What fun & reliable car that depreciates at less than £230pm

[kcalculates]

Bit of a twist on the usual car buying thread.
I'll be driving around 12-15,000 miles per year, mainly on country & A roads with the odd long motorway stint.
I've considered leasing but not a huge fan of being tied to contracts & mileage.
So, I'm looking for a car that depreciates at £230 or less per month that matches my requirements below.
I tend to keep cars for 1-2yrs.

My current requirements are:
- Reliable
- 4/5 seats
- Petrol
- 30+ mpg
- Fun daily driver
- Reasonable running costs
- 5 doors (not a must)
- Hatchback-ish size
- Not bothered about the badge
- £10,000 budget (up to £15,000 if needs be).

[p4cks]

I know you've discounted leasing as you don't like contracts but this seems to me as though you'll be effectively signing up to a contract that you've inflicted upon yourself?

[kcalculates]

I agree, although all used cars that match my requirement will be depreciating.
If I decide to sell in 9 months, I can do so having swallowed the £230/pm depreciation, plus depreciation isn't linear so will be getting smaller as time goes on.
With a lease, I'd have to run the remaining 15 months of the contract.
I will also not require a deposit/upfront payment.

[designforlife]

my DC5 has appreciated about £500 in the last year...if you want something in the plus column.

Will do 30+ mpg on motorways, and the engine isn't afraid of high miles. Shame to pile 10/15k a year on one though (depending on your attachment to it).

[kiethton]

~2014 BMW M135i for ~£14-15k *should* depreciate less than that, but with all things it's all in the buying

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[kcalculates]

That BMW looks interesting.. ticks many boxes apart from the running costs (& theft factor).
That said 12 months warranty is included so could look to sell in 12 months. A good purchase should hopefully just require a service and no consumables..

[Integroo]

designforlife said:

my DC5 has appreciated about £500 in the last year...if you want something in the plus column.

Will do 30+ mpg on motorways, and the engine isn't afraid of high miles. Shame to pile 10/15k a year on one though (depending on your attachment to it).

I know you love your DC5, but you do not need to recommend it in every thread . It certainly doesn't really meet his requirements without a stretch.

[kcalculates]

DC5 is a little old I think. I've had a look and the FD2 might be more appropriate? Little bit newer and more modern. Prices seem strong with little depreciation. They do all seem to be imports though and I don't know how suitable they are as a daily driver.

[steve-5snwi]

Fiesta ST or even 1.0 Zetec S, pick one up for around £8000 and in 2 years time it still be worth £5000 - ZS that is.

[JQ]

Toyota GT86 / Subaru BRZ seems to very slow at depreciating.

As an aside, have you done your maths? - If you buy buy a £10k car with a depreciation of £230pcm, you're effectively saying that after 3 years the car will be worth £1,720. I would imagine, pretty much any interesting car will fall within those parameters. For a depreciation of £230 pcm I'd be looking at a £20,000 car - somthing like an M3 or 911 997.

[designforlife]

kcalculates said:

DC5 is a little old I think. I've had a look and the FD2 might be more appropriate? Little bit newer and more modern. Prices seem strong with little depreciation. They do all seem to be imports though and I don't know how suitable they are as a daily driver.

FD2 is probably the best investment honda around at the moment, practical too. I know a few guys that daily them with no real complaints, the ride is probably a little hard but whether you could live with that would depend on what else you've driven i guess.

[designforlife]

Integroo said:

designforlife said:

my DC5 has appreciated about £500 in the last year...if you want something in the plus column.

Will do 30+ mpg on motorways, and the engine isn't afraid of high miles. Shame to pile 10/15k a year on one though (depending on your attachment to it).

I know you love your DC5, but you do not need to recommend it in every thread . It certainly doesn't really meet his requirements without a stretch.

the only requirement it doesn't strictly meet is the mpg around town.

You're just butthurt because you know you should have bought one instead of that FN2

What about a focus RS or megane 225?

Edited by designforlife on Tuesday 23 January 13:14