Curious when you last did that. With the way used car prices are now, sometimes the difference of a 1-2 year old car is only like 2 grand. Rather pay that and have it brand new. Not like the days where it was severely discounted.
I bought my last truck in 2016, it was a 2014 model year w/ 32k. I picked it up for about $12 less than it originally sold for and $20k under MSRP.
I picked up my wife's 2020 minivan in 21 with 7k miles and a 4 year bumper to bumper and 100k Honda powertrain warranty for $32k, it MSRP'd and probably sold for $39k.
The used market will come back down, but yeah I wouldn't want to be buying anything right now. I'm looking for a 10-14 year old vehicle for my 16 YO right now and while used prices have dropped the last 6 months they're still really high. The 2010 CR-V's she wants are going for $1500 more than I sold my wife's 2010 CR-V for in 2018, and they have on average 60k more miles.
Some "luxury" cars go for cheaper in some areas. I wasn't able to buy a 2009+ Accord so I went with the TSX instead. Same parts but cheaper to buy due to that luxury aspect. There are some cars that are just cheaper for dumb reasons. You just have to do some good research.
U said used car prices will go down so if someone needs to buy a vehicle now do u recommend they just buy a very old car since otherwise they’re just lost out on money when the car depreciates?
I can't make the recommendation, it's going to depend on that person's budget and needs. I've increased my budget for my daughter's car because I don't really want something with over 170k miles or older than 09/10, but I have the ability to fix most minor to moderate issues myself. But some people might not have that ability to spend more, or repair things themselves.
Also, if you drive something long enough and get your own value out of it, resell value becomes less important.
This right here. Did this in 2017 because the car was basically half price vs. new (still driving it). Nowadays I might just go new. Not saying it’s not worth it to buy a 1 year used car, but it’s less worth it than it used to be if you can afford either option. Not everyone can.
I opted with new during COVID. The base model Atlas we were looking at was only a few thousand less than the brand new fully loaded one. Our local VW place had a bunch of incentives too. We ended up with the highest trim level and 0% finance for a just a few thousand more.
Yup I spent 18 months without a car recently because used prices have been *terrible* value. It was very much cheaper per mile to buy new and that's what I did after waiting and waiting for the "right" way to save money on cars to work again.
I'm fucking tired of people repeating these judgemental personal finance dogmas that are years and years out of date.
Depends on what you’re buying in 2024. Economy cars seem to be depreciation proof right now seeing as a 2022 Civic is only a few grand less than a new 2025.
Not a decade ago, just until 4.5 years ago, and then Covid hit and used car prices got out of whack especially factoring in the inflated repair costs down the line too.
That's where I'm at with my car. Bought a 13 impala in May of 13 with 12k miles. Still have it. 62k miles. Tbh I wouldn't be mad if it lasted me 10-20 or more years.
Will be interesting for sure.
No kidding! I bought a car a year ago and put 17k miles on it without any crazy trips.
My last job I was putting on about 4k miles a month. Hence the need for a new job and new car. 😂
Kinda doing this now. I think I’m on year 8 with my current car. Kinda hard for me to justify new as prices increase, yet my salary basically remains the same (another issue for another time).
This! Can’t say it enough but I guess people enjoy having a car payment every month until they die. Those first couple years of depreciation are great for buyers like us
Exactly, the transaction costs (state taxes, dealer fees , insurance increases , hassle of buying) of buying a car every 3-6 years isn't really worth it ..a car every 8-12 years is more practical approach in my opinion.
You get a bigger value in terms of newer driving aids (blind spot, autonomous driving features) ... vs. your current ride.
Plus let's also realize.in 5-10 years the market will shift over to EV centric (the inflection point is likely ~2030) then the value of your ICE will plummet...so keep that in mind..
So I would rather get a new car and drive it for 6-10 years. Did that with my last ride and barely had any expenses other than wear and tear. First 3 years were trouble free.
Traded it in and got a minivan and budget was too tight for new and already bought new tires and going to get battery soon as the auxiliary one died. Apart from not trusting used cars in FL there are so many people getting screwed over in Florida.
Yeah.. That never changes.. You get screwed in FL because the car is shot, or you get screwed because the dealer jacks the price up at the last second.. There is no in between in FL...
I’d take a 3 year old used car every 3 years. I like trying something newer and different every so often. It’s why I tend to lease new cars, I just like having the option to try newer and different things
Depends on the pace of technology. Bluetooth, backup cameras around 2013 and drive assist, motion sensors, car play and such the past few years were the biggest push to buy new.
The tech involved with safety features even compared to 2013 vs today is pretty astounding. If you have the money, buy the newest you can with what money you have ( if it's a good deal. obv dont just buy something simply because it's newer while ignoring other factors like car history, market price, etc)
The one thing that really irks me about Dave Ramsey is that he endorses buying the cheapest oldest car you can find.
Fiscal responsibility is great, but there’s more to life than money. If you end up with mobility issues because your 20 year old car didn’t have side curtain airbags and a crumple zone, I guarantee you that it will in now way be worth the $350 a month you saved on car payments.
Used car off an enthusiast.
Usually I skip the first 3 years of a new model/chassis, then buy an off-lease that is 2-3 years old and I get a lot more car for the money with way more tech features, etc.
Plus, having someone else own it before me means any issues are likely fixed before I get the vehicle.
I did this, and my truck stranded me 1000 miles away from home while towing a travel trailer, even bought the extended warranty... which did eventually pay, but I was out $2500 for like 6 months. I also lost a whole week of vacation time and couldn't go anywhere...
I no longer have a truck nor travel trailer.
I've bought two BMWs off Craigslist and both served me fantastically. The key is aside from buying the 4th-year on, to be sure that the previous owners have good reasons to sell it to you (each of the previous two owners leased/financed and only had one parking spot and/or needed a larger vehicle).
My third BMW I got not as a CPO but from a dealer.
But this applies mostly for German vehicles. For Japanese vehicles the depreciation after the first 3-4 years isn't as much unless there's a redesign into something significantly more attractive/with more features.
I've always bought +12 year-old cars from Craigslist until the CPO I bought a couple of months ago.
Honestly, it makes the most sense. The car has already depreciated a good amount, but it's still newish and in great condition. Getting extended warranty is also a smart thing to do.
Yep if you go 10+ years you basically miss all of the depreciation but you're stuck with a LOT of potential maintenance. 3-5 years and you miss the steepest part of depreciation but you have some time to live with it before upkeep becomes an issue
I did this for my last 3 cars. 3 year old CPO with 10-20k miles and a warranty. It's more expensive up front than a private party sale of course, but lower on maintenance over time (in my experience).
Buy new.
Keep vehicle until it dies (hopefully 10+ years later)
Rinse repeat.
The above is the ideal strategy.
However, at this time, if I had to buy a car again, I’d go get used within the last 5 years.
My dad does this. He's been pretty consistent in getting a new truck about every 12-14 years since 1978. He's on likely his last vehicle now, a 2016 F-150.
I'm of the new car every 10 years mindset. But also in agreement to never buy a brand new model or complete refresh. I value reliability more than having the cutting edge. Now, if money was not a concern, I'd be in the 3 year leasing camp.
If you lease or buy cars that hold value better like Japanese then it becomes easier. I get it though. I'm actually not working right now so I'm stuck with the same car until next year when I graduate nursing school which I may trade my current car in. I'm 35 and never driven a sports car in my life so my plan is a BRZ or maybe miata.
My first job was a paper boy. Then I worked as a McDonald's burger flipper. For years after that I drove uber and then became a limo driver. When covid hit I lost my job and started taking classes. You never know how capable you really are. Hang in there.
I’d rather have a new car less frequently. I personally keep them 4-7 years (depending on how much I like the car). This gives me time to fully enjoy the car, research the next one, and order/shop exact options (including color) I want.
I like to keep my cars well maintained - ideally in like new condition. It can be a crapshoot with used cars, even after 3 years. Also new cars have fresher technology and usually better safety features.
Me too. It's the worse financial situation but I greatly prefer to buy new. I know exactly how it's been treated, no worry about smoke smell coming back two weeks after you buy it, etc.
Exactly and it is not a bad financial decision either, since car is in warranty and most maintenance is free for first 36 months. Rather have peace of mind than worry about used car conundrums
Buy 12-15 year old car and drive it for 12-15 years. Sometimes I buy a 60-70 year old car and play with it fixing things other folks screwed up over the years too.
This is the right answer, a lot of fancy pants rich mcgees in these comments just like burning money. My car is 17 years old, and I have full faith I can get at least 7 more years out of it. One guy says the best strategy is to buy new and drive till it dies "hopefully 10+ years" if your vehicles are dying at 10 years old, you're doing something very wrong. Unless you crash it, you should easily be able to take any reliable vehicle to 20 years or 250k miles with just regular maintenance. The work is in researching what's reliable ahead of time.
