Car for ~£25k which will hold it's value (+daily-able)

[S9JTO]

As the title suggests, what cars are there for ~£25k or less which will either hold it's money, lose a negligible amount (~£1k) or bonus points: it appreciates?

The car will need to be daily-able and not too expensive to insure (I'm 22 with 2 years NCB). For example, something similar but cheaper than a Golf GTI ClubSport S Edition 40, Cayman GT4, M3 CSL etc.

EDIT: I'm willing to pay up to the top VED bracket (~£550?), insurance sub £2k, preferably £1.5k or less and in regards to servicing max about £500 p/a. I'll probably do about 10k miles, this could easily be reduced though.

Edited by S9JTO on Wednesday 28th March 09:16

Edited by S9JTO on Wednesday 28th March 10:57

[Shiv_P]

E36 or E46 M3?

[S9JTO]

Shiv_P said:

E36 or E46 M3?

I thought the same, looked into the insurance costs and it's £2k plus which is a no go for me. My bad though, should've said this in the OP, updated to add.

[CrouchingWayne]

Some kind of Lotus, a 2.9 Cayman or a 996 C4S? Not sure how any of them are for insurance.

[tallpaul26]

S9JTO said:

As the title suggests, what cars are there for ~£25k or less which will either hold it's money, lose a negligible amount (~£1k) or bonus points: it appreciates?

How many miles per year will you drive and how long are you expecting to keep it?

As you've already seen, insurance can be very expensive. Aside from depreciation, how much per year are you prepared to spend on insurance, VED, servicing, tyres etc?

EDIT: Oh, and how do you plan to finance the £25k? If you're not a cash buyer, the interest on the finance will also need to be factored in to your annual costs/deprecation.

Edited by tallpaul26 on Wednesday 28th March 09:36

[Willy Nilly]

What ever you buy, one day it's value will depend on it's weight. I put it to you that no car that can be used everyday is depreciation proof. Cars, machines, whatever depreciate because they deteriorate when they are used

[Steve91]

MK1 Focus RS. A mate had production number 0003 and it made 7k in three year. After he sold it mind you....

[S9JTO]

CrouchingWayne said:

Some kind of Lotus, a 2.9 Cayman or a 996 C4S? Not sure how any of them are for insurance.

I really fancied an Exige as they're within budget. Unfortunately insurance on them is even more than an E46 M3 at £2.4k... Been looking quite a bit at the 3.4 Cayman S', would they too be a 'good buy'? Surprisingly the Cayman S' are coming back at £1.4k to insure which I'd snap their hand off for.

[S9JTO]

tallpaul26 said:

How many miles per year will you drive and how long are you expecting to keep it?

As you've already seen, insurance can be very expensive. Aside from depreciation, how much per year are you prepared to spend on insurance, VED, servicing, tyres etc?

EDIT: Oh, and how do you plan to finance the £25k? If you're not a cash buyer, the interest on the finance will also need to be factored in to your annual costs/deprecation.

Edited by tallpaul26 on Wednesday 28th March 09:36

I've updated my OP to answer most of your questions - Regarding the finance I'll p/x my Cupra (~£12.5k valuation, put some cash down (~£5-£10k) and probably finance/bank loan ~£5-£10k depending on the cost of the car)

[S9JTO]

Willy Nilly said:

What ever you buy, one day it's value will depend on it's weight. I put it to you that no car that can be used everyday is depreciation proof. Cars, machines, whatever depreciate because they deteriorate when they are used

I appreciate that and I would never expect to profit, simply breaking even or even taking a minor loss despite running for a few years would be great

[culpz]

What's up with the Cupra, or do you just fancy a change? You've not had it long have you?

[S9JTO]

culpz said:

What's up with the Cupra, or do you just fancy a change? You've not had it long have you?

Always looking at what's next, had it a year now... Fancy something more substantial, ideally 6 cylinders and RWD

[tallpaul26]

S9JTO said:

I've updated my OP to answer most of your questions - Regarding the finance I'll p/x my Cupra (~£12.5k valuation, put some cash down (~£5-£10k) and probably finance/bank loan ~£5-£10k depending on the cost of the car)

Do you own the Cupra outright? Not trying to be picky, but if there's outstanding finance to be settled there too, it needs to be factored in.

I'm really not sure what you'll be able to use for 10k miles per annum and it not depreciate. You will also be looking at running costs of around £3,000 per year. Which is without any kind of bork fund.

Also, factor in that it's not straightforward to cash out on a £25k car e.g. if you buy it from a dealer at top-book price, to get one with a warranty etc, in a couple of years it will have no warranty and be 20k miles older (including stone chips and general wear and tear). A Private sale will be tough at top-book, because, just like you did, buyers will want the 'peace of mind' that buying from a dealer brings. If you want to sell to a dealer/trader, they will offer you the lowest possible price and certainly not top-book. A p/ex will get you 'more' but that's not cashing out and the dealer will get their margin one way or the other.

Work out exactly what you can comfortably afford to spend on a car over the proposed ownership and be realistic. If you do all your sums based on 3-5 years of ownership but sell up in 9 months, you'll get burned. Perhaps look at a base-case of short-term ownership then look at the upside if you do keep a car for a couple of years. Factor in everything, with some contingency.

