If you’ve read a few of these blogs, you’ve probably worked out by now that I’ve got a bit of a soft spot for older cars. I like cars with proper buttons, proper keys and dashboards that don’t need a software update before breakfast.

But this one isn’t really about old cars.

Recently, through work, I’ve been driving quite a few brand-new Mercedes and I’ll admit they are lovely things. Beautiful interiors, clever screens, nice lighting, comfortable seats and all the little touches that make an 80-mile drive to the other office feel a bit less painful.

And somewhere along one of those journeys I caught myself thinking, I could actually see myself in one of these.

Then reality kicked in.

I’m not buying a brand-new one.

Not because I don’t want one, because I absolutely do, but there is a fairly important thing called a budget that tends to ruin these little daydreams.

Then I started wondering what the same car would look like when it was three years old.

Would it really feel that different?

The shape would still look modern, the interior would still be pretty clever and most of the technology would still feel new enough. The big difference is that someone else has already taken that painful first hit of depreciation.

And suddenly the numbers start to look a bit friendlier.

That’s when another thought creeps in.

If I’m not stretching to buy the newest one, could I actually afford a higher-spec three-year-old version instead?

Maybe better wheels, better seats, a nicer interior, more toys and all the things I’d probably tell myself I didn’t need if I was ordering one new.

Do they do built-in massage seats?

I joke.

But actually, that’s kind of the point.

We all like the idea of a brand-new car. Nobody else has owned it, nobody has scraped a wheel along a kerb and you get that nice feeling of knowing everything is exactly as it left the factory.

But you’re also paying for being first.

A three-year-old car has already done the expensive bit.

It’s been used, settled in and, assuming it has been looked after properly, it can still feel almost new without carrying the same price tag.

And that means your budget can suddenly buy you a lot more car.

Instead of the basic version of the newest model, you might be looking at the higher-spec version of the previous one. Maybe the bigger engine, better trim, panoramic roof, upgraded sound system, heated seats, adaptive cruise and whatever else happened to be sitting on the options list when somebody ordered it.

That’s where I think the three-year-old sweet spot gets really interesting.

You’re not buying an old car.

You’re buying something that is still modern, still nice, still packed with technology and often a lot closer to what you actually want.

There’s another thing too.

If a car has been around for a few years, you’ve got more information.

You know what people like about it. You know what goes wrong. You know which engines are good, which options matter and which ones sounded brilliant in the brochure but nobody actually uses.

Sometimes buying the last year of the previous model is a clever move too.

Manufacturers have normally had time to iron out a few little problems and then, the minute the new model arrives, everyone suddenly decides the old one looks ancient.

Even though six months earlier everyone thought it looked fantastic.

Cars are funny like that.

And I’m not saying everybody should stop buying new cars.

If you want brand new and the budget works, brilliant.

There is something nice about being the first owner and choosing exactly what you want.

But if the newest version is just a bit too far out of reach, don’t automatically assume you’re settling by looking at something two or three years old.

You might actually end up with more car.

More spec, more comfort, maybe a better engine and probably fewer sleepless nights thinking about the monthly payment.

At National Car Finder, that’s exactly the sort of thing we can help with.

Tell us your budget, what matters to you and what you’d really like to have.

Because sometimes the best way into the car you want isn’t buying the newest one.

It’s letting someone else pay the expensive bit first.