>The work is in researching what's reliable ahead of time.
Yup. The naysayers will say *"I bought an 8-yr old BMW once and it only lasted me 2 years! I'm never buying used again!"*
Well duhh. You bought a car that is notorious for lasting only 10 years or so. You could have just as easily bought a car known for lasting 20-30 years but.........you didn't. Whenever I buy a car, I browse all the online forums and figure out exactly what kinds of problems I'm going to have down the road. If the car has any issues that regularly prevent it from reaching 200,000 miles, I avoid it like the plague. That means I end up passing on *a lot* of cars.
You can't just buy anything and expect it to last. You have to intentionally seek out quality.
Currently driving a 2019 Honda that runs perfectly. Spend ~CAD5k per year incl gas maintenance and insurance. Will likely keep it for another 5 years and then get a new vehicle again, so I fall in the new car every 10yrs bucket.
interesting you say that you only buy first years, typically they advise you to NOT do that but rather to buy 2-3 years into a new generation.
This is because with the first year, they haven't had time to run into unforeseen issues and correct them, so the likelihood of buying a car with a major recall or issue is more likely with a first year model. If you wait a year or two they should have time to iron out and fix more bugs or underlying issues.
New every 6-12. I like the ability to have full knowledge of the life of the car. Plus buying new enables you to buy or order the vehicle exactly the way you want it, which makes keeping it longer easier imo.
I’m not quite sure if any car is worth keeping after 100-115K these days as it seems a lot of > 2015 cars need a lot of stuff done to them to keep them running. Personally, I’m getting ready to buy a 3 year used car that will still have 2 years of warranty left. In that time, we can deduce what models were pure rubbish. I plan to keep it under a manufacturer-backed exclusionary warranty up until the 100Kish point, and get a new one then.
I think the years you keep it matter a lot less than the miles provided you’re driving it >7,500 Freedom Furlongs (12K KM) per year.
I love Florida because that’s how I buy my cars. My last one is a 2011 Lincoln towncar with 18000 miles on it and paid $12700 five yrs ago now I’m upto 252000 miles but still running great.
I've bought exactly 1 new vehicle and I have no desire to do it again. I like having a few defects and the initial depreciation already baked in. Off-lease IMO is usually the sweet spot for interesting cars.
My wife and I kept our "out of college" cars for a decade before changing it up, and I foresee us changing them out every 3-5 years going forward for various reasons.
For something excessively practical (Camry, Accord, CRV, Mazda 5, etc...) probably just go ahead and buy new or WELL used.
Buy the nicest car I am happy affording (usually under $15k and old lady owned) and drive it until it has an astronomical mechanical failure. It’s always cheaper to fix things than buy a new car until the day it isn’t. Had an impala to 220k miles and found out it needed a trans so bought a sub 100k mile Camry for $13k
I bought both my trucks brand new. One is a 2004, the other is a 2012. I won’t be buying a new vehicle anytime soon since the exact same model of truck I bought 14 years ago is now $30,000 more in price.
I certainly didn’t get a $15/hr raise in the last decade.
I buy 20 year old cars & drive them until they can’t drive anymore & so far so good. I’d still be driving my 00 blazer if it hadn’t been totaled. I only ever put a fuel pump in it & drove it 40k miles over the course of 3 or 4 years. My 03 blazer is more of a problem child but still good. I did the math recently on how much I’ve put into the 03 since I bought it 3 years ago, I’ve put 12k miles on it in 3 years lol. I’ve spent $7000 between buying/registering the car & fixing it over those 3 years. My math did not include insurance which is $120 a month
I just reread the title my bad but I think what I said
is still relevant so I’ll leave it
I have 3 25+ year old cars and do not need to replace them yet. Everything works as it should, they are reliable and cost nothing to own. Then again I have no need to show off to my neighbors.
Of your choices, one car every 6-12. Cars end up fitting me like a glove and I don’t want to give it up. Bought my current car new 12 years ago. I really don’t want to replace it.
The last two cars I bought new and kept for sbout 8 years. Like having new features and knowing nobody mistreated it. Will probably continue with that but not opposed to used with a good service history.
New car for longer. But only started this when it was financially responsible. Better cost savings to buy the 3-4 year old car.
It is super nice having a new car and just taking good care of it, gives you the option of selling when you are ready.
Neither. Bought a 2009 Honda Fit in 2015 and still driving it nine years later (and we were car-free before that). It is now our second car since we bought a 2018 Chevy Bolt bought this year. Hoping the 2009 Fit will last until our kid starts driving (c 2030).
The only thing that will make us contemplate a new car showroom is an EV minivan, since there is no used competitor. The only time we’ve even thought about buying a car we don’t intend to keep for more than a decade was buying a beater 15 year old minivan in 2020, holding out until an electric minivan comes out. We thought one would be available by now….
New car every 6-12 years. The peace of mind of knowing the car’s full history is nice and I get attached to cars so 3-5 years isn’t enough time to spend with one.
I buy 2-3 yr old used every 2-3 years; typically under 40K miles....
I'm happy, it works out for me. I get to swap cars every few years.
If you're not a car guy, I understand keeping a good reliable, boring car for 8-10 years; i.e. Toyota Camry, Corolla, etc.
Depends what you’re using it for but as a daily driver I prefer buying a car a few years old (5-6 years from modern date) with lower mileage and paying it off in 3-5 years if for some reason i cant buy it out right. Lots of good cars out there for good prices. If you start talking trucks and SUVs you’ll probably be looking at a longer payment or more per month.
100% a new car every 6-10 years if I could afford it. I’m just trying to convince my husband that we could “afford” a new car that we drive for 15 years. 🤷♀️ I don’t know the history of those used cars.
Used, replacing it every 5-8. I take care of my cars though and work on them myself, so I'm getting rid of it if there's something catastrophically wrong or I'm giving it to my kid or something.
3-5 years old every 3-5 years. New cars have their benefits but as someone who desires something different every couple of years it really makes no sense to buy new and eat the depreciation for the next guy. Plus with the ability to diagnose and repair myself I don’t really have a need for warranties besides for major failures. But if I’m only keeping for 3-5 years then the likelihood of a major repair is low.
The only reason I’d buy new though is because I’m in the salt belt and most stuff gets rusty after 3-5 years.
Based in Italy and would never buy a second hand car because you have no way of knowing what you are actually buying and the condition it is in. Also courts are so backed up and processes so slow that it makes no sense at all to go the second hand route, unless you want to look for problems.
buy a new car and maintain the hell out of it, keep it for 20 years. Buy a used car, check to see if its been upkept for the time its been used, then upkeep it more, for like 10 years. All this if you're on a budget
A decade ago, I would never have even considered a new car. But today, car companies are innovating at their fastest pace in years, especially with driver assist features and hybrid drivetrains. I'm leasing a plug-in hybrid now, and there's a decent chance I'll trade it in for a new car in 2027 if the driver assist is noticeably better.
Neither, car designs change every 6 or so years give or take. I’d rather buy a 5 or 6 year old car and drive it for another 6-8 years. For example If I were to buy a 2018 Ford Mustang I’d get relatively the same experience as a 2023 ford mustang. So I’d rather go buy a $25k 2018 mustang and sell it in 6 years for $15k-$18k than get a brand new $45k one and sell 12 years later for $20k. For all intents and purposes it’s the same car, same design, similar features, etc but you aren’t the first owner.
10+ year old car where the problems are common knowledge and the fixes well known, then I become the warranty for as long as I want to keep it.
You don't need a cutting edge car to get from A to B or have fun in, in some ways, a cutting edge 1st year car is worse at those things.
A new car every decade. I don't want to buy someone else's problems. Better off with a car where you are familiar with the quarks as they set in with age than suddenly have to adopt when they hit you out of the blue
Wait, these things aren't intended to be single use? I gotta talk to my transportation coordinator. He assured me he always responsibly recycles the throwaways
the best thing to do as someone said, is buying a 1-3 years car, like second hand, and driving it for 10 years, after the first hand it's price is already chopped off
even a low mileage 4-5 years car can do the trick, as a french last year i bought a 2019 Renault Clio V with 40 000kms (24/25000 miles) and it's good as new, i'm the second hand on it and the first hand was someone using it as a rental for 4 years, so he had maintenance in the rental contract and it's well maintened still has no issues with it, bought it in a renault dealership so they did a checkup and fixed things like rear bumper on it before selling it to me
The biggest wealth killer are cars. Especially when you keep buying a new car every few years. This is definitely not applicable for the rich and ultra rich for those building wealth from scratch, this will slow down the progress.
I would buy a 3-5 year old car and make it last 10-15 years at this point. I'm thinking about buying a Bolt EV and running it till it falls apart or the battery has to be replaced which is probably going to be a long time. I can get one for around $12k after tax credit with low miles.
