Macan new vs used prices
Discussion
I’m looking to buy a Macan and can’t quite get my head around the market.
I’m fortunate not to be working to a budget, but at the same time, I always try to get value for money out of anything I buy. That usually means buying a car at 3-5 years old once they have done most of their depreciating.
My instinct was to look at spending sub £40k, which would get me a 2017 Turbo model; this seems a little pricey for a 7-year-old car, but OK.
Then I realised an extra £12-15k would get me a facelifted 2020 car (turbo or S) three years newer, with improvements inside and out. Correct me if I’m wrong, but that seems like better value for money than the 7-year-old examples.
Curiosity got the better of me, so I looked at what a new Macan S would cost, and it's “only” £60k, so barely more than a three-year-old example, albeit that’s before sticking any options on.
My ideal spec comes to £78k, but I could bring that down to £72k by ditching the full leather pack (£5k) and the tow bar (£1k), which I loosely convinced myself I’d need for a bike rack.
So, an extra £15k over a 2020 model would get me a brand-new car built to my specification. Is my man maths running away from me, or is that not such a bad deal?
I’m fortunate not to be working to a budget, but at the same time, I always try to get value for money out of anything I buy. That usually means buying a car at 3-5 years old once they have done most of their depreciating.
My instinct was to look at spending sub £40k, which would get me a 2017 Turbo model; this seems a little pricey for a 7-year-old car, but OK.
Then I realised an extra £12-15k would get me a facelifted 2020 car (turbo or S) three years newer, with improvements inside and out. Correct me if I’m wrong, but that seems like better value for money than the 7-year-old examples.
Curiosity got the better of me, so I looked at what a new Macan S would cost, and it's “only” £60k, so barely more than a three-year-old example, albeit that’s before sticking any options on.
My ideal spec comes to £78k, but I could bring that down to £72k by ditching the full leather pack (£5k) and the tow bar (£1k), which I loosely convinced myself I’d need for a bike rack.
So, an extra £15k over a 2020 model would get me a brand-new car built to my specification. Is my man maths running away from me, or is that not such a bad deal?
Depends how wedded you are to best price and whether you define value a bit more broadly - for instance, the value associated with the pleasure that a brand new car specced by you will bring. I bought mine new and chose the spec to suit me. Its very much my (ok, our) Macan and I wouldn't get that feeling from buying someone else's. Given the wide choice of spec options you're unlikely to find something second hand that's exactly what you would have chosen on the configurator.
So if budget really isn't an issue, buy new, spec it yourself and inhale that new car aroma. But if you're happy to live with someone else's choices and maybe a few signs of use, there are plenty on the market to choose from and you'll save some cash.
Just to add a rider - I prefer the look of the pre-facelift so wouldn't now buy a new one.
So if budget really isn't an issue, buy new, spec it yourself and inhale that new car aroma. But if you're happy to live with someone else's choices and maybe a few signs of use, there are plenty on the market to choose from and you'll save some cash.
Just to add a rider - I prefer the look of the pre-facelift so wouldn't now buy a new one.
Spindoctor said:
Depends how wedded you are to best price and whether you define value a bit more broadly - for instance, the value associated with the pleasure that a brand new car specced by you will bring. I bought mine new and chose the spec to suit me. Its very much my (ok, our) Macan and I wouldn't get that feeling from buying someone else's. Given the wide choice of spec options you're unlikely to find something second hand that's exactly what you would have chosen on the configurator.
So if budget really isn't an issue, buy new, spec it yourself and inhale that new car aroma. But if you're happy to live with someone else's choices and maybe a few signs of use, there are plenty on the market to choose from and you'll save some cash.
Just to add a rider - I prefer the look of the pre-facelift so wouldn't now buy a new one.
That's an interesting point of view, so thanks for sharing. So if budget really isn't an issue, buy new, spec it yourself and inhale that new car aroma. But if you're happy to live with someone else's choices and maybe a few signs of use, there are plenty on the market to choose from and you'll save some cash.
Just to add a rider - I prefer the look of the pre-facelift so wouldn't now buy a new one.
The prospect of speccing a brand new car is exciting (having never done it), but it's easy to get carried away in the dealership when reality suggests the novelty of a new car will wear off within a couple of weeks, leaving you with an asset that lost 20% of its value the moment you took possession.
