Originally posted by: ElFenix
it's not the repair cost, it's the chance that i'll be without a car for an extended period. if you're mechanically inclined and have a good toolset you could buy $1000 cars, keep them running for a year, sell them for what you bought them, and spend less in a year than many do in a month. but i wouldn't really feel comfortable with that unless i had two cars.
the best combination of modern performance, styling, reliability, safety, and value is probably buying 2 to 3 year old off-lease cars with regular amounts of mileage and keeping them for several years. with a lease at least you don't have to worry as much about why someone would get rid of a 2 year old car.
Originally posted by: Gillbot
Originally posted by: ElFenix
it's not the repair cost, it's the chance that i'll be without a car for an extended period. if you're mechanically inclined and have a good toolset you could buy $1000 cars, keep them running for a year, sell them for what you bought them, and spend less in a year than many do in a month. but i wouldn't really feel comfortable with that unless i had two cars.
the best combination of modern performance, styling, reliability, safety, and value is probably buying 2 to 3 year old off-lease cars with regular amounts of mileage and keeping them for several years. with a lease at least you don't have to worry as much about why someone would get rid of a 2 year old car.
I try to avoid off lease, corporate and ex-rentals. They are absolutely abused for the most part.
Originally posted by: senseamp
Depends on the model's depreciation curve. I think Mazda3 is a better value new, since it doesn't depreciate as much. I was waiting a couple years to buy a used one, but after checking out the prices on used models, I bought a new one.
Originally posted by: vi_edit
Originally posted by: Gillbot
Originally posted by: ElFenix
it's not the repair cost, it's the chance that i'll be without a car for an extended period. if you're mechanically inclined and have a good toolset you could buy $1000 cars, keep them running for a year, sell them for what you bought them, and spend less in a year than many do in a month. but i wouldn't really feel comfortable with that unless i had two cars.
the best combination of modern performance, styling, reliability, safety, and value is probably buying 2 to 3 year old off-lease cars with regular amounts of mileage and keeping them for several years. with a lease at least you don't have to worry as much about why someone would get rid of a 2 year old car.
I try to avoid off lease, corporate and ex-rentals. They are absolutely abused for the most part.
Depends on the car. A leased BMW, Audi and Lexus are usually in exceptional shape. They likely had every routine maintenance done on them because they were free under warranty. I also don't know of many professional people that run the ever loving crap out of their luxury sedans leased, owned, or otherwise.
I'll put my faith on a 3 year old luxury sedan being in better shape than a 3 year old midsize "normal" sedan that likely has had pets, coffee, kids, mud, mulch ect thrown in it and probably had minimal maintenance work done on it because the owner was too cheap.
Originally posted by: desy
I'll buy new when I want Jap quality and buying used makes no sense cause they depreciate so little in the first 3 years. I'll also know the vehicle history
I'll buy 2-3 yr old used domestic when I want a deal, and have someone else take the depreciation hit for a car that 'when you buy the right one' will have decent reliability.
I buy really old when I want something that with minimal maintenance runs but I don't want to have to rely on it or worry if it gets thrashed IE I bought a 20 year old Yamaha motorcycle as a toy 5 yrs ago. I could sell it today for what I bought it for I've bought one rear tire and battery for it in 5 yrs.
Typically no matter what I buy I'll drive it til I've wrung most of the value out of it then junk it or sell it cheap to be rid of it.
Originally posted by: dirtboy
Always buy new. You always get the best miles the car has to offer. If you buy used you buy someone else's problems.
Originally posted by: Mermaidman
I see used cars (usually imports) priced higher than new ones of the same model!
Best value are used domestics a few yr old. e.g. Buick Century