New car or second hand

[malagabob]

Is it worth buying a brand new car, or one about a year old with dealers service history. For and against

[ChuckFickens]

Second hand...

Let somebody else take the brunt of the depreciation.

[cazzz1975]

not worth buying new imo, cars depreciate at a high rate so for the sake of a few years in age you can pick up a real bargain with a FSH

[Graham-W]

As above. Second hand every time. I buy at three years old for about half the price of new. Can't think of any pro's for buying new except image and kudos.

[VHG]

If you buy new the minute you drive it off the forecourt you have lost a few thousand pounds already as nobody will buy a "second hand" car for anything near what you paid for it, even if it is virtually new.

Years ago cars were less reliable and so it may have made sense to buy new, but nowadays cars are generally very reliable and you can get 10 years out of most cars.

So if you buy one 2 or 3 years old you can expect to get 7 or 8 years out of it if you want to keep it that long.

[woofgang]

I like new as I keep my cars for as long as they are financially viable and tend to have bells and whistles on them. Have had used with FSH on a couple of occasions and things have always seemed to go (expensively) pearshaped.

[Brimoan]

I have had new cars but cars do have a long manufacturers guarantee these days.
I sometimes wonder why people sell a car when it is about a year old but I had to sell my father's car as he suddenly went down with dementia when it was only 18 months old and the car had only done 7,000 miles.
I had replaced my car only 6 months before.
If my car had been older I would have had it.