That looks like it might not be the case with Macans, though, so a little extra investigation is needed.
It’s fairly tricky to offer much because that range is from sub-40k to 78k.
There’s a lot to be said for picking the spec on your own car, of course, but no financial benefits - particularly with the current outlook (and exacerbated if you’re using finance). If you want value for money, then newer isn’t for you.
I would suggest driving a 2017 and a 2023 and at least going away to compare how you’d feel.
Similar to you, I’ve been shopping in the UAE without a (within reason) hard limit. I ended up with a 2016 Macan S last year (with 30k on the clock) because the waiting list for a new one was so long. I paid around 50% of the sticker price.
Now that I’ve had it for a year, I have no plans to change it, because it really is such a fab little thing. I see little value in spending a lot of extra cash for something I’ll enjoy only a little bit more. Your mileage may vary.
I was fortunate that it was optioned pretty much identically to what I would have gone for. Sport Chrono, full leather, PASM air, etc. and a colour I like to boot. I also prefer the looks and sound on the earlier ones. I had a detailer give it a 2 stage machine polish, and sent it in for a service with a more or less blank cheque, replaced all the fluids and now I feel like I’ve got a mechanically brilliant thing which looks brand new.
No right or wrong on this one, in my opinion. However, while options are personal, Macans are so popular I’d wager you’d get a close-to-ideal spec one if you’re patient.
Maybe I have good used car option karma. I also have a 981 Cayman S in the UK which more or less fell on my lap after posting a question on here 3 years ago; it has every conceivable option I would want. I wouldn’t have specced it any different if I were ordering brand new (if they were still in production obviously) and for the grand total of 13k on the clock, I got a dry storage queen for 33k versus the 70-odd it cost when new. If the right car comes up in such a way, it’s very hard to justify going new.
I’m a purely cash buyer when it comes to cars, which certainly plays into the decision. To me, that makes you measure both options up carefully. Either way, you’re getting a fantastic little SUV. I do think about maybe getting a newer one on occasion, but I’m very fond of this one, as is my wife. I like the idea of running this for many years, knowing it is fastidiously maintained and I want for nothing more than it offers. Plus, it’s easier to justify a 911 alongside it when that time comes
There’s a lot to be said for picking the spec on your own car, of course, but no financial benefits - particularly with the current outlook (and exacerbated if you’re using finance). If you want value for money, then newer isn’t for you.
I would suggest driving a 2017 and a 2023 and at least going away to compare how you’d feel.
Similar to you, I’ve been shopping in the UAE without a (within reason) hard limit. I ended up with a 2016 Macan S last year (with 30k on the clock) because the waiting list for a new one was so long. I paid around 50% of the sticker price.
Now that I’ve had it for a year, I have no plans to change it, because it really is such a fab little thing. I see little value in spending a lot of extra cash for something I’ll enjoy only a little bit more. Your mileage may vary.
I was fortunate that it was optioned pretty much identically to what I would have gone for. Sport Chrono, full leather, PASM air, etc. and a colour I like to boot. I also prefer the looks and sound on the earlier ones. I had a detailer give it a 2 stage machine polish, and sent it in for a service with a more or less blank cheque, replaced all the fluids and now I feel like I’ve got a mechanically brilliant thing which looks brand new.
No right or wrong on this one, in my opinion. However, while options are personal, Macans are so popular I’d wager you’d get a close-to-ideal spec one if you’re patient.
Maybe I have good used car option karma. I also have a 981 Cayman S in the UK which more or less fell on my lap after posting a question on here 3 years ago; it has every conceivable option I would want. I wouldn’t have specced it any different if I were ordering brand new (if they were still in production obviously) and for the grand total of 13k on the clock, I got a dry storage queen for 33k versus the 70-odd it cost when new. If the right car comes up in such a way, it’s very hard to justify going new.
I’m a purely cash buyer when it comes to cars, which certainly plays into the decision. To me, that makes you measure both options up carefully. Either way, you’re getting a fantastic little SUV. I do think about maybe getting a newer one on occasion, but I’m very fond of this one, as is my wife. I like the idea of running this for many years, knowing it is fastidiously maintained and I want for nothing more than it offers. Plus, it’s easier to justify a 911 alongside it when that time comes
Thread very relevant to me - am looking at spending 40K on a 2016/17 turbo (with air, towbar and dynamic lights as a baseline) with 40K miles tops, as a family car to go my with 996T. Have pushed cap to 50K to see what else that buys - it seems the older ones are holding their value very well, so as you say, for not much more initial outlay you can get a much newer one. Could buy a new one but don't want to sink that much money into a family car!
