New Car - Suggestions please need help

Bry · 10 Feb 2011 at 16:37

Hi,

Let me be upfront and say I know very little if nothing about cars. So I have been seeking advice from friends/family and now from you guys.

About me: I am 26 years old having been driving for just over 2 years with 2 years no claims bonus. I currently drive a renault megane 1.6 hatchback (1999) and will never buy renault again even if it did cost me £600.

I generally drive about 10 miles to work each day across a and B road mainly. I also do a fair bit of town driving. Id estimate annual mileage is around 8,000 to 9,000 miles.

I hate buying new cars so the car I buy I intend to keep for at least ten years but hopefully closer to ten. Which is one of the main reasons why I want a new car rather than a used one (my mind is pretty set on this). As such I really would prefere a car with a good warranty on it.

I intend to pay either cash (money is in the bank) or get a 0% finance deal if available (probably need large deposit)

I have been saving for a while and want to buy a new car. I have the following requirements

1) New car (not interested in used)
2) Hatchback
3) Priced between £10,000 - £12,000
4) 5 doors.

Cars I have been looking at so far:

1) new Vauxhall Astra 5 door 1.4 excite - reasons: I can get a fairly good discount through work (around $3,000 plus they are doing a £2,500 trade in scheme so can get this for around £11,500 which is about a £5000 saving. True I might be able to get this via haggling but, I probably won't be any good at that. Another reason why this is my current favourite is the 100,000 mile warranty which would suit me to a tee.

2) Honda Civic 5 door hatchback about £14,000 this one so a little out of my price range but, I would consider a small 2 grand loan if this was the best on the test drive. Looks are probably the best of all cars I have tried. Good 3 year warranty and I have been told Honda's are very reliable.

3) Hyundai, i30. Nice 5 year warranty and specs out fairly nicely for the money

So as you can see despite not knowing really anything about cars I have tried to do some research. I intend to buy next week (depending upon test drives of course). I guess what I am really asking is what do you think about the above 3 cars? and would you have any other ones to suggest that meet the criteria above?
This is the largest purchase I have ever made so really would welcome some feedback

neil3k · 10 Feb 2011 at 16:39

IF you want a car with a good warranty

Kia
Hyundai
Toyota.

Maybe look at a nearly new Yaris with warranty intact ?

Edit. Toyota are doing a free upgrade on a new Yaris from a TR to a T-spirit which includes stuff like satnav, bluetooth.

Morba · 10 Feb 2011 at 16:40

I know you said not used, but do consider something 6-12 months old. Will have plenty of warranty and will be significantly cheaper.

What do I think about the 3 cars? None of them interest me at all, especially not at those prices.

DM · 10 Feb 2011 at 16:43

Forget new, buy a 6 month old, there is no difference other than throwing thousands of pounds away.

ZG002 · 10 Feb 2011 at 16:45

New stops feeling new after the 1st month tbh, Pretty pointless.

I'm guessing you are after a focus size car?

Morbius · 10 Feb 2011 at 16:57

A 6-12 month old car will be significantly cheaper. You could then either get a better spec or save some money.

[TW]Fox · 10 Feb 2011 at 17:05

I had a brand new BMW once for 2 months. I didnt pay a penny for the privilage, I ran it in from 3 miles to over 2000 miles on the clock. I still don't get why you'd want to throw away a pile of cash on a crap car just to make sure its new. There was nothing about the car I had that was different experience wise to the plethora of 6 month old ones I subsequently drove.

It also picked up a trolley dink after 2 weeks.

matt_fsr · 10 Feb 2011 at 17:12

Have you looked into the terms and conditions of the Vauxhall 100k mile warranty?

I freely admit to not having done so, but I suspect that it may involve having many years of main dealer Vauxhall servicing required in order to honour the warranty, possibly making it a very expensive thing to have in 6-7 years time?

Might be worth considering as a counter to the "wow 100k mile warranty" argument.

And yes, almost everyone here will recommend not buying new as you are taking a huge depreciation hit. However, test drive the new cars you like the look of, and see what you prefer.

Then if possible, test drive 1 thats maybe a year or 18 months old, on a dealer forecourt somewhere.

Decide if the difference in cost is worth it to you. If it is, buy new.

kefkef · 10 Feb 2011 at 17:41

I had a look into it a while back. The Vauxhall warranty doesnt cover wear and tear items, so clutch etc is out. It's also dependant on a yearly 'vehicle check' at a vauxhall dealer who activates the warranty for another year. It doesnt say you have to get your car serviced by them, but the service book must be up to date and stamped and any replacement parts used by a non-vauxhall garage must be OEM also.

I'd also suggest going for 6-12mths old. Saw an article on the 'net saying that some second hand vauxhalls from vauxhalls network-q dealers may soon be supplied with the "lifetime" warranty also.

Mucky_Pup · 10 Feb 2011 at 18:40

They're supposedly selling off Mk.2 focuses very cheap due to the fact the Mk.3 will be out soon, I'd rather have a focus over an astra personally.

Joe T · 10 Feb 2011 at 19:22

kefkef said:
I had a look into it a while back. The Vauxhall warranty doesnt cover wear and tear items, so clutch etc is out. It's also dependant on a yearly 'vehicle check' at a vauxhall dealer who activates the warranty for another year. It doesnt say you have to get your car serviced by them, but the service book must be up to date and stamped and any replacement parts used by a non-vauxhall garage must be OEM also.

