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Where to find the best value used cars in the UK revealed
Stirling, Newcastle and Edinburgh are the UK hotspots for the best value second-hand cars in terms of low mileage, attractive prices and reasonable ages, claims new data.
According to research by the AA’s used car website, AA Cars, savvy buyers should consider heading to Stirling, which offers the best combination of affordable prices, low mileage and reasonably aged stock.
In Stirling, the average used car sells for £11,320 and has an average mileage of 25,750 – a good way under the UK average of around 36,000 miles. Additionally, the age of used cars in the Scottish city is around four years, which is a year younger than average used stock across the rest of the UK.
While used cars in Birmingham are among the cheapest in the country – at £8,160 – the average mileage is around 55,000 miles – some 18,000 more than all the other UK regions in the survey.
The most popular types of car by body style, transmission and fuel also vary from region to region.
In London, almost half (48.7%) of all second-hand sales are for cars with automatic transmissions, double the UK average for sales of that drive type.
Similarly, only a third (37.9%) of used cars bought in the capital are diesel – compared to the national average of 47.4%.
The most popular city in the country for second-hand SUVs was Sheffield, accounting for a quarter (25.4%) of all used sales, while luxury cars accounted for a fifth (21.1%) of all used sales in Bury.
James Fairclough, CEO of AA Cars, said: “While the cost of used cars does tend to broadly tally with the mileage clocked and the age of the vehicle, there are clearly a number of places in the UK where discerning buyers can squeeze as much value out of their next purchase.
“In fact, the car market is increasingly open to buyers who are willing to travel – it’s no longer simply a matter of heading down the road to your local dealership to see what’s on offer.
“Although it is worth noting that travelling further afield for your next car does come with potential drawbacks – any cost saving you might be making in the purchase has to be weighed up against the fact that, if the car does develop a fault soon after you’ve bought it, you’ll probably have to take it back to the selling dealer for checks or repairs."
Best places in the UK to buy used cars
| Town | Average price | Price ranking | Average mileage | Mileage ranking | Average age | Age ranking | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stirling | £11,320 | 10 | 25,752 | 3 | 4.1 | 3 | 16 |
| Newcastle-Upon-Tyne | £11,443 | 11 | 27,443 | 5 | 4.3 | 5 | 21 |
| Edinburgh | £12,266 | 19 | 21,206 | 1 | 3.6 | 1 | 21 |
| Aberdeen | £12,193 | 18 | 23,875 | 2 | 4.1 | 2 | 22 |
| Nottingham | £10,661 | 6 | 31,794 | 7 | 5.1 | 11 | 24 |
| Glasgow | £11,937 | 16 | 25,897 | 4 | 4.2 | 4 | 24 |
| Warrington | £11,888 | 14 | 33,762 | 8 | 5.0 | 8 | 30 |
| Rotherham | £9,639 | 5 | 34,621 | 10 | 5.3 | 16 | 31 |
| Stoke-on-Trent | £12,160 | 17 | 34,024 | 9 | 4.4 | 6 | 32 |
| Milton Keynes | £11,556 | 12 | 37,537 | 13 | 5.0 | 9 | 34 |
| Oldham | £11,160 | 9 | 38,258 | 14 | 5.2 | 12 | 35 |
| Sheffield | £14,295 | 22 | 29,258 | 6 | 4.7 | 7 | 35 |
| Leicester | £11,133 | 8 | 41,883 | 16 | 5.3 | 13 | 37 |
| Manchester | £9,074 | 2 | 43,853 | 17 | 6.4 | 19 | 38 |
| Derby | £11,636 | 13 | 35,721 | 11 | 5.3 | 15 | 39 |
| Stockport | £10,675 | 7 | 45,669 | 18 | 5.8 | 18 | 43 |
| Lincoln | £13,078 | 21 | 36,245 | 12 | 5.0 | 10 | 43 |
| Bristol | £9,268 | 3 | 50,255 | 20 | 7.0 | 21 | 44 |
| Birmingham | £8,160 | 1 | 54,599 | 22 | 7.4 | 22 | 45 |
| London | £9,620 | 4 | 53,323 | 21 | 7.0 | 20 | 45 |
| Coventry | £12,445 | 20 | 39,295 | 15 | 5.3 | 14 | 49 |
| Bury | £11,918 | 15 | 45,812 | 19 | 5.6 | 17 | 51 |
(Calculated by AA Cars, and looking at prices and mileage)
Cheapest cities for new cars
Separate research by car accessory firm Ixplor suggests there's a difference of as much as £7,000 between cities in the UK for new car buyers.
Pulling figures from AutoTrader, CarGurus and Carwow to see what deals they could get, the researchers found that Belfast was the cheapest city to buy a new Nissan Qashqai 1.3 DiG-T at £17,128, while Oxford was the most expensive at £24,750.
Ixplor’s Mareike Mueller said: “It’s eye-opening to uncover such a significant difference in the price of a car across the UK.
“The disparity in cost turns what should be an exciting new experience for families into a penny-pinching exercise.”
10 cheapest cities to buy a new Nissan Qashqai
| City | Price |
|---|---|
| Belfast | £17,128 |
| Birmingham | £17,495 |
| Plymouth | £18,015 |
| Wakefield | £18,052 |
| Gloucester | £18,124 |
| Stirling | £18,190 |
| Lincoln | £18,231 |
| Stoke-on-Trent | £18,312 |
| Truro | £18,429 |
| Sheffield | £18,445 |
10 most expensive cities to buy a new Nissan Qashqai
| City | Price |
|---|---|
| Oxford | £24,750 |
| Derby | £23,114 |
| Portsmouth | £22,252 |
| Leicester | £21,221 |
| Brighton and Hove | £21,177 |
| Edinburgh | £21,045 |
| Newcastle-upon-Tyne | £21,009 |
| Carlisle | £20,991 |
| Cambridge | £20,565 |
| Nottingham | £20,465 |
(Ixplor research data)
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