Just a thought. The first few years depreciation can be very painful, but many buyers are prepared to accept it in return for a brand new car with minimal servicing and maintenance costs. In contrast many used buyers avoid the worst of the depreciation, but seem to get hit hard on occasion by big failures. Has anyone actually compared the overall costs of the two options? Specifically I was wondering if, say, £20k depreciation over 3 years on a £40k Boxster where everything is covered by the warranty is actually not that bad value when someone buying in the same car from a dealer in 3 years time will probably pay £25k and lose £10k, plus will probably need to start replacing expensive bits and bobs? New will always cost more than used, but is the reality closer than we think?

If you bought a new Boxster for 40k and sold it after 3 years for 20k you would lose 20k

If you bought a 3 year old Boxster for 20k and after 3 years you sold it for 10k it would only cost you half as much.

Thats the principal however there are other factors like the feeling of buying a new car and maintenane free aspect,buying second hand will it be trouble free etc.

At the end of the day if you are reasonably well off you would probably buy new and if you didnt have the money you could only take the secondhand option.

what about buying a 9 year old boxster for 8.5k?

IMHO buying a good second hand example is much better value as you can have 90% of the pleasure that the person who bought new had for approx 30% of the outlay depending of course on the age and mileage etc of the car.

Plus when it's time to move it on in 2-3 years or whatever you should see a large chunk of your money back if you've looked after it properly. This money can then go to your next car and so on. Each to their own though. Some folk just want a brand new car.

If you buy and sell wisely you needn't lose your shirt on depreciation which is usually the biggest cost with cars.

Of course older cars typically require more maintenance than a newer model which may cancel out the equation. New and old cars still break down though so luck plays a part in all of this.

Some good comments, thanks. A 993 is a head-scratcher. Low mileage C2S and C4S all seem to be in the hands of dealers demanding big money while the more mainstream models in private hands often have big miles or very quickly would have big miles if they were a daily driver. Perhaps a 996 turbo is the way to go although it would be essential to find a car that has had loads of money spent on it as radiators and turbos in particular seem to wear out fairly quickly.

I guess I wasn't thinking of used cars of that age. More the 2-3 year old trade ins that will still have some depreciating left to do. As someone said it is a personal decision that everyone will look at differently.

Cheers

Having had 9 911's including 5 new ones, 3 993's and a 2.7rs, the ones that gave me the best ownership experience were the 993's.

Ultimately they haven't cost much to own in the 11 or so years only due to the profit on the 2.7rs which off set the loss on the 2 996's and 2 997 cabs.

However maybe I am just tight !! But there is a lot to be said for depreciation free motoring I.e 993's

The only one I would buy again

Phib

You can own nice cars with out costing you alot of money and I hate depreciation on cars.The following are the 4 cars in our household.

2003 Porsche 996 C2.A mate of mine told me a friend of his was selling his Porsche 996,he had it from new and had full OPC history and had just bought a new Audi R8.I went around to the chaps house and I asked him how much he wanted for the car and was £26,000.After some easy haggling I bought the car for £20,400,he put a years MOT on the car and I paid the tax.This was 4 years ago and the car is probably worth about £16,000 now so depreciation of just over £1,000 a year and the car gives me 90% of the enjoymentas if I had a new £80,000 Porsche.

8 years ago I bought a Jensen Interceptor for £8,000 from a chap in Ireland and bought it unseen which I would not normally recommend.Insurance £75 per year and probably spent £2,000 on it in the 8 years.I do not use the car very much,mainly take it to shows.There are 2 menbers of the JOC that have said that anytime I want to sell the car they will give me £16,000

My wife has a 2007 Ford S Max Titanium 2.0 diesel that had a list price of £24,000 and I bought the car from a nice man in Cheltenham for £12,800 when the car was 16 months old.Yhe car was immaculate and looked like a new,The car is probably worth £10,000 now.

Bought my daughter a Toyota Yaris for her 17th Birthday and went to Birmingham 100 miles away to buy it as it was £1,000 cheaper than the ones in Cardiff.

As you can see I am careful with my money although my wife thinks im a tight git.

The 993's really felt like a Porsche should, I remember having my first one and taking about 3 months to learn how to drive it properly, it was the most challenging and rewarding to drive by far.

The 997's and 996's really felt just like normal cars, in fact I only kept both 997's for about 4/5 months each as I got bored.

Phib

Much will depend on what role the car is to play in your life.

If it's your sole car, your daily drive, then how realistic is a 15 year old 993?

Then again, if it's a weekend toy, then a 993 looks a sound bet.

Same with the GT cars to an extent once they get on a bit in years.