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Totally agree! I'd much rather die in a 30-mph crash knowing I lived with the freedom to drive what the h3LL I wanted with nice, comfortable seats, than shamefully slink away unscathed from such a crash knowing I exist (not live) in a communist paradise where GOVERNMENT FORCES manufacturers to make "safe" products for me and my loved ones to use while we travel and thus are necessarily exposed to risks posed by other people's mistakes! [/s]
I think it was Patrick Henry who said the immortal words "Give me pistaz, or give me death!".
Isn't that the same as stating that there is a reason that a used car's price sounds reasonable?
One can find off-lease cars that have mostly highway miles or are even below the 12k per year mileage imposed on most lease owners.
Buying off-lease or used doesn't necessarily mean that the car was driven harshly. You can mitigate that risk by buying a reliable-model off-lease car in a rural area and that has a better CPO program certification (if you are worried about it).
If you buy only three years out than you can often benefit from 1-2 years left on the power-train warranty and you can often get an additional CPO warranty with it (or buy a reliable make and model without it to save the premium that is added for the certification).
One can find used luxury cars that have similar maintenance costs than almost any non-luxury car and have better reliability than any of them.
You have to look at the data for each make and model.
What's the downside? Unless you simply are of the philosophy that it only makes sense to buy new. I've met people like that and understand. I've met people that think that it only makes sense to lease.
My proposal is that if you think that used cars can make sense in-general (which is generally a repair schedule / cost in relation to purchase price calculation), then the used luxury car market can be a strongly compelling competitor to the new non-luxury car market at the same buy-in. And that this calculation can readily account for middle class luxury car ownership.
Though some people are assuredly like my brother-in-law, who has retained an adolescent-obsession with cars and will continuously do everything in his power to buy and sell cars seemingly with the goal of absorbing as much of the steepest part of the depreciation curve as possible before he begins again. He's sometimes in a luxury vehicle that he leased or purchased new. It sometimes takes him three whole years before he imagines some need that it doesn't fulfill and he gives himself permission to dump it and buy another.
Because nobody wants a luxury car out of warranty. That’s why their resell values are so low. It doesn’t make any good business sense to buy an old luxury car. The “luxury” of yesterday is now outdated and not luxurious at all, yet the parts and labor still cost more than a non luxury counterpart. They were designed to be as expensive as possible.
Because nobody wants a luxury car out of warranty. That’s why their resell values are so low. It doesn’t make any good business sense to buy an old luxury car. The “luxury” of yesterday is now outdated and not luxurious at all, yet the parts and labor still cost more than a non luxury counterpart. They were designed to be as expensive as possible.
There’s a few exceptions, such as the Lexus ES350, which uses many of the same parts as a V6 Camry. Very good reputation for being reliable.
Because nobody wants a luxury car out of warranty. That’s why their resell values are so low. It doesn’t make any good business sense to buy an old luxury car. The “luxury” of yesterday is now outdated and not luxurious at all, yet the parts and labor still cost more than a non luxury counterpart. They were designed to be as expensive as possible.
In my case, we're talking about a 2015 car. They're still selling a very lightly refreshed version of it.
It's in no way outdated, has every driver aid, magnetic ride control, auto leveling air suspension, full LED package (headlight, interior and exterior, no incandecents anywhere), fully configurable instrumentation, plus HUD. Also heated and cooled full leather seats (dash and doors, too... no vinyl) with memory both sides, rear heated seats and the rear seat passengers have their own complete set of climate, audio and sunshade controls. It's like a limo back there.
The powertrain is the same thing you'd find in a Chevy Impala (with AWD added), so nothing to worry about there.
The rest of the car (especially the ride quality) is much nicer than an Impala, a pretty good car in it's own right.
No new car close to it's price point has anywhere near this level of equipment.
It's not out of warranty for 5 years... and it was under $30K.
Subprime lending is why we have the automotive business climate of current. $70,000 pickup trucks, in $50,000/year driveways.
Folks see a used car online they like, go to the dealership to look at it, sales staff do their thing re: monthly payment shuffle, and that used car becomes the new car instead. The difference is that (1) loose credit qualification standards and (2) looonger loan terms. What started out in the mind of that buyer as a 3 or 4 year loan on the used, became 7 or 8 on the new car.
End result = nobody wants the used anymore, so price drops.
For people like me, who have spent the time to understand his way around a car to overcome the intimidation factor, and not afraid to get his hands dirty, it’s a great time to be a used car buyer.
Those who think the used luxury car segment is a guaranteed money trap, may not have overcome that intimidation factor of car maintenance and repair yet. I will give you a real world example..
In 2017 I bought a used 2014 CPO’d Mercedes E350 4matic sedan. Sport package, panoramic roof, lighting package, lots of luxury items. I paid roughly 45% of the original sticker price. The car had 22,000 miles on it.
Last year I replaced the brakes (rotors and pads). Dealership wanted $2,000 to replace them.
Via online buying, and a Saturday afternoon, I replaced them all with genuine Mercedes Benz parts for $400. Dealership wanted $500/wheel, I did it for $100/wheel.
Drivers seat motor jammed due to a pen in the track. Dealership wanted $1,300. I replaced the motor for less than $100 inside of an hour, again genuine parts from a Mercedes Benz dealership via online. Took a screwdriver and a socket set. Easy.
People are afraid of “sensors”. Don’t be. They’re just little plastic bits that literally clip on.
Just like we do here on this website, there are many dedicated to the car you have and people willing to help you climb whatever learning curve you might be facing to save yourself a ton of money, and unlock the chance to maybe enjoy something that you might not otherwise. A new benz isn’t in my budget wheelhouse, but a certified lease turn in with likely 95% of its useful life left in it, certainly is. I’ll admit, my ego (or what’s left of it after two little kids) certainly enjoys rolling down Constitution Avenue in a shiny black E class Benz every now and then.
Plus, you can have options that maybe you didn’t realize - like a second car to go along with it, al for less than that one new car. I don’t care if you have a Bentley Uber turbo spaceship, you drive it every day, it gets old. But if you have a second and completely different type of car to use, then neither get boring. Tired of the sedan, drive the sports car or truck or Jeep for a few days until you’re tired of it and ready to cruise in quiet and comfort, and vice versa. If you take this approach for used cars, you’ll find that mileage becomes less of a hit to the value argument (spread the miles). My Benz is now 5 years old, yet has only 40,000 miles, because I share the mileage with a VW GTI (2015) that only saw 7,000 miles in the past year. I drive roughly 18,000 a year commuting.
Last year I replaced the brakes (rotors and pads). Dealership wanted $2,000 to replace them.
Via online buying, and a Saturday afternoon, I replaced them all with genuine Mercedes Benz parts for $400. Dealership wanted $500/wheel, I did it for $100/wheel.
I did the brakes on my Mercedes using Brembo parts.
It wasn't much different than any other car. People think Brembo = Expensive... not really.
I avoid the dealership unless it's a warranty issue or something like oil change / tire rotation.
Cadillac dealer doesn't charge any more than the Chevy dealer for that stuff. Not worth my time.
This is an advantage of choosing a luxury car that's based on a more mainstream car.
A lot of the non-German (and some of the Germans) have lesser siblings and most of them are very nice cars.
A lot of other stuff is YouTube and DIY. The wife wanted the glovebox CD player installed in her Cadillac... I did it, an EZ job.
I let my indy mechanic handle it otherwise.
It’s human nature to try to figure out other people’s behavior.
So everyone is a behavioral therapist on here than.
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