What is the value of being the original owner of a car?

[JeffKeryk]

If buying a car new or used at a good price is being a cheapskate then please call me a cheapskate, or at least a wannabe cheapskate.
Back in the day I bought and drove used Hondas and Toyletta pickups.
Now I generally buy new for wifey and used for others.
I try and get the best CAR I can. That generally means getting the best condition as possible because otherwise you will probably have to put money into it. Initial price is a starting point; it is not the whole story. A one owner car, among other things, is a positive thing to me.
Wanna know the most expensive car I have ever bought? A beat 1968 Corvette 427 Roadster. Wasted $$....
Do you have any idea what it cost to make the old Vette look like this? Please don't ask because I would look like the worst investor on the planet...
ALWAYS buy the best car you can afford. You will likely be big bucks ahead.

 

[Badgerstate]

even new cars will eventually develop issues so it’s never a safe bet. IMO the most efficient way is to buy a 3-4 year old off lease car, drive it for another 3-4 years, sell it when it’s 6-8 years old or before the “high mileage” threshold, and repeat. This is all based off pre-covid prices. These days used cars are going for more then they used to.

back in 2015 it wasn’t uncommon to see 3-4 year old Accords going for half of their new MSRP. These days they still go for 70%, which would wipe out any long term savings. This is probably the worse time to buy any used car.

Id agree with you, other than I would say its best to buy a 3-4 year old car and then drive it until it hits 200K. Nowdays, any decent car should easily last you 200K.

 

[doublebase]

I'm tapping of this pointless exercise. You're right, everyone else in the world is wrong including wealthy people who literally do this.

I don’t think you understand wealthy people, there’s several types and you generalized it and threw into one group. Thrifty. There’s plentiful other categories: one being the could care less what it costs, it doesn’t matter. Those types are going to buy a new BMW/Audi/MB every three years and not care one single bit. And a Porsche SUV for the wife too, every three. The only time they may keep one longer is if little Johnny needs his first car, then they’ll give him the hand me down BMW.

These types^^^i find are more abundant than the types that buy used, shop around, care about the depreciation and are fiscally responsible. And I think that’s because those people really are wealthy, and dont waste their time worrying about $1,500 a month in car payments or dropping $60,000 plus thousand on a new one. Not when they’re making $300,000 grand a year, and their wife making the same. Never mind the inheritance money or family owned business or rental properties. They know they’re going to be tossing $50,000 plus grad a year into their investments and making 10-20%. It’s the rich getting richer. Some people are born into it - lots of people actually - I personally know some people that have inherited millions of dollars worth of rental properties...they make over $10,000 grand a month of rental income, and if they ever decided to sell these homes right now? They’d cash in at over 2 million. And I know people that have inherited manufacturing companies. Or advertising companies. Never had to do a thing. The last thing they worry about is a car payment.

 

[Andrew1972]

Bragging rights and if a special sale of unique desirable vehicle(rare) helpful for private buyer. Otherwise nothing !

 

[PeteDaLubey]

Priceless, if you saw the Top Gear episode where they got the forensics team to inspect a few second hand cars they bought. the filth that was revealed by forensics would make you sick. probably does in a lot of cases. The longer you own a car the better IMHO. A person selling a car from new, with all the rcpts means a lot in the secondhand market private market.

People buying used are either cheapskates or don't have a lot of money to spend. Neither bodes well to increase the value of your car. Condition/cleanliness, maintenance and intangibles like this rarely move the meter.

or they love older vehicles, possibly without all the computers and airbags and stuff

 

[Allaneddie]

People buying used are either cheapskates or don't have a lot of money to spend. Neither bodes well to increase the value of your car. Condition/cleanliness, maintenance and intangibles like this rarely move the meter.

Some of have plenty of money but would rather spend them elsewhere (in my case, boats, house, family, travel, etc). I bought a 2007 Grand Cherokee used in 2010 and just got home from a grocery store trip. I think you apply stereotypes too easily.

 

[TiGeo]

I so badly want to find/talk to the previous owner of my Passat W8 - would be great to get a few pieces of info...I probably can if I was willing to spend some money to track them down.

 

[pbm]

I have bought several new cars in my life. I have also bought several used cars in my life.
The old line that a car depreciates a lot the moment it's driven out of the showroom doesn't seem to apply in recent times. Right now I find new cars are often a better buy than late model used cars and I would buy new if I was in the market.

