Is it really worth buying a new car.

[danzvtil]

Theres no right or wrong answer here. Businesses buy new because of the depreciation benefits. I cant understand why people are so strung up about depreciation, you are only "loosing" money if you pay cash and feel the need to sell again in 12 months time. Most of my cars are financed over 5 or 7 yrs, once paid off it owes me nothing, so if I sell it what i get is a bonus.
Car ownership is a balancing act between having higher payments vs low running cost of a new car or lower outlay vs risk of higher maintenance and breakdown costs relative the the cars value.
As a child in the 80s, my folks had an XD wagon which they kept for 17 YEARS!, they spent many times over its value paying for repairs, but thought of no other way, now, if my old banger is worth 3k and it needs a 4k repair, then ill call sims and cut my losses, plus, finance now is cheap and easy to get, so newer cars can make more sense.

[Silver Ghia]

Nothing like treating yourself to a new car every now and then. Provided it doesn't happen too frequently, and you don't take a loan out for it, otherwise you lose too much money.

[Shonky.]

Originally Posted by cram_it_frog

And to top it off the depreciation values are unreal my own car was $43k new ten years ago and now under 10k .

43,000 - 10,000 = 33,000

Divide by 10 years

3,300/year

Divide by 52 weeks in a year

$63 a week

I can deal with numbers like that.

Get crankier at some of life's other expenses which I find add less value than a car but cost as much or more

[Shonky.]

Carry heavy stuff to work?

Drive over 5,000km a year?

Do a logbook and claim a proportion of the depreciation as an expense incurred whilst earning a living....

[b2428]

I think it is worth it if you can afford a new car. Both my last 2nd hand cars have had hidden issues. The falcon had a repaired door and my current mondeo has had a re spray down both sides. Both took a year or so to properly show and both ****** me every time I look at the cars. To think you spend hard earned dollars and to find out stuff like that. Any car from now on will either be a cheap beater or a new car.

[CyberWasp]

Well if no one thought it was worth while we would all be still riding horses as all cars were new once.

[Sox]

Originally Posted by Auslandau

If you can afford the depreciation then yes it very much is.

If you cannot afford the depreciation and whinge about it in 3 years time, then no it isn't. Nothing worse than those who complain about depreciation. Factor that when buying and it isn't a problem. Not like it should come as a surprise.

Buy what you can afford as there is nothing worse than driving something that you regret.

You can buy a brand new Focus for the same price as a 2 year old Beemer. It comes down to want you want out of a car.

Nothing beats the experience of selecting, ordering and receiving a new car.

I once thought that, until I experienced the depreciation first hand.

Now I reckon the experience of buying a car only a few years old, with anything up to 100k, and paying only a 1/4 (or less) of it's new cost is much much more satisfying.

Horses for courses and all that, but I can confidently say I'll never buy a brand new car again.

To be able to do this, you obviously need to not worry about having the latest and greatest, and not everyone can do this.

[Andrew S]

The last new car I had was the AU I'm driving now.
It's looked after really well, both inside and out and under the bonnet and unbelievably comfortable to drive.
To replace it now with new would cost around 40 grand.
It's got a tick under 400,000 on the clock and nothing needs to be spent on it right now.
So what's it worth? Probably between 2 and 3 thousand if ever I wanted to sell it.
I have often thought about replacing it with one of the new pocket rockets because it uses rather a lot of fuel.
But the sums just don't add up for me...........

[duaned]

I am a fussy bugger and prefer to buy my cars new. I get ****ed about a small scratch, mark on the interior trim etc. and buying a second hand car these sort of things are inevitable. Then there is the history of the car. Money is money, if you can afford it then why not. You cant take it with you when your 6ft under.

[pottery beige]

you have to buy a new car at least once in your lifetime

just for the minge moll experience

[XR Martin]

Originally Posted by pottery beige

you have to buy a new car at least once in your lifetime

just for the minge moll experience

[poppa smurf]

Originally Posted by Nova 8

New engines are just printed from plastic aren't they? I pop my bonnet and all I see is cheap plastic covers that I'm not 'allowed' to touch. I assume its just witch craft that powers modern car and that the witches are just in a rush and use petrol to heat their cauldron instead of wood nowadays.

