3 Reasons To Buy A Brand New Car

One of the main decisions you have to make when buying a car is whether to choose a new or a used model.

New cars often depreciate faster than used cars but you benefit from a brand new car that is protected by a warranty. Used cars, however, are often cheaper to buy but you may find a second-hand car less reliable.

New car sales are booming in the UK – and for good reason. Here are three reasons why you should consider buying a new rather than a used car.

One of the main concerns drivers have when buying a new car is that it will depreciate quickly and that you’ll lose money when you come to sell it. However, recent research has found that buying a new car may not be such an unwise investment as buying a used car. Even though cars lose a proportion of their value as soon as you drive them home, dealer finance can still help you to save money.

Auto Express recently compared some of the deals available on the forecourt for new and used cars. They found that buyers who use a finance package to purchase a new Ford Focus can save more than £1,700 compared with a used one. Similar research in The Guardian found that a Volkswagen Scirocco worked out £3,200 cheaper than a second-hand one, and a Nissan Juke £1,000 cheaper.

Jon Morgan, acting consumer editor at Auto Express and Car Buyer said: "Every manufacturer is offering [finance] deals – and they are remarkably good. When a monthly payment is only a couple of hundred pounds, it makes buying a new car affordable for so many more people.”

If your car is more than three years old then you have to take it for an MOT test every year. And, figures published in the Daily Mail showed that between 1 October 2010 and 30 September 2011, one in five cars - 352,000 in total - failed their first MOT.

With one in five cars failing their MOT test, the costs of repairs and getting the car up to the required standard can be considerable.

When you buy a new car you have the peace of mind that it doesn’t need an MOT test for three years. Your car will also be covered its manufacturer’s warranty (see below).

As well as avoiding a costly MOT bill every year, buying a new car can also help you to reduce the cost of repairs and maintenance.

All new cars come with a warranty and this generally varies from between three and five years. Some cars – for example the Kia range – offer even longer warranties of up to 7 years or 100,000 miles.

If anything goes wrong with your new car during the warranty period then the cost of repair (with some exceptions) will be covered by your warranty. Compare this to owning an older, used car where if anything goes wrong out of warranty you’ll generally have to foot the bill yourself.

In addition, when you buy a new car you can often add on a ‘service package’. This entitles you to regular servicing during the initial ownership period which means you can have your car regularly checked for a fixed price.