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I bought my last three cars brand new. The first one, a Plymouth Colt (aka Mitubishi Mirage) had 115,000 miles on it when I sold it for $500. The second one, a 2002 Toyota Corolla, I gave to my son, and he sold it at 145,000 miles for $3,500 just a few months ago. The third one, a 2012 Mazda 3 iSport, is what I'm driving now. It has 44,000 miles on it and I've replaced the battery once, and I'm about to get new tires and brakes for the first time.
I tend to keep a car for a good 10-15 years before I get rid of it. And like others have said, I don't think of a car as an asset, depreciating or not. In truth, buying a car is the biggest purchase I'll probably ever make, because it's doubtful that I'll ever own my own home (I live in Los Angeles, land of outrageous real estate prices). I figure if I make a car last 10-15 years, I'm still doing pretty well. Resale value is probably the last thing I'm looking at when I'm shopping for a car.
Buying used is great when you're looking at cars that "bottomed out." Certain cars like NA or NB Miatas are can be had for $500-$5000+. If you buy one the cheaper it is (and if you put a bit of elbow grease into it) you'll probably make money when its time to sell.
However if you're comparing a 2016 to a 2014 or '15 model, there might not be much savings.
Luxury models, especially of the German kind can halve their original price in just a a few years. That 2012/13 80k 7 series, can now be had for 35-40k.
BUT, it also depends on the make and model. Some brands you're better off with a warranty, and that 2012 7 series might really end up costing you 50-60k when its all said and done. So, buying new, or leasing might actually be a better deal.
When I was looking to buy a Lexus for my parents, I found that models that were only a year or two old were only a thousand or three less than brand new. What the hell is the point of that?
And I'm not interested in 5 years old. That really seems to be the sweet spot for where the used cars are a better deal.
A year old used can make sense for a model of car where the price difference between base and fully loaded is high.
For instance my 2010 GTI new would have been $30k as it was a loaded Autobahn version. But base models were around $23k. I bought mine 1 year used with just 8k miles and with better than new CPO warranty around $23k. So yeah I could have gotten a new base trim for the same price, but I saved $7k on options and got a better warranty out of it. Options are where depreciation hits hardest.
Let's say you don't care about the new car smell, isn't buying used a much better deal?
For example, a 2016 Honda Accord EXL costs about $29K, but if you buy the 2013/2014 version with 20,000 miles on it, you can buy one for about $19K. That's a $10,000 saving.
It appears we have bought five new cars and six used cars since 1972... We've gotten good deals either way, hard to say. Since we usually have at least two vehicles, we always have transportation.
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