Oh, and don't buy a car just because it makes financial sense. Buy it because you really, really want to drive it. The two aren't mutually exclusive. However, in my experience, the former results in getting bored very quickly and changing cars which is just a recipe for throwing away money.

[CrouchingWayne]

S9JTO said:

I really fancied an Exige as they're within budget. Unfortunately insurance on them is even more than an E46 M3 at £2.4k... Been looking quite a bit at the 3.4 Cayman S', would they too be a 'good buy'? Surprisingly the Cayman S' are coming back at £1.4k to insure which I'd snap their hand off for.

An Elise might be cheaper on insurance? The newer ones are meant to be a bit better to live with day to day.

I’ve not driven a Cayman but I’m sure an S would be good. I think the key with them was getting a Gen2. In my head I thought a Gen2 S was out of budget, but I may be wrong.

[Integroo]

I agree with the above. Nothing will hold it's value if you stick 10k a year on it. Perhaps a high mileage car won't depreciate a huge amount if you take it from say 110k miles to 140k miles, but if you are looking at cars such as an M3 at that age they will cost a lot to run (possibly more than depreciation on something newer!).

[S9JTO]

CrouchingWayne said:

An Elise might be cheaper on insurance? The newer ones are meant to be a bit better to live with day to day.

I’ve not driven a Cayman but I’m sure an S would be good. I think the key with them was getting a Gen2. In my head I thought a Gen2 S was out of budget, but I may be wrong.

Yeah an Elise is slightly less to insure but still hovering around the £2k mark, plus they just don't appeal as much to me, prefer the looks of an Exige.

3.4 987 S' can be had within budget, even late 2009 examples.

[S9JTO]

Integroo said:

I agree with the above. Nothing will hold it's value if you stick 10k a year on it. Perhaps a high mileage car won't depreciate a huge amount if you take it from say 110k miles to 140k miles, but if you are looking at cars such as an M3 at that age they will cost a lot to run (possibly more than depreciation on something newer!).

As mentioned, the mileage could be reduced as I don't need it to commute, I just enjoy driving... I could realistically drop that to 6k-8k.

But even so I agree, I personally wouldn't touch a performance/sports car with over 110k miles

[Integroo]

S9JTO said:

As mentioned, the mileage could be reduced as I don't need it to commute, I just enjoy driving... I could realistically drop that to 6k-8k.

But even so I agree, I personally wouldn't touch a performance/sports car with over 110k miles

Say you keep it for three years and do 24k miles. I can't imagine there are very many if any cars that you could buy at 50k miles and sell at 74k miles and three years older for the same price. Perhaps a much older car, modern classic (something like an Integra DC5, or a Honda S2000, or something - not sure what there is at the level up in performance and price) but would then cost more to run.

However, even a brand new M3 will cost you more than £500 a year to service and maintain.

[S9JTO]

tallpaul26 said:

Do you own the Cupra outright? Not trying to be picky, but if there's outstanding finance to be settled there too, it needs to be factored in.

I'm really not sure what you'll be able to use for 10k miles per annum and it not depreciate. You will also be looking at running costs of around £3,000 per year. Which is without any kind of bork fund.

Also, factor in that it's not straightforward to cash out on a £25k car e.g. if you buy it from a dealer at top-book price, to get one with a warranty etc, in a couple of years it will have no warranty and be 20k miles older (including stone chips and general wear and tear). A Private sale will be tough at top-book, because, just like you did, buyers will want the 'peace of mind' that buying from a dealer brings. If you want to sell to a dealer/trader, they will offer you the lowest possible price and certainly not top-book. A p/ex will get you 'more' but that's not cashing out and the dealer will get their margin one way or the other.

Work out exactly what you can comfortably afford to spend on a car over the proposed ownership and be realistic. If you do all your sums based on 3-5 years of ownership but sell up in 9 months, you'll get burned. Perhaps look at a base-case of short-term ownership then look at the upside if you do keep a car for a couple of years. Factor in everything, with some contingency.

Oh, and don't buy a car just because it makes financial sense. Buy it because you really, really want to drive it. The two aren't mutually exclusive. However, in my experience, the former results in getting bored very quickly and changing cars which is just a recipe for throwing away money.

It has just over £2k finance on it, which was factored in to my previous post in terms of my cash deposit.

Running costs of ~£3k is feasible, as others are probably already aware I still live at home So I have enough disposable income to safely run a car of this ilk. I have worked out what I can comfortably afford and that is a maximum of £25k, I could probably afford a lot more if I went down the PCP route or was willing to up monthly payments, but I'm never doing that, I like to save up and keep finance payments below £200-£250... Maybe this isn't the best way but it helps me sleep better at night

[Integroo]

S9JTO said:

It has just over £2k finance on it, which was factored in to my previous post in terms of my cash deposit.

Running costs of ~£3k is feasible, as others are probably already aware I still live at home So I have enough disposable income to safely run a car of this ilk. I have worked out what I can comfortably afford and that is a maximum of £25k, I could probably afford a lot more if I went down the PCP route or was willing to up monthly payments, but I'm never doing that, I like to save up and keep finance payments below £200-£250... Maybe this isn't the best way but it helps me sleep better at night

Dangerous thing to say on PistonHeads that you intend to buy a 25k performance car on finance whilst living at home at 22. It's like PistonHeads lecture time bingo.