"witchcraft" indeed.......I'm sure most of the names of things that dwell beneath the lid are thought up in a candle lit, dingy, room, by Harry Potter and his mob.

I recognise very little and understand less of what is under there.......if ever it goes pear shaped I wouldn't know where to start......I find most mechanics, trained in the art of this modern devilry, don't know either, if ever they lost their magical, plug in devices, they would be totally at sea.

"what's wrong with it mate"......."it's got a miss mate"......"okay we'll just plug the semi nutronscoptical scanner into the flux capacitor and see what the helicoils are doing"

see.......total greek........

the "coloured" bits on wifey's new horseless carriages get me, "simply check the yellow protuberances and caps weekly please madam!, no need to check anything else".......

yeah! right, she wouldn't open the bonnet in a fit, every morning it's jump in, fire up and "hi Ho silver....AwaaaaY!"

but in her defence modern vehicles don't require grubby hands to operate.........

.............now when I was a boy.........

[duaned]

Originally Posted by pottery beige

you have to buy a new car at least once in your lifetime

just for the minge moll experience

Shame because the ones I have had in the last 2 years I swear I would have found better heads on a jug of beer!

[cram_it_frog]

Some people look at cars like undies, the idea of driving something with previous owners is not appealing: yelrotflm

never looked it that way

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by duaned

Shame because the ones I have had in the last 2 years I swear I would have found better heads on a jug of beer!

The internet has been won

The cpl i have encountered havnt been to bad actually.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Nova 8

New engines are just printed from plastic aren't they? I pop my bonnet and all I see is cheap plastic covers that I'm not 'allowed' to touch. I assume its just witch craft that powers modern car and that the witches are just in a rush and use petrol to heat their cauldron instead of wood nowadays.

Its not how it works which is the hard part, its just trying to work on the thing because you need asian hands, not podgy fat ones like mine lol.

Falcon/Territory aren't bad but its the small FWD cars which are the challenge.

A lot of the time people struggle trying to do something, because they haven't removed stuff in the way, once you work on something a lot you learn all those little tips and tricks along the way which makes life easier.

I had the whole after sales lady do the whole sales spiel on me, except I let her go all the way through and watched her spill water inside a new Falcon on the showroom floor, then said no

[jmack]

if people want to see what a new car with no marks etc is they should go to one of the repair shops that deals in these new cars,used to do some work in patricks autocare years ago and was amazed at what was being done to so called new vehicles.seen one van there that was just a shell all panels were being replaced,and they wonder why some cars rust out quick after all the factory sealing undone.and someone bought these vehicles unaware ,i had a brand new au ute that had the roof resprayed before pick up .id rather go good shand with minimal ks,and spend the savings on mods.and if you dont think new cars get thrashed ive got family that moves new vehichles around and what they do to vehicles down at webb dock and toyota etc is scary

[cram_it_frog]

Yes one thing you do have to look at is most dealerships have a huge wage bill to pay each week and some one has to pay all the costs ,

The holden dealership here in Broken Hill put there hourly rate up to $150 per hour and after a few months and a new manager they have put lots of adds on local radio saying they have gone back to $110 ,

I looked at a Holden commodore before I bought the ford $9k they wanted i said how much with roo bar $10,500 fitted with spot lights wired up I said no ,

sorry cannot go any lower we just dropped $4000 off the price I saw it for sale at $7000 and the car sales person said cannot go any lower

But this is a huge network of car dealerships Toyota Ford and other years all over SA and Vic and NSW

And they do not detail the cars very well these days

[T-Pak Addict]

I would love to buy a new car, maybe when I win xlotto lol.
I cant justify it unless I keep it for a very very long time.

Problem is I don't usually settle into a car that well and usually get sick of them if I don't tinker with them or change something and well, with a new car I just cant do that. My current car I have had the longest of any car over the 30+ years I have been driving having now owned it for nearly 5 years and I still love driving it every day.....

