New car vs. used car.

[Nate1979]

Originally Posted By: Brybo86
all you people are talking about a 2-3 yr old car as a "used" car.
That is never a great deal

New Honda accord 23k base
2 yrs later 24k miles sells for 19k
yes that is crazy and no i would never buy used
but I would also consider that a relatively new car is not really "used" if we only have 2 categories new and used

a 1 yr old car(essentially new) is much closer in price to a new car than a 10 yr old car (used)

now how about a 10 yr old Honda accord 150k miles, needs an oil change maybe a timing belt, new brakes? ok $500 in parts and you buy it for $3000
then procede to drive it for another 100k miles

when a car is 10 yrs old used it will always be a better buy than a $500 a month car payment

how is this even up for debate?

you either buck up and buy a new car or very lightly used car for $$$$$$ big bucks and drive it spending a little on maintenance here and there

or you buy a used car for $ dirt cheap and spend a little on maintenance here and there

the maintenance is going to be the same everything wears out at the same rate, brakes, tire, fluids all degrade at the same pace.

if you want/like a new car go for it, but please don't try to twist it and say it is cheaper in the long run... no way


10 year old Accord is $3000?????
From what I can see they are more like $10k which makes purchasing new more or less the same cost/mile as purchasing a 10 year old Accord.
Post a link for a 2004-2006 Accord for $3k in decent shape.

 

[Brybo86]

Originally Posted By: Nate1979
Originally Posted By: Brybo86
all you people are talking about a 2-3 yr old car as a "used" car.
That is never a great deal

New Honda accord 23k base
2 yrs later 24k miles sells for 19k
yes that is crazy and no i would never buy used
but I would also consider that a relatively new car is not really "used" if we only have 2 categories new and used

a 1 yr old car(essentially new) is much closer in price to a new car than a 10 yr old car (used)

now how about a 10 yr old Honda accord 150k miles, needs an oil change maybe a timing belt, new brakes? ok $500 in parts and you buy it for $3000
then procede to drive it for another 100k miles

when a car is 10 yrs old used it will always be a better buy than a $500 a month car payment

how is this even up for debate?

you either buck up and buy a new car or very lightly used car for $$$$$$ big bucks and drive it spending a little on maintenance here and there

or you buy a used car for $ dirt cheap and spend a little on maintenance here and there

the maintenance is going to be the same everything wears out at the same rate, brakes, tire, fluids all degrade at the same pace.

if you want/like a new car go for it, but please don't try to twist it and say it is cheaper in the long run... no way


10 year old Accord is $3000?????
From what I can see they are more like $10k which makes purchasing new more or less the same cost/mile as purchasing a 10 year old Accord.
Post a link for a 2004-2006 Accord for $3k in decent shape.


I looked for all of 1 minute on craigslist, something like this
HERE
Offer him $3500 or wait and get a similar one in a month for $3000, patience bro

ill have to look but my brother got a 2003 accord exl with 160k miles last year for $3500 has driven it about 8k miles so far we have changed the oil, rear brakes and did a drain and fill on the transmission.
drives better than my 2008
he bought it on craigslist

the world is full of people who want a deal but have no time/patience to wait and or look for that deal....

 

[Kawiguy454]

I dont think it is possible to definitively answer the question as far too many variables. I guess the real question tho is why are you trading in a NEWer car you bought new and ate the depreciation on only to buy an NEW one?

My 02 F150 is comfortable with a great aftermarket stereo and runs like a top with good care after 180k+ miles. I replaced front bearings a tie rod or two shocks and pinion bearings.

Why do I need a new ~$37,000 truck to replace one with that has no problems?

 

[xfactor9]

I think the sweet spot is a 1-2 year old, almost-new car with low miles. You can save $5-8k on a car that would be $30k new. That savings over the 10-year life of the car is substantial when you consider lower cost of sales tax, DMV fees and insurance. Not to mention the opportunity cost of these savings. The downside is that you lose 1-2 years of warranty (which has some value), but cars so reliable nowadays. I can't remember the last time I paid for a unscheduled repair of any car I've owned..

