You can have all 6 of these brilliant cars for less than a brand new sports car
Because buying new is for suckers
Why, why, why would anyone buy a brand new car?
It’s never made any sense to me. Money down the crapper. Take the Mercedes C-Class, for example: the cheapest you can get a brand new one for - with the smallest engine and zero extras - is around 30 grand. Yet, I’ve just found a lovely, clean 2017 model (with a better spec!) for 15k. That’s half! Sure, Mercs are particularly susceptible to depreciation, but almost all cars lose a big chunk of value in their first few years. So, other than a marginally more advanced sat-nav, and the privilege of knowing that your bottom will be the first bottom to sweat into the driver’s seat, where does that money go? What does it get you? It baffles me.
In order to prove how much better off you are buying used, I’ve set myself a little challenge.
The Porsche 911 is the quintessential sports car and today, the cheapest new one costs £77,500. I now present to you a collection of six excellent used cars which you could own ALL OF - for less.
Oh, and for the sake of this list we're ignoring boring logistical things like 'I don't have storage space for 6 cars' and 'What about insurance?'. We're just speaking hypothetically to show how much further your money goes buying 2nd hand. Take a look at my picks, and see if you can do better in the comments:
The practical daily-driver: Audi RS6 (C6) - £20,000
Embarrass idiots in sports cars while transporting flatpack furniture. Yes please.
Fun fact: a brand new RS6 actually costs almost exactly as much as a new 911 - but this 2008-2010 model is the one you actually want. Why? Because it's pretty much the same in almost every way - except that it costs a fraction as much and, most importantly, it has two more cylinders. Yes, for three glorious years, some brilliant lunatic at Audi managed to convince his sensible, German colleagues that what their uber-wagon really needed was a monstrous 5 litre V10 engine. Unglaublich.
Space in the back for the kids, space in the boot for the dogs, and a great big, angry V10 engine for... you. This is simply the ultimate daily. I could probably stop my list right here...
The city car: VW Golf GTI (Mk5) - £5,000
My ACTUAL car. His name is Henrik.
Ok, full disclosure: there’s a chance I might be a teeny bit biased on this one, given that I actually bought myself a Mk5 GTI a couple of weeks ago, and have fallen madly in love with it. For five grand you can have a pristine example (mine cost a lot less and has rude words keyed into the paintwork) and I swear to you, as a city runabout, it’s all the car you’ll ever need. Small and nimble, comfortable and spacious, cheap to run, and with more than enough performance to please your inner-idiot. Plus, it’s an icon. As a Londoner, I truly believe it’s the perfect car for where I live. The Mk5 is 13 years old now, so no - it won’t have fancy touchscreens or radar-guided cruise control. But then, if those are your main priorities, you need a jolly good kicking.
The weekend toy: Honda S2000 - £10,000
"The S2000 is a hairdresser's car!" - jealous people who don't own S2000s
I’ve sung the praises of the S2000 more than once on DriveTribe, so I’ll keep it brief. This is the perfect car for a sunny weekend. A low-slung, convertible sports car with a high-revving engine that rewards misbehaviour. Handsome, sporty looks, and of course, Honda reliability. It’s a slam-dunk. To find a two-seater capable of providing more smiles, you’d be looking at full-blown supercars. Buy one yesterday.
The classic: Triumph Spitfire - £7,000
Tally-ho and tootle-pip etc
Want something old, suave and sophisticated to take out on special occasions and to wipe with a cloth on your days off? I gotchu fam. The Triumph Spitfire (sexiest name in motoring? Yes.) Is a British icon. It’s beautiful, it’s fun to drive. Probably. I know nothing about classic cars. Did I mention that it’s called the Triumph Spitfire?
Will it work properly? Almost definitely not. But hey, it can be your project car. You can drive your other five cars while you fix it.
The traveller: VW Campervan - £15,000
'Ok guys, this is a little song I learnt recently, you might have heard of it' *Plays Wonderwall*
Still not convinced you get more for your money buying used? I'll throw in a fucking HOUSE ON WHEELS to sweeten the deal.
For about 15k, you can own, travel in, and sleep in a magnificent, iconic Veedub van. It has a cool pop-up roof. It’s a timeless classic that will hold its value. You can take it on holiday and not have to pay for hotels, meaning it will SAVE you money. You can’t afford not to buy one.
Something to spend the change on: Porsche 911 Carrera S - £20,000
The car pictured is a 997, but it's a Turbo - not a Carrera S. If you knew that, congrats! You're a nerd.
So. You’ve got a daily, a city car, a sports car, a classic car and a motherfucking house on wheels. And we’re still 20K below the cost of a new 911. Why not treat yourself to… a Porsche 911.
With 20 grand to spare, you don’t even have to settle for an ugly, egg-faced 996. You can have a brilliant, soon-to-be classic 997. You can even have a Carrera S if you don't mind a few miles on it. Will it be as capable, modern or fast as a new 911? No. But it will be a 911, and ask yourself this: Is a new 911 better than an old 911 plus FIVE OTHER CARS? You bet your sweet arse it isn’t. I rest my case m’lord.
Am I talking nonsense? Can you come up with a better garage for the money? Leave a comment below.
Article inspired by this one by Louis Hopwood:
Join In
Comments (47)
The advantage of a new car is that you can know, with certainty, that if you take the centre console off one day, you won't find the remnants of a coffee spilled in ancient times.
That's sometimes, to some people, worth paying more for.
If you bought that RS6 for £20k it would use up the remainder of the budget in approximately six minutes. They're wonderful, but the bills are utterly harrowing. Chocolate gearboxes too.
Chocolate gearbox 😂😂😂 I'm stealing that
.......the factory C6 RS6 gearbox can handle 900hp and around 1000nm. Far from a chocolate gearbox.
The Honda S2000 was so disappointing when I finally got to drive it, really needs space to enjoy and most British roads make that a problem. But then I had also just driven the old NSX (the manual, not the awful auto), which is absolutely brilliant. Even by today's standards.
I see you sneaking that NSX brag into your comment, Ben Griffin. And it worked, I'm now incredibly jealous. One of my top, top dream cars
Guilty as charged! If it helps, I've not driven the R version.
As a person who lives in the states, I am thoroughly jealous of the cheap cars you have over there, I know that the insurance is petty up there and the fuel price is also pricey but nonetheless still jealous that you can pick up a great car for 5k
Well if it's any consolation, we're jealous of your cheap petrol and big fuck-off trucks
I agree. Anytime I hear car prices in the UK, I think "That's nice. If I bought a car for $5000 here it most likely does not include a transmission" haha we don't have any kind of cheap newer cars. You'd have to gamble on something 10+ years old
Give me the mk5 any day on any budget and I shall have it.
This guy gets it
I wanted the GTI so bad, but family duties came first. So I bought a Passat with the GTi engine (perhaps even gearbox?) and called it a day. It's like driving a GTi with some mates (added weight).