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by T-Pak Addict

with a new car I just cant do that.

Yeah you can, I did

Ford Warranty is like trying to get blood out of a stone anyway, cause they all do that.

[T-Pak Addict]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

Yeah you can, I did

You haven't met my wife!!!
I don't call her handbrake for nothing!!

I am amazed of what I get away with now, she is always having a winge about my car, let alone me buy a new car then MOD it..... I should be happy with what I got.... I could just hear it now.... OMG!!!!

[ebv8]

i bought a new one and 11 months later i sold it and bought a 10 year old car..
the new car had no personality and bored me to tears but it was a fiesta

people though i was crazy spending $25k all up on my old EB but I owned it 8 years and sold it for $10k so in 8 years i lost $15k so thats a loss of $1875 per year and it was all cash no finance, a new car would have depreciated more and i would have had to finance it also, so there would have been depreciation and interest lost.

i'd only go new again if it was for business
i'm lucky my missus is happy with her 2001 dunnydore so no need to buy her a new car every few years like most other women require

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by T-Pak Addict

You haven't met my wife!!!
I don't call her handbrake for nothing!!

I am amazed of what I get away with now, she is always having a winge about my car, let alone me buy a new car then MOD it..... I should be happy with what I got.... I could just hear it now.... OMG!!!!

I've got a mum which does the same, so what I do is bribe, I sent her on a 25 day cruise around Australia by herself last year then I bought the Ambo home when she was away, this year I got her front row seats to Andrea Boccelli before I bought my new 60" TV a few months ago

[cram_it_frog]

so what I do is bribe

I bought my wife a kitten the other day for her Birthday and then when she got it home I suggested i need more spot lights ,

No problems she said

yes Bribery works wonders

I live in the outback so you need some decent lights when out of town I just bought this car and my old hella lights did not fit above the number plate and the location they put them is a tad low and you do not get the full effect so i got some Navara 5 inch light fitted with the new gas 100w bulbs and they work well and I have got the same on the main lights

[cram_it_frog]

thank you so much I have read all of your opinions and find it very interesting and given me a much better insight, i am at the end part of my driving career may be 10 or 15 years left before I will have to hand my license in .

I have enjoyed owning many different cars and I was lucky I was able to play with them modify the exhausts ( does any one r ember the old hot dog mufflers) I did that on a 1969 ford wagon sounds unreal but today all you can do is put plastic panels on them and do some paint work many of the other work can only be done by mechanics .

I bought a 1991 honda civic and the car ran like crap but he gave me a ton of parts and 6 carburetors I went to a mate work shop strip them all down and made one single carburetor and it ran like new but today it is difficult to be able to so that and feel that satisfaction.


again thank you for your thoughts

[MercuryT]

Originally Posted by Crazy Dazz

Cars are not an investment, they are a depreciable asset. They require maintenance and still lose significant value. This is accelerated by obsolescence.
New cars are never "worth it" from a financial perspective, obviously owning a new car costs you more than an old car. The question is whether you want to pay for the enjoyment?

On average probably yes, but far from always and buying new is more affordable than ever.

In fact I know quite a few people who have been signficantly better off buying new and trading whilst still a current model, compared to buying used taking all $$ into account over life of ownership.

As I love performance cars and need room, used is the only way I can afford what I want (currently shopping for an FG F6) in terms of an upgrade to my BA XR6T. Thus I take the risks attached, and do what I can to minimise it with thorough mech checks, log book etc.

But if I only wanted a cheap runabout/shopping trolley, I would buy new for sure....and be confident that if I buy the right brand/model/colour etc that I could potentially be better off financially in doing so.

[whynot]

Originally Posted by cram_it_frog

Looking a number of forms both in two wheel and four wheel cars I see so many warranty issues ,

Most feedback on the forum about automotive reliability is what statisticians call a “self-selecting sample”. Overall, forum complaints are not a true indication of quality.

