Is it EVER a good idea to buy a new vehicle?

[Honu]

Toyota Landcruiser and 4Runner, and Jeep 4door wranglers seem to hold their value to the point where used isnt’t Much of a discount especially when you consider how they could have been treated.

ditto about the only ones and ditto the treatment

regular cars mini vans and luxury etc.. never buy new

unless you want it and can afford it ? then its more a matter of something new that others do not have etc..

[Swstock]

Lots of times manufacturer promotional discounts and apr makes new versus used very close in price.

[ThirdWatcher]

For me it has made sense to buy new. As others have said, diesel pickups and Toyota Tacomas really hold their value (and I’ve purchased both new in the past) so it doesn’t make sense for me to buy used. The other issue is all the fraud out there (altered odometers, cleaned up and re-titled flood cars, etc). Cars depreciate dramatically but I bought my bride a new car anyway before I retired because I won’t take a chance with her safety. I guess I’ve just seen too much bad stuff happen to good people so I just won’t take the chance.

[uffdaphil]

I think used makes more sense if, like me, you change vehicles every few years just for something different and can read between the lines on a Carfax. A whole lot of hurricane and east coast cars bought at auction being sold in other states. And a lot of nice cars driven by rich housewives who trade in often.

The longest I ever owned a vehicle was my 2000 Land Cruiser, bought 12 years old with 98K miles. It took 3 months to find one that looked to have never been off-road, with early oil changes in W. Texas. Wonderful, trouble-free gas hog. Paid $12.8 and sold 6 years later for $10.

I recently replaced the LC with a 2016 Acura RDX with 17k miles for $17,000 less than new. I bought new pickups when they were the cheapest you could get in the early eighties. But with the crazy pricing now, I would only buy used. Luckily it’s easy to find used trucks in the suburbs that haven’t done a lick of real work.

[Arik]

For me it has made sense to buy new. As others have said, diesel pickups and Toyota Tacomas really hold their value (and I’ve purchased both new in the past) so it doesn’t make sense for me to buy used. The other issue is all the fraud out there (altered odometers, cleaned up and re-titled flood cars, etc). Cars depreciate dramatically but I bought my bride a new car anyway before I retired because I won’t take a chance with her safety. I guess I’ve just seen too much bad stuff happen to good people so I just won’t take the chance.

Can't retitle flooded, salvaged or TMU titles. Unless that car was never reported to the insurance

[Hmac]

I meant AS an actual business vehicle. My friend owns a limo service, for him it makes sense because it's deductible.

That’s different than, say, a physician having his business lease a Corvette and trying to deduct the lease payment as a business expense, or buying a Corvette and depreciating it. I did that many years ago when the IRS was much less specific about it. I can still do it but I can only deduct the portion of the vehicle that is used for business. The rules for that are very specific and have to be meticulously documented. A limo company owner buying a specialty vehicle like a limo isn’t nearly such a controversial issue. It’s like an excavating company buying a dump truck.

I have a friend that’s an accountant in Atlanta. He owns a Ferrari and keeps it at his office, drives his Kia to work, and drives the Ferrari the rest of the day, drives the Kia back home. He gets audited every year and that Ferrari is always the focal point of the audit.

[Ron3]

I'm considering a new Mustang, Challenger, or Camaro. V8, manual.

By the time they are several years old theyve often been modified/possibly abused. If just one to three yrs old there is still risk of abuse but they are $5-$10k less than new.

Also, I never see just the group of options I want.

I've had several powerful cars so that is nothing new. What would be new is buying a new one and losing 50% of its value in 6 yrs or so.

I drive 15k a year.

[Hmac]

I'm considering a new Mustang, Challenger, or Camaro. V8, manual.

By the time they are several years old theyve often been modified/possibly abused. If just one to three yrs old there is still risk of abuse but they are $5-$10k less than new.

Also, I never see just the group of options I want.

I've had several powerful cars so that is nothing new. What would be new is buying a new one and losing 50% of its value in 6 yrs or so.

I drive 15k a year.

Rapid up-front loss-of-value buying a new car is the nature of the beast. It’s a price I’m willing to pay so that I don’t have to hassle with investigating and buying a used car.

The Murano that my wife just bought was from a dealer 90 miles away. We never even set foot in the dealership. We negotiated it by phone, they delivered the car on a flatbed, took the old one away, did the paperwork in the kitchen. Like ordering a pizza.

[Watrdawg]

In most cases no it's not worth it.


The only exception I have seen has been diesel trucks. They tend to hold their value very well(at least here in Texas) especially with low miles. The last diesel I purchased(F350) I ended up buying new. For what I was looking for I could have saved a little buying used but the difference wasn't enough to make it worth it at least in my opinion. I would have had 2 years less warranty, miles(albeit very low), and the difference between that and a end of year new purchase wasn't enough for me.

I definitely agree when it comes to diesel trucks. I've bought both new and used and they hold their value. I bought a used 2004.5 GMC 2500 on 06 for $28K and sold it in 2016 for $19K and it had 210K miles on it. I put that on a 2016 new Chevy 2500. I'll keep that for a couple of hundred thousand miles also. One thing that shocked me was the technology difference between the 2 vehicles. It's like coming out of the stone ages. Although I hate all of the new emissions crap added to the vehicle.

[AndyLate]

The vehicles I drive have always been purchased used. We generally keep vehicles 6+ years, but I hate the idea of the huge depreciation hit.

We bought my wife's last car new because she has never had a new car.

Andy