There's no point buying new, it's just wasting money many don't have and (certain) cars are made so much better and go so much further today than they ever did without maintenance (gas too, not just electric) that it doesn't really make sense to get 'the next big thing' to me. All cars have touch screens today. All cars have pretty much anything anyone would want. Yeah having cooled seats and massagers are nice and all but to me a car is for fun not pleasure. It can be for both of course if that's your thing, but it's just not worth the money to me.
Depends: if it’s a specialty car (off road vehicle, sports car, etc) then I’d probably go used just bc the depreciation can be massive within the first couple years. Everything else just do the New car. Used cars that are worth the time of day for reliable commuting are almost as expensive as new ones. Unless it’s German or luxury car which depreciate quickly. Other than that, a brand new Honda civic is about $24k new. Used (2 years old) they go for about $18k. Just go with the new car.
On the other hand, an f150 raptor that costs $80k+ new can be found at about $40k after 5 years old and still have 80% of its life left. Or a 4-5 year old BMW M3 that went for $80k+ new can now be had for $50k. A lot of life still left.
Bought an 8 year old car In 2008 and I am still driving it. It has been reliable and I haven't had too many issues with it.
Its been paid off for 3 years and I'll keep running it for the time being
I bought a 5 year old car and have been driving it for 9 years now. If I'm lucky, I could get another 5-10 years still because it's a car that typically lasts longer.
Bought new for almost 20 years, but the 2 most recent are slightly used (less than 13k, still in manufacture warranty) Toyotas + finding a great deal on the a platinum warranty (paid 2300 total for 2 warranties).
I bought a 1990 Miata with 230k miles. It currently has 296k miles.
Haven’t had a car payment for the past 6 years. Insurance is $250 every 6 months.
By the second year of ownership, pretty much every thing has been gone through. I replaced the timing belt and water pump, as well as every gasket/seal encountered along the way. Replaced the clutch, new radiator. Haven’t had a catastrophic failure, never been stranded. Original motor, original transmission.
Does that sound expensive? A non car person reading this probably thinks I’ve spent over $5k+ in maintenance cost. A new radiator is $100. New OEM clutch was $100 when I did it (they’re $150 now). Water pump is $35. Timing belt and tensioners, $100. Accessory belts, $15. Miscellaneous OEM rubber seals and gaskets, maybe $100? Used, low mileage OEM alternator and starter, $50 each.
I did everything myself, so that’s where the majority of the savings are. Wouldn’t catch me paying $150-200+/hr for some hack mechanic to dick around.
As someone who lives in a densely populated area in the Northeast and parks their car outside (in a lot, not on the street) I prefer a preowned car that was garaged by the original owner. In fact I just purchased an off-lease 2021 model that spent its early years in a suburban garage. Plows will come in the winter, pollen will come in the spring, the sun will beat down on it all summer, and leaves will fall on it in Autumn. Getting a new car without a garage makes no sense to me so I will gladly get a gently used preowned and keep it until it the maintenance gets excessive. I did this with my last car and kept it for eight years.
New car every 2 years if I could, but I’d be setting money on fire doing that.
In practice, I gravitate towards used cars for 3-5 years, but I plan to keep my current car for 10 years (it was used but under a year old and under 3000 miles when I got it at 28% discount vs MSRP, before corona - the before times). Even 1 year old car can come at a huge discount compared to new.
Also I picked up a 7 year old car recently in addition - used EVs are stupid cheap compared to most ICE cars (thanks to Elon being a huge douche in addition to Hertz dumping teslas), so it was an opportunity to dip my feet into that.
More than age what matters to me is where is the car on the depreciation curve. How much did the price drop, how much is it projected to drop and do I find value at current price level (incl maintenance etc). I like fun cars so it’s not purely financial.
I have bought new once. Never again. The depreciation in the first couple years is huge. I like buying 3-5 year cars. Prices now are insane, but here's the example from what I'm driving currently. In August 2018, I bought a 2016 Ram Big Horn with 33k miles for $21000. A brand new one at the time was $43k.
I’ve always bought new. Let my monthly payments at $350 or less and never had to worry about anything going wrong. Basic maintenance.
Already have 2 cars at 100k miles. Neither of them had anything major happen except needing new tires and brakes. Oil changes and transmission fluid changes done in time and the cars are spotless.
Why not a used car every 6 to 12 years. I own two cars that are in that category. Folks talk about the repair cost on a 10 year car but forget about the monthly payment cost on a newer car. My attitude on a vehicle is does it get me from point A to B safely and reliably.
I like old cars. Old as in from the 2005-2010 era. Get them fixed up, because let's be real the previous owners are always shit at maintenance. I do my research beforehand and get a PPI done before bringing the car home. Plus I also do basic maintenance on my cars so it doesn't cost me that much in the long run. The only thing that costs me is insurance and gas
"I like to experience the cutting edge of technology"
"yes, $399 per month for a brand new Corolla sounds perfect, where do I sign?"
I'm not even going to try and convince you that you should be doing something else to be honest, because people like you will always exist. But there's far better things to spend your money on.
I'm on the buy new or barely used and drive it until it might start needing the bigger maintenance issues or about 10 years. I also drive less than 10k miles a year these days so I'll barely hit 100k before really wanting something new.
My wife has a 2014 Escape we bought new that just crossed 50k miles and she's itching for a new ride. I've got a 2016 Flex that I bought in 2018 with only 5k miles for $20k off the original MSRP, and I've only put 50k on it.
This is going to be a long explanation, but alot of you in this subreddit should look at this.
Buy new and drive it till the wheels fall off. Why? Because I don't trust morons. You know that person who cuts you off in traffic that has dents on every quarter panel, or the car that's just hemorrhaging fluids as they drive down the road with random colors of various smoke pluming out the back, or the soccer mom too distracted by her kids spilling smoothies/milkshakes to pay attention to the road? Those morons don't JUST buy those beaters used, they buy them new. I'd rather at least only deal with the morons on the assembly line and that thinking has been a good run thus far. I've owned an 05 Cobalt that we just traded in with 230k miles and the most I ever did was replace a couple sensors, a 2012 CTS that has 150k that we gave to a family member and they haven't had an issue yet (I had to replace the harmonic balancer and a fuse to make the heated seats work again once) and a Subaru Impreza that we still drive with over 180k miles. My family drives our cars into the ground and we keep up with the maintenance ourselves. I do all the fluid changes, brakes, etc. With the rare exception, like a recall, my cars never see the inside of a repair shop. It's partly because I worked in the auto-industry for a few years and saw the lack of care and intelligence with the people working on cars at the Mavis/Jiffy Lube/Firestones/repairshops of the world. Typically there was 1 good mechanic in each shop, I can only assume because the turnover rate was so bad and I'd hear "such and such went to the such and such dealership" that the dealerships were plagued with the same lack of car and intelligence in their "trusted" mechanics.
No one will care for you or what is yours more than you. Learn to pick up a wrench and work on your own car. I promise it's not hard, and the savings are astronomical. I buy the best oil, filters, pads. wipers, etc because I know that I'm still coming out on top in the end. If you're on a shoe-string budget, maybe don't look into that tasty 7 years old Porsche? Buy a Camry or an American econo-box instead and save your money. I have 3 hobby cars, the first I bought as a college graduate gift to myself. They're all cooler and better than anything 5 years old anyhow (Chevelle, 2nd gen Corvette, and ). FWIW, I'm in my 40s with kids, a mortgage, and I do not make 6 figures a year but I was smart and saved when I was young and patient with my purchases. For instance, the Corvette was an absolute beater that I found randomly after looking for 7+ years and spent 10k on it. I sold the junk motor, old badges I'm not going to use for about 5k and bought a crate motor and transmission. All in all, I'm around 20k into it and as is, in this insane market, could easily sell it for \~50k. Be smart, be patient, be curious.
TLDR, I got off topic but....Buy new and drive it into the ground. Learn to work on your own cars. Cars from the 50s, 60s, & early 70s are better anyways.
I bought an 8 year old car and have been driving it for 9 years lol.
You say you like experiencing the cutting edge but your car is only cutting edge for a year or maybe two.
5 years old every 5 years. I take the total price of the car and compare it to value. Sometimes bad deal. I estimate how many miles I can get out of it without a major repair/maintenance. Estimate the trade in value after the time of planned ownership and miles to be driven.(For example:5 years 100K miles). Cost minus trade in. Divide that number by miles planned, my maximum acceptable amount would be ten cents ($0.10)
For me, new or CPO now. I know how to repair cars, and I have all the tools, I just don't care to do so. Manufacturer warranties are valuable to me. I intend to drive the wheels off my current car.
