Greater freedom of configuration, the latest technology and the feeling that the car was never owned by anyone else. Buyers of a new car pay a high price for this. The question of whether this feeling alone can justify the significant price premium compared to a used car must be decided individually and subjectively by everyone. From a purely rational point of view, the new car loses against a well-preserved used one in the first lap.

More and more buyers of sports cars are recognizing and taking this into account and are looking forward to the thousands saved after the purchase. Another advantage: used cars from specialized dealers like the B&K Sportwagen Rheinland GmbH have first-class maintenance and care conditions. Buyers receive high-quality vehicles in excellent condition at attractive conditions.

In this guide, we compare a new car with a used one and show you the advantages you can look forward to when you leave the initial registration to someone else.

1. How much is the loss in value of a new car?

2. Breakdown risk and repair

3. Drive off straight away - no waiting times for used cars

4. Special case sports car?

5. Conclusion: The clear winner

6. Not all used cars are the same

There are various explanations and methods of calculating how much the value of a car drops as soon as it leaves the manufacturer's yard. A proven rule of thumb denies a new car a quarter of its value after just one year. After three years it is only worth half the original list price on average. The depreciation is commonly added to the cost of a car. But what many do not know: It exceeds the fixed costs incurred such as insurance, operating costs such as gasoline and workshop costs by far.

From an investor's point of view, buying a new car is already a financial disaster. After four years, the annual loss in value levels off at an average of five to six percent. This is where the magical limit runs from where buyers of used cars start the most successful deals.

Many manufacturers like to use the argument that there are fewer visits to the workshop for a new car and thus try to justify the price premium of the new car to the customer. Be careful here! According to ADAC statistics, repair costs and residual value only begin to converge slowly after ten years. By this point in time, the argument of lower costs due to fewer visits to the workshop has been completely invalidated.

Even if the customer with a new car supposedly has to go to the workshop less often, the costs of the respective individual repairs can be higher. The reason for this lies in the business model and economic practice of the manufacturers. To put it bluntly: visits to the vehicle's workshop are what ink does to a printer. Just as Epson & Co. try to exclude third-party manufacturers from the competition with special circuit boards, car manufacturers rely on regularly changing special tools and continuously modified readout software, which means that the appointment with the authorized dealer in the event of a breakdown cannot be avoided. Particularly annoying: The new buyer also pays for the spare parts: parts that could be purchased cheaply from third-party suppliers after a few years are initially only available from significantly more expensive contractual partners.

"What's going to happen to my new car?" Asks one or the other reader. Reality shows that, especially with new models in a series, there are unfortunately some “teething troubles” in the form of recalls of certain components or technical defects that occur. The dream of a new car quickly becomes a nervous test of stress when the vehicle is in the workshop more than it can be driven. This is another reason to opt for a somewhat older, but technically mature vehicle that has been tried and tested on the market. The myth that used cars are technically obsolete just because they were built over a year ago is not true. Vehicles that were recognized a few years ago in the European New Car Assessment Program Crashtest, or NCAP for short, are proven to be safe and reliable cars even today. So if you think a little bit more conservatively on this point and don't judge all vehicles based on the year of construction, you can save a lot of money.

In addition to a loose wallet, new car buyers need one thing above all: patience. While German cars used to be the fastest available, buyers nowadays have to be prepared for long waiting times due to internationalized production. Unfortunately, waiting twelve months for a new car is not uncommon. It becomes particularly annoying when a new model is introduced in the meantime - the market is faster than ever, and product life cycles are shorter than ever.

Another point win for the used car - it can often move into its new garage within a day and be used by its new happy owner for the first excursion. So even if money really doesn't play a role, the used car is a much more flexible solution.

The points listed are basically not tied to any specific vehicle class and therefore also apply to sports cars. Due to the financial equivalent or the price range in which vehicles from Porsche, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Mercedes AMG and other manufacturers move, some factors such as the projected loss of value of 25% within the first year or higher costs for spare parts fall even more sharply weight.

A sports car is without question an extraordinary car - this is why customization measures are so popular these days. However, the uniqueness is increasingly giving way to the manufacturers' modular system. With a new car, the customer chooses the best from a limited number of options instead of putting together something really special and individual from a large number of parts. In the opinion of some sports car fans, comfort features have become too important in recent years. The devastating verdict: Too luxurious to be really sporty!

Technology is also being criticized more and more by enthusiasts. In response to demand, turbo engines are now being installed more often. The manufacturers promise more performance with lower fuel consumption. However, reality usually paints the opposite, differentiated picture: If the sports car is only pushed to its limits, consumption will rise disproportionately. Finally, with newer turbos, the sound no longer meets the expectations of real sports car fans.

Of course, not every sports car manufacturer can be blamed for such a negative development. However, such reasons are partly responsible for the fact that buyers of sports cars now think twice about whether the new car is really worth the high surcharge.