I'm looking at getting my first proper car. The car I currently drive is one given to me by a family member and is nearly 20 years old. It's running great - in fact I kind of of wish it would give up on me at this stage to justify getting a newer one! It costs me nothing, so I've been saving up to buy a new one in cash.
I was thinking of a certain model of car which I like and going for a 2013/2014 and paying around €8/9K. I've also seen a 2017 one now for €12.5K which seems better value, so I'm tempted to go for that one.
There's a few concerns though about paying more for a newer car:
- My old one is running brilliantly and giving me no problems. It's been in the family since it was bought new so I know its history. I would be nervous about getting rid of a perfectly good, reliable (but old) car and getting a newer one which could give me any amount of trouble.
- I only have my full licence nearly two years. My old car has a few dents and scrapes from when I was learning to drive. I'm not sure I'm at the stage where there will be no more scrapes. At the moment it wouldn't bother me if I got a wee scrape as I know I'll be changing it soon.
- Would it be a bad idea to buy a newer car now with the way fuel cars will be phased out and dropping in popularity over the next few years. Will a fuel car depreciate quicker now than they traditionally would've? Would it be a false economy?
As you can probably tell, I'm not one to be changing my car every year! I'd be happy to have a nice car and drive it for a good few years, so I want to be sure I'm buying the right one, and I'm not left with a worthless car at the end. I'm paying for it in cash, so I good chunk of my saving will be going on it. I don't mind paying for the newer, more expensive one if it would be the better buy. Also with the car I'm looking at, a 2013 would look the same as the 2017 one. I think it was last year that this particular model got a facelift, so the older one won't looked dated any quicker.
Any advice for someone who's a bit clueless when it comes to this kind of thing?!