Cars - Buy New vs. Buy Used

I'm confused.... Well, actually not. I was reading a blog this afternoon. Somebody believes that buying a new car is better.

If you have a lot of money and want the latest and greatest...If you are just really paranoid that a used car may have been misused (I have a brother that feels this way, and yes, he has a lot of money)...If what you want is hard to find and you just can't find a used one or can't wait any longer (like a Ferrari; again, you need a lot of money)...If you are buying a discontinued car like a Lincoln LS and Ford is offering a $7000 rebate (now, maybe this is okay if you plan to keep the car awhile and don't mind seeing the value tumble quickly when you want to sell it; but my boss has a used one and he can't GIVE it away right now - you should buy his). There are other situations similar to those above, and you might be better off buying new. But...

Take that used car, drive it around for a month or a year and try to sell it and you'll see the car depreciates pretty fast. A 2006 (that's 2006, folks; something that could have been bought new this calender year) Ford Taurus SE is selling, on average, on the wholesale auto market for $10,300. That's how much it will cost me to buy it; and, it's probably about how much you'll get for a dealer trade, if you're lucky. Compare that to the price of a new one, which invoices for $18,400, MSRP of $20,830. $8ooo depreciation in less than a year, about $650 per month. That's a small house payment!!!

You're just really better off buying used. Buy a 1-3 year old car from me or another used car dealer and you're generally still under factory warranty. Something breaks and you just take it to the franchise dealer for a fix.

If I sell you a car and I know it's a lemon, I must tell you. If I buy a car and I know it has unibody damage, I must tell you. I'll run a carfax before I even buy it to know some history on the vehicle. There's a lot of cars I WON'T buy...bad carfax, unibody damage, bad body panel repairs, doesn't look right, etc.

If you're worried, and you buy a car out of factory warranty, you can buy a reputable warranty from me.

Folks, let someone else take the initial depreciation hit on a new vehicle purchase. Buy used. It makes more economical sense. :-)

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