Originally Posted by cram_it_frog

Is the workmanship gone down the toilet and making claims seems to be hit and miss and in some cases it might be easier to win lotto than make a successful warranty claim ,

Here, I disagree. Across all manufacturers, overall vehicle quality and reliability is significantly ahead of what it was even ten years ago. Sure, some are better than others.

As for making a warranty claim, I think the two key ingredients are manners (the person on the other side of the counter is a human as well) and, if needed, persistence.

Originally Posted by cram_it_frog

And to top it off the depreciation values are unreal my own car was $43k new ten years ago and now under 10k .

Depreciation is always an issue with cars, ever since the Model T rolled off the production line. Automobiles are a disposable item that (with some very rare exceptions) a continual money pit. All I can suggest is to get over it (or learn how to manage it).

Originally Posted by cram_it_frog

few years ago you bought a car and you know that if something goes wrong there was a good chance it would be fixed under warranty now well you have to be lucky ,

Funny, I can recall my old man saying the same thing about the complexities of his brand new 1982 Corolla. Look, over time, the technology does transfer out of the car dealers and into the home mechanic.

Originally Posted by cram_it_frog

So now they are making cars to a price and quality seems to have been left behind in many cases ,

Well, everything is made to a price, else we would all be driving Rollers. But efficient manufacturing and cost efficient motoring can, and do, often go hand in hand. I think Toyota are the best exponent of this. They really concentrate on wringing out every possible dollar out of the manufacturing process. Yet, they do have a good reputation for reliability.

Originally Posted by cram_it_frog

So is it better to buy 2nd hand and save some of the money or buy new and loose a bucket of hard earned cash.

Well, now we get to the nub of the question. It all depends on one’s personal financial circumstances, tolerance for risk, desire for reliability, ability to do some home maintenance, and transportation needs.

There are a couple of strategies that can be used to save money. One is to buy new, carry out a reasonable level of maintenance, and hold onto it for, say, ten years or so. Sure, there is a big hit in depreciation up front, but that gets less as time goes on.

Another is to buy, say, a two to three year old second hand and renew that every five years or so. Regardless about the remarks about fleet vehicles being abused, most fleet managers can identify such behaviours (e.g. excessive fuel burn, excessive tyre wear, etc) and stomp on such drivers. There are some great buys in the second hard market (particularly in XR6 and G6E) at present. Fantastic value and the previous owner has taken the hit for you.

Another is to move from pre-wreck to pre-wreck, running each vehicle into the ground, before discarding it.

The answer is difference for each individual.

[Ben73]

I have had 2 new cars. After the first one I said never again. This year I bought a new Ranger.
The reason I bought a new one again is because I will hopefully keep it for a 'long' time. The way I look at it is when I finish paying off the finance it will only be a few years old and still pretty modern and up to date in the overall scheme of things. I was looking at other cars to buy that were up to 6 years old. I still would of had to finance, but I don't want to finish paying off the finance when the car is maybe 10 years old, because by then I will be over it and want something more modern.

The missus wants a new car soon, we will probably go brand new. That way she can get something she really wants and she is the type of person who will keep the car for 10 years if it is reliable. At least with new she can get the one she wants and we will know how its treated from day 1.

Every car depreciates, so I don't take that into account really. Someone used the example above of $63 a week depreciation. Not bad considering when I first bought my house the interest worked out to be almost $60 a day.

[HULK_I6T]

If you can afford to buy new than absolutely. Cars don't get better or more reliable as they get older, just the opposite.

If you can afford the depreciation buy new. Even low km demo cars can cop a real hiding.

Also if a privet car much better, any sort of company car or short term ownership and car will cop a hiding.

[vanman_75]

As the others say if you can afford it then **** yes , especially if it's ya missus who could choose her own car , I got with my missus she had an au ...we still drive it as work hack , but she just bought a new g6et ..Love that girl ..also just bought myself a ranger ..so yes I'm for buy new lol, 5 Ford's in driveway yip ya .missus xc,au,fg , mine xd and ranger ...Love it .