Brand New car every 2, 3, 4 or 5 years when the best time to change ?

chaparral · 22 Jan 2017 at 15:16

If you want to change your car for another brand new one every few years

Would you be best to change it at every 2 , 3 , 4 or 5 years to get the best value

Lashout_UK · 22 Jan 2017 at 15:22

If you're dead set on making the most out of it, as long as it'll run without incurring major bills. Otherwise, you're just forever taking massive depreciation-related hits.

McPhee · 22 Jan 2017 at 17:07

Impossible to say. There's far too many variables. Ultimately, the best time is whenever you're happy with an available deal or offer. There's no rule to say that you'll get a better deal overall at any particular point between 2 and 5 years.

TS7 · 22 Jan 2017 at 17:11

Too many variables within your info, you need to be more specific. What type of car, how are you funding etc

My cousin has managed to do deprecation free motoring for the past 10 years or so. He buys circa 4-6 year old premium German wafters in the 14-20k price bracket and sells them within 12 months and moves on. He loves the thrill of buying and selling however. I couldn't do it. So far he's had 2 x E60 535d, F01 730d, Audi A6 - can't remember the others. Formula that seems to be working well for him.

SlyReaper · 22 Jan 2017 at 17:18

Personally, I intend to make my car last at least 10 years. Gives me more time to save up for an even better car.

Holst1981 · 22 Jan 2017 at 17:23

Isn't this the point of leasing?

A longer lease would be cheaper, it will also be cheaper to pay more upfront.

Personally I can't afford to drive what I want that way.
But if you want a fixed monthly cost and a new car it's pretty easy to do.

[TW]Fox · 22 Jan 2017 at 17:24

chaparral said:
If you want to change your car for another brand new one every few years

Would you be best to change it at every 2 , 3 , 4 or 5 years to get the best value

Depends on:

a) The car
b) The depreciation profile
c) The costs associated with running it past 3 years

etc

Generally, the longer you keep it the cheaper it'll be, but there can be exceptions (or occasions when changing is not THAT much more expensive, but more expensive all the same).

chaparral · 22 Jan 2017 at 18:07

[TW]Fox;30428151 said:
c) The costs associated with running it past 3 years

I was also thinking this

At 8k miles per year would mean a new set of tyres and an extra service if kept for 3 years (Around an extra £800 to £900) instead of 2 years

And you also have the high price increase of new cars every year (which I guess can be over 1k extra if they change to a newer model or face lift)

Richie · 22 Jan 2017 at 21:37

Holst1981 said:
Isn't this the point of leasing?

A longer lease would be cheaper...

Not always the case. The effects of depreciation can mean a longer lease is actually more expensive at times.

muon · 22 Jan 2017 at 21:43

[TW]Fox;30428151 said:
c) The costs associated with running it past 3 years

Which is largely moot since any abnormal costs will be reflected in the residual value of the car.

I can't see how buying a new car every 2 or 3 years can ever be cheaper than buying one every 5 years.

eatcustard · 23 Jan 2017 at 07:32

muon said:
Which is largely moot since any abnormal costs will be reflected in the residual value of the car.

I can't see how buying a new car every 2 or 3 years can ever be cheaper than buying one every 5 years.

A 5 year old car is more likely to need parts to be replaced, ie exhaust brakes etc.

But deprecation is still going to be higher than parts replaced.

wassap · 23 Jan 2017 at 07:44

Ive had 3 company cars in my life time, and 3 years was the sweet spot in terms of not requiring any major maintenance, 1st one was a Focus ST3, 90k hard miles over 3 years, no work required apart from stone chip correction, 2nd was a Honda Accord Diesel, which just required a DPF, i did a lot of local miles in the last year. Last Company car was a Audi A4, which i had for 4 years, i did 95k miles in that, but in the final year i started to have lots of niggly problems, the power steering rack went on it, it needed a new EGR, the electronic boot motor failed etc etc.

Most of the people in the office, have had more 'luck' with jap and korean cars than the german rep mobiles in terms of maintenance work.

paradigm · 23 Jan 2017 at 07:49

chaparral said:
I was also thinking this

At 8k miles per year would mean a new set of tyres and an extra service if kept for 3 years

Why would it?

My A4 did over 25,000 miles on it's first set of tyres (8x3=24), and only required one service in that timeframe due to it's longlife servicing plan.

[TW]Fox · 23 Jan 2017 at 08:56

paradigm said:
Why would it?

My A4 did over 25,000 miles on it's first set of tyres (8x3=24), and only required one service in that timeframe due to it's longlife servicing plan.

Surely it depends on the car as I doubt I'll have hit 15k before mine need new tyres.

paradigm · 23 Jan 2017 at 08:59

[TW]Fox;30429321 said:
Surely it depends on the car as I doubt I'll have hit 15k before mine need new tyres.

I'd say it depends more on how you drive, and what type of driving you do.

I felt no need to drive the A4 "hard", nor was it a car that I'd use to go out of my way and find a more interesting route, I drove it on an eco-drive (not hypermileing, but economically) everywhere, as such the tyres just... lasted.

I'm under no illusions that the tyres on the S3 will last anywhere near as long, not least of all because I want to wear these P-Zeros out asap