 

[Andrew1972]

My mantra is get the best vehicle you can with cash you have in hand. It may be $1500 used in some cases while others $30k new. Payments stifle your ability to get wealthy within a given income.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted By: xfactor9
I think the sweet spot is a 1-2 year old, almost-new car with low miles. You can save $5-8k on a car that would be $30k new. That savings over the 10-year life of the car is substantial when you consider lower cost of sales tax, DMV fees and insurance. Not to mention the opportunity cost of these savings. The downside is that you lose 1-2 years of warranty (which has some value), but cars so reliable nowadays. I can't remember the last time I paid for a unscheduled repair of any car I've owned..


I think the real sweet spot is in the 3-4 year range. Depending on the model, if it still has a little bit of the original warranty left, you can buy an extended warranty from the manufacturer. Usually at the 3-4 year stage, they're usually 40-60% off retail depending if you're buying foreign or domestic.

Anyway last year I ended up pick up a used 2008 Mercedes E350, a 65k car when new (although with discounts, it could have been 55-60k) for under 19k and it had under 50k. Luxury cars are great for depreciation. Really fun to drive too and everyone likes going for a ride in it.

 

[stchman]

Originally Posted By: Brybo86
Originally Posted By: Nate1979
Originally Posted By: Brybo86
all you people are talking about a 2-3 yr old car as a "used" car.
That is never a great deal

New Honda accord 23k base
2 yrs later 24k miles sells for 19k
yes that is crazy and no i would never buy used
but I would also consider that a relatively new car is not really "used" if we only have 2 categories new and used

a 1 yr old car(essentially new) is much closer in price to a new car than a 10 yr old car (used)

now how about a 10 yr old Honda accord 150k miles, needs an oil change maybe a timing belt, new brakes? ok $500 in parts and you buy it for $3000
then procede to drive it for another 100k miles

when a car is 10 yrs old used it will always be a better buy than a $500 a month car payment

how is this even up for debate?

you either buck up and buy a new car or very lightly used car for $$$$$$ big bucks and drive it spending a little on maintenance here and there

or you buy a used car for $ dirt cheap and spend a little on maintenance here and there

the maintenance is going to be the same everything wears out at the same rate, brakes, tire, fluids all degrade at the same pace.

if you want/like a new car go for it, but please don't try to twist it and say it is cheaper in the long run... no way


10 year old Accord is $3000?????
From what I can see they are more like $10k which makes purchasing new more or less the same cost/mile as purchasing a 10 year old Accord.
Post a link for a 2004-2006 Accord for $3k in decent shape.


I looked for all of 1 minute on craigslist, something like this
HERE
Offer him $3500 or wait and get a similar one in a month for $3000, patience bro

ill have to look but my brother got a 2003 accord exl with 160k miles last year for $3500 has driven it about 8k miles so far we have changed the oil, rear brakes and did a drain and fill on the transmission.
drives better than my 2008
he bought it on craigslist

the world is full of people who want a deal but have no time/patience to wait and or look for that deal....


You are right, but that car has 160K miles already. Do you know if the person that owned it took god care of the engine? Did they change the oil regularly, transmission fluid? Just because it is a Honda doesn't mean the engine and transmission can't go bad in a couple of months. Notice the guy didn't put ONE pic of under the hood.

On the surface, yes, if the car was well maintained(mechanically), AND you could get it for $3500, AND drive for for another 100K miles with little maintenance, great. There is no guarantee. There is a much higher likelihood that if you buy a new Accord, follow the maintenance schedule, you'll get 160K miles of relatively trouble free driving.

 

[MCompact]

Our family has had excellent luck with 1-4 year old CPO BMWs. Depreciation has kicked in but there is still a lot of warranty left. My Wrangler was 3 years old when I bought it- no complaints.
I did buy my Club Sport and MS3 new; they were new models in relatively short supply(less than 400 Club Sports were scheduled for production, while Mazda only built 5,000 MS3s each year) and I wasn't willing to wait.
My best deal was my 1988 M6; I drove it daily, tracked it, and autocrossed it from 1992-1995 and sold it for just $500 less than I paid for it.