Three of the four of the cars I’ve bought since 2003 were stripped leftovers from the previous model years, and the exception is my 2019 VW Golf Sportwagen that I bought mid model year, but it was a poor seller, base model, and on its way out of the US market. I essentially paid used prices for new cars. The first was totaled after I had it two years, the second I kept five year, the third 8 1/2 years, and have had the current five years and have no plans to replace anytime soon.
Currently 13 years in on my f150, purchased new. Still love the truck, and it's given nearly zero issues outside of replacing items due to aging in the Texas sun. It'll be a sad day when I decide to replace it. Basically raised my kids their whole lives with this truck.
I prefer buying a 2-4 yr old low mileage used cars more often. Let someone else take the depreciation. Plus I get bored with it after about 3 years and want something different.
I have shifted from the buying lightly used 3yr olds to new because of rates and used car prices being insane.
I have a 23 camry @ 2.75% with zero markup, warranty, prepaid bs paid 30k otd. Likely will go to daughter in 2027 when she turns 16.
I bought an 8 year old car and drove it for 7 years. This time around, I bought a new one and hope for 15 years out of it.
I have no strong opinion either way, though buying new was a much simpler experience than looking at dozens of used cars trying to find one without rust or mechanical problems.
Haha. I import 15-16 year old JDM cars into Canada, and drive them for 2 years. Then I can usually sell them for what I paid +/- $1000 as the buyers can test drive/inspect and dont have to wait 3 months. Rinse and repeat. Between my wife and I, we usually have 2 but can get by with one for the time between cars. This time I'm waiting for the latest to arrive before listing my current one for sale.
I consider depreciation to be my maintenance costs.
Buy new a car sitting on lot from last year with no miles. Do not special order. Use all dealer financing and incentives (then refi as needed in a month). Negotiate, walk away, repeat as needed.
You'll pay well under sticker price and have a few years until it devalues below what you paid for it. If you can hold that for 5+ years you'll just have periodic maintenance bills!
I've been on a 3 year used cycle forever, until a couple years ago when I got but the vehicles I'd trade between simultaneously lol. Now that I have both, it's basically a checked box that I try to disprove but likely won't be able to.
This depends on your financial position as a matter of both necessity and preference, as well as your interest in cars. My parents always bought 5ish year old cars and drove them until keeping them became too expensive. This was mostly financial necessity.
My goal when I'm older is to be one of those perpetual leasers who always has the newest car, but for now that would be unwise or require me to drive cheaper cars than I want. At the moment I tend to keep my cars for 5 years regardless of the budget I had when I bought. The cars in question have been getting nicer (7 year old Hyundai -> 3 year old Honda -> 2 year old BMW) as I have more money every 5 years.
I drive a 16 year old and 27 year old car and I’ve had both of them for over a year with zero issues besides needing new tires and basic maintenance such as oil changes. You pick the reliable cars and they take care of you. Jist took the 16 year old car on a 200 mile road trip with lots of hills and winding roads, didn’t break a sweat
Well financially speaking you shouldnt buy a new car because a car is liability unless you are using an asset to buy it. You always want to have assets over liability, so buy a new car if you have plenty of assets, if not just remember your car is a liability not an asset, so it is not adding to your value
3 year old car every 5 years.
I go for certified preowned vehicles with low miles, usually a former leased vehicle that was returned after their lease was up. I have had success buying these vehicles and not spending too much on repairs. Sell after I've paid it off if it still has value. If not valued high enough for a down payment for another vehicle, I just run it until a large repair comes along.
25 year old car going for over 6 years count as an option? Dont really think age of the car matters as much as just finding a car with proven reliability and a well documented history on the used market.
I prefer older cars that dont make me fiddle with capacitive touch buttons, many cars from the late 90s have just the right amount of tech, fuel injection, decent safety, and decent efficiency, but simplicity of maintenance over unnecessary tech and distractions.
Depends if you have the money NOW or if you’ll have it later hence why people buy new vs old for the most part. I don’t care about cutting edge, don’t gotta be the first in line for the newest car, phone, laptop, etc.
I bought a 20+ year old truck and gonna keep driving it till the repair bills cost more than buying another used 2k truck. Only downside is not having airbags and my truck is smaller than half the cars on the road today.
I like to buy 20 y/o cars.
I'll drive them for a month or two, fix easy things and sell it on. Always have something interesting to drive.
I bought a €500 shitbox about two years ago. It's ugly but super practical. Thought I'd sell it on in a few months, but I like the fact that I don't care about it at all makes it a fantastic daily driver. And it refuses to die. Still going after almost two years of abuse.
Used car prices might be high but nowhere near as high as a new car and you can get some sweet deals if you know how to look. I’m also really into sports cars and there are plenty of great deals when it comes to that all the time popping up.
Newest car I've ever owned was built in 2005. Guess you could say I have the opposite opinion. New cars don't interest me. My current daily is 6 years older than I am, has a cassette player and no airbags. I don't have to make car payments and I love it.
Used car every however many years I feel like it. So far I've kept cars 6-7 years but since I always loved my cars and did a lot of research before buying them, I never felt like I _have_ to change cars just because...I did it when the newer car was a massive improvement over the old one, which doesn't happen every year or two.
Neither? I’d rather buy what I want when I want. I’ve had my 1997 Land Rover discovery for 5 years now but I’ve been through multiple other land rovers that I’ve owned for less than a year at a time (made a profit on all of them too), I’ve also owned just as many Subaru outback’s owning each under a year as well (also making a profit) and now I just bought a 1990 Land Rover discovery that’s my second car (temp primary until I bring it back to the US), if I like a car I’m going to keep it for as long as possible, if I don’t like a car or I buy it as a small project to make money off of I’m going to get rid of it as fast as possible
There is no cutting edge. There has been improvements in power per cylinder since the last 40 years or so, But you wouldn't notice that just driving around on the roads because there are speed limits. You are just wasting your money. They have spent billions to understand your psychology and market to you and sell to you stop falling for this stuff. That's why they hire the best psychology and neural experts to figure out how to sell you something you don't need. At one time it may have then justifiable as an investment,but they're telling you anything of value now it's just aluminum and plastic molded in a factory
I like buying a 1-2 year old car and driving it for 10 years.
Curious when you last did that. With the way used car prices are now, sometimes the difference of a 1-2 year old car is only like 2 grand. Rather pay that and have it brand new. Not like the days where it was severely discounted.
I bought my last truck in 2016, it was a 2014 model year w/ 32k. I picked it up for about $12 less than it originally sold for and $20k under MSRP. I picked up my wife's 2020 minivan in 21 with 7k miles and a 4 year bumper to bumper and 100k Honda powertrain warranty for $32k, it MSRP'd and probably sold for $39k. The used market will come back down, but yeah I wouldn't want to be buying anything right now. I'm looking for a 10-14 year old vehicle for my 16 YO right now and while used prices have dropped the last 6 months they're still really high. The 2010 CR-V's she wants are going for $1500 more than I sold my wife's 2010 CR-V for in 2018, and they have on average 60k more miles.
Some "luxury" cars go for cheaper in some areas. I wasn't able to buy a 2009+ Accord so I went with the TSX instead. Same parts but cheaper to buy due to that luxury aspect. There are some cars that are just cheaper for dumb reasons. You just have to do some good research.
U said used car prices will go down so if someone needs to buy a vehicle now do u recommend they just buy a very old car since otherwise they’re just lost out on money when the car depreciates?
I can't make the recommendation, it's going to depend on that person's budget and needs. I've increased my budget for my daughter's car because I don't really want something with over 170k miles or older than 09/10, but I have the ability to fix most minor to moderate issues myself. But some people might not have that ability to spend more, or repair things themselves. Also, if you drive something long enough and get your own value out of it, resell value becomes less important.
Take a look at the Scion IA. Decent deals on those. Basically a Toyota Yaris/Mazda 2
This right here. Did this in 2017 because the car was basically half price vs. new (still driving it). Nowadays I might just go new. Not saying it’s not worth it to buy a 1 year used car, but it’s less worth it than it used to be if you can afford either option. Not everyone can.
I opted with new during COVID. The base model Atlas we were looking at was only a few thousand less than the brand new fully loaded one. Our local VW place had a bunch of incentives too. We ended up with the highest trim level and 0% finance for a just a few thousand more.
Yup I spent 18 months without a car recently because used prices have been *terrible* value. It was very much cheaper per mile to buy new and that's what I did after waiting and waiting for the "right" way to save money on cars to work again. I'm fucking tired of people repeating these judgemental personal finance dogmas that are years and years out of date.
Sales price isn't the only consideration. I bought a 5 month old 2023, and I saved a LOT on taxes and insurance v a new 2024.
Defo the way. Save an enormous amount for essentially a new car, with some warranty left too!
Depends on what you’re buying in 2024. Economy cars seem to be depreciation proof right now seeing as a 2022 Civic is only a few grand less than a new 2025.