As far as the OP's question....the value of being the original owner is that I know everything about the car's history.
A friend of mine leased a new Subaru a little over a year ago. Her commute to work is about a mile or a little more each way. She now has a bit over 4K on the clock and just got her first oil change at the dealer because the oil light came on (her boyfriend said there was nothing showing on the dipstick). A few days later the light came on again and it was low on oil again. This just happened last week so I don't know the final outcome but I do know that when this low mileage lease return goes up for sale the new owner won't know about this.

 

[IndyIan]

I have bought several new cars in my life. I have also bought several used cars in my life.
The old line that a car depreciates a lot the moment it's driven out of the showroom doesn't seem to apply in recent times. Right now I find new cars are often a better buy than late model used cars and I would buy new if I was in the market.

We've bought a couple new and a couple used, best used is from the original owner in my experience, and you get a feel for how the car was maintained, or not.
I'm finding the sub $5k market is getting better as the price of basic mechanical work goes up as well... A $1500 beater is now only $2500!
Anyways, I'm still going to hold onto the Focus for a while yet, its pretty cheap to run and has been reliable, so why change... It needs a subframe so its used value is pretty low until I swap a better one in.

 

[TiGeo]

Buying new and keeping 10 years - you aren't losing out so much vs. used. You know the history. You get a warranty to cover a few years worth of issues. I prefer it now that I'm older/more money but nothing wrong with buying a few year old vehicle.

 

[Cruisin'n5thgear]

People buying used are either cheapskates or don't have a lot of money to spend. Neither bodes well to increase the value of your car. Condition/cleanliness, maintenance and intangibles like this rarely move the meter.

Especially the 3rd/4th owners. Second owners are more likely to take good care of their vehicles based on the purchase price.

 

[Tdog02]

I've been all over the board on the new vs used issue. I'm in my 50's and I've bought 5 new vehicles. It mattered to me at the time. I tried to buy the wife the new car and I drove what I had.

In 2016 I bought a new F150. At that time the used truck market was just stupid expensive. I couldn't find a nice used truck for less than 22,000 that didn't have a 100k on the odometer. It was within 2k of new when financing was figured in and I just bit the bullet and bought new. The 16 model has been a very reliable and enjoyable truck to drive. Still a proud family member.

Does one owner matter (is it worth it) to buyers. If it were a classic that had been in the family, heck yeah. Otherwise condition is king. My used purchases of the 2017 F150, and the 2013 Fiat in the past year didn't matter as much. Of course we are in really crazy times after the biological attack known as covid19. (that is for a different discussion) Everything since then seems to be radically changed including new vehicle prices and quality. I can't pay the new price of an F150 so my little fleet will be repaired and maintained to prevent replacement. In fact I see them going way longer than the industry average. I'll take them to 18-20 years of ownership if I can.

I can and will turn my own wrenches. That was really important when I was daily driving a 2002 Jeep TJ Wrangler. I avoid most anything Chrysler related now days, but remember condition is King. Who else would buy a Fiat? I think the depreciation of 3-4 years is a sweet spot now and if the condition is right will save someone a lot of money. Up to 10 years old and you might be able to pay in cash which is a huge savings.

 

[andrew_j]

News flash any new car two years later is used. You always will have a used car a few months after driving off that new car lot.

 

[Skippy722]

News flash any new car two years later is used. You always will have a used car a few months after driving off that new car lot.

Yeah, but only my infants have spit up in the back seat so there’s that.

 

[Allaneddie]

News flash any new car two years later is used. You always will have a used car a few months after driving off that new car lot.

Every car on the road is a used car.

 

[odie]

Try to get new car with low miles on the O.D.. The lower the better . That way break in vehicle as described in the manual and know the background .

 

[thastinger]

We buy new and keep them for forever. I've never had a major repair (engine/transmission/diff) on any vehicle we've owned (7 or 8) and some are more than 20 years old. I take care of them and I do all the routine maintenance myself, I just can't bring myself to trust others to do it.

 

[hardcore302]

When I sold my Mustang, a few prospective buyers were willing to pay more for it considering it was a one owner car. 1 or 2 grand I would say.