Should I buy a car new or used??

Hey, I'll give you $400, if you give me $200.

All you have to do is buy a Ford!

I'd definitely go for a new car though.

 

First off...lemon laws protect you only in the purchase of a new car. You buy a used car at your own risk (with the exception that the sellor can't conceal something he knows is really wrong with the car). With interest rates on car loans and promotional pricing plans the way they are, I'd opt for the new car. The key reason for me is that you'll get a warranty you won't likely get when buying a used car. Nothing like knowing that if something goes wrong with your car in the first 3 or so years, you don't have to pay a red cent for it.

Don't totally rule out Hondas...I've heard very few bad claims about the reliability of the Civic or the Accord. Your car is a 7 year old car...and you may or may not know the actual history of maintenance on it before you owned it. My wife had a Civic when we first got married, and it was an extremely reliable car.

Having said that, I love Nissans. The Altima is a sharp looking car, and I've heard great things about it. I bet you could get into one for a lot less than $22K too!

 

I have long labored this point myself Drewdog, and having just purchased a used car last Friday, I can relate. Here's the way I see it:-

New Car
- Pay $20k or there abouts, you will lose much more in depreciation than an used car. Over 5 years probably 50% of the value. Thats $10k plus interest down the pipes.
- No hassle involved in buying, no risk, LOW maintenance
- Nothing like that new car feel!

Used Car
- Less capital outlay - do something else with your money
- Much less depreciation. Buy an $8k car and you will probably only lose $3-$4k over 5 years.
- Higher maintenance, more risk
- MUCH MORE HASSLE. Used car salesman can be a freaking nightmare

I bought a used car, and it was a hassle. I took steps to minimize the risk, ie had my mechanic inspect the two cars I was thinking about, got Carfax reports on them, and I bought a 99 model that still has factory warranty.

A 4 runner for $8k is going to have a few miles on it. Excellent place to research is autotrader.com Thats where I found my last two cars.

Good luck

 

Drew:

I had a '92 Prelude that was absolutely the biggest lemon of all-time. I don't even want to get started on how much car repair work was done to that car and it was all done when a loan was on it!

However, like Max said - don't give up on Hondas. Any car will be bad if the person who had it previously drives the hell out of it.

I have never bought a new car simply because I never felt that I could afford it plus the depreciation factor. However, I know many people who won't buy anything but new like my father, who finally broke down and bought a '99 Ranger several months ago.

I would recommend a couple of things in buying used:

1) Have someone come with you to look at the car - I feel that having someone else with you makes the salesman feel like he can't really intimidate you

2) Come with prices from NADA, Edmunds, kelly blue book, etc. - Be ready for them to counter with a price that fits what they want to sell the vehicle for, but at least this gives you a bargaining chip, so to speak.

3) You do realize that you are picking one of the worst times to buy a car, don't you? Car salesmen are always harder to deal with in the spring and summer. The best time to really buy is on December 31 at 5 minutes til closing with it raining outside. I'm not joking, the later in the month, the closer it is til closing, and the nastier the weather is, can help get you *possibly* a decent deal.

4) Ask if you can drive the car home and think about it. When I bought my Camry, the dealership let me drive it home and keep it for like 3 days before I finalized the deal. I had to give them my credit card number as a "hold" and sign that I had insurance, but no charges came through on my credit card. As a matter of fact, I was assured that no charges would come through even if I didn't buy...it was just a procedural thing at that dealership. Some dealerships probably won't ask that of you.

5) Always and I mean ALWAYS have a mechanic that you trust check the car out before you commit to buy. Obviously, if the dealership won't let you take the car home with you before you buy then you will either have to bring the mechanic with you or go to another dealership. Trust me on this one...I learned a lesson the hard way in not having a used vehicle checked out before buying in that Prelude.

6) Ask them to run a check to see if the vehicle had a salvaged title, water damage, etc. That should be a free thing that they can do, and if they don't want to do it then I wouldn't buy that vehicle.

These are some things that I have found helpful in buying a used vehicle. Even though I have toyed in the past about buying from an individual, I think you do find a better selection at your major car dealerships. Good luck.

 

I would also factor in the difference in the cost of insurance between a new and used car.

