundai/Kia
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It is good advertising for the company it sells cars and you are tied into their servicing schedule and at their costs.
You can get a Kia or Hyundai serviced wherever you want and keep the warranty providing you use OEM parts and the correct schedule.
But why bother when the savings are minimal (if any). Kia offer a £600 for the first 5 services deal which is extreemly good value and includes body checks, beat that at an indy.
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It is good advertising for the company it sells cars and you are tied into their servicing schedule and at their costs.
You can get a Kia or Hyundai serviced wherever you want and keep the warranty providing you use OEM parts and the correct schedule.
But why bother when the savings are minimal (if any). Kia offer a £600 for the first 5 services deal which is extreemly good value and includes body checks, beat that at an indy.
I think the key is proving you used OEM parts and the correct schedule. I suspect Hyundi/Kia would be rather picky and fight a warranty claim had you not used one of their garages. This is my assumption of course, I have no reports to go on.
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>I think the key is proving you used OEM parts and the correct schedule. I suspect >Hyundi/Kia would be rather picky and fight a warranty claim had you not used one of >their garages. This is my assumption of course, I have no reports to go on.
Good old EU laws means you can use India without loosing the warranty any car any time. Ford have always allow indie to perform services and honoured the warranty, I know this because they did so for me, before the EU ruling came out!
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Interesting to know. I tend to use the main dealer for servicing while under warranty, then when repairs become non trivial go to the indie. My VW being over 3 years old, I am tempted to go to the indie. The only problem is that he is booked up many weeks in advance. I guess that is the problem with being good. :)
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I think the key is proving you used OEM parts and the correct schedule. I suspect Hyundi/Kia would be rather picky and fight a warranty claim had you not used one of their garages. This is my assumption of course, I have no reports to go on.
The Kia service book clearly states that you may use an indy for servicing and retain the warranty with certain conditions.
The indy is VAT registered
They use OEM parts
They do the work to the Kia schedule
The owner retains the parts receipts and schedule of work done. It specifically states that a stamp in the service book on its own is insufficient (hardly surprising when you can buy them on E-Bay).
Only an official Kia delaer can carry out the paint and body check so no point the indy stamping that part. Its included in a Kia delaer service but charged for if done as a seperate item, have heard £50 - £75.
All seems very reasonable to me.
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I support Skidpan's view, servicing for my Hyundai at the dealer has not cost much more than my indy would charge and ensures any software updates are done. They always offer a loan car (which he doesn't) and the car is washed and mini-valeted when I pick it up, so I'm happy to use them.
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Even better to buy an 8-month-old car and keep it 7 years, with the same result from a much cheaper starting point.
That's OK if you are happy buying a car that has probably been misstreated for the first 8 months and in 6 years and 4 months time you are happy driving a 7 year old car. It might be cheaper than buying new (with big discount) or pre-reg but the car could have been one that was returned by the original customer when the dealer could not fix it.
Personally I will continue to buy new or pre-reg and swap near the 5 year point. Its worked for me for the past 20 years.
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<< That's OK if you are happy buying a car that has probably been mistreated for the first 8 months and in 6 years and 4 months time you are happy driving a 7 year old car. It might be cheaper than buying new (with big discount) or pre-reg but the car could have been one that was returned by the original customer when the dealer could not fix it. >>
Skidpan, there are risks one must take with buying any car of any age, which is why most come with a warranty of some sort. In 50 years the closest I have come to a New Car has been one run-out model ex-demo, and the 207 SW I have now, which I guess was ex-lease or rental, registered by Peugeot. I have yet to own what I would call a lemon by any stretch. So I shall continue to take the risks which my experience shows to be small, smug in the assumption that others are paying more, perhaps even by buying extended warranties.
:-))
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The only problem is that the indie is booked up many weeks in advance. I guess that is the problem with being good. :)
Are you suggesting that you can book into the dealer the day after tomorrow? And is it therefore less good?
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The only problem is that the indie is booked up many weeks in advance. I guess that is the problem with being good. :)
Are you suggesting that you can book into the dealer the day after tomorrow? And is it therefore less good?
I did not say that, and no.
My experience is that it is easier to book into a local VW dealer, parly because there are 3 belonging to the same company within a short drive of my home. The local indie is booked ahead many weeks, and if you want a loan car, you have to book even further ahead. The local VW dealer can often service my car with a week's notice, depending on the time of year, and they seem to have more load cars, presumably because some/all are demonstrators.
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Leif, may I have the name of the indie you use, because I can't find a good one. The last service my indie did oil was spewing out of the engine, forgotten seal on the filter- unforgivable.
I think it is better to buy new off a broker and keep it rather than an older car. 90% of 6 month old cars with 13 to 15 thousand miles have had only one owner, usually called Hertz, Avis or Europcar!
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I think it is better to buy new off a broker and keep it rather than an older car. 90% of 6 month old cars with 13 to 15 thousand miles have had only one owner, usually called Hertz, Avis or Europcar!
Or ERAC - that's Enterprise Rent-A-Car
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