Best bet for depreciation?

[lornemalvo]

I know this is a rather stupid and probably often an asked question, but I'm looking to buy a car between 1 and 3 years old and want to try to minimise depreciation over the next few years. I fully understand that I'm buying a depreciating asset to be used and not an investment, but I would like to try to minimise the pain. I want a family sized estate although I would consider an SUV. My budget is flexible. I've thought about paying around 12k for an Octavia, or double that for something more interesting like a Merc, BMW or something left field. I value refinement, reliability, reasonable economy, and like everyone else I'm probably leaning towards petrol rather than diesel. I pay cash and do not use PCP or lease deals. I should have added that I am retired and do a relatively low mileage

Edited by lornemalvo on Tuesday 9th July 20:16

[DoubleD]

Spend £6k and use the rest to pay a chunk of your mortgage.

[0a]

A 1.0 Toyota Yaris for £1k that’s local to you so you can go and meet the owner!

[lornemalvo]

DoubleD, Mortgage is paid off, Oa what the hell are you talking about?

[DoubleD]

lornemalvo said:

DoubleD, Mortgage is paid off, Oa what the hell are you talking about?

Invest the cash then.

[mike9009]

I think your two criteria are mutually exclusive.

I don't think you will find a 1 -3 year old, run-of-the-mill family car that will not lose about 50% of it value in the next three years. In which case, I would chose the one you want rather than the one with the least depreciation. If talking £££££s loss just pick the oldest you are willing to put up with and maybe get an extended manufacturers warranty.

Or do what I have decided is best, buy multiple older vehicles, maintain them and if one breaks down, just jump in another. Variety is the spice of life!

Mike

[Mr Tidy]

Personally I'd buy something a bit older - that way you might get a 5 year old BMW/Merc for less than a 3 year old Octavia!

Cars like that at 5 years old are just run in, unless they have done mega-mileage. I sold an 06 plate BMW 325i earlier this year that was still driving just fine on 139,000 miles - only because I had bought a 330i.

[lornemalvo]

mike9009 said:

I think your two criteria are mutually exclusive.

I don't think you will find a 1 -3 year old, run-of-the-mill family car that will not lose about 50% of it value in the next three years. In which case, I would chose the one you want rather than the one with the least depreciation. If talking £££££s loss just pick the oldest you are willing to put up with and maybe get an extended manufacturers warranty.

Or do what I have decided is best, buy multiple older vehicles, maintain them and if one breaks down, just jump in another. Variety is the spice of life!

Mike

That's exactly what I do now, Mike., t's a good strategy.I have a 2007 daily Octy , the 1.9 tdi without a dpf. I also have a 1999 Lexus LS 400 V8 on a classic car policy. It works quite well, but I fancy something newer. I also have a Jag mk 2 and a Lancia 2000HF Coupe, both of which I'm restoring, so tinkering with the Octavia and Lexus takes up valuable time. If I buy an Octavia or Golf at the bottom of my budget, I'd probably end up buying a second car ( I fancy an X350 Jag), whereas if I spend the top end of my budget, I probably won't be ablt to justify doing that.

[mrunderhill]

I find these threads entertaining.

So you want the lowest depreciating car that is
1. between 1 and 3 years old
2. family sized estate, would consider an SUV
3. budget up to £24,000
4. Refined
5. Reliable
6. Not too thirsty
And you want to pay cash.

Current advice is:
1. Spend £6k and pay off your mortgage -
2. A 1.0 Toyota Yaris - This matches 1,3,5 and 6 of the criteria
3. invest the cash
4. buy multiple older vehicles, maintain them and if one breaks down, just jump in another
5. A 5 year old BMW/Merc - This could match all but one of the criteria, but is too broad an answer to be useful.
6. A fairly interesting story.

n.b. I'm not knocking any advice here, its all sensible (apart from recommending a Merc. as a reliable car).
How about a Volvo V60, Mazda 6 tourer or an Audi Q3

[lornemalvo]

mrunderhill said:

I find these threads entertaining.

