New cars - Yes or No

T

TennVet

Member
We tend to take care of our cars, and actually don't put high mileage on them anymore. We bought a new on last June mainly because we wanted the advanced safety features. We're getting older so it made sense to us. Then we had to decide to trade in or buy new and sell the old one. Old one is a fact, it was a 2002 top of the line SUV with barely 100K miles and well cared for. The dealer offered a pittance, and I understand why. My wife stepped up and sold the vehicle for 4 times the dealers trade in offer. I was comfortable with the deal, because I know the buyer who could not afford to buy new got a reliable vehicle and value for the dollar. Way to go wife.
 

They say you lose a third of the value of a new car the second you drive it off the forecourt. For that reason I almost always buy a car 3 years old... plus here in the Uk the first MOT test on a car takes place at 3 years old... so new cars will have all their kinks straightened, and tested to ensure they're very road worthy by 3 years old.. and still only have a few miles on the clock ( unless they've been used for business)... so it makes far more sense to pay a third less for a car 3 years old.. in excellent condition than it does to pay for a New Car, and lose a Third of it's value in minutes...

My DD OTOH... always buys New.. she trades them in at 3 years old.. for another new...
 

hollydolly said:
They say you lose a third of the value of a new car the second you drive it off the forecourt. For that reason I almost always buy a car 3 years old... plus here in the Uk the first MOT test on a car takes place at 3 years old... so new cars will have all their kinks straightened, and tested to ensure they're very road worthy by 3 years old.. and still only have a few miles on the clock ( unless they've been used for business)... so it makes far more sense to pay a third less for a car 3 years old.. in excellent condition than it does to pay for a New Car, and lose a Third of it's value in minutes...

My DD OTOH... always buys New.. she trades them in at 3 years old.. for another new...
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I have always done the same thing, purchasing three year old cars. I think I have had only two new ones in my life. Now I drive my old one and it doesn't bother me a bit.
 
I've had the same '17 Audi A4 for almost 8 years. I leased it for 3 years, then purchased it because the market value was higher than my residual pay-off. Thanks to working from home and now being retired it just reached 34,000 miles. I love everything about the car. It has just enough tech. I only care about Apple CarPlay and Google Maps and it has it. No desire to trade.

Hubby had a '20 Mazda CX30 that he leased for 3 years. When the lease was up we fully intended to buy the car and hold onto it. However, the dealership gave us a crazy deal with the same payments on a '23 CX30 with turbo and AWD. He still works so he puts some miles on it. When he retires we will stop leasing and just buy something... probably a few years old.
 
davey said:
my son [bless his cotton socks] has studied cars almost since he could read - he now drives EV and swears and swerves by them and tells me petrol is dead - wot to do???
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He's dreaming. There is no infrastructure to support mass EV adoption and creating it appears impractical. Have you heard about the new EV motion sickness epidemic?
 
Always buy new. Had a Hyundai Elantra 10 year warranty. When warranty was up, 2018 bought new Chevy Spark because my wife wanted a small car. Hated that car, it was underpowered & overall an uncomfortable ride. Was able to trade the Chevy for new 2023 Kia during the pandemic when everything was in short supply. We got more on trade than we paid for it in 2018. The cash difference is minor, never liked car payments. We don't drive much less than 4k miles a year so warranty wise, maintenance & overall expense buying new with better safety features works for us.
 
hollydolly said:
They say you lose a third of the value of a new car the second you drive it off the forecourt. For that reason I almost always buy a car 3 years old... plus here in the Uk the first MOT test on a car takes place at 3 years old... so new cars will have all their kinks straightened, and tested to ensure they're very road worthy by 3 years old.. and still only have a few miles on the clock ( unless they've been used for business)... so it makes far more sense to pay a third less for a car 3 years old.. in excellent condition than it does to pay for a New Car, and lose a Third of it's value in minutes...

My DD OTOH... always buys New.. she trades them in at 3 years old.. for another new...
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We did much as your daughter Holly. My car was supplied by the firm that I worked for and went with the job, my wife's car was always an indulgence, the last of those indulgences was a series two BMW. When that car was due for replacing the lady surprised me and said that she rather liked my VW Passat. A bit bland I thought, but a VW it was. However, she chose the smaller Golf and that was back in 1997.

My company car went when I retired from the professional job, ( I still work for a local company but no car,) and that 1997 Golf still goes on giving good service. The fact that it shares a heated garage with a seventy-seven-year-old MG when it's not on the road may be the reason that it has lasted so well. At twenty-seven years old it is probably of modern classic status by now.
 
