Edmunds CarPool

Family mainly buys new cars, with the exception of my eclipse i purchased back in 03. last car i had was purchased new as well and i've always had my eyes set on an M45 but could never afford a new one so decided to either wait until i get into a good position to own one, which by then who knows if the model would be around, or wait for the price to drop and find a good deal on a used one and sure enough, i found a great deal on a used one and traded in. an 06 with 12.5k miles meant the warranty was still there and the car was practically brand new and cost less than 50% of what a new one was going for with the same options.

My family has, in the past decade, purchased a mix of new and used vehicles. My current vehicle was purchased used, for instance.

If I HAD to buy a car today, like if my current car were totaled, then I would buy used because I'm not in the financial situation to handle the higher price of a newer car.

That said, I DO want to finish paying off my current car, save up a down payment, and then buy a new car later this year.

Used. We did used on my wife's Audi and saved about 10k from the car's MSRP - plus it had about 12k miles and 2.% years left on the warranty. It's been great.

Helped my sister with a brass hat 328 wagon last year. She had 3 years left on the warranty, plus 2years CPO and she saved about 40% from MSRP. She loves it.

I just bought a CPO'd 335i 6 MT with 2 years left on the warranty, another 2 for the CPO warranty and I paid 26.5k for it with my BMWCCA rebate. That's 58% of the car's MSRP. Great car and considering my Cooper needed tires and tags I feel like my BMW with a longer warranty and 4 new shoes is sort of a steal. I can now fit the family, have RWD again, we have a good freeway cruiser and the car's got a polish I was beginning to miss in my Cooper.

New car buying doesn't really make sense to me unless it's an outrageous deal or the car doesn't lose much. I lost about 28% on my Cooper S over 2 years. So while leasing would have been cheaper, overall my Cooper held its value. If I buy new again it'll only be via Euro Delivery.

Agree! If you are looking for a used low miles sports car you will find good deals. Take the time to research and you will find some awesome deals.

I can't believe what last-generation Z06s are going for. $25,000 and 405 horsepower?? That's a cubic-sh*t-ton of car for the money.

We're in the market for a used vehicle in the next month to few months, mostly because we can't afford a new vehicle.

BDC you bought an e90?!

I've purchased two new cars in the past year and a half. Both of those purchases were made with the assistance of affiliate/supplier discount programs. However, without those programs, and the incentives that were going on at the time to further reduce the price of the vehicles, I would not have been nearly as inclined to purchase new as opposed to Certified Pre-Owned.

As I've been planning for my next car, (Yes, I have a combustion addiction. ;) As soon as I get one car, I start looking ahead to the next fix..) I am definitely going to go the pre-owned route. I know at one point recently, Audi was offering 0.9% APR on CPO A3s, A4s, and even S4s of particular model years. And, as a newly minted Audi fan, I am eagerly waiting to see what the CPO prices on the current A4, A5, S5, and forthcoming S4 models will be five years down the road.

Karl,

The the best car value IMHO is a year or two old American sedan just out (or close to) of warranty.

Many buyers are terrified of domestic vehicles without a warranty and flock to Asian used cars. Used prices for Hondas and Toyotas are insane. Might as well buy a new one.

American sedans, OTOH, are fabulous deals. We buy all our cars slightly used and each one is an American made sedan or truck. Case in point: Bought my wife a 2004 Buick LeSabre Limited for $9,000 (50,000 miles) in the summer of 2007. It had an original sticker of over $33,000. The dealer couldn't give it away. It's perceived as an "old person's car." OK, maybe it is, but it's the finest car we have ever owned. It's bullet-proof, surprisingly frugal (30+ mpg on the highway, 24 city), holds all five in our family and is totally stealth. We can cruise at 85 mph all day and never get pulled over. The car is invisible.

I favor GM products, but really, there is not a poorly made American car today. I never bother with extended warranties either. Don't need 'em.

German used sedans out of warranty are also a great deal, but their repair costs and insurance are brutal. When you have to pay some high priest from Stuttgart $600 to put a new alternator in, you'll see what I mean.

bbechtel, yep. I was set to buy an 09 WRX but before I showed up for my appointment I stopped in to drive a 335i manual sedan with sport. Wow. 100+ was effortless, felt like I had control of the engine (unlike that 6 speed automatic), the car danced at my whims. Came back from the drive grinning. Wife liked the smile. We did some research and found 3 total used 335i manuals within 500 miles. Got mine from a dealer in LA.

Would the WRX be faster? Yep. Handle better? Maybe. Hold more stuff? Yep. Be more reliable? Probably. Be cheaper to own and operate over the next years? Most likely. But...I couldn't get over it felt a little cheap inside and the 5 speed manual was driving me nuts. It just feels so unnatural to go to 5th gear after owning 3 cars with 6 speeds.

The 3's depreciated massively, it's got a lot of warranty left (more than the rex has new) and it just felt right after 2 years in the Cooper. I'm still trying to find a nice way to convince my wife that I need to ditch the 18 inch RFTs for a set of lighter 17 inch go flat tires.

I experienced the high value of used Hondas (Civics in particular, Accords also very good) when I was shopping in 2007. For anything under 40K miles, it was only a couple thousand less than a brand new one. Or, get a brand new Mazda3 for less than even the used Civic, which is what I finally did. If you like certain domestic cars that just happen to have poor resale value, there's a great deal to be had. But if you want some fun little high-mpg Japenese thing, you might as well buy new. In fact, those are the kind of used cars that worry be most because they were probably first owned by younger (aka less responsible) drivers.