So you want the lowest depreciating car that is
1. between 1 and 3 years old
2. family sized estate, would consider an SUV
3. budget up to £24,000
4. Refined
5. Reliable
6. Not too thirsty
And you want to pay cash.

Current advice is:
1. Spend £6k and pay off your mortgage -
2. A 1.0 Toyota Yaris - This matches 1,3,5 and 6 of the criteria
3. invest the cash
4. buy multiple older vehicles, maintain them and if one breaks down, just jump in another
5. A 5 year old BMW/Merc - This could match all but one of the criteria, but is too broad an answer to be useful.
6. A fairly interesting story.

n.b. I'm not knocking any advice here, its all sensible (apart from recommending a Merc. as a reliable car).
How about a Volvo V60, Mazda 6 tourer or an Audi Q3

Exactly this. Even when you're fairly specific about what you have decided, people seem incapable of providing an opinion that is remotely related to the question asked.I think people have lost the ability to really "listen" and just seem to want to express an opinion, even if it's off the "brief" completely. Perhaps I should have rephrased the question slightly and asked whether the difference in price between a 12k Octavia/Golf and something twice the price is worth paying in terms of refinement etc. A useful example answer might have been " I've had both an Octavia and an Audi A4 and this is what i think....." I'll not be asking questions like this again, better to just go on owners' forums, I think, although bias can be a problem there.

[mike9009]

lornemalvo said:

mrunderhill said:

I find these threads entertaining.

So you want the lowest depreciating car that is
1. between 1 and 3 years old
2. family sized estate, would consider an SUV
3. budget up to £24,000
4. Refined
5. Reliable
6. Not too thirsty
And you want to pay cash.

Current advice is:
1. Spend £6k and pay off your mortgage -
2. A 1.0 Toyota Yaris - This matches 1,3,5 and 6 of the criteria
3. invest the cash
4. buy multiple older vehicles, maintain them and if one breaks down, just jump in another
5. A 5 year old BMW/Merc - This could match all but one of the criteria, but is too broad an answer to be useful.
6. A fairly interesting story.

n.b. I'm not knocking any advice here, its all sensible (apart from recommending a Merc. as a reliable car).
How about a Volvo V60, Mazda 6 tourer or an Audi Q3

Exactly this. Even when you're fairly specific about what you have decided, people seem incapable of providing an opinion that is remotely related to the question asked.I think people have lost the ability to really "listen" and just seem to want to express an opinion, even if it's off the "brief" completely. Perhaps I should have rephrased the question slightly and asked whether the difference in price between a 12k Octavia/Golf and something twice the price is worth paying in terms of refinement etc. A useful example answer might have been " I've had both an Octavia and an Audi A4 and this is what i think....." I'll not be asking questions like this again, better to just go on owners' forums, I think, although bias can be a problem there.

I think you missed the bit in my post where I said, just get what you want. All 1 - 3 year old family cars will depreciate savagely (compared to my strategy), so not worth picking one over another based purely on depreciation - you will be playing in the margins and could end up with something that does not suit/ entertain or work for you. Original purchase price is probably more important than anything else.

My advice buy a 3 year old 335i/d type thing.

[Prinny]

MX5. (Someone had to do it).

In all honesty, spend 12k on the Octavia or Golf and put the other 12k toward the Lancia/Jaguar. In my opinion of driving lots of rentals over the years, the delta of refinement between a 3yr old golf and a 1yr old is minimal. Same for anything (like for like)in that market, be it Focus/whatever. Paying 24k will get you a newer car, and likely more toys too. But in a further 3 years you’ll have lost 12k in depreciation, whereas if you buy a 12k one it’ll (only) be 6k.

(Personally I’d spend upto 4k on refreshing your current Octy, new suspension & bushes, valet the hell out of it, etc, and use it until it dies. I appreciate that wanting a change trumps this though).