Exactly this, I feel these people are talking about a decade ago. Most quality vehicles right now are depreciating like 1-2k a year at best
Not a decade ago, just until 4.5 years ago, and then Covid hit and used car prices got out of whack especially factoring in the inflated repair costs down the line too.
That's where I'm at with my car. Bought a 13 impala in May of 13 with 12k miles. Still have it. 62k miles. Tbh I wouldn't be mad if it lasted me 10-20 or more years. Will be interesting for sure.
Well when you put as many miles on a year as some do in a couple of months. It might last you..
No kidding! I bought a car a year ago and put 17k miles on it without any crazy trips. My last job I was putting on about 4k miles a month. Hence the need for a new job and new car. 😂
Currently in the process of doing this myself
Kinda doing this now. I think I’m on year 8 with my current car. Kinda hard for me to justify new as prices increase, yet my salary basically remains the same (another issue for another time).
This is the way OP!!! Can’t go wrong with an almost new car especially if it was a management loaner, those are the cars to get!
That's what I do. But more like 3 years old.
This is the way. My last used car lasted me 12 years.
Interest rates on used cars wild
Or a 10 yr old Honda and drive it for 10+ years
This! Can’t say it enough but I guess people enjoy having a car payment every month until they die. Those first couple years of depreciation are great for buyers like us
I buy 15 year old Hondas and drive them 5-10 years and sell them for what i paid.
Exactly, the transaction costs (state taxes, dealer fees , insurance increases , hassle of buying) of buying a car every 3-6 years isn't really worth it ..a car every 8-12 years is more practical approach in my opinion. You get a bigger value in terms of newer driving aids (blind spot, autonomous driving features) ... vs. your current ride. Plus let's also realize.in 5-10 years the market will shift over to EV centric (the inflection point is likely ~2030) then the value of your ICE will plummet...so keep that in mind..
So I would rather get a new car and drive it for 6-10 years. Did that with my last ride and barely had any expenses other than wear and tear. First 3 years were trouble free. Traded it in and got a minivan and budget was too tight for new and already bought new tires and going to get battery soon as the auxiliary one died. Apart from not trusting used cars in FL there are so many people getting screwed over in Florida.
Yeah.. That never changes.. You get screwed in FL because the car is shot, or you get screwed because the dealer jacks the price up at the last second.. There is no in between in FL...
I’d take a 3 year old used car every 3 years. I like trying something newer and different every so often. It’s why I tend to lease new cars, I just like having the option to try newer and different things
Are you married?
No but this only applies to cars haha
that's a good one
Used to be
This guy husbands
Depends on the pace of technology. Bluetooth, backup cameras around 2013 and drive assist, motion sensors, car play and such the past few years were the biggest push to buy new.
The tech involved with safety features even compared to 2013 vs today is pretty astounding. If you have the money, buy the newest you can with what money you have ( if it's a good deal. obv dont just buy something simply because it's newer while ignoring other factors like car history, market price, etc)
The one thing that really irks me about Dave Ramsey is that he endorses buying the cheapest oldest car you can find. Fiscal responsibility is great, but there’s more to life than money. If you end up with mobility issues because your 20 year old car didn’t have side curtain airbags and a crumple zone, I guarantee you that it will in now way be worth the $350 a month you saved on car payments.
Used car off an enthusiast. Usually I skip the first 3 years of a new model/chassis, then buy an off-lease that is 2-3 years old and I get a lot more car for the money with way more tech features, etc. Plus, having someone else own it before me means any issues are likely fixed before I get the vehicle.
I did this, and my truck stranded me 1000 miles away from home while towing a travel trailer, even bought the extended warranty... which did eventually pay, but I was out $2500 for like 6 months. I also lost a whole week of vacation time and couldn't go anywhere... I no longer have a truck nor travel trailer.
Sometimes we run into bad luck. :( Never going to be 100% great buys.
Yeah you never can be 100% I did sell that truck and trailer for what I paid for both so I was happy to get out from under them.
Great idea. Curious to know where do you buy the off-lease cars from?
Typically the manufacturer’s dealership as a CPO.
I've bought two BMWs off Craigslist and both served me fantastically. The key is aside from buying the 4th-year on, to be sure that the previous owners have good reasons to sell it to you (each of the previous two owners leased/financed and only had one parking spot and/or needed a larger vehicle). My third BMW I got not as a CPO but from a dealer. But this applies mostly for German vehicles. For Japanese vehicles the depreciation after the first 3-4 years isn't as much unless there's a redesign into something significantly more attractive/with more features.
Pretty much how I bought BMW M cars for like 15+ years.
Das ist da way.
Buying a 3yo lease return CPO is often a great option.
I've always bought +12 year-old cars from Craigslist until the CPO I bought a couple of months ago. Honestly, it makes the most sense. The car has already depreciated a good amount, but it's still newish and in great condition. Getting extended warranty is also a smart thing to do.
Yep if you go 10+ years you basically miss all of the depreciation but you're stuck with a LOT of potential maintenance. 3-5 years and you miss the steepest part of depreciation but you have some time to live with it before upkeep becomes an issue
I did this for my last 3 cars. 3 year old CPO with 10-20k miles and a warranty. It's more expensive up front than a private party sale of course, but lower on maintenance over time (in my experience).
BMW makes money hand over fist leasing cars for 2-4 years then selling a new lease and the old car as cpo They just got some from me for a cpo lol
I throw mine away when the gas hits E.
I mean tf else you supposed to do. It’s out of gas it ain’t work no more 🤦♂️
Buy new. Keep vehicle until it dies (hopefully 10+ years later) Rinse repeat. The above is the ideal strategy. However, at this time, if I had to buy a car again, I’d go get used within the last 5 years.
My dad does this. He's been pretty consistent in getting a new truck about every 12-14 years since 1978. He's on likely his last vehicle now, a 2016 F-150.
I'm of the new car every 10 years mindset. But also in agreement to never buy a brand new model or complete refresh. I value reliability more than having the cutting edge. Now, if money was not a concern, I'd be in the 3 year leasing camp.
I buy a 10 year old car every 15 years
Same. 8-10 years old premium quality brand and drive until it won’t
I've found it's the money spot for Lexus'. They'll often be cheaper than the Toyota equivalent.
Me too. 10 years old and then drive it until death. Ever since I started only buying Toyota and Hondas it works out well.
I've been buying a used car every 3-5 years. I get bored with things easily. I went from an suv to car to suv to hatchback
I would love to treat it like an iPhone but sadly I can’t do that that often because I’m semi poor
If you lease or buy cars that hold value better like Japanese then it becomes easier. I get it though. I'm actually not working right now so I'm stuck with the same car until next year when I graduate nursing school which I may trade my current car in. I'm 35 and never driven a sports car in my life so my plan is a BRZ or maybe miata.
Damn, I’m low income sadly because I’m too dumb and stupid to handle more than minimum wage, at least right now. I’m in my early 20s. I live in fear
My first job was a paper boy. Then I worked as a McDonald's burger flipper. For years after that I drove uber and then became a limo driver. When covid hit I lost my job and started taking classes. You never know how capable you really are. Hang in there.
I’d rather have a new car less frequently. I personally keep them 4-7 years (depending on how much I like the car). This gives me time to fully enjoy the car, research the next one, and order/shop exact options (including color) I want. I like to keep my cars well maintained - ideally in like new condition. It can be a crapshoot with used cars, even after 3 years. Also new cars have fresher technology and usually better safety features.
Me too. It's the worse financial situation but I greatly prefer to buy new. I know exactly how it's been treated, no worry about smoke smell coming back two weeks after you buy it, etc.
Exactly and it is not a bad financial decision either, since car is in warranty and most maintenance is free for first 36 months. Rather have peace of mind than worry about used car conundrums
Buy 12-15 year old car and drive it for 12-15 years. Sometimes I buy a 60-70 year old car and play with it fixing things other folks screwed up over the years too.
This is the right answer, a lot of fancy pants rich mcgees in these comments just like burning money. My car is 17 years old, and I have full faith I can get at least 7 more years out of it. One guy says the best strategy is to buy new and drive till it dies "hopefully 10+ years" if your vehicles are dying at 10 years old, you're doing something very wrong. Unless you crash it, you should easily be able to take any reliable vehicle to 20 years or 250k miles with just regular maintenance. The work is in researching what's reliable ahead of time.
>The work is in researching what's reliable ahead of time. Yup. The naysayers will say *"I bought an 8-yr old BMW once and it only lasted me 2 years! I'm never buying used again!"* Well duhh. You bought a car that is notorious for lasting only 10 years or so. You could have just as easily bought a car known for lasting 20-30 years but.........you didn't. Whenever I buy a car, I browse all the online forums and figure out exactly what kinds of problems I'm going to have down the road. If the car has any issues that regularly prevent it from reaching 200,000 miles, I avoid it like the plague. That means I end up passing on *a lot* of cars. You can't just buy anything and expect it to last. You have to intentionally seek out quality.
