New car vs Used car

[Deleted member 263856]

Honda till i die

Love Honda's. I like Toyota's too but handling on Honda's is miles above anything else.

 

[drstrangelov]

Depends on the car. If you’re looking at a 2 year old used pickup or a Subaru, chances are the depreciation is minimal, so you’ll make up the gap on better financing terms and longer warranty on the new car. If you’re eyeing a luxury sedan, 2-3 year depreciation is gonna be like 30%, and that’s getting one cpo that carries as good a warranty as you’ll get buying new (usually factory+2 years or so, manufacturers warranty) and in some cases better available financing rates than you’ll get buying off a used car lot.

So, I’d say figure out what car you want to buy, get a price for new, price for used, consider what you’ll pay in total for the car (cost plus interest if you’re taking on a loan, taxes, fees, etc.) and then assume probably 2-3k in added maintenance costs over the life of the car if you’re buying used (basically one extra round of breaks, tires, other consumables, and an extra oil change), just to be safe. Compare the bottom line, buy the one that’s cheaper.

 

[MoparOrNoCar]

Typically you hear that buying a new car is a fools errand due to the immediate depreciation hit.
My counter to that is that I drive cars until they are no longer driveable so depreciation doesn't matter.

My biggest concern with buying a used car is that I do not trust most folks to have properly cared for their cars. So what if a used car only has 30k miles on it and I save 5k? How badly was it abused during that time?

I take really good care of my cars....so buying used seems very risky. Thoughts?

You are no logician