 

[raytseng]

Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Originally Posted By: xfactor9
I think the sweet spot is a 1-2 year old, almost-new car with low miles. You can save $5-8k on a car that would be $30k new. That savings over the 10-year life of the car is substantial when you consider lower cost of sales tax, DMV fees and insurance. Not to mention the opportunity cost of these savings. The downside is that you lose 1-2 years of warranty (which has some value), but cars so reliable nowadays. I can't remember the last time I paid for a unscheduled repair of any car I've owned..


I think the real sweet spot is in the 3-4 year range. Depending on the model, if it still has a little bit of the original warranty left, you can buy an extended warranty from the manufacturer. Usually at the 3-4 year stage, they're usually 40-60% off retail depending if you're buying foreign or domestic.

Anyway last year I ended up pick up a used 2008 Mercedes E350, a 65k car when new (although with discounts, it could have been 55-60k) for under 19k and it had under 50k. Luxury cars are great for depreciation. Really fun to drive too and everyone likes going for a ride in it.


3years is the typical term for a business lease, and add in the extra year for the car to float around in the market and auctions.

What car you're looking for definitely is important, not just because of the higher $ amount giving extra depreciation; but also supply.

Business lease are going to go more for luxury cars than utility cars, plus a guy in a business who can afford to do a lease isn't really hooning it too much compared to the guy who overfinanced his vehicle and got it repossessed. They will also just taking the Stealership's maintenance plan.

So a BMW/MB/Lexus/Infiniti at 3years etc is going to be different mindset and market from a Honda/toyota.

 

[The_Jeff]

A couple years back we were feeling slightly flush and thought we should have a good-ish car for my wife and kids to cruise around in.

So we got a 6-year old HHR with the famed ecotec engine, 137k miles, for $3600.

Man that was about $1600 too much.

I think the cute ute fad is floating prices up, even on dogs like this thing.

It is, mechanically, falling to bits fairly quickly. Both lower control arm bushings conked out; fine. But the captive nuts in the frame busted loose and I had to sawzall my way in, cutting right through those huge bolts, to cobble a solution. It's like every other FWD GM in eating brake rotors, and the radiator fan siezed over the winter. It's basically a 15 year old beater at half the age. Never again! Get me another $400 car with blown transmission I can change in a weekend. At least with that the gamble is low, payoff high, and you have an idea why the seller is dumping the car.

 

[Cujet]

Originally Posted By: stchman

With this being said, are there any real savings to buying a used car?


Objectively, a used car is not much of a savings, ever. Unless you find that "unicorn" of a cheap, used car that grandpa kept but never drove. A few of us have those "unicorns" and we've done quite well with them.

As Astro mentioned, cost per mile is what matters. And that cost per mile MUST include capital costs, finance costs, insurance, fuel, repairs, upgrades and more. To be practical, the cost per mile must be calculated over the entire lifespan of the vehicle. If you sell early, don't complain about the additional costs.

Today, with cars and trucks more fuel efficient than ever, the new vehicle is often considerably more efficient.

In general, it's possible to drive a new CAR (not truck) of the same class, vs. a used car, for about 3 cents per mile more. When one considers that the real-world cost per mile often exceeds 40 cents, that is not much difference.

Trucks are more expensive to operate per mile.

A car purchased with 40K on the odometer will not have new tires, new brakes, new fluids and so on. Your first major expense is not far away.

 

[Ethan1]

Originally Posted By: Leo99
Originally Posted By: dishdude
I either buy new or a beater - I just have a hard time finding value and justifying anything in between. I've tried, but after crunching the numbers it just never made sense to me.


That's how I see the math. For the past 30 years I've tried to get 10 cents per mile out of my cars. That's the math I use. For my current fleet, I'm way ahead on the Corolla and just meeting it on the Rav4. I hope/expect to get 300,000 miles out of the Camry. I've bought cars for $500 and put 10k miles on them. They didn't look very nice but they drove.

