Used Cars vs. New Cars

The Missing Link

Sat, 27 Oct 2007 13:48:44 +0100

Buy a new $40,000 car and after one year it may be worth only $30,000. On top of payments and insurance there is the hidden cost of depreciation. Even if it just sat in the garage for a year it would lose value. In the book The Millionaire Next Door the authors say that 36% of millionaires buy used cars. Why would they do that? To avoid depreciation. Once you get the money why lose it on nonsense? umbra - umbrarchist

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Mon, 29 Oct 2007 00:45:02 +0100

Funny thing, I was called cheap by some coworkers because I don\'t lease or buy new cars. Some people live for image I guess. - DSP

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Mon, 29 Oct 2007 06:42:24 +0100

Why keep buying used cars? No way man. I will never buy somebody else\'s problems. New cars last so long now that depreciation can be tossed out of the equation. - Swift

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Mon, 29 Oct 2007 10:37:12 +0100

So you can afford upwards of $1000 a month? - DSP

Mathematical Delusion

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 21:09:00 +0100

:D :D Yeah, pay more for your own problems. 20% to 25% loss the first year. Do you intend to keep the car 12 years? Can you pay cash? If not you must buy collision insurance in addition to liability and paying interest on the loan. I don\'t buy collision. That is another savings. umbra - umbrarchist

Huh?

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 21:41:13 +0100

Bought the car in \'97. Paid $13,500 for it. No problems with it because it is a Toyota. Haven\'t had it 12 years, but 10 is good enough. Paid it off in 3 years and it seems to have been a great new car purchase for me. - Swift

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Wed, 31 Oct 2007 10:57:27 +0100

So what would it have cost you to buy a used car in \'97 drive it for 6 or 7 years and then bought another used car. The interest and insurance you saved could have been saved or invested and not so much lost on depreciation. How have the cars changed since 97\'? I haven\'t been to an auto show since \'65. The problem is the cost of all these useless changes raising the price of the cars. We have wasted hundreds of billions. It is mostly the people that get a new cars every few years that are the big losers. But our economists don\'t mention that. umbra - umbrarchist

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Wed, 31 Oct 2007 18:40:00 +0100

Yeah, if I were to buy a new one every other year, I could see where you are coming from. I am going to keep my new (\'97) car until until it dies (250K miles and counting). Doing it this way, I think my way can beat your numbers of buying a used one every 5 years. - Swift

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Tue, 19 Aug 2008 07:54:35 +0100

I thought you guys were kidding about cars losing value. Check this one out: http://www.igotgot.com/content/new-car-lost-value-soon-i-drove-it-lot-really - site visitor