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Which car costs less to run per year: old, new, or near-new? What difference does depreciation make? It seems cars keep devaluing at a relatively steady rate until they reach a certain point.

We really like our 1997 Mercedes-Benz C230 but want to consider options. Many thanks.

Depreciation is the biggest single factor affecting running cost of a vehicle. Many people wrongly assume it's the cost of fuel, but this is insignificant compared with depreciation. Therefore, if you take a snapshot of a point in time, a new car will have a higher running cost than a 17 year old car such as yours. However, there are obviously, significant other benefits of a new car, not least being safety and reliability.

Thanks, yes indeed. We previously had a new car (Ford Escort) that we kept for eight years and depreciation was huge. It still had repair bills. So next time we opted for a used car, the Mercedes, that had already depreciated significantly (although it still goes on depreciating at a steady rate until a certain level.)

Should we buy new again, or not? Dunno.

New car, as you say, has latest safety features and technology. Better fuel consumption. There may be free servicing for a limited time and certainly a new car warranty. But here is still an annual cost of ownership based on depreciation alone.

Is there info somewhere comparing annual cost of ownership of various models?

Absolutely agree that safety and reliability are crucial.

There's really nowhere you can look at specific models. The reality is that no data can be absolute and there will always be some variables. However the AA running cost report you can download from My AA gives you an idea of the running costs for types of vehicles, grouped into engine sizes.
In short, there are many good reasons for buying new if the budget runs to it, but the reality is that the depreciation will be higher than an older car.

I guess the bottom line is they all cost money, some more than others! Thanks for the My AA link, I'll check it out.