I was also considering buying a new car (an Altima as well!), because my current car has some mechanical problems too. In the end, I decided I did not want another monthly payment, so I bought a car repair manual and fixed/replaced the stuff that was broken (well, most of the stuff). It was a hassle, but I saved a lot of money.

Financially, it just makes more sense to stick with the older car, but... I still really want a new one!

 

I bought a new civic in 91 and put over 150 thou. miles on it.The only problem I had was with the ac and it was still under warranty.I still miss that car sometimes.

I like to go new,nothing like the feeling of having a great warranty. I don't trust not knowing who owned the car before or how it was taken care of.If I wasa going to buy a used car I'd try to find an original owner who was selling one.

 

Ever listen to the Dave Ramsey show about money matters, debt, etc, on 650 am in the afternoons? He advises buying a 2 year old car. If money is an issue this may be the way to go.


os

 

Buying used is chepaer in the long run. This is especially true if you are going to finance. The interest is a killer. You pay more for insurance, too-- just to protect the bank.

Figure the interest on $ 12,000 financed, plus the extra depreciation and you'll find th used car significantly cheaper, even with reparis.

To reduce the risk of a lemon, which will change everything, go to a top notch new car dealer. Maybe the one you test drove the Nissan at. They won't put out complete trash because they can't afford to have you run around for the rest of your life bad mouthing them. So at least you have one knowledgeable person's opinion on the car. Take it to amechanic, too if you want.
If you buy a cheaper reliable car like a chevy prism, (toyota clone)you can do it for $8,000. Go low mileage, but less expensive car.

After driving that car for 4 or 5 years you should, other things being equal, be able to buy the next car for cash. Buying new cars for cash reduces the differnece in cost between new and old significantly.

Alternatively, the difference will pay for a summer in Europe if you do budget travel. Summer in Europe plus Prism more fun than Altima and working for the summer.

 

2nd thought. If you owe a few $thousand on credit cards or have a lot of student loan,. not a close call, go used if you don't want to be poor for years.

 

This is something that i have thought about a lot. A freind of mine. . . he is loaded. said you should never buy a car new unless you make over 200,000 dollars. He says that a car coming off its lease is just as good as a new car. Spend that 40 dollars to have a mechanic take a look at the car and tell you if its a lemon or not, they usually do a very good job, my Honda Accord is running great after the mechanic told me it could go another 200,000 miles with proper care. he was dead on, so far

Used will be less of a finacial burden, If you really want that altima look at the years coming off their lease, heck you may have to make a small payment each month but it would be a good compromise. My wife and I leased a corolla for 3 years, we only put on 25,000 miles and treated it very well, they guy who got that car for 9,000 got a great deal. this is all my opinion though so do what makes you happiest.

good luck, car shopping can be real fun or really suck

 

Drewdog,

The last 2 cars I've bought, I got from Enterprise used car sales & Hertz used car sales & have not had any problems with them. All their cars have about 28k miles on them & are 2 years old. The prices are fixed, so you don't have to haggle over the price (I hate that part). They are well maintained & they'll let you take the car to your mechanic for a checkout (NEVER buy a car until YOUR mechanic checks it out). If you decide to look into it, make sure you buy it on Saturday, because Hertz selects several of them to be red tag specials, which means they drop $1,000 off of the weekday price. Unfortunately, I bought mine during the week. However, I've been really happy with both cars.

Here's a link to Carfax. You can use it to check out the history of the car by keying in the VIN number. I highly recommend doing that, because I've heard that some unscrupulous dealers will transfer cars in that have been in floods, roll back the milage, & anything else they can do. The second link is the Kelly Blue Book for used car values. Hope this helps & good luck.

http://www.carfax.com/

http://www.kbb.com/

 

The good part, is that all of the bugs that typically come with new cars have been worked out. I would avoid any high performance cars (or, at least have an extensive check out done), because it's a distinct possibility that they were dogged by the renters.

 

You might be better off going to CarMax.

You can usually get a relatively new car still under factory warranty and get an extended warranty all at a reasonable price.

I have bought two cars there - they also have 5 day/300 mile return policy. If you don't like it return it.

Check it out - www.carmax.com

 

Dude - what's up with "Hangout Boy" ? What did you do to piss off Clutch?