Thats why ive always seen it as a good idea to get a slightly older car in above average condition and below average miles for its age which has suffered the vast majority of its depreciation already. And the trick is, if you can be bothered with the fuss, to get rid of it before it starts causing you trouble which can generally be after 2-3 years in most cases. Put your third MOT on it and get rid. Another benefit to buying slighter older is anything it needed doing in its first 3 years was done on warranty, any recalls its had have already been done and enough will have been sold to make an informed decision on the merits of it.

Usually when a manufacturer updates its model the older one despite maybe being only 6 months older suddenly suffers a big drop in value. The moment the new Mondeo came out in late 2007 i saw 07 plate Mondeo's suddenly worth 25% less. Theres many flaws in purchasing a car with the sole aim of "saving money" like people will pay 20 grand to change their car to something which does 7mpg more, not realising they're gonna need to drive it for 50 years to recoup the "saving". You're always going to lose money on a car unless you buy something which later becomes a "modern classic" and desirable but you could be waiting around for some time. The best way to minimise the damage is to buy a car with impeccable service history, around 5-7 years old where most of its value has been lost, maintain it well and get rid of it inside around three years and do it again.