New car vs used cars (long)

[Colleen27]

Exactly our situation. been married 23 years this is our first new car ever. We always bought used,and the 'new economy' forced us to rethink our used vs. new train of thought. for 2500.00 more than the cost of a used model with no warranty and someone else driving history,we got a brand new car with no headaches,which we are financing b/c it works well for us to do so right now -I know we'll have this car for at least 15 more years minimum anyways,long after the warranty has expired.....I'm not overstating the difference in price here, we looked for MONTHS at every used car that we wanted all over this side of the country! used made no sense in our situation. Our insurance went up a *teensy* bit per month when we switched from our 17 year old van to our BRAND NEW car....but not much,since we carried full coverage anyway

We're weighing the same thing now. For many years I've done very well buying a 5-6 year old used car and driving it until the wheels fell off. My van right now is on its last leg (it is a 2001 Venture that we've owned since 2007 and it has 221K miles on it). But in '07 we paid $4800 for that van; looking for a comparable van with similar age and mileage now is likely to run us close to twice that. I looked at an '06 Town & Country that I really liked but not $10.5K worth. So we're waffling between buying something we can afford to pay cash for or keeping it limping along while brushing up our credit (not bad, but dusty from disuse) to finance a vehicle next year.

I think Ford may have settled the debate for us - DH drives a Transit Connect company car and loves it, and last week they announced a 7 passenger model for the 2014 model year. So he would very much like to get by for another year and then buy that on the basis that it would get us through the rest of our kids-at-home years. But a lot will depend on what we hear when we get insurance quotes; with a 14yo in the house the jump from PLPD to full coverage just as he's getting his permit might be too much for our budget to take.

 

[arthuruscg]

I think it depends on the car. If you are going to buy a high end car or a big truck, it might make sense to buy used. If you are looking for a reasonably priced family car it might not.

While what you said is true, you also need to look at the cost of the manufactures recommended maintenance. The BMW X5 is a perfect example, while the used prices look to be a good bargain, the scheduled maintenance and the consumer reported repairs just out side of the warrenty period are thru the roof and eat away any savings. Basically, BMW have made them selves in to a High end Chevy Cavalier, after 4 years the car is used up a ready to be recycled.

There are deals on the Big trucks but you usually wind up having to buying a white F350 diesel with shot suspension. At least around here.

 

[Robbi]

While what you said is true, you also need to look at the cost of the manufactures recommended maintenance. The BMW X5 is a perfect example, while the used prices look to be a good bargain, the scheduled maintenance and the consumer reported repairs just out side of the warrenty period are thru the roof and eat away any savings. Basically, BMW have made them selves in to a High end Chevy Cavalier, after 4 years the car is used up a ready to be recycled.

There are deals on the Big trucks but you usually wind up having to buying a white F350 diesel with shot suspension. At least around here.

I can attest to the BMW repairs. Several years ago I bought a 3 series convertible. While driving I hit a pothole that busted the oil pan. At the time, the repair would have cost about $600 on most cars. On the BMW, it was $2000! I really liked the car but the repairs and maintenance were expensive.