If you’re in the market for a car, your first decision is whether to buy a new model or a used one. While it’s no secret that a new car’s value begins depreciating the moment you drive it out of the showroom, new cars also come with significant advantages.
1. Your Car, Your Choice
Whether it’s metallic paint, wheel design, upholstery, a fancy touchscreen, a panoramic roof, or any other of the countless options available in cars these days, buying new is the only way to guarantee you’ll get exactly what you want—as well as ensuring you won’t pay for things you don’t.
2. Design
To say that new cars always look better than their predecessors is perhaps too sweeping a statement, but by and large the nature of fashion dictates that something fresh will always make more of an impression than something familiar. Thus it follows that if you want to be at the cutting edge of automotive trends, you’ll need a new car.
3. Safety
Buy a used car and it might well be fitted with airbags and antilock brakes, but automotive safety moves at such a pace that you risk losing out on other important equipment. Isofix mounting points, for example, make it easy to install a child seat correctly, while systems such as lane-keeping assist and autonomous emergency braking can help you avoid a crash in the first place. On a related safety note, cars are not required to be put through an MoT test (to ensure they are roadworthy) until they are three years old. Buying new, therefore, gives you one less thing to worry about.
4. Reliability
By and large, new cars are more reliable than ever, benefitting from years of design expertise and state-of-the-art manufacturing processes. This means new car shoppers can expect to spend more time behind the wheel and less time stressing about what might go wrong. And if it does all start to fall apart at the seams, well...
5. Warranty
In the unlikely event your new car develops a fault, you can rely on a comprehensive warranty to get it fixed free of charge. Backed by the car’s maker, new car warranties offer the highest level of cover available and run for anywhere between three and seven years. If peace of mind is high on your list of priorities, a new car with its full warranty could well be the way to go.
6. Fuel Economy
Whether you’re looking at a car powered by fossil fuels, electricity, or a combination of the two, the fact is—regardless of fuel —modern motors are more efficient than ever. For you, that means less time and money spent at the petrol station or charging the battery and more money left in your bank account. Who wouldn’t want that?
7. Performance
Fuel economy is one thing, but don’t forget that cars are also engineered to deliver excellent performance. That’s why, believe it or not, the best modern hot hatchbacks can run rings around any 10-year-old supercar. It also means that opting for a 1.0-litre engine in your new family SUV isn’t as daft as it sounds.
8. Technology
Manufacturers these days offer apps to connect you with your friends while on the move, satellite navigation with live traffic information, music streaming, innovative safety systems, boots that open and close at the touch of a button (or the kick of a foot), and much more besides. Put simply, if you like tech, you’ll love what a new car can offer.
9. Finance
With a deposot upfront followed by low monthly payments and the possibility to change to a new model every two or three years, running a car these days isn’t all that different from how many people pay for their smartphones. New car finance can often look particularly appealing as dealerships aim to hit sales targets through the use of tools such as a low interest rates or generous deposit contributions.
10. Reviews
Car buyers have never had so much access to information prior to making their purchase. On CarGurus UK alone we have hundreds of expert car reviews in both written and video formats, put together by some of the country's leading automotive journalists. As such, it’s quite possible to narrow down your search before even visiting a showroom, or even to buy a new car online and have it delivered to your door.