When I looked at used cars, saw many cars selling for $18,000 with 90k miles on them. By my math, I'd need to take the car to 270k miles to get my 10 cents per mile. I'd rather buy new and enjoy the new car smell and give myself a better chance to get my 10 cents per mile by doing the maintenance myself.


So you're trying to get $0.10/mile just based on purchase price? So, to meet your goal, my $1,200 used car that I bought with 53k miles on it only has to make it 12k more miles. I'm in good shape

 

[itguy08]

I think it all depends....

Needed a truck as we were getting a camper. In Jan 2014 found a 2011 F150 Ecoboost Supercrew, Max Tow, Lariat with everything minus sunroof and nav. Had 43k on it. The dealer wanted $30k for it. The bed was scratched and dinged on the inside but the inside and paint were great. Maintenance records showed 3-5k oil changes and it wasn't driven much until the last year when mileage shot up. This was a $50k sticker truck! Even if I could have gotten it new @ $40k it would have blown the budget. Interest rate is 2.9%. It will be paid off by the end of next year.

It's got 61k, runs fine after a few little F150 issues got taken care of under the powertrain warranty (the condensation issue and slip yolk lube). Tows our 8-9k camper fine and has not cost me anything other than oil changes and a trans service. I'll probably run it till the wheels fall off or we get another camper.

Had I bought new, I would have had to order and even at 0% would have blown any budget we had. In this case it made sense.

Wife replaced her 03 Escape and we took it to CarMax for an evaluation and to make sure the dealer's trade #'s were honest. Did the obligatory walk around the lot with he sales guy and their prices were close to new on some of those cars. Yeah there were some "bargains" but they had lots of miles and didn't seem all that bargain.

The used market can be crazy and a lot of times it makes sense to just go new. Especially with the makers "giving" money away with 0%.

 

[Vikas]

Originally Posted By: dishdude
I either buy new or a beater - I just have a hard time finding value and justifying anything in between. I've tried, but after crunching the numbers it just never made sense to me.
I agree completely. The only thing which we might not agree upon would be the definition of the "beater" and the price to pay for the "beater"! It could be as low as $1000 or as high as $20,000!

 

[stephen9666]

I see the appeal of buying new, but there are still good bargains to be had on some used cars. It all depends what you want, what you're willing to spend, etc.

There are brands that hold their value too well to be good bargains for late-model used cars. Toyota and Honda come to mind, for example. For those, buying new can be a better deal for some people.

I recently used depreciation to my advantage when buying a three-year-old Chevy. It had depreciated big time, but had low miles and still plenty of factory warranty left. For me it was a very good bargain and I got a lot of car for my money.

 

[Brybo86]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
A couple years back we were feeling slightly flush and thought we should have a good-ish car for my wife and kids to cruise around in.

So we got a 6-year old HHR with the famed ecotec engine, 137k miles, for $3600.

Man that was about $1600 too much.

I think the cute ute fad is floating prices up, even on dogs like this thing.

It is, mechanically, falling to bits fairly quickly. Both lower control arm bushings conked out; fine. But the captive nuts in the frame busted loose and I had to sawzall my way in, cutting right through those huge bolts, to cobble a solution. It's like every other FWD GM in eating brake rotors, and the radiator fan siezed over the winter. It's basically a 15 year old beater at half the age. Never again! Get me another $400 car with blown transmission I can change in a weekend. At least with that the gamble is low, payoff high, and you have an idea why the seller is dumping the car.