[lornemalvo]

mike9009 said:

lornemalvo said:

mrunderhill said:

I find these threads entertaining.

So you want the lowest depreciating car that is
1. between 1 and 3 years old
2. family sized estate, would consider an SUV
3. budget up to £24,000
4. Refined
5. Reliable
6. Not too thirsty
And you want to pay cash.

Current advice is:
1. Spend £6k and pay off your mortgage -
2. A 1.0 Toyota Yaris - This matches 1,3,5 and 6 of the criteria
3. invest the cash
4. buy multiple older vehicles, maintain them and if one breaks down, just jump in another
5. A 5 year old BMW/Merc - This could match all but one of the criteria, but is too broad an answer to be useful.
6. A fairly interesting story.

n.b. I'm not knocking any advice here, its all sensible (apart from recommending a Merc. as a reliable car).
How about a Volvo V60, Mazda 6 tourer or an Audi Q3

Exactly this. Even when you're fairly specific about what you have decided, people seem incapable of providing an opinion that is remotely related to the question asked.I think people have lost the ability to really "listen" and just seem to want to express an opinion, even if it's off the "brief" completely. Perhaps I should have rephrased the question slightly and asked whether the difference in price between a 12k Octavia/Golf and something twice the price is worth paying in terms of refinement etc. A useful example answer might have been " I've had both an Octavia and an Audi A4 and this is what i think....." I'll not be asking questions like this again, better to just go on owners' forums, I think, although bias can be a problem there.

I think you missed the bit in my post where I said, just get what you want. All 1 - 3 year old family cars will depreciate savagely (compared to my strategy), so not worth picking one over another based purely on depreciation - you will be playing in the margins and could end up with something that does not suit/ entertain or work for you. Original purchase price is probably more important than anything else.

My advice buy a 3 year old 335i/d type thing.


I had a new e46 330d estate, which cost £5000 in repairs before it was two years old, whilst still in warranty, on new clutch/flywheel, turbo, gearbox/ I've had around 60 cars and never had a clutch go. I kept it for a few years, but never had total confidence in it after that. Nowadays, runflat tyres and not even space for a spare have killed BMWs for me really, even though I had it down as a suggested option.

[shake n bake]

Buy something that interests you as nothing within your criteria will be depreciation free or even close to it.

[jjr1]

Porsche Macan

[ZX10R NIN]

The answer is you won't find a car that does what you want all 1-3 year old cars will depreciate & because most of the cars you're looking at are mainstream (including the Premium brands) so will pretty much depreciate at the same rate.

I'd say go for the Mondeo Vignale in either petrol or diesel form:

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

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

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

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

[nobrakes]

I bought a 5 year old Merc from a dealer about 5 years ago. It’s probably worth half that if I’m lucky, but is solid, presentable, and a very comfortable place to be. Hopefully for a long time still. It owes me nothing.

If I’d PCP it I’d have nothing in the driveway.

It would cost me a shed load to replace it.

Seems about the best way to beet depreciation.

It’s probably more important to get a car that you need/want than worry too much about a utopian sweet spot of car valuation.

[craigjm]

Already been said. The 1-3 year old mass market is exactly the main focus for depreciation so it doesn’t really matter what you buy.

[sealtt]

As a general rule the cheaper the car the less the depreciation in £ terms. So buy the cheapest 1-3 year old car that you would be happy with.

[lornemalvo]

nobrakes said:

I bought a 5 year old Merc from a dealer about 5 years ago. It’s probably worth half that if I’m lucky, but is solid, presentable, and a very comfortable place to be. Hopefully for a long time still. It owes me nothing.

If I’d PCP it I’d have nothing in the driveway.

It would cost me a shed load to replace it.

Seems about the best way to beet depreciation.

It’s probably more important to get a car that you need/want than worry too much about a utopian sweet spot of car valuation.

Very good point.