For example the one I bought 6 years ago. A VW golf 4x4 2.0 TDI 2005 with 180k km on the clock. I paid 16k pln, which was then about 3.5k EUR.
Before you say, this was 6 years ago, I can tell you I just went to a popular used car sales site in Poland and when I put in 15k pln (~3.4k EUR) and no older than 2011 I got 1700 hits many like this https://www.otomoto.pl/osobowe/oferta/renault-megane-ID6FKwv... (a 1.7ctdi Renault megane 2012 for 14k pln).
When I bought my car it was 12 years old, with one previous owner imported from the south of France(no snow/salt on winter roads). It has been 6 years, that car is now 18 years old and is approaching 210k km, in these 6 years I had to do the total of:
-Replaced front springs
-Replaced all 4 disc brakes
-Replaced all 4 front bushings
-replaced the egr valve
-sealed a porous head with a coolant additive (that year 2005 is famous for porosity in their cast aluminum heads).
Finally, for last 2 years I could hear slightly increased noise levels from the turbo, so it might need a replacement soon.
Furthermore, parts like disk brakes or bushings can be bought here very cheaply, but still good quality. On average a third of the oem price and much better quality (yes, you can get them even cheaper, but then quality is not the same). Expensive parts like a turbo, or a "new" engine are all bought from used cars. When one buys such parts one usually buys from a reputable scraper that has a return policy etc.
Over these 6 years I probably spent €2k on repairs (I did half of them by myself?
So I hope you can understand how ridiculous a proposition it is for someone like me to buy new (although I could afford it without much difficulty. )
Before you say, this was 6 years ago, I can tell you I just went to a popular used car sales site in Poland and when I put in 15k pln (~3.4k EUR) and no older than 2011 I got 1700 hits many like this https://www.otomoto.pl/osobowe/oferta/renault-megane-ID6FKwv... (a 1.7ctdi Renault megane 2012 for 14k pln).
When I bought my car it was 12 years old, with one previous owner imported from the south of France(no snow/salt on winter roads). It has been 6 years, that car is now 18 years old and is approaching 210k km, in these 6 years I had to do the total of: -Replaced front springs -Replaced all 4 disc brakes -Replaced all 4 front bushings -replaced the egr valve -sealed a porous head with a coolant additive (that year 2005 is famous for porosity in their cast aluminum heads).
Finally, for last 2 years I could hear slightly increased noise levels from the turbo, so it might need a replacement soon.
Furthermore, parts like disk brakes or bushings can be bought here very cheaply, but still good quality. On average a third of the oem price and much better quality (yes, you can get them even cheaper, but then quality is not the same). Expensive parts like a turbo, or a "new" engine are all bought from used cars. When one buys such parts one usually buys from a reputable scraper that has a return policy etc.
Over these 6 years I probably spent €2k on repairs (I did half of them by myself?
So I hope you can understand how ridiculous a proposition it is for someone like me to buy new (although I could afford it without much difficulty. )
So I hope you