I never said get ANY cheap used car, you need to do your homework, and you WILL get a great reward for doing so

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: Nate1979
Originally Posted By: Brybo86
all you people are talking about a 2-3 yr old car as a "used" car.
That is never a great deal

New Honda accord 23k base
2 yrs later 24k miles sells for 19k
yes that is crazy and no i would never buy used
but I would also consider that a relatively new car is not really "used" if we only have 2 categories new and used

a 1 yr old car(essentially new) is much closer in price to a new car than a 10 yr old car (used)

now how about a 10 yr old Honda accord 150k miles, needs an oil change maybe a timing belt, new brakes? ok $500 in parts and you buy it for $3000
then procede to drive it for another 100k miles

when a car is 10 yrs old used it will always be a better buy than a $500 a month car payment

how is this even up for debate?

you either buck up and buy a new car or very lightly used car for $$$$$$ big bucks and drive it spending a little on maintenance here and there

or you buy a used car for $ dirt cheap and spend a little on maintenance here and there

the maintenance is going to be the same everything wears out at the same rate, brakes, tire, fluids all degrade at the same pace.

if you want/like a new car go for it, but please don't try to twist it and say it is cheaper in the long run... no way


10 year old Accord is $3000?????
From what I can see they are more like $10k which makes purchasing new more or less the same cost/mile as purchasing a 10 year old Accord.
Post a link for a 2004-2006 Accord for $3k in decent shape.


Just did a quick check...the HIGHEST price I saw was a 2006 (a loaded EX V6) for $7800 at a dealer. $5K seemed to be about the going rate.

 

[MikeHigg]

If I'm buying something like a Corolla, I buy new. If I'm buying GM or Ford, etc., I buy used. I think used GM cars can be an excellent deal because they're cheap to buy, parts aren't costly, every mechanic can fix them and their peculiar issues are well known, and if you pick right they're pretty durable. But I did buy my Silverado new (I had a lot of GM points I had to use).

 

[gregk24]

I just bought my 2012 Accord EX-L a little over a month ago. If I would have purchased a new Accord BASE model, I would have paid around $21K-$22K. Instead I purchased the 2012 EX-L with all the bells and whistles for about $9000 less then when it was new. It was a 1 owner, and judging by what I found in the car it was owned by a single middle aged to older lady. It appears that it was well cared for and the only maintenance that would have been required would have been oil changes, which according to the car fax it had a few of. Now that I am the owner I have already had all of the fluids replaced (or partially drained and refilled) and brought everything up to snuff on maintenance. For me, at least in this situation buying used was the way to go. I was looking at a new Corolla, but I told myself, the new factor will wear off...the car will only be new for so long. Then I would be left with a cheap bare bones car that wouldn't bring much satisfaction. I am much happier with my used, one owner Accord with all the niceties that the EX-L trim brings. I got my leather and sunroof options that I have always wanted (had them in my first car / first Accord but not in my previous 2006 LX) and at a much better price than what I would have to pay to get them in a new Accord.

 

[Nate1979]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Originally Posted By: Nate1979
Originally Posted By: Brybo86
all you people are talking about a 2-3 yr old car as a "used" car.
That is never a great deal

New Honda accord 23k base
2 yrs later 24k miles sells for 19k
yes that is crazy and no i would never buy used
but I would also consider that a relatively new car is not really "used" if we only have 2 categories new and used

a 1 yr old car(essentially new) is much closer in price to a new car than a 10 yr old car (used)

now how about a 10 yr old Honda accord 150k miles, needs an oil change maybe a timing belt, new brakes? ok $500 in parts and you buy it for $3000
then procede to drive it for another 100k miles

when a car is 10 yrs old used it will always be a better buy than a $500 a month car payment

how is this even up for debate?

you either buck up and buy a new car or very lightly used car for $$$$$$ big bucks and drive it spending a little on maintenance here and there

or you buy a used car for $ dirt cheap and spend a little on maintenance here and there

the maintenance is going to be the same everything wears out at the same rate, brakes, tire, fluids all degrade at the same pace.

if you want/like a new car go for it, but please don't try to twist it and say it is cheaper in the long run... no way


10 year old Accord is $3000?????
From what I can see they are more like $10k which makes purchasing new more or less the same cost/mile as purchasing a 10 year old Accord.
Post a link for a 2004-2006 Accord for $3k in decent shape.


Just did a quick check...the HIGHEST price I saw was a 2006 (a loaded EX V6) for $7800 at a dealer. $5K seemed to be about the going rate.


My pricing came from autotrader in Portand area and the 2005ish models were regularly $10k.