Do you buy new, used, or very well used cars?

[White Cat]

Only new. And keep them a long time.

 

[cvjw]

We buy new. After having to lemon out a pathfinder, buying a used car scares me. So many people just get rid of their cars when they have issues. I don’t want to purchase one of those used.

 

[LuvOrlando]

New for the warranty, would rather super cheap with warranty than fancy used without dealer coverage, if it came to that.

 

[MamaMermaid]

New!

 

[nene0182]

I bought my first car used when I was 17 and drove it until I was 20 when I bought my first new car. I bought 5 new cars since then. I don’t see myself ever buying used again unless it’s a second “fun” car.

 

[John VN]

It's DW's $$$$, she wants NEW and that's what she orders, as in "I don't like the options on any of the cars on the lots" so she sits down and orders what she wants.

 

[Colleen27]

My typical car for most of my adult life has been a domestic minivan, purchased with cash when it was 3-5 years old with somewhere between 50-100K miles, and that habit served us very well for 20-odd years of raising kids. I bought my very first brand-new car last summer, at the ripe old age of 43, because I had a very particular set of must-haves this time around (4wd, high clearance, removable top - basically either a Wrangler or a Bronco) and because with the way used car prices have been the premium for buying new was negligible. As with our used cars, I expect I'll drive her basically until she can't be fixed any more. I still have my last minivan, a 2010 Caravan that's coming up on 230K miles, and she runs like a champ as a backup vehicle for DH's personal use (he has a company car for his commute) or for DD21 to use when she's home from college.

 

[DVC-Don]

We used to buy new, but the last 2 were factory certified used. One had only 3,000 miles on it, the truck had 21,000 on it. Have had both for 4 years now and still going strong.

 

[DisneyHardin]

The vehicle I have now is my first ever new car and that's only because it was just $5000 more than the used one we were planning to buy.

 

[barb969]

We buy 1 year old certified used cars. They come with a warranty. Have had excellent luck with them.

 

[amylevan]

We buy new. Yes, they deprecate like crazy, but I like new cars, I like warranties, and we keep them for 10 years give or take.

We did have a lemon about 15 years ago, we finally ended up suing Ford and got a bit of money and traded that thing in. The dealer we traded it to was well aware of the issues but I’ve often wondered if it ended up on their used car lot for some unsuspecting buyer. And considering it would lose power and just die on the Highway, it was risky to drive. As a new car owner, we had lemon laws and warranty repairs on our side, not sure what a used car owner would have.

 

[JAMIESMITH]

We look for cars that are older, but low mileage. I bought my 2007 Accord in 2018 with 45K miles on it. It has a little over 100K miles on it now. I'll keep it for at least five more years.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

We buy new. Yes, they deprecate like crazy, but I like new cars, I like warranties, and we keep them for 10 years give or take.

We did have a lemon about 15 years ago, we finally ended up suing Ford and got a bit of money and traded that thing in. The dealer we traded it to was well aware of the issues but I’ve often wondered if it ended up on their used car lot for some unsuspecting buyer. And considering it would lose power and just die on the Highway, it was risky to drive. As a new car owner, we had lemon laws and warranty repairs on our side, not sure what a used car owner would have.

This varies by state. Was curious about my own. Thankfully have never had to use it.

https://www.mass.gov/guides/guide-to-used-vehicle-warranty-law

 

[sheilafri]

Both, with a growing tendency to buy new. We do keep them for 8-15 years. Just donated a MINI Cooper S we had for 16 years. Great car.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Really, if keeping a car for a long period of time, early year depreciation really means very little, assuming the desire to have new, have new car warranty, etc. is there..

 

[firefly_ris]

Always used and drive them until they die, except for our most recent car purchase was brand new for the first time and I don't really love it. Wish I still had my old van.

 

[MIGrandma]

When we were first married we bought new, for several years. Then we bought vehicles that were a year or two old, that’s what we now prefer since the cost of new vehicles is absolutely ridiculous.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Really, if keeping a car for a long period of time, early year depreciation really means very little, assuming the desire to have new, have new car warranty, etc. is there..

I‘m not sure I completely agree with that, Dan, and I’ll give you an example. I know you’re a numbers guy.

When my kids were little, if I had to have work done at a dealership, I’d sometimes take cars for a test drive and dream about buying one. One example was when the Chrysler Pacificas first came out. The really nice, loaded, six passenger AWD models. Was getting tired of driving a minivan (even though I had a loaded Town and Country AWD which was very nice; still a minivan). I like the bells and whistles and have to have 4WD or AWD. But those new Pacificas I liked were way out of my price range @ > $40K at that time.

Fast forward a couple of years. I found one with under 10K miles at a Buick dealership an hour from my house (in a large retirement community) using AutoTrader.com, listed at an almost unbelievable price of $22,000. Decided to go look at it. Whoa. Beautiful, loaded, and in new condition. Told me that they had an older gentleman who regularly traded in his cars at 10K. Salesman didn’t know much about the car, even admitting, “You probably know more about it than I do”. (Yes.) And I was in luck because they had just put it in the local paper the day before so the price was down now to $21K.

Had a little “issue” with sales and financing people that actually the AAA person had alerted me to, so I called the owner of the dealership who asked me to give him 30 mins to look into it. Came back and apologized for the “error” and took another $1K off the price, so now down to $20K. Also got a very good price on our trade-in sight unseen, and more than I’d expected.

That was probably my favorite car ever. I was so in love with it. I knew I got a really good deal on it, but this was confirmed without a doubt when I later found the original window sticker for the car folded up neatly in the glove box. Its original price was over $42K. It was just about two and a half years old at that point.

Unfortunately today, I don’t think this would be possible. But for me, at that time, it was a thrill to be able to afford that car, which I would not have been able to do had I been buying it new.

 

[kymom99]

The used cars I buy have the factory warranty and some certified used give an additional power train warranty for free.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I‘m not sure I completely agree with that, Dan, and I’ll give you an example. I know you’re a numbers guy.

When my kids were little, if I had to have work done at a dealership, I’d sometimes take cars for a test drive and dream about buying one. One example was when the Chrysler Pacificas first came out. The really nice, loaded, six passenger AWD models. Was getting tired of driving a minivan (even though I had a loaded Town and Country AWD which was very nice; still a minivan). I like the bells and whistles and have to have 4WD or AWD. But those new Pacificas I liked were way out of my price range @ > $40K at that time.

Fast forward a couple of years. I found one with under 10K miles at a Buick dealership an hour from my house (in a large retirement community) using AutoTrader.com, listed at an almost unbelievable price of $22,000. Decided to go look at it. Whoa. Beautiful, loaded, and in new condition. Told me that they had an older gentleman who regularly traded in his cars at 10K. Salesman didn’t know much about the car, even admitting, “You probably know more about it than I do”. (Yes.) And I was in luck because they had just put it in the local paper the day before so the price was down now to $21K.

Had a little “issue” with sales and financing people that actually the AAA person had alerted me to, so I called the owner of the dealership who asked me to give him 30 mins to look into it. Came back and apologized for the “error” and took another $1K off the price, so now down to $20K. Also got a very good price on our trade-in sight unseen, and more than I’d expected.

That was probably my favorite car ever. I was so in love with it. I knew I got a really good deal on it, but this was confirmed without a doubt when I later found the original window sticker for the car folded up neatly in the glove box. Its original price was over $42K. It was just about two and a half years old at that point.

Unfortunately today, I don’t think this would be possible. But for me, at that time, it was a thrill to be able to afford that car, which I would not have been able to do had I been buying it new.

I would totally agree with you on that purchase, PnM.