The best ones don't hang around on the forecourt for long - there seems to be an extremely active sellers market for these cars ... I was about to go see one at OPC Glasgow that was still being prepped and it was sold before it even made it to the salesfloor....
The best ones don't hang around on the forecourt for long - there seems to be an extremely active sellers market for these cars ... I was about to go see one at OPC Glasgow that was still being prepped and it was sold before it even made it to the salesfloor....
Buy the new one.
I was in the same position in 2022. It was cheaper to get a new Macan S than a used one on finance at the time. It was even cheaper than a new BMW X3 we were quoted on. We started at a base model Macan but it was ever so marginally more expensive, I'm talking like £20-50pm, to go for the S model as it had most of the optional spec we wanted as standard like the alloys, quad-exhaust etc. We love it!
I was in the same position in 2022. It was cheaper to get a new Macan S than a used one on finance at the time. It was even cheaper than a new BMW X3 we were quoted on. We started at a base model Macan but it was ever so marginally more expensive, I'm talking like £20-50pm, to go for the S model as it had most of the optional spec we wanted as standard like the alloys, quad-exhaust etc. We love it!
OP, is there an option here of having your cake and eating it…
Buy the 7 year old Macan now and place an order for a new build to your spec. Run the car for the time it takes until you have to confirm options and commit to the new build and effectively defer your decision until that point.
If the £40k option makes you happy then great, cancel the order. If you try a test drive of a brand new dealer demo and think it’s worth the extra money, it sounds like you won’t lose much of your initial £40k and you can make the switch.
Buy the 7 year old Macan now and place an order for a new build to your spec. Run the car for the time it takes until you have to confirm options and commit to the new build and effectively defer your decision until that point.
If the £40k option makes you happy then great, cancel the order. If you try a test drive of a brand new dealer demo and think it’s worth the extra money, it sounds like you won’t lose much of your initial £40k and you can make the switch.
I'm in a similar situation.
I'm in the queue for a new Macan S, and am trying to do my homework by looking at 'nearly new' alternatives. This is largely because my timing has been negatively impacted by 1) Porsche raising the price of their cars/options, and 2) interest rates on the up. Both are incredibly frustrating as my current Macan S price point would have seen me into a GTS if I'd had this brain wave sooner! I know, Captain Hindsight etc. etc.
Anyway... I find the price difference between my car, i.e. new build, vs. 12-18 month example is so slim I may as well have something factory fresh. It's not a like-for-like comparison for the OP, but I'm strongly in the camp that says enjoy the things that you can in life.
I'm in the queue for a new Macan S, and am trying to do my homework by looking at 'nearly new' alternatives. This is largely because my timing has been negatively impacted by 1) Porsche raising the price of their cars/options, and 2) interest rates on the up. Both are incredibly frustrating as my current Macan S price point would have seen me into a GTS if I'd had this brain wave sooner! I know, Captain Hindsight etc. etc.
Anyway... I find the price difference between my car, i.e. new build, vs. 12-18 month example is so slim I may as well have something factory fresh. It's not a like-for-like comparison for the OP, but I'm strongly in the camp that says enjoy the things that you can in life.
Honestly speaking, think you’re better off buying one that has suffered most of its residual value, I agree the numbers are very weird.
That said I bought a Crayon Macan which was available as a cancelled order and it’s worth calling 2-3 OPC’s and understanding what is available.
In terms of interior - I wouldn’t buy one without the full leather interior - it’s so much nicer then all that plastic.
If your a cash buyer then def consider a private buy that’s within warranty.. there are a few things like Transfer cases and if you get pano roof make sure the drains are or have been cleared.
That said I bought a Crayon Macan which was available as a cancelled order and it’s worth calling 2-3 OPC’s and understanding what is available.
In terms of interior - I wouldn’t buy one without the full leather interior - it’s so much nicer then all that plastic.
If your a cash buyer then def consider a private buy that’s within warranty.. there are a few things like Transfer cases and if you get pano roof make sure the drains are or have been cleared.
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