I've always been a used car guy. When I see a new product hit the market (like the Genesis for instance), I'm begin to savor the thought of owning it a year or two down the road (as I currently am). Not only do I get a fantastic deal, but I know a lot more about the car than someone that buys new. Think of it as "test before you buy". After Edmunds finishes it's LT testing of the Genesis, I'll be able to make an informed decision of what features are worth it and which aren't.

My buddy just bought a brand new Corvette for ~$50K. I just looked on eBay and found the same car for $34K, albeit 1 year old. That's a savings of 32%. Just for waiting 1 year.

I had another friend who bought a Jetta brand new after I tried to talk him out of it. He called me a couple months later saying he wish he had listened.

I think the biggest advantage of buying used is that the nostalgia factor isn't as strong. Sure, you can be the first on your block to own a brand new Civic, but I guarantee the cloud nine effect will wear off in a matter of months. If you're a shopaholic, stick to cheap things like clothes or golf clubs. You'll get the same amount of ooohs and aaahs without wasting a year's worth of college tuition.

I think used car sales have been on the rise for quite some time. If nothing else, it could be because of the increased longevity of cars. 20 years ago, people would have laughed at you for buying a car with 100K miles on it. Now, it's perfectly acceptable. With increased inventory comes increased sales. The economy just drew light to this unseen market.

As with anything, the used car market is controlled by supply and demand. Indeed, used car prices will go up, or at least remain level. With that in mind, CPOs become the real value. Why buy a new car that depreciates quickly when a CPO is practically new but won't depreciate much? It can be assumed that age is indirectly proportional to value.

I personally worry about new car buyers moving to used cars. As a used car buyer, I see my ocean slowly being overfished. I'm thankful that many of the real gems of the used car market are older than most would be willing to buy, like an RX-7 or a Supra. Indeed, even common cars like the Integra aren't on the layperson's radar.

Sorry for the additional post, but I wanted to address the market effect of this recession/depression.

We have always bought new cars except for my current car, a Jaguar XJR, which i bought used because the depreciation on a new on is just brutal. In one year, the value will drop from 80k to 50k. I drive a lot for work (4 to five hours every day) so i end up putting around 300k miles on my cars after five years.

I think this trend is really going to hurt the luxury brands going forward. Depreciation is bad for most brands these days and thus you can save many thousands on a luxury branded vehicle by waiting 2-3 years. I see 2006 MY Audis in the paper for well under $30k. BMWs and MBs tend to be a little pricey in the used market but that will likely change as we go forward in this recession. I dont think the resale gap between the japanese cars and late model American cars is even that great anymore. One dealer had a 2007 Accord, Camry and Aura in an ad priced within $2k of one another.

Congrats on the purchase BDC. I still have my eye on a 128i (I'd rather the 130i 5-door, but anyway...), the 370Z, and the Genesis 2.0T (pending more reviews). My interest in the BMW was waning, mostly because of cost, but at the car show it was able to impress with its practicality. I'm not sure it's possible to put my bike in the hatch of the 370. Of course this all need to wait until I pay off my student loan, scrape together a down payment, blah blah blah. Might go used at that point. Hmmm...maybe a 25th birthday present to myself is in order. That's two years from now, and it will be a nice insurance drop. I haven't bought myself a car for my birthday since my 18th :-)

1487, low 20s to high teens for a 2006 A4. Low 20s to high teens for a 2006 3 series. I can only imagine how hard most brands are getting hit when luxury makes are seeing 50%+ drops in private party resale value. A peek at trade-ins for 2006 entry luxury cars shows mid to high teens!

Heck I've seen 2008 G35s listed in the low twenties used!

@blueguydotcom

If you around justright, you can find mid size lux cars going for high teens and low to mid 20's. the dealer i bought my M from has an M35 sport with 18k on it and they were asking 24k and then had an M45 Sport with 38k miles on it and asking 26k for one. it's just an unbeatable deal.

hmmm, that first sentence should start as "if you just look around"

Wizard, that's sick. Imagine how the lease companies are feeling right now?!

I would imagine a lot of manufacturers are getting soaked on leases they made in 2006 right about now. Their estimates on residuals were probably way off. The reasons for buying a new luxury car keep on decreasing, especially if you are talking about a car like the G that has been out since 2007. I think the only models that wont have a problem are recently redesigned models.

I had been interested in an 05 or 06 Altima for a while; I had test driven them while they were new and, ok, lusted after them for a while. But my then current ride was doing fine. I put close to 180k on my 2000 Altima in 8 years. It never failed me and never complained so much as a hiccup.

My current car, an 05 Altima was the first used car bought in my family in my memory. It had 34k on the clock and I got it for $14 and change (basically, half off from it's orig. sticker price. 10k miles later, I can't be any happier with my choice.

Which leads me to my point. Some one else earlier said that there was a glut of mars made a few years ago and that they are now on the used car lots. Typically, a three year old car does not have too much wear and tear on them. With the exception of the more widely used traction control, safety of these "older" cars is on par, fuel efficancy is near the same, and you miss out on the big depreciation hit.

I think used cars now offer a value that they haven't had in years past because cars of the last decade are so well built. There's little risk that a used car will be a dog nowadays.