What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks

Rental arithmetic

We have been offered a year old Ford Focus Titanium, imported to the UK from Jersey, and on your advice I have also looked at drivethedeal.com which has quoted £13,458 for the same car but new. However I am having trouble getting that past my financial controller (wife), who has it in her mind that we should never buy new because of the value loss as soon as it is purchased.

Asked on 7 November 2009 by

Answered by Honest John
The value loss is always greater on an overspecified trim level, like a
Titanium with the smallest petrol engine (Drivethedeal quotes £12,350 for the 1.6 Zetec). But because new prices are now rising due to sterling's weakness, and have at least another 10% to go, cars bought at discount new do not immediately drop anything like as much as they used to. Used prices actually rose instead of falling for the first 8 months of this year. (Channel Island rental cars are often over age, having sat unsold for as much as a year before they go to the Channel Islands, so true build date is always worth checking.)
Dear Honest John,

Please help me choose my next car. I would like it to have:
    Select a few terms below
Similar questions
My husband needs to replace our 15-year-old RHD Clio with a new RHD Modus. Ideally he would like to buy one over here, in order to save the long trek to London. The dealer in Marmande believes this to...
I am seriously considering buying a new Golf 1.6S with its neat autobox. It seems almost impossible to get any discounts from the local VW dealers, so is it worth importing one? It used to be the smart...
I know now is not a good time to buy a Japanese car (due to the Exchange Rate) and Honda dealers claim they can't discount the Jazz by more than £500, but do you think this is a good deal? New Jazz 1.4...
 

Value my car

Save £75 on Warranty using code HJ75

with MotorEasy

Get a warranty quote

Save 12% on GAP Insurance

Use HJ21 to save on an ALA policy

See offer