Does it really make financial sense to buy used over new?

MaximumMini said:
Given the option....
I'd rather have a dependable old vehicle parked in front of my beautiful mansion, and be able to afford any car I want........
Than have an $80k new vehicle parked outside my mobile home while I struggle to make ends meet.
(No offense intended if you happen to be the latter)
Just me.
ymmv
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On my daily commute I pass a house like that. There is literally a tiny mobile home with 2 like-new candy-red identical Suburbans, a lifted Jeep Gladiator, a lifted Jeep Renegade, and a lifted crew cab Polaris "truckster" thingy that the guy uses as a daily often. It's got windows and AC, and absolutely screams doing 60MPH. Plus occasionally a huge Freightliner motorhome, and a fifth wheel large camper. The home itself is maaaaybe 1000sqft. The whole combo does look interesting.
 
50yr Street Mech said:
NEVER BUY A CAR SITTING ON SOMEBODY'S LAWN
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Yeah, it might look like this :ROFLMAO: after months of restoration with a total cost of $2500; I drove it for 2 years and then sold it for $3400.
20190510_195022.webp
 
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I think depends on the brand. Some cars loose depreciate very fast: great to buy used, bad to buy brand new. Some are the opposite.
If you are buying a Toyota, makes more sense to buy brand new as they don`t really depreciate. Sports cars used to depreciate a lot, but after Covid that seems to have changed a little bit. When I bought my GR86, I paid MSRP, whereas 2 years old used ones were being sold for MSRP +3K at least. But also at that time if you bought a Jaguar F type that was 5 years old, you would have paid the half of the MSRP.

Again, boils down to what car you are buying. Buying a luxury car: buy used. Buying a "reliable" car? Buy new. People seem to rather pay %30 more when buying the car rather than paying 10% of the car`s value later down the line for repairs. Behavioral economists study that behavior through insruance premiums.
 
Stumpy said:
I cannot afford to buy a new car. Period. Used is the only way to go for me.
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Used is perfectly fine. The thing about the USA imho is that one commands respect when they do their best. Not every culture is like that. I’ve been at parties and someone will ask me what I paid for my house, car, etc. and they “compare” and one up. Someone once told me, you’re a vain person. I said how so?! “Every one of you cars is a premium make (Nissan, BMW, Buick, Lexus). My newest car at the time was 12 years old. He had a brand new CR-V. I didn’t agree with him but to each his own.
 
Buyin a used car takes privately takes practice. I've only owned 2 new cars my entire life, the rest were private sales. The new cars gave me the most trouble. I've had dozens of used cars, even bought them for friends. You get good at it after a while. I started flippin them when i was younger !....Those days are over now. Too old to go " hunting". But, I was good at it. Never picked a lemon. No more. I'll stick to what I got. Run down new one, and 2 used ones. Back in the day, it was cheap to get a used car ( $ 500), maybe that's how I got so good at it. Now, $ 500 gets you a tank a gas. LOL :)
 
I guess I am just lucky; my last new car purchase was my MS3 back in 2007. Since then all of my vehicles have been purchased used and none of them showed any signs of abuse or any repairs that could be traced to abuse.
 
RooflessVW said:
New cars are expensive and a waste of money.

Ive only purchased two new cars. The only reason I didn't get hosed on the Atlas was the COVID used car market.

My new Honda is getting to be a pain in my ass. It is not holding up like I thought it would.
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Just like Ford and Chevy, Honda and Toyota are getting on the "profits above quality" bandwagon.
The last new Toyotas bought by friends were pure junk.

what's worse, they were leases and Toyota started hitting them with service dept and repair bills for $1000 and $1500 every time they went in for their bi annual maintenance schedule. The car manufacturers and their dealers have lost all integrity and have become ruthless organized crime syndicates imo. no thanks.

Oh..and another thing...new cars are telling on you. They gather and send driving data on you to your insurance companies which then adjust your rates accordingly. Had your insurances rates rise mysteriously lately?

F that.
 
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I’ve bought 5 new cars in my life, and around 20 or so used cars, including ones bought for the kids.

The used cars were all older cheaper examples. Except for a couple of them, they did ok for us and provided good service with routine maintenance and basic repairs. But those cars were mechanically simple compared to today’s small displacement turbocharged, overly plastic componented, direct injected, cyl deactivated, start/stop, and with cvt or 10 speed transmission engineering marvels.

I think my ok experience with older used cars over the past 40 years will be difficult for someone else to replicate over the next 40 years.
 
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Maximum Mini....FINALLY....Someone with a brain has spoken. THANK YOU.!!!!!!!! It's very simple, if you have $$$$ coming out of you're a-s....Go right ahead and buy a new car !!!!! Buy 3 new cars !!!!!! There are only 2 classes of people left in this country. The Rich and The Poor. Well, guess what...the po folks like me are stuck with the used cars. The country is in the toilet. The Auto Industry is in the toilet. But, if you got tons of money.....who cares !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Roofless VW, Honda went down the toilet when Hyundai and Kia were coming up, and spilling over the toilet, like a turd that just backfired on the flush. Honda lost their customer base, and Acura couldn't hold the company up enough. 10 yr/ 100,000 mi power train warranty. Honda, they cut corners, BAD, and are still trying to keep their heads above water to this day. Honda was the " Cream of the Crop" back in the late 80's- early 90's. But how in the world are you going to compete with Hyundai. Probably the BIGGEST cargo carrier in the world ?!?!?! Hyundai has capital $$$$ to do whatever they want, from their container business. Then they spin off with Kia !!! Another slap in the face with 10yr / 100,000mi power train warranty !!! Honda will never be Honda again. I had 2 new Honda's. Nothing but trouble with them. And trouble started as soon as the 5yr / 60k warranty was up. Never again.
 
50yr Street Mech said:
Roofless VW, Honda went down the toilet when Hyundai and Kia were coming up, and spilling over the toilet, like a turd that just backfired on the flush. Honda lost their customer base, and Acura couldn't hold the company up enough. 10 yr/ 100,000 mi power train warranty. Honda, they cut corners, BAD, and are still trying to keep their heads above water to this day. Honda was the " Cream of the Crop" back in the late 80's- early 90's. But how in the world are you going to compete with Hyundai. Probably the BIGGEST cargo carrier in the world ?!?!?! Hyundai has capital $$$$ to do whatever they want, from their container business. Then they spin off with Kia !!! Another slap in the face with 10yr / 100,000mi power train warranty !!! Honda will never be Honda again. I had 2 new Honda's. Nothing but trouble with them. And trouble started as soon as the 5yr / 60k warranty was up. Never again.
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Yeah man H/K are not better than Honda.

I'm just disappointed in mine. I'd be worse off in a H/K.
 
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