How far will you go? How to save £10k on a car

• New research reveals extending search radius by 200 miles could save nearly £10,000 on a new car
• Car buyers travel an average of 13 miles from home to make purchase
• 14% of Brits buy a car on impulse without putting in any research
• Brits more prepared to travel long distances for a wedding than to save money on a dream car purchase

A new investigation from Admiral Car Finance has discovered that car buyers could save nearly £10,000[i] simply by travelling a little further from home to find their next set of wheels. 

Investigating the car buying process, Admiral found that its car finance drivers travelled an average of 58 miles from home to buy their last car.  Researching attitudes towards buying a new car Admiral revealed one in five (20%) buyers said they wouldn’t travel far to buy a car, and almost a third (31%) said they wouldn’t travel unless they really had to.

While car owners said they’d be willing to travel long distances for special events like weddings (23% said they would travel over 200 miles) and concerts (43% said they would travel up to 100 miles), only 15% would travel over 100 miles from home to buy their dream car.

But Admiral’s investigation has found that staying too close to home to buy a car could see people paying above the odds for their new motor and missing out on big savings. 

How far would you go to save money?

Admiral Car Finance looked at its own data from more than 2,000 customers to find out how far they travelled to purchase their car, and found almost half (44%) travelled 20 miles or fewer to buy their last car. However, Admiral’s investigation has found that by travelling up to 100 miles from home they could save thousands of pounds.

Investigating the price of an Audi A3, one of the most popular cars purchased with Admiral Car Finance, across large UK cities, Admiral found that those prepared to look further afield could reap rewards of almost £10,000 in some cases.

For example, it found that the average cost of an Audi A3 within 20 miles of Newcastle city centre was £17,268, but the average price dropped to £7,489 by extending the search radius to 200 miles, meaning a potential saving of £9,778 equivalent to a 57% discount.

Meanwhile, car buyers in Cardiff, Glasgow and Southampton could also reap massive savings of 50% or more, by purchasing a car up to 200 miles from home rather than within a 20 mile radius, with average savings of between £9,433 and £7,478.

For those not prepared to extend their search that far, the investigation also found that large savings were still possible closer to home.

Drivers in Newcastle, for example, are able to save £8,398 on average, equivalent to a 49% discount by considering cars within a 100 mile radius from home, compared to those within a 20 mile radius of the city centre.