Car repairs are no fun. New car payments get old quick. New cars need new tires just as fast as used cars with fresh tires. Insurance costs, convenience, fears over door dings, depreciations, one new vs multiple beaters, risks with buying old lemon vs new with warranty, inconveniences of breakdowns, etc etc etc…
This is really a personal decision. There is no blanket one size fits all approach to driving new cars, leasing, beaters, etc. I’ve flip flopped myself over my almost 20yrs of driving - although I’ve only owned 2 vehicles in that time, one bought used and one new.
Ultimately do what you want to do.
There is absolutely no doubt that vehicle repairs and downtime are inconvenient - nobody argues that. At the same time, a new car doesn’t always mean you won’t have problems. Plenty of lemons out there and with the new vehicle parts shortage there are plenty of horror stories to go around.
Driving any vehicle costs more money than anyone realistically wants to spend (especially these days). Cars are horrible decisions financially, but they are super convenient, useful and help keep us employed. Don’t forget that maintenance/fuel/insurance will end up being a larger expense overall of vehicle ownership than the purchase price of the vehicle if you keep it long enough.
One of the best things about buying used that I like is that there is generally plenty of data out there on how reliable that particular make and mode vehicle is likely to be, and with things like carfax you can do your best to avoid buying abused vehicles. This helps swing “luck” in your favor of avoiding a heap of junk money pit.
This is really a personal decision. There is no blanket one size fits all approach to driving new cars, leasing, beaters, etc. I’ve flip flopped myself over my almost 20yrs of driving - although I’ve only owned 2 vehicles in that time, one bought used and one new.
Ultimately do what you want to do.
There is absolutely no doubt that vehicle repairs and downtime are inconvenient - nobody argues that. At the same time, a new car doesn’t always mean you won’t have problems. Plenty of lemons out there and with the new vehicle parts shortage there are plenty of horror stories to go around.
Driving any vehicle costs more money than anyone realistically wants to spend (especially these days). Cars are horrible decisions financially, but they are super convenient, useful and help keep us employed. Don’t forget that maintenance/fuel/insurance will end up being a larger expense overall of vehicle ownership than the purchase price of the vehicle if you keep it long enough.
One of the best things about buying used that I like is that there is generally plenty of data out there on how reliable that particular make and mode vehicle is likely to be, and with things like carfax you can do your best to avoid buying abused vehicles. This helps swing “luck” in your favor of avoiding a heap of junk money pit.
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