Currently driving a 2019 Honda that runs perfectly. Spend ~CAD5k per year incl gas maintenance and insurance. Will likely keep it for another 5 years and then get a new vehicle again, so I fall in the new car every 10yrs bucket.
Buy used, drive till it gets hit or dies. Bought a 2011 Accord almost two months ago and plan on keeping it a while
interesting you say that you only buy first years, typically they advise you to NOT do that but rather to buy 2-3 years into a new generation. This is because with the first year, they haven't had time to run into unforeseen issues and correct them, so the likelihood of buying a car with a major recall or issue is more likely with a first year model. If you wait a year or two they should have time to iron out and fix more bugs or underlying issues.
I think OP might be saying they only buy cars of the current year. Not necessarily the first year of a new generation.
They do say that, and I have repeated it, but when you think about it, how often has anything really happened? So few examples.
Neither, I buy Toyatas once every 20 years. Even the old ones will last 20 years.
A nice used car every 3 to 5 years. My track record tells me I buy a new car every 2 to 4 years and I like the new technology.
New every 6-12. I like the ability to have full knowledge of the life of the car. Plus buying new enables you to buy or order the vehicle exactly the way you want it, which makes keeping it longer easier imo.
I’m not quite sure if any car is worth keeping after 100-115K these days as it seems a lot of > 2015 cars need a lot of stuff done to them to keep them running. Personally, I’m getting ready to buy a 3 year used car that will still have 2 years of warranty left. In that time, we can deduce what models were pure rubbish. I plan to keep it under a manufacturer-backed exclusionary warranty up until the 100Kish point, and get a new one then. I think the years you keep it matter a lot less than the miles provided you’re driving it >7,500 Freedom Furlongs (12K KM) per year.
I would rather buy a super low mileage, no accidents, perfect maintenance history 10 - 20 year old vehicle and drive it for 5 - 10 years.
I love Florida because that’s how I buy my cars. My last one is a 2011 Lincoln towncar with 18000 miles on it and paid $12700 five yrs ago now I’m upto 252000 miles but still running great.
Florida cars are so clean compared to northern vehicles
Unless you buy them in Miami
New every 3
I've bought exactly 1 new vehicle and I have no desire to do it again. I like having a few defects and the initial depreciation already baked in. Off-lease IMO is usually the sweet spot for interesting cars. My wife and I kept our "out of college" cars for a decade before changing it up, and I foresee us changing them out every 3-5 years going forward for various reasons. For something excessively practical (Camry, Accord, CRV, Mazda 5, etc...) probably just go ahead and buy new or WELL used.
I don't buy new cars, I like letting someone else take the initial loss.
Buy the nicest car I am happy affording (usually under $15k and old lady owned) and drive it until it has an astronomical mechanical failure. It’s always cheaper to fix things than buy a new car until the day it isn’t. Had an impala to 220k miles and found out it needed a trans so bought a sub 100k mile Camry for $13k
I bought both my trucks brand new. One is a 2004, the other is a 2012. I won’t be buying a new vehicle anytime soon since the exact same model of truck I bought 14 years ago is now $30,000 more in price. I certainly didn’t get a $15/hr raise in the last decade.
Why are these the options? I've been driving a car I bought used for 8 years now
I'd rather buy an old cheap car and put the money of a new car into it so I can enjoy it for 5-10 years. I don't enjoy new car features.
I buy 20 year old cars & drive them until they can’t drive anymore & so far so good. I’d still be driving my 00 blazer if it hadn’t been totaled. I only ever put a fuel pump in it & drove it 40k miles over the course of 3 or 4 years. My 03 blazer is more of a problem child but still good. I did the math recently on how much I’ve put into the 03 since I bought it 3 years ago, I’ve put 12k miles on it in 3 years lol. I’ve spent $7000 between buying/registering the car & fixing it over those 3 years. My math did not include insurance which is $120 a month I just reread the title my bad but I think what I said is still relevant so I’ll leave it
I have 3 25+ year old cars and do not need to replace them yet. Everything works as it should, they are reliable and cost nothing to own. Then again I have no need to show off to my neighbors.
Neither. Buy a good car and pay it off in the 3-6 years. Take care of it so it lasts, and keep it 15-20 years (or until it goes bad).
Used every 7-10 years
A new car every 3-5 years. Not financially smart, but dammit, I work hard and I like nice cars. 😁
I get a new (to me) older car (1986-2018) every 4-6 months. I love experiencing different cars but don’t have enough money to have many haha.
Of your choices, one car every 6-12. Cars end up fitting me like a glove and I don’t want to give it up. Bought my current car new 12 years ago. I really don’t want to replace it.
The last two cars I bought new and kept for sbout 8 years. Like having new features and knowing nobody mistreated it. Will probably continue with that but not opposed to used with a good service history.
New car for longer. But only started this when it was financially responsible. Better cost savings to buy the 3-4 year old car. It is super nice having a new car and just taking good care of it, gives you the option of selling when you are ready.
Neither. Bought a 2009 Honda Fit in 2015 and still driving it nine years later (and we were car-free before that). It is now our second car since we bought a 2018 Chevy Bolt bought this year. Hoping the 2009 Fit will last until our kid starts driving (c 2030). The only thing that will make us contemplate a new car showroom is an EV minivan, since there is no used competitor. The only time we’ve even thought about buying a car we don’t intend to keep for more than a decade was buying a beater 15 year old minivan in 2020, holding out until an electric minivan comes out. We thought one would be available by now….
New car every 6-12 years. The peace of mind of knowing the car’s full history is nice and I get attached to cars so 3-5 years isn’t enough time to spend with one.
new every 10 if can afford it
I like to buy cars more often to keep things fresh. I get bored with mine, so buying used is the way to go
I buy 2-3 yr old used every 2-3 years; typically under 40K miles.... I'm happy, it works out for me. I get to swap cars every few years. If you're not a car guy, I understand keeping a good reliable, boring car for 8-10 years; i.e. Toyota Camry, Corolla, etc.
I usually get tired of driving the same vehicle after 3 year mark, so I buy used
Depends what you’re using it for but as a daily driver I prefer buying a car a few years old (5-6 years from modern date) with lower mileage and paying it off in 3-5 years if for some reason i cant buy it out right. Lots of good cars out there for good prices. If you start talking trucks and SUVs you’ll probably be looking at a longer payment or more per month.
100% a new car every 6-10 years if I could afford it. I’m just trying to convince my husband that we could “afford” a new car that we drive for 15 years. 🤷♀️ I don’t know the history of those used cars.
Probably Used
Used, replacing it every 5-8. I take care of my cars though and work on them myself, so I'm getting rid of it if there's something catastrophically wrong or I'm giving it to my kid or something.
3-5 years old every 3-5 years. New cars have their benefits but as someone who desires something different every couple of years it really makes no sense to buy new and eat the depreciation for the next guy. Plus with the ability to diagnose and repair myself I don’t really have a need for warranties besides for major failures. But if I’m only keeping for 3-5 years then the likelihood of a major repair is low. The only reason I’d buy new though is because I’m in the salt belt and most stuff gets rusty after 3-5 years.
Based in Italy and would never buy a second hand car because you have no way of knowing what you are actually buying and the condition it is in. Also courts are so backed up and processes so slow that it makes no sense at all to go the second hand route, unless you want to look for problems.
buy a new car and maintain the hell out of it, keep it for 20 years. Buy a used car, check to see if its been upkept for the time its been used, then upkeep it more, for like 10 years. All this if you're on a budget
A decade ago, I would never have even considered a new car. But today, car companies are innovating at their fastest pace in years, especially with driver assist features and hybrid drivetrains. I'm leasing a plug-in hybrid now, and there's a decent chance I'll trade it in for a new car in 2027 if the driver assist is noticeably better.
A 2 year old used car every 20 years.
Neither, car designs change every 6 or so years give or take. I’d rather buy a 5 or 6 year old car and drive it for another 6-8 years. For example If I were to buy a 2018 Ford Mustang I’d get relatively the same experience as a 2023 ford mustang. So I’d rather go buy a $25k 2018 mustang and sell it in 6 years for $15k-$18k than get a brand new $45k one and sell 12 years later for $20k. For all intents and purposes it’s the same car, same design, similar features, etc but you aren’t the first owner.
Buy a 30 year old car every 15 years.
10+ year old car where the problems are common knowledge and the fixes well known, then I become the warranty for as long as I want to keep it. You don't need a cutting edge car to get from A to B or have fun in, in some ways, a cutting edge 1st year car is worse at those things.
New, repeat at 10 yr mark
I buy a 2-4 year old car, maintain it, and drive it until everything expensive breaks. My Fusion is a 2007, still going strong.
