Buying a New Car vs. 'Pre-Owned' Car

I can't think of one reason why you should buy new. I never have.   2-4 year old cars with low miles seem like the sweet spot to me. 

Certain brands seem to be better deals new, though.  Toyota, honda, and lexus all seem to be worth about the same after 2 years as they do new.  Never understood that, but I'd buy a new Honda or Toyota.  Great resale and you get a better warranty.   Most other brands are about half price after 3 or 4 years though.....

although there is definately something to be said for walzting into a dealership, slapping down a wad of cash and saying "give me one of those in black"

The amount of resources out there to find a used vehicle I would never buy new again.  I have purchased 2 used cars of off ebay for excellent prices and have been very happy with the purchases.  What kind of car are you looking for?

I've thought about buying a car from eBay once or twice, but I'm always afraid to pull the trigger without the opportunity to inspect and drive the car for myself.

Have you bought from local dealers, or did you buy from somewhere else and have it shipped?

My husband refuses to by used. His dad didn't do it either. They were of the mind that when you do you buy someone else's problem. The one time my DH did buy one (when we were in college) it was a lemon. Really drove his point home.

I grew up having nothing but used cars, and, while we weren't making car payments, we were paying the shop (and getting stranded).

We always buy new, but we keep the car for a long time and put a lot of miles on it. For example, my not quite 4 year old maxima has 86,000 miles on it and I expect to see it click over 150,000 before I trade it in...

I bought my Honda Civic slightly used from the dealer -- one year old, 10k miles. I believe it had been a floor model at one point. Whatever -- it's almost 10 years old and, outside of routine maintanence, there's never been one problem with it.

I would think your most cost-effective option is to buy a good-quality car that is 1-2 years old. That way you retain much of the original warranty (thus solving the "inherited problems" issue) and you still save a wad of cash.

Many people follow the religion that "any used car" = "P.O.S." which is largely BS but does keep the car dealers in business I suppose.

Except for all of those grease stains on the back seat.  But that's a user issue. 

I bought an 01 Tahoe out of Texas about 2.5 years ago and an 01 Passat last year from a dealer in Alabama.  I had one inspected the other was not.  Minor problems with the passat (missing owners manual and a damaged trim piece that had not been listed in the auction) but the dealer was quick to replace both.  

Besides the price on both of them which was well below list, what I like about Ebay is the feedback system.  You know exactly what kind of person you are dealing with based on their feedback.  You can also watch other auctions for similar vehicles and get a good idea what what you will expect to pay.  There are services out there that will go an inspect a vehicle for and any person you are buying from should let them do so.  I had the vehicles delivered to me without any issues.  I have yet to go the private owner route in buying a car off of there but have considered it. 

The benefit of dealing with the internet dealer in my mind is that they can reduce costs by minimizing overhead (they don't need a showroom, large sales staff, advertising, etc) and past the savings onto the customer.  It definitely takes a lot of patience and you can have your heart set on the EXACT vehicle you want b/c there are a lot of peple out there who want the same one and its not worth paying a premium over (then again it might be?).  Anyway, for every person who has had a good ebay experience I am sure there are 3 or 4 who have not so good luck!

We've bought two brand-new cars and a number of used cars. 

As a buy-and-drive-and-drive-and-drive buyer, I don't worry too much about the depreciation in the first year.  By the time I'm getting rid of vehicles, nobody else really wants them.  When we bought our Saturn, the finance/insurance (F&I) guy wanted to move us to a lease and ask how long I planned to keep the car.  I had to pick him up off the floor after I told him 10 years minimum. 

We've bought late-model used cars, sometimes with success, other times, not.  Late-model used is a good strategy if you plan to drive them for a long time and you aren't spending all of your resources getting into the car.  (i.e. save money for possible repairs and skip the extended warranty). 

I've also bought and been relatively pleased with some well-used vehicles.  This really makes the most sense if you get bored with your existing car and so buy something else every 6-months or year.  Yes, you need some $$ budgeted for sometimes expensive repairs and the occasional stranding (we've got AAA).  A few years back, I bought an '89 Town Car with 140K miles for $600 and sold it 15 months/15K miles later for...$600!  (We

We've bought two brand-new cars and a number of used cars. 

As a buy-and-drive-and-drive-and-drive buyer, I don't worry too much about the depreciation in the first year.  By the time I'm getting rid of vehicles, nobody else really wants them.  When we bought our Saturn, the finance/insurance (F&I) guy wanted to move us to a lease and ask how long I planned to keep the car.  I had to pick him up off the floor after I told him 10 years minimum. 

We've bought late-model used cars, sometimes with success, other times, not.  Late-model used is a good strategy if you plan to drive them for a long time and you aren't spending all of your resources getting into the car.  (i.e. save money for possible repairs and skip the extended warranty). 

I've also bought and been relatively pleased with some well-used vehicles.  This really makes the most sense if you get bored with your existing car and so buy something else every 6-months or year.  Yes, you need some $$ budgeted for sometimes expensive repairs and the occasional stranding (we've got AAA).  A few years back, I bought an '89 Town Car with 140K miles for $600 and sold it 15 months/15K miles later for...$600!  (We

Okay, BAMBAM told me in a PM that you and I were two peas in a pod.  And apparently we think alike about car buying (and holding) as well. 

The year my wife and I got married (2002) my 1994 S-10 Blazer was getting some bike repair costs, plus we were going to move to Rockford and that meant a long commute for me (and a lot of money in gas) so we started looking for a different vehicle.  I really wanted a VW Passat, except that a used one was around $17k to $18k.  Ended up with a new Honda Civic for around $15k.  It’s now 5 years old, about 123,000 miles, PAID OFF six months early, and should last another 5 years (minimum).  And the ONLY reason I can think of to trade it in before it drops is if we decide to go for Kid #3 and need a bigger car (DCFS doesn’t like it when kids ride in the trunk).

:P

I still can't figure out why anyone would sell a car that had only 5,000 to 10,000 miles on the clock if it had no issues at all.

I'll stick to new thank you.

Get a new car!  I bought my 2004 Toyota Matrix in November 2003 and the only expense I've incurred,  other than car payments, has been to fill up the gas tank and buy a new set of tires.  A  1 or 2 year old Toyota will cost as much as a new one but with only a limited warranty.  Buying anything older than that is just asking for trouble.  What you save on initial cost will be wasted on repairs.

If you do your homework, you will rarely get burned in the used car market. you can find out so much through Carfax. After that talk with the dealership where the vehicle was (hopefully) services. I did some due diligence that way and found out that the private seller of my current vehicle was an upstanding guy who took great care of his car.

To the original poster: i love Audi's too and would love to have an S4 sometime, but also consider the BMW market like I did. TONS of their vehicles get the Certified Pre-Owned seal and extend the warranty to 100,000mi and for a couple more years. Plus, they're transferable.  I bought an '04 X3 over the winter from an individual. It is still under the maintenance plan so that I don't even pay a dime for an oil change!

Good luck in your search. New/used cars are fun!!