Despite how much prices have risen in the last year, the best time to buy a new car is now. The panorama that is drawn on the automobile sector leads us to think that the prices of new cars, far from returning to the previous situation, or reducing their inflation, will continue to rise this year. For some time now I have only been able to recommend two types of decisions to those close to me who ask me about this and who are in the process of deciding to buy a car.
Two decisions that involve, first, extending the life of your old car while waiting for the electric market to develop even further, especially for those who are wondering whether to jump to an electric car now or wait. And second, for those who are thinking of buying a new car in the next year, take the plunge before prices increase even more, especially when it comes to cheap cars, like the ones we will analyze in this article.
And it is that cheap cars, which in the past could be bought at affordable prices for all budgets, are an endangered species and those who are accusing the inflation that weighs on the car the most.
There are fewer and fewer cheap cars and at this time it is prudent to think that the prices of new cars will continue to increase this year
A spacious and well-equipped SUV for €14,000
We will start by talking about the MG ZS, a spacious and well-equipped SUV for €14,000. Until just a few days ago it was possible to purchase the MG Motor SUV for €12,950. MG welcomed the new year by reviewing the prices of the car which, on its own merits, has become the most interesting economic proposal on the market, raising its price to €13,990.
Even with this rise MG’s continues to be in a privileged position in the market. It is an SUV as large and spacious as a SEAT Ateca and for its price we will be able to find very few new cars which, in all cases, will be smaller, less spacious and less equipped as standard. Let’s think that the cheapest MG ZS already includes a 10.1″ touch screen as standard, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, 17″ alloy wheels, Full Led headlights and rear parking sensors.
MG announces that this offer will be valid until March 31. And there is no indication that leads us to think that its price will continue to increase this year. But it is evident that what is natural, and what is to be expected, is that the only possible evolution of the prices of products like this is upwards, especially when compared with their alternatives on the market. The fear that the offers that we see today in the new vehicle market will not be present in one or several monthswith which the industry played for so long with offers until the end of stock or until the end of the month to convey a sense of urgency to the buyer, now it is real.
Dacia is no longer the king of economic cars
Until the advent of MG, Dacia and products such as the Dacia Sandero and the Dacia Duster were the epitome of the economic car. The first thing we have to understand is that The price increase in new cars has not always, nor in all its amount, been unjustified. Until the beginning of last year it was still possible to buy a Dacia Sandero for less than €10,000, today the cheapest is over €13,000. But it is a car that has improved significantly and has also seen its cheaper lines disappear, so that the cheapest Sandero is now more equipped as standard.
Something similar happens with the Dacia Duster, which at the beginning of 2022 could be purchased for less than €15,000 and now stands at €16,604. Until 2021 we found offers in the environment of €11,000.
Both the Sandero and the Duster are two products with an excellent position, a very reasonable price for what they offer, and they are much more complete and valuable cars than a few years ago, when they could be purchased for significantly lower prices. But they are not so cheap anymore.
Other cheap SUVs, but small
For €15,540 the Hyundai Bayon Y for €16,054 the Kia Stonic, the Koreans stand as two other interesting options for cheap SUVs, but also small and less equipped than the MG ZS. Its price, in any case, is not unreasonable given the current market situation, when a SEAT Arona is already at €17,600 and a Kamiq at €19,400.
To find other affordable SUVs and crossovers, we can refer to other brands of lower volume, which also have very interesting proposals. A good case is that of the unknown Suzuki Ignis for €16,805, an urban crossover, with an ECO label throughout the range thanks to its micro-hybrid mechanics. And a car in which micro-hybridization is not just a “trick” to earn the ECO label, but also a real tool to achieve really low consumption.
The SsangYong Tivoli for €17,900 It is also an interesting product, with a good trunk for an SUV of its size.
And in the used market?
To find a well-equipped or spacious SUV for less than €14,000, beyond proposals like the MG ZS, there are generally not many other options than to resort to the second-hand market. And once again we will find that the rise in prices that the new car market has experienced is also being felt in used vehicles, especially in volume segments, such as the second-hand offer of SUVs. In any case, it is possible to find some interesting cars for sale.
Below we have prepared a selection of second-hand cars listed in What car do I buy?the Diariomotor car comparator, where We have managed to select some SUVs for less than €14,000, registered from 2018 and with less than 100,000 kilometers:
At the time of writing this article, we had listings 41 used cars in What car do I buy? that respond to these characteristics.
If the evolution of the prices of new cars follows the current trend, it is expected that the prices of used vehicles, far from falling, will continue to rise. In fact, the cases of semi-new cars that are currently being sold at prices similar to, or even higher than, the one they had when they left the dealer are relatively common.