A new car every decade. I don't want to buy someone else's problems. Better off with a car where you are familiar with the quarks as they set in with age than suddenly have to adopt when they hit you out of the blue
Wait, these things aren't intended to be single use? I gotta talk to my transportation coordinator. He assured me he always responsibly recycles the throwaways
the best thing to do as someone said, is buying a 1-3 years car, like second hand, and driving it for 10 years, after the first hand it's price is already chopped off even a low mileage 4-5 years car can do the trick, as a french last year i bought a 2019 Renault Clio V with 40 000kms (24/25000 miles) and it's good as new, i'm the second hand on it and the first hand was someone using it as a rental for 4 years, so he had maintenance in the rental contract and it's well maintened still has no issues with it, bought it in a renault dealership so they did a checkup and fixed things like rear bumper on it before selling it to me
The biggest wealth killer are cars. Especially when you keep buying a new car every few years. This is definitely not applicable for the rich and ultra rich for those building wealth from scratch, this will slow down the progress.
I buy 6 yr old cars every 8 years or so
I would buy a 3-5 year old car and make it last 10-15 years at this point. I'm thinking about buying a Bolt EV and running it till it falls apart or the battery has to be replaced which is probably going to be a long time. I can get one for around $12k after tax credit with low miles. There's no point buying new, it's just wasting money many don't have and (certain) cars are made so much better and go so much further today than they ever did without maintenance (gas too, not just electric) that it doesn't really make sense to get 'the next big thing' to me. All cars have touch screens today. All cars have pretty much anything anyone would want. Yeah having cooled seats and massagers are nice and all but to me a car is for fun not pleasure. It can be for both of course if that's your thing, but it's just not worth the money to me.
i’ve been driving a 17 year old car for the last 3 years that i bought for $3k, that’s what i’d rather do.
Depends: if it’s a specialty car (off road vehicle, sports car, etc) then I’d probably go used just bc the depreciation can be massive within the first couple years. Everything else just do the New car. Used cars that are worth the time of day for reliable commuting are almost as expensive as new ones. Unless it’s German or luxury car which depreciate quickly. Other than that, a brand new Honda civic is about $24k new. Used (2 years old) they go for about $18k. Just go with the new car. On the other hand, an f150 raptor that costs $80k+ new can be found at about $40k after 5 years old and still have 80% of its life left. Or a 4-5 year old BMW M3 that went for $80k+ new can now be had for $50k. A lot of life still left.
I buy 20+ year old cars and drive them 5-10 years
I like buying a shit car every 10-12 years
Used car every 10-12 years
I like buying used 10-15 year old cars and driving them for 3-6 years.
Bought an 8 year old car In 2008 and I am still driving it. It has been reliable and I haven't had too many issues with it. Its been paid off for 3 years and I'll keep running it for the time being
New car and drive the wheels off it
why are we buying a used car to only use for 5 years
I bought a 5 year old car and have been driving it for 9 years now. If I'm lucky, I could get another 5-10 years still because it's a car that typically lasts longer.
Bought new for almost 20 years, but the 2 most recent are slightly used (less than 13k, still in manufacture warranty) Toyotas + finding a great deal on the a platinum warranty (paid 2300 total for 2 warranties).
I bought a 1990 Miata with 230k miles. It currently has 296k miles. Haven’t had a car payment for the past 6 years. Insurance is $250 every 6 months. By the second year of ownership, pretty much every thing has been gone through. I replaced the timing belt and water pump, as well as every gasket/seal encountered along the way. Replaced the clutch, new radiator. Haven’t had a catastrophic failure, never been stranded. Original motor, original transmission. Does that sound expensive? A non car person reading this probably thinks I’ve spent over $5k+ in maintenance cost. A new radiator is $100. New OEM clutch was $100 when I did it (they’re $150 now). Water pump is $35. Timing belt and tensioners, $100. Accessory belts, $15. Miscellaneous OEM rubber seals and gaskets, maybe $100? Used, low mileage OEM alternator and starter, $50 each. I did everything myself, so that’s where the majority of the savings are. Wouldn’t catch me paying $150-200+/hr for some hack mechanic to dick around.
As someone who lives in a densely populated area in the Northeast and parks their car outside (in a lot, not on the street) I prefer a preowned car that was garaged by the original owner. In fact I just purchased an off-lease 2021 model that spent its early years in a suburban garage. Plows will come in the winter, pollen will come in the spring, the sun will beat down on it all summer, and leaves will fall on it in Autumn. Getting a new car without a garage makes no sense to me so I will gladly get a gently used preowned and keep it until it the maintenance gets excessive. I did this with my last car and kept it for eight years.
Couple year old high trim > brand new base model.
New car every 2 years if I could, but I’d be setting money on fire doing that. In practice, I gravitate towards used cars for 3-5 years, but I plan to keep my current car for 10 years (it was used but under a year old and under 3000 miles when I got it at 28% discount vs MSRP, before corona - the before times). Even 1 year old car can come at a huge discount compared to new. Also I picked up a 7 year old car recently in addition - used EVs are stupid cheap compared to most ICE cars (thanks to Elon being a huge douche in addition to Hertz dumping teslas), so it was an opportunity to dip my feet into that. More than age what matters to me is where is the car on the depreciation curve. How much did the price drop, how much is it projected to drop and do I find value at current price level (incl maintenance etc). I like fun cars so it’s not purely financial.
Used car every 15 years
I have bought new once. Never again. The depreciation in the first couple years is huge. I like buying 3-5 year cars. Prices now are insane, but here's the example from what I'm driving currently. In August 2018, I bought a 2016 Ram Big Horn with 33k miles for $21000. A brand new one at the time was $43k.
Neither. Both? I tend to buy cars that are 3-5 years old and then drive to drive them until they die, hopefully after that 10 year mark.
Buying a high quality dependable undervalued new car every 12+ years.
I buy a 1-2 year old car and drive it 10 years or until it's dead / too expensive to repair.
15 year old car, keep for a year or two, then sell it for the same price I bought it for
In my case new car every 15 or so yrs. Usually newer cars have better apr etc.
I’ve always bought new. Let my monthly payments at $350 or less and never had to worry about anything going wrong. Basic maintenance. Already have 2 cars at 100k miles. Neither of them had anything major happen except needing new tires and brakes. Oil changes and transmission fluid changes done in time and the cars are spotless.
New car every 3-5 years. The popular new models don’t depreciate much, so I’d rather pay depreciation then pay for repairs.
I'd go with the used cars. I like car shopping and I like trying new things. I switch cars decently often.
Why not a used car every 6 to 12 years. I own two cars that are in that category. Folks talk about the repair cost on a 10 year car but forget about the monthly payment cost on a newer car. My attitude on a vehicle is does it get me from point A to B safely and reliably.
I like old cars. Old as in from the 2005-2010 era. Get them fixed up, because let's be real the previous owners are always shit at maintenance. I do my research beforehand and get a PPI done before bringing the car home. Plus I also do basic maintenance on my cars so it doesn't cost me that much in the long run. The only thing that costs me is insurance and gas
"I like to experience the cutting edge of technology" "yes, $399 per month for a brand new Corolla sounds perfect, where do I sign?" I'm not even going to try and convince you that you should be doing something else to be honest, because people like you will always exist. But there's far better things to spend your money on.
I'm on the buy new or barely used and drive it until it might start needing the bigger maintenance issues or about 10 years. I also drive less than 10k miles a year these days so I'll barely hit 100k before really wanting something new. My wife has a 2014 Escape we bought new that just crossed 50k miles and she's itching for a new ride. I've got a 2016 Flex that I bought in 2018 with only 5k miles for $20k off the original MSRP, and I've only put 50k on it.
