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Sat 2 Apr 2022 23:10

Used City Car Dilemma - Peter St

I'm looking into purchasing a 2nd car for the household and have been looking into small, city 2nd hand cars for commuting and short trips only. With the used car market prices at high levels currently due to micro-chip shortage, brexit and covid manufacturing delays on new cars, do I spend say 10-12k on a half decent car to use for a few years or do I spend a much lower amount say 7-8k on an older car so if market prices drop again in the next 6-12 months then I don't lose as much in depreciation. With high fuel prices and a significant increase in the cost of living, I'm worried that if I spend more now then the car will lose a large proportion of it's value in no time at all. I'd welcome some advice. Thanks

Edited by Peter St on 02/04/2022 at 23:11

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Sun 3 Apr 2022 02:47

Used City Car Dilemma - Terry W

A £12k car will depreciate more than an older £8k car based on the simple proposition that the value of s/h cars is broadly proportionate to their new equivalent prices.

However a £12k city car may still have 2 years or more warranty left, will be lower mileage, and less likely to need general repairs and replacements for the first couple of years of ownership - eg: tyres, cambelt changes, brake pads and discs etc.

The key to cheap motoring is to keep cars a long time. A £12k car kept for 10 years will cost around £1000pa. Kept for (say) 2 years depreciation is likely to be £3600 (30%). For an £8k car the depreciation would be £2400.

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Sun 3 Apr 2022 07:31

Used City Car Dilemma - badbusdriver

For £7k you could get a 2018/9 Suzuki Celerio with under 20k miles. Very reliable, very efficient, very spacious (for its size).

Perhaps not the nicest looking car you could buy, but hey ho!

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Mon 4 Apr 2022 00:59

Used City Car Dilemma - edlithgow

The key to cheap motoring is to keep cars a long time. A £12k car kept for 10 years will cost around £1000pa. Kept for (say) 2 years depreciation is likely to be £3600 (30%). For an £8k car the depreciation would be £2400.

Another key to cheap motoring is to buy cars that arent worth anything.

On my current Taiwan car the depreciation over 2 years would have been close to zero. Over the 8 years or so I've had it, even closer to zero.

This was also true in the UK, though keeping them for a long time in the Uber-anal MOT regime, not to mention the STAZI-like level of social surveillance, was much more difficult.

The only car I've had that depreciated significantly was a newish Renault 5 Campus I took over from my mother, though in practice its depreciation didn't matter much, since it spontaneously combusted after about 3 years of ownership.

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Mon 4 Apr 2022 07:40

Used City Car Dilemma - Falkirk Bairn

Against my advice a son has being doing the rounds of car buying.

His elder daughter was coming up for 17 and he "loves cars" and anal about the condition of his cars. I told him lessons and a car further down the line - he did not listen!

Set himself a target of a small 5 door, 1 litre, and 3 -5 year old lowish mileage - Aygo, Mazda2, Suzuki - private or garage and within a 25 mile radius.

The average condition of comparatively new cars was shocking - dings, bashes, scrapes abounded and although on the forecourt filthy outside & inside. The garages did not seem to care that the prospective buyer might be put off by a poorly looked after/poorly presented car.

Bought an Aygo, 4 years old, 30K, Toyota serviced ............. only fault so far? He did not spy 2 Chinese ditchfinders on the front - original Contis on the back!

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Mon 4 Apr 2022 08:11

Used City Car Dilemma - badbusdriver

Set himself a target of a small 5 door, 1 litre, and 3 -5 year old lowish mileage - Aygo, Mazda2, Suzuki - private or garage and within a 25 mile radius.

He'd have struggled to find a 1 litre Mazda 2

;-)

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Mon 4 Apr 2022 08:27

Used City Car Dilemma - Falkirk Bairn

Error

Small reliable make - 5 door with a low insurance group

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Mon 4 Apr 2022 17:05

Used City Car Dilemma - Rerepo

With the used car market prices at high levels currently due to micro-chip shortage, brexit and covid manufacturing delays on new cars

High prices might be due to chip problems and Covid but they are nothing to do with Brexit. We are out now, thank goodness. Please get over it and move on...

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Mon 4 Apr 2022 17:43

Used City Car Dilemma - Andrew-T

<< ... nothing to do with Brexit. We are out now, thank goodness. Please get over it and move on. >>

Please don't revive this topic yet again, but I would be interested to know what 'goodness' we are to be thankful for ? I haven't seen any yet worthy of mention. But I suspect that one reason why our Govt is earning a poor reputation re the acceptance of Ukrainian refugees is that it is populated by Brexiteers, who (by definition) want little to do with Europe - where Ukraine is, of course.

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Mon 4 Apr 2022 18:35

Used City Car Dilemma - Xileno

Brexit in the other forum please, let's try and keep this one as uncontentious as possible.

Edited by Xileno on 04/04/2022 at 20:07

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Mon 4 Apr 2022 23:58

Used City Car Dilemma - Big John

I think the top end budget just about buys a new Dacia Sandero (basic) or how about a nearly new Toyota Aygo(with the higher budget) or older (with the lower budget). The little engine used in these (and the Citroen C1/ Peugeot 108) has really stood the test of time. The Toyota will also be available with the 10 year warranty if serviced by Toyota.

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