Get a half-price family...

Get a half-price family model by buying privately a year-old example – that’s according to the latest depreciation study. The research was carried out by the City-CarClub, a pay-as-you-go rental scheme.

It examined first-year depreciation on family models based on the likely private selling price, rather than an anticipated dealer trade-in value. And while its findings are bad news for new car buyers, they show these vehicles are superb value used.

Worst performer was the Fiat Stilo Multi-wagon, which lost 54.9 per cent of its value during the first year of ownership. It was closely followed by the Kia Rio and Renault Laguna Sport Tourer. In all, three load-luggers made the bottom five, and they all fared worse than their regular hatchback siblings. Depreciation rates were calculated using figures from consumer price guide Parkers, and included a number of variants from each model range.

The amount of money buyers lose on new cars annually is staggering. CityCarClub boss Dirk Van Dijl explained: “It’s estimated that motorists and businesses lose around ?5.8billion every year due to depreciation.”