Originally Posted By: Cujet
Originally Posted By: Nick R
Should have just gone with a used car in the first place, it's far more practical. Yeah new cars are great, but I've finally seen the light- taking the new car depreciation hit is a real pain in the touchus.
I can make a very strong argument against the financial "soundness" of purchasing a used car. First off, you save nothing. The used car is pro-rated, by mile and time. Second, the used car is not "less expensive" to operate, it's slightly more initially and significantly more later on. Nor is a used car cheaper to finance. In fact, when you calculate the cost of "used" v "new" using real world "cost per mile" metrics, you will find that there is a maximum Delta of 5 cents per mile difference, and often, no difference. (real world cost per mile calculations include insurance, fuel costs, maintenance costs, capital costs, loan costs and so on)
Remember, if you plan on purchasing a "cheap" used vehicle to save money, you must also change class of car, often to something that does not fit your needs as well.
And, for goodness sake, don't get wrapped around the axle with terms like "depreciation" and "loss" and "upside-down loan value". The only way to make a new car more expensive is to trade it in quickly and let the dealer profit from your mistake.
Agreed. Nick over-extended himself thinking happy thoughts about paying it off sooner, but going with a longer loan because he doesnt have the discipline to pay it off on a reasonable term. Life catches up and things are too expensive. Who wants to be paying new car payments on a six year old car that is well used?
But on the flip side, used cars are not the great deals that some would make them out to be, as you mention (and we determined mathematically in another thread or two). Without financial discipline, real savings and using cash, Nick will just get caught in the same payment issues with used cars, only get hit even harder as a result because of the poorer deals.
Vanity isnt worth anything. Nobody deserves a single gadget on a car. Go buy an accent or rio or yaris with crank windows and MT and learn to drive it with a smile. Beats walking. Pay it cash or pay it on
Or... just be uncomfortable for a time, dump all the cash you have (no eating out, no beer, no computers, no goofing around), and pay it off, like by Christmas. Then start saving for the next car, sell this one private party in no rush when the right deal comes in, and then buy another more to your liking.
A used car isnt your salvation. Being disciplined and making sound purchasing choices is.
