Is it worth buying brand new?

[BigFootIsBlurry]

I've never bought any vehcile brand new before but the 0 percent finance at Honda and Suzuki at the minute are taking my fancy.

I'm reluctant to go with finance but by putting up a big deposit it works out cheap monthly.

For those who have bought new, is it worth it? I can't help but think I'd be better off taking my deposit and spending it on an older bike. At least then if I smash it into little pieces or anything happens to me financially its already paid for.

What do people reckon?

One piece of advice i got from a good friend was this:

"Dont finance a toy".

Reason being as you stated. If you crash, you still have to pay.

Then again its all down to your financial status. If you think you can afford one brand new then go for it. If you think you can afford payments month after month then yea i dont see why not.

Personally id go for second hand, even some bikes with 1000 miles on the clock can have a third off the new asking price.

[fizzwheel]

I bought my GSXR new.

I bought a year old model that had been sat in the dealers for ages and not been sold. I negotiated a £1500 off the screen price, purely because they wanted to shift it to make room for that years new models.

I like the fact that I bought it, that I'm the only one whose ridden it. I know exactly whats been done to it and how its been maintained.

My SV hadnt been looked after all that well by its previous owner and I spent alot of money putting things right. Of course I was new to biking and didnt really know what I was looking at when I bought it. By buying new I've avoided all that headache and I have no worries about hidden crash damage, poor repairs, enthusiastic home maintenance by poorly skilled previous owners etc etc.

Nothing beats that new bike feeling, of riding it away from the dealers. I know how its been run in, I know the history of every little scrape and everyone of those tells a story and its part of the ownership experience.

You do loose alot in depreciation, but like I said I got a good deal on it when I bought it. Personally if I can afford it and what I want is available new then I'd buy new again.

I've bought new twice, I'd say if you're planning on only keeping it a year or less, then maybe think about going 2nd hand to avoid the depreciation. But if you plan on keeping it more long term, then there's no problem (depreciation-wise) buying new. As long as you have insurance I would not be too concerned about financing a 'toy' - if you are particularly concerned/could not afford the hit in depreciation should you smash it & claim, get a GAP insurance policy of some kind (there are different varieties of GAP insurance).

I bought new and never regretted it for the reasons above. Note that a lot of the jap bikes have had recent price increases so you may be able to pick a pre-reg deal.

And +1 on the GAP insurance. IIRC, about £140 to cover upto invoice price.

I'm questioning this at the moment .... only just bought a used bike (2006 with 4300 miles) .... but just wondering whether I trade already for a new one on 0% finance.

The bikes great .... but it doesn't feel like mine yet .... and I've got that 'I wonder what needs doing' feeling.... could easily spend a few hundred pounds and lots of time just going through the basics, changing the fluids, tyres, etc .... buying new sounds appealing at the moment...

I have the cash to buy outright .... but 0% deal makes sense to abuse ....

[Luckypants]

I echo what was said above, buy new if you intend to keep the bike a while. If you change your bike every year you will be stung for heavy depreciation. I bought my VFR new in 2007 and am happy to keep for a while yet, so I get more value from the bike than if I had changed at 2 years.

[yorkie_chris]

You're nuts to buy new, buy one a year or 2 old that's done all its depreciating otherwise you're p*ssing money away.

As above, bought my 675 new 2 years ago, hefty discount as it was a 2007 model that they wanted to shift. I know everthing about the bike and I haven't bought someone else's POS.

[Stu]

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

You're nuts to buy new, buy one a year or 2 old that's done all its depreciating otherwise you're p*ssing money away.

Unfortunately it won't have done all of it's depreciating. But it's definitely what I do. Buy one half price, you don't have to worry about running it in, & you don't silently lose your rag when a mate scratches it on a test ride