Buying the best car is great, buying a great car at the best price is brilliant
Auto Express’ consumer reporter gives his expert insight on why choosing the best car in a sector might not always be wise
The football World Cup kicks off next month and if watching England has taught me anything, it’s that sometimes it’s okay to settle for second best.
This glass-half-full mindset can also be applied to buying or leasing a new car. While we at Auto Express will always highlight and point you towards the very best model within a specific segment, significant savings can sometimes mean that choosing the runner-up in a road test might be a shrewd decision.
Take the Mercedes CLA, for example, which arrived last year as something of a quantum leap for the electric executive-car market, bringing leading-edge tech and a range of up to 483 miles. Sitting slightly behind this class leader is the Hyundai Ioniq 6, which like the Mercedes offers streamlined looks and premium appeal, just with slightly less practicality and a lower maximum range of 338 miles.
However, if you take a look at the difference in price between the two models through the Auto Express Buy a Car service, you’d think they were in separate market segments. While the CLA will cost you an eye-watering £478 per month to lease, an Ioniq 6 will set you back almost half that at £283. In isolation, the Mercedes is the more compelling, but does it justify paying almost twice the price? Perhaps not.
Then we have Britain’s best-selling (for good reason) EV, the Tesla Model Y. Through the Auto Express Buy a Car service, entry-level RWD models are listed at £363 per month, but a like-for-like Ford Capri RWD Style can be had for roughly £100 less each month. In fact, even a top-spec Capri AWD Premium will cost you less than the Tesla at £358 per month, and it has a huge advantage over the entry-level Model Y in terms of power, range and standard equipment.
What the above exercise highlights is that the list price isn’t always the greatest indicator of how much you’ll really pay. With most new cars now either leased or financed, it’s the monthly payments that matter the most, and these are usually also dictated by other factors, including depreciation and stock fulfilment.
While £50 per month might not seem like that much on its own, it’s worth asking yourself whether a particular model is really worth the several hundreds – or even thousands – more you’ll pay over the course of a few years than for something a bit further down your shortlist.
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