I'd also suggest going for 6-12mths old. Saw an article on the 'net saying that some second hand vauxhalls from vauxhalls network-q dealers may soon be supplied with the "lifetime" warranty also.

From 4 Jan 2011 all Network Q cars under 1 yr old and with less than 30k on the clock have the same Lifetime 100,000 mile warranty as their new cars.

Relentless81 · 10 Feb 2011 at 19:43

If you dont want bad experiances again then i'd avoid Vauxhall. I'd not bother with new, save some cash and go used approved, something thats two years old from a dealer with 3 years warranty remaining

neil3k · 10 Feb 2011 at 22:02

Get yourself an 18 month old yaris/auris

Barks · 10 Feb 2011 at 22:53

Why do people have problems comprehending that buying a brand new car is the obvious choice for the risk-averse. Buying a second hand car moves away from this stance.

I can't be bothered to list all the points, but it is not as black and white as saying (assuming we are not billionaires) that the price of a new car is X and the price of a second-hand version of the same car is X - X/2 (or whatever) and thus only an idiot would buy brand new. It's difficult to quantify things such as risk, trust, confidence and brand new cars are the only option where you can be almost certain of the costs (or lack of) that you will face.

Personally, I wouldn't in this case buy a brand new car but I can understand some people who are different to me, or perhaps without sufficient knowledge, would feel more comfortable in doing so and are prepared to pay the premium for this.

[TW]Fox · 10 Feb 2011 at 22:54

scott212 said:
Why do people have problems comprehending

Great, it's scott 'I've never bought a car in my life nor actually even owned one' 212 here to tell us we are all wrong about buying cars. Great!

brand new cars are the only option where you can be almost certain of the costs (or lack of) that you will face.

This is, of course, complete rubbish.

Barks · 10 Feb 2011 at 22:59

[TW]Fox;18440266 said:
Great, it's scott 'I've never bought a car in my life nor actually even owned one' 212 here to tell us we are all wrong about buying cars. Great!

Flawed logic, irrelevant. You haven't driven or owned some of the cars you discuss on here yet you are still entitle to an opinion as far as I'm concerned. I virtually do own and run a car I just didn't pay for it, this is still immaterial to this discussion.

This is, of course, complete rubbish.

When I buy a brand new car, I know more of my potential costs than if I buy a second hand car. Anything serious that goes wrong with a brand new car will usually be covered. Thus I can worry about things like petrol, insurance, tyres etc. So if a car manufacturer will offer the same warranty on a 6-month year old car then this point is less valid. Even still, with a brand new car I can still anticipate that I might dent an alloy, need new tyres etc. If the engine blows up it is not something I have to worry about.

Still though my above point was you can't quantify things like confidence, which some people will be happy to pay a premium for which is the equivalent of the gap between, in the above example, X and X - X/2.

ZG002 · 10 Feb 2011 at 23:00

There is no more risk buying a car that is 6months old than buying a new car.

Not a clue what you are on about scott. The 2nd hand car will be covered under warranty just like the new car, It will also have very little mileage to speak of, Yet could cost £1k less.

Hell I've bought a 4 yr old car and surprise surprise it came with a dealers warranty (which was needed and used) and does it feel any different to the new car I bought before it? Nope, Is it much more of a risk? Nope.

We ain't advising him to go out and buy a car that's 10 yr old here.

[TW]Fox · 10 Feb 2011 at 23:03

scott212 said:
When I buy a brand new car, I know more of my potential costs than if I buy a second hand car.

When? You've never bought a car, you don't own a car. How can you participate in a discussion on car ownership when you have never owned a car?

Anything serious that goes wrong with a brand new car will usually be covered. Thus I can worry about things like petrol, insurance, tyres etc. So if a car manufacturer will offer the same warranty on a 6-month year old car then this point is less valid.

Of course they offer the same warranty, how can you not know this? A brand new car doesn't have less warranty cover when its 7 months old does it? Therefore a 6 month old car, by logic, will have the same cover!

Even still, with a brand new car I can still anticipate that I might dent an alloy, need new tyres etc. If the engine blows up it is not something I have to worry about.

You don't have to worry about the engine blowing up on a 6 month old car either. This is where you are just completely out of touch with reality and appear to know nothing of the subject your are attempting to discuss.

Barks · 10 Feb 2011 at 23:05

ZG002 said:
There is no more risk buying a car that is 6months old than buying a new car.

What you determine as 'risk' is different to how other buys interpret risk. As mentioned the difference in price also reflects matters such as confidence, and the simple fact that some people are willing to pay a steep price for having a brand new car.

Warranties might be the same but sometimes do not last for the same period as they would with a brand new car. The marginal duration of warranty on a brand new car might be factored into a buying decision.
The fact that with a brand new car you are the first owner may also be factored into the buying decision. The are many factors hence why I said it's not as black and white as people make it out to be.

[TW]Fox · 10 Feb 2011 at 23:07

scott212 said:
Warranties might be the same

'might'?

but sometimes do not last for the same period as they would with a brand new car. The marginal duration of warranty on a brand new car might be factored into a buying decision.

You can pay to extend the warranty with most manufacturers. The cost of this will be considerably less than the extra cost of the new car.

My next car will have a comprehensive and all-inclusive manufacturers warranty including hire car, hotel accomodation if the car breaks away from home and zero excess for the duration of my ownership period. This is total peace of mind and guess what - the car will be 3 years old.