Not a new car which loses value as soon as you drive it off the lot. I never need to buy another car but if I decided to buy one for my son, my choice would be a warrantied used car. There's another term for that but I can't think of it right now. He'd probably just choose a used car from the dealer he's always used and take his chances.
 
Just bought my first new new-car since 2002 when I bought my last pickup. I miss having a truck around as a tool but I’ve yet to rent one for anything so good riddance!

The new car is a hybrid (but not plug-in) Toyota SUV. I like it though there are times I forget how exactly it works but it is becoming more intuitive all the time. I like almost everything about it, especially the comfort of the driver’s seat.
 
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TennVet said:
We tend to take care of our cars, and actually don't put high mileage on them anymore. We bought a new on last June mainly because we wanted the advanced safety features. We're getting older so it made sense to us. Then we had to decide to trade in or buy new and sell the old one. Old one is a fact, it was a 2002 top of the line SUV with barely 100K miles and well cared for. The dealer offered a pittance, and I understand why. My wife stepped up and sold the vehicle for 4 times the dealers trade in offer. I was comfortable with the deal, because I know the buyer who could not afford to buy new got a reliable vehicle and value for the dollar. Way to go wife.
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I've never been a car person. Honestly, I've only ever been interested in getting from A to B safely. Even when I was younger and could afford a sports car of some kind, I never thought of indulging. Just not my thing.

I posted elsewhere that the average car payment on a new car today is around $730 a month. For secondhand, it's $530 a month. That, alone, is reason enough to stick with what works. :D
 
horseless carriage said:
At twenty-seven years old it is probably of modern classic status by now.
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Heeeeey! My 1998 Dodge Neon has almost arrived!

My husband is getting set to buy something new and wanted to know if he should trade in his three year old car or give it to me. No way. He and my son both admit my car drives better, has better heater/air conditioner, better pick-up, and a better radio than their new things. It's only fault is that the seats are low and it's a struggle for me and my old friend I take to book club to get out of.

davey said:
[bless his cotton socks]
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You crack me up, Davey.
 
We only buy two-year-old cars with less around 20,000 miles on them. We only buy one make of car and we have an SUV and a Pick Up.

These cars will go 200K miles if taken care of, especially oil changes. We drive them until they have over 200K then sell them. We get another car that is around 2 years old. etc., etc. This has served us well for over 25 years and during this time we have had no major repairs costs on a vehicle.
 
People who buy new and trade them in rapidly tend to ride cars hard and put them away wet. And by the time you are the 3rd owner or more... no telling whether the guts have been run out of the thing.

There is a reason for that fast depreciation in the first few years.

But we don't all have the option of buying new for cash and then using and caring for the product through the end of its life.
 
Timewise 60+ said:
We only buy two-year-old cars with less around 20,000 miles on them. We only buy one make of car and we have an SUV and a Pick Up.

These cars will go 200K miles if taken care of, especially oil changes. We drive them until they have over 200K then sell them. We get another car that is around 2 years old. etc., etc. This has served us well for over 25 years and during this time we have had no major repairs costs on a vehicle.
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Good philosophy, and no doubt is works well. We've spent a lot on cars over the years, but no regrets in that. One day our children will deal with the difficult task of taking our keys away for everyone's own good. With that in mind we purchased what will obviously be the last car we buy, so I opted to make sure it was one we would enjoy. Still no regret.
 
TennVet said:
Good philosophy, and no doubt is works well. We've spent a lot on cars over the years, but no regrets in that. One day our children will deal with the difficult task of taking our keys away for everyone's own good. With that in mind we purchased what will obviously be the last car we buy, so I opted to make sure it was one we would enjoy. Still no regret.
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TennVet...we believe our current cars will be our last. We are probably few years (4-8) away from having to stop driving. Not looking forward to that! I also hope we will get into a smaller home closer to our kids, but my wife is still resistant to downsizing. Old age kind of sneaks up on you and you start to realize you will have to change...
 
OneEyedDiva said:
Not a new car which loses value as soon as you drive it off the lot. I never need to buy another car but if I decided to buy one for my son, my choice would be a warrantied used car. There's another term for that but I can't think of it right now. He'd probably just choose a used car from the dealer he's always used and take his chances.
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I think this is what you're referring to. ;)
A certified pre-owned (CPO) car is a used vehicle that's been thoroughly inspected and repaired as needed. The manufacturer's or dealer's warranty may also back it up,
 
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