Before You Buy

Depreciation in the UK

It’s true: the value of your car plummets the moment you drive it off the forecourt. The average new car in the UK loses about 40% in the first year. Then the depreciation eases off to a more manageable level of about 10% per annum, assuming you drive around 10,000 miles per year.
That’s why the smart new car buyer will choose a car that’s already a year or so old: that way, the depreciation monster will have already taken its biggest bite, but there will still be plenty of new-car guarantee left.

Depreciation in New Zealand

New cars don’t break down all that often, but in every other way their owners take a bath. If you buy a new car:

1) You’ll lose around 40% in your first year.   In other words, if your car cost, say, $100,000 when you bought it, one year later it’s probably worth $60,000. It varies from vehicle to vehicle and depends on market conditions, mileage and the like. It’s difficult to fix precisely; some models drop a bit less, some a bit more.

Bargain Hunting

Where to find your car

If you really don’t mind how much you pay for your next car, we advise you to shop among the car dealers in a big city. Car salesmen have a well-earned reputation as shysters, but you get some legal protection when buying from a yard, and it’s a hell of a lot more convenient.

However, if you’re like most people, you’re on a budget, so read on, because, with a little common sense you can save yourself a whole heap of money.

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Finance

It all comes down to money. We all have a wish list of amazing vehicles that we’d like to own, but without finance, they remain as dreams.

If you’ve just won a lottery you’ve got a wonderful opportunity to make a real fool of yourself in a very short time. The Ferrari salesman will be your best friend in the world until he’s got your money, then he’ll quickly lose interest, and as you quickly lose the rest of your money, you’ll probably lose most of your other new friends as well.

Buying New

Many people dream of buying a new car. For most of their lives, few people actually do. This is because new cars are expensive, devalue quickly and cost a lot to finance.

Thus, most people go through their working lives driving someone else’s hand-me-down.

There are only five big groups that buy new cars: organisations, businesspeople, yuppies, middle-class families and old people.

Depreciation in Australia

THE AVERAGE NEW CAR in Australia loses about 15–17% per year for the first three years. Then the depreciation eases off to a more manageable level of about 10% per annum, assuming you drive around 15,000 kilometres per year.
That’s why the smart car buyer will choose a car that’s already a year or two old: that way, the depreciation monster will have already taken its biggest bite, but there will still be some new-car guarantee left.

Insurance

It’s not unknown for people to prang an uninsured car on the way home from buying it.

In our humble opinion, anyone who drives without some form of auto insurance is crazy. Whether you drive a Lada or a Ferarri, sooner or later you’re going to hit something and if you’re uninsured it’s likely to get very nasty.

British Cars

British cars were designed on the precept that suffering builds character. There is no other reasonable explanation for the years of diabolical designs inflicted on the people of Britain and her colonies.

Simple, yes, practical sometimes, lovable even, but never easy. Unlike the Japanese system, whereby the man managing the assembly line probably used to work there, the rigid British class system ensured that the people who made the decisions were almost always completely out of touch with reality.

European Cars

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