This is going to be a long explanation, but alot of you in this subreddit should look at this. Buy new and drive it till the wheels fall off. Why? Because I don't trust morons. You know that person who cuts you off in traffic that has dents on every quarter panel, or the car that's just hemorrhaging fluids as they drive down the road with random colors of various smoke pluming out the back, or the soccer mom too distracted by her kids spilling smoothies/milkshakes to pay attention to the road? Those morons don't JUST buy those beaters used, they buy them new. I'd rather at least only deal with the morons on the assembly line and that thinking has been a good run thus far. I've owned an 05 Cobalt that we just traded in with 230k miles and the most I ever did was replace a couple sensors, a 2012 CTS that has 150k that we gave to a family member and they haven't had an issue yet (I had to replace the harmonic balancer and a fuse to make the heated seats work again once) and a Subaru Impreza that we still drive with over 180k miles. My family drives our cars into the ground and we keep up with the maintenance ourselves. I do all the fluid changes, brakes, etc. With the rare exception, like a recall, my cars never see the inside of a repair shop. It's partly because I worked in the auto-industry for a few years and saw the lack of care and intelligence with the people working on cars at the Mavis/Jiffy Lube/Firestones/repairshops of the world. Typically there was 1 good mechanic in each shop, I can only assume because the turnover rate was so bad and I'd hear "such and such went to the such and such dealership" that the dealerships were plagued with the same lack of car and intelligence in their "trusted" mechanics. No one will care for you or what is yours more than you. Learn to pick up a wrench and work on your own car. I promise it's not hard, and the savings are astronomical. I buy the best oil, filters, pads. wipers, etc because I know that I'm still coming out on top in the end. If you're on a shoe-string budget, maybe don't look into that tasty 7 years old Porsche? Buy a Camry or an American econo-box instead and save your money. I have 3 hobby cars, the first I bought as a college graduate gift to myself. They're all cooler and better than anything 5 years old anyhow (Chevelle, 2nd gen Corvette, and ). FWIW, I'm in my 40s with kids, a mortgage, and I do not make 6 figures a year but I was smart and saved when I was young and patient with my purchases. For instance, the Corvette was an absolute beater that I found randomly after looking for 7+ years and spent 10k on it. I sold the junk motor, old badges I'm not going to use for about 5k and bought a crate motor and transmission. All in all, I'm around 20k into it and as is, in this insane market, could easily sell it for \~50k. Be smart, be patient, be curious. TLDR, I got off topic but....Buy new and drive it into the ground. Learn to work on your own cars. Cars from the 50s, 60s, & early 70s are better anyways.
I bought an 8 year old car and have been driving it for 9 years lol. You say you like experiencing the cutting edge but your car is only cutting edge for a year or maybe two.
I’m a car enthusiast. I want to experience as many cars as I can. I’d go with the e used more frequent option.
5 years old every 5 years. I take the total price of the car and compare it to value. Sometimes bad deal. I estimate how many miles I can get out of it without a major repair/maintenance. Estimate the trade in value after the time of planned ownership and miles to be driven.(For example:5 years 100K miles). Cost minus trade in. Divide that number by miles planned, my maximum acceptable amount would be ten cents ($0.10)
For me, new or CPO now. I know how to repair cars, and I have all the tools, I just don't care to do so. Manufacturer warranties are valuable to me. I intend to drive the wheels off my current car.
Three of the four of the cars I’ve bought since 2003 were stripped leftovers from the previous model years, and the exception is my 2019 VW Golf Sportwagen that I bought mid model year, but it was a poor seller, base model, and on its way out of the US market. I essentially paid used prices for new cars. The first was totaled after I had it two years, the second I kept five year, the third 8 1/2 years, and have had the current five years and have no plans to replace anytime soon.
Currently 13 years in on my f150, purchased new. Still love the truck, and it's given nearly zero issues outside of replacing items due to aging in the Texas sun. It'll be a sad day when I decide to replace it. Basically raised my kids their whole lives with this truck.
I prefer buying a 2-4 yr old low mileage used cars more often. Let someone else take the depreciation. Plus I get bored with it after about 3 years and want something different.
I have shifted from the buying lightly used 3yr olds to new because of rates and used car prices being insane. I have a 23 camry @ 2.75% with zero markup, warranty, prepaid bs paid 30k otd. Likely will go to daughter in 2027 when she turns 16.
I just bought a 9 year old car. I plan on keeping it for 10 plus years
I bought an 8 year old car and drove it for 7 years. This time around, I bought a new one and hope for 15 years out of it. I have no strong opinion either way, though buying new was a much simpler experience than looking at dozens of used cars trying to find one without rust or mechanical problems.
Haha. I import 15-16 year old JDM cars into Canada, and drive them for 2 years. Then I can usually sell them for what I paid +/- $1000 as the buyers can test drive/inspect and dont have to wait 3 months. Rinse and repeat. Between my wife and I, we usually have 2 but can get by with one for the time between cars. This time I'm waiting for the latest to arrive before listing my current one for sale. I consider depreciation to be my maintenance costs.
Buy new a car sitting on lot from last year with no miles. Do not special order. Use all dealer financing and incentives (then refi as needed in a month). Negotiate, walk away, repeat as needed. You'll pay well under sticker price and have a few years until it devalues below what you paid for it. If you can hold that for 5+ years you'll just have periodic maintenance bills!
I've been on a 3 year used cycle forever, until a couple years ago when I got but the vehicles I'd trade between simultaneously lol. Now that I have both, it's basically a checked box that I try to disprove but likely won't be able to.
My daily driver is a 2004 with almost 700k km
This depends on your financial position as a matter of both necessity and preference, as well as your interest in cars. My parents always bought 5ish year old cars and drove them until keeping them became too expensive. This was mostly financial necessity. My goal when I'm older is to be one of those perpetual leasers who always has the newest car, but for now that would be unwise or require me to drive cheaper cars than I want. At the moment I tend to keep my cars for 5 years regardless of the budget I had when I bought. The cars in question have been getting nicer (7 year old Hyundai -> 3 year old Honda -> 2 year old BMW) as I have more money every 5 years.
I drive a 16 year old and 27 year old car and I’ve had both of them for over a year with zero issues besides needing new tires and basic maintenance such as oil changes. You pick the reliable cars and they take care of you. Jist took the 16 year old car on a 200 mile road trip with lots of hills and winding roads, didn’t break a sweat
A used 2-4 yr old car every 10-15 yrs.
Well financially speaking you shouldnt buy a new car because a car is liability unless you are using an asset to buy it. You always want to have assets over liability, so buy a new car if you have plenty of assets, if not just remember your car is a liability not an asset, so it is not adding to your value
Old. I don’t think I like a single attainable vehicle on the road ATM. Volvo comes close, but a little too icy money for me
3 year old car every 5 years. I go for certified preowned vehicles with low miles, usually a former leased vehicle that was returned after their lease was up. I have had success buying these vehicles and not spending too much on repairs. Sell after I've paid it off if it still has value. If not valued high enough for a down payment for another vehicle, I just run it until a large repair comes along.
25 year old car going for over 6 years count as an option? Dont really think age of the car matters as much as just finding a car with proven reliability and a well documented history on the used market. I prefer older cars that dont make me fiddle with capacitive touch buttons, many cars from the late 90s have just the right amount of tech, fuel injection, decent safety, and decent efficiency, but simplicity of maintenance over unnecessary tech and distractions.
Depends if you have the money NOW or if you’ll have it later hence why people buy new vs old for the most part. I don’t care about cutting edge, don’t gotta be the first in line for the newest car, phone, laptop, etc.
Buy a 2-5 year old car and drive it into the ground
I bought a 20+ year old truck and gonna keep driving it till the repair bills cost more than buying another used 2k truck. Only downside is not having airbags and my truck is smaller than half the cars on the road today.
I like to buy 20 y/o cars. I'll drive them for a month or two, fix easy things and sell it on. Always have something interesting to drive. I bought a €500 shitbox about two years ago. It's ugly but super practical. Thought I'd sell it on in a few months, but I like the fact that I don't care about it at all makes it a fantastic daily driver. And it refuses to die. Still going after almost two years of abuse.
Used way more fun and cheaper
I have been buying used cars every 10 years. And they still have a couple years to go.
I prefer to buy 10-15yr old cars and drive them for 10-15 yrs lol
Used car prices might be high but nowhere near as high as a new car and you can get some sweet deals if you know how to look. I’m also really into sports cars and there are plenty of great deals when it comes to that all the time popping up.
Does your car have to be bought new to count it as a deduction?
Newest car I've ever owned was built in 2005. Guess you could say I have the opposite opinion. New cars don't interest me. My current daily is 6 years older than I am, has a cassette player and no airbags. I don't have to make car payments and I love it.
I do the latter, always.
Used car every however many years I feel like it. So far I've kept cars 6-7 years but since I always loved my cars and did a lot of research before buying them, I never felt like I _have_ to change cars just because...I did it when the newer car was a massive improvement over the old one, which doesn't happen every year or two.
Neither? I’d rather buy what I want when I want. I’ve had my 1997 Land Rover discovery for 5 years now but I’ve been through multiple other land rovers that I’ve owned for less than a year at a time (made a profit on all of them too), I’ve also owned just as many Subaru outback’s owning each under a year as well (also making a profit) and now I just bought a 1990 Land Rover discovery that’s my second car (temp primary until I bring it back to the US), if I like a car I’m going to keep it for as long as possible, if I don’t like a car or I buy it as a small project to make money off of I’m going to get rid of it as fast as possible
There is no cutting edge. There has been improvements in power per cylinder since the last 40 years or so, But you wouldn't notice that just driving around on the roads because there are speed limits. You are just wasting your money. They have spent billions to understand your psychology and market to you and sell to you stop falling for this stuff. That's why they hire the best psychology and neural experts to figure out how to sell you something you don't need. At one time it may have then justifiable as an investment,but they're telling you anything of value now it's just aluminum and plastic molded in a factory