Each year in the UK, used car sales outnumber new car purchases by around three to one but there are still many people who front the cash for a shiny new purchase.
The latest technology, sweetener deals, your own specs and no unknown history are all tempting features of a new purchase but with rising costs and wage increases that cant keep up, it's not always value for money.
New research has revealed that new cars have become increasingly unaffordable, with prices rocketing up to five times faster than wages over the past decade.
Finance group, Moneybarn found that some car prices have more than doubled since 2011, whereas earnings have risen by one fifth over the same period.
The Carflation study has found that the increase in the cost of owning a new car is outpacing earnings at a rapid rate.
Between 2011 and 2021, the average earnings in Britain increased by 22%, from £21,100 to £25,780, but the average cost of buying a new car increased by 39%, from £27,675 to £38,585.
In 2011, a new car cost 131% of the UK's average annual salary, whereas today, this has increased to 150%.
To put it simply, the cost of buying a new car has increased at almost twice the rate of our earnings.
Some cars have risen in price considerably faster than others, with the following all having increased by more than 70%.
A Volkswagen Golf cost £13,615 in 2011 and now cost 71.6% more at £23,360.
One of the highest increases is a 117% price rise for a Peugeot 3008 that will cost you £37,310 today but in 2011 it only cost £17,195.
Not all cars have seen such rapid increases, however, with some only having seen an increase of less than 25%.
With a 2.49% increase is the BMW 7 Series Saloon that over 10 years went from £57.420 to £71,730
A Nissan Navara has risen by 9.2% from £21,033 in 2011 to £22,975 in today's showrooms.
Interestingly, the Nissan Leaf remains the same price to buy new in 2021 as it was in 2011.
The research also looked at the models that have increased the most as a percentage of the average annual salary with figures ranging from 38.7% to over 80% difference.
A Peugeot 3008 used to cost 81.5% of the median salary but now cost 144.7% of the average annual salary- that's a 63.2% difference.
With a 55.9% difference, the BMW X5 M went from costing 382.9% of the average salary to 438% of the average annual wage.
There are also cars that are getting to purchase.
The Porsche Panamera cost £62,783 in 2011 or 297% of the annual salary and now cost £69,860 or 271% of the median salary.
There is a slight drop in the cost of the Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer that used to cost 81.8% of the annual salary but now cost £80%.
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