[JohnR]

Just wondering, a thought triggered in the "Are you loyal to a brand (of car)?" thread. My current vehicle was bought new and I've just realized I've owned it longer than any other car I've bought (*). So I'm in the "new" camp. (Talking about current/future)

[mcgsxr]

Over the years I have owned a number of cars.  Most were in the 2-4 year old used range.  Twice I have bought new.  Both times related to family vehicles. 

I think we are past that now.  The kids are older and we are done producing new ones.

Bought a new to us 2014 RDX this year.  I am pining for a Mustang convertible but will be at least 2 years old. 

[JLM]

Living in country confines of the great white north, reliability is the paramount issue, to which I've spoiled my wife.  My dad was a mechanical genius, so much so that he simply knew by intuition, but was a terrible teacher such that he couldn't pass the knowledge on, which together makes me a prime candidate for new cars.  Over the years we've probably averaged 50,000 miles (80,000 km) per year.  Hopefully when wifey retires that will go way down.

[JakeJ]

I bought new one time.  Never again.  My best car purchase was used certified.

[Blackmore]

My wife and I buy new because we keep them until they can't be fixed. Wife's Beetle made it to 364.000 before someone totaled it for her and my Jetta is at 305,000 and still running great. I did break my own rules by buying a 2004 corvette with only 29,000 on it but I'll keep it until I can't get my fat body in and out of the cockpit. :lol:

[kclark0395]

The only new car I've ever purchased was actually my first, a 1984 Honda CRX! Since then I've only bought used and tend to look for cars with around 50-60K miles, 2-3 years old with detailed maintenance records. I like road trips so the last 3 cars I bought were over the internet form across the country. Took a train or plane to pick it up and drove back. Great fun!

[macrojack]

I can't afford to pay cash and can't stand having car payments. Barring a massive unforeseen windfall and an equally unforeseeable change of philosophy, I will never own a new car. The folly of paying interest on a depreciating asset should be self-evident to all but sales figures indicate that millions of Americans gleefully ignore this fundamentally sound advice. Of course, if no one bought a new car, we would eventually deplete our supply of used ones.

Certain car makers build more reliability and durability into their cars, making them the best choice for used purchases. This is my primary reason for remaining with Toyota.

Another point about car ownership that bears consideration is how much you use it. Cars (and trucks) have only so many miles in them. If you can make that car last you more than 10 years rather than less than 5, you are well ahead of the game. Move closer to work or work closer to home. This can save you quite a lot of money in depreciation speed and operation and maintenance costs. Buy American at your own risk. The big three automakers are building better cars now but the credit for that goes to Toyota and Honda, not Detroit.

Our two cars are a 1997 Toyota Tacoma with 126367 miles on the clock. Since I sold my rental houses, this truck only accrues about 1200 miles/year. The other car is a 2006 Toyota Prius which shows 114,743 miles. It adds about 4000 miles/year to that total. Both were purchased used, of course. I expect to never need another car at these rates of consumption.

[mcgsxr]

I get that the question was about buying - I wonder about leasing.

I wonder about it - because I have never done it, even when I was a territory sales rep and the taxation advantages in Canada were significant.

I know folks for whom cars are just a rolling lease payment, and at the end they roll that payment into something else.  Never done it myself.

[mresseguie]

Back in 2003, we bought two new vehicles - 1 Honda Odyssey and 1 Honda Accord. Our son has the Accord with 90k miles on it. One of my sisters has the Odyssey with 170k on it.

Since then, I bought a 2007 Tacoma Access Cab Prerunner in 2009. It had just 6200 miles on it then. Now it's got about 60k on it.

We've already decided there's little to no point in buying new anymore. We'll look for 2 to 3 year-old cars in the future, and pay cash.

[twitch54]

bought plenty of both over the years, each buying philosophy has it's own merits. Those that say owning a vehicle makes zero sense from an investment strategy are not always correct ............. my latest purchase (used 50 years old).....

[S Clark]

For me, cars are not an ego statement.  I buy transportation, always paying cash.  For most of my life, that meant used vehicles. Now I find that the drop in value between new and used isn't as great as it was in the past (and I have a few more $).  My new 2013 Camry was $21 000, when Camrys that were 3 years old and 45K+ miles were still bringing $16K+.  At that point, new is about as cheap as used when thinking in terms of cents/expected mile.  I don't mind paying for a bit more comfort, but I have no interest in cars that run faster than 85mph, or corner like race cars, or can go 0-60 in 3 seconds. 
I drive a car until I begin to doubt the value of repairing it...usually somewhere between 200-300K miles. 
So my vote on this survey is, it depends.

[thunderbrick]

My wife and I buy new because we keep them until they can't be fixed. Wife's Beetle made it to 364.000 before someone totaled it for her and my Jetta is at 305,000 and still running great. I did break my own rules by buying a 2004 corvette with only 29,000 on it but I'll keep it until I can't get my fat body in and out of the cockpit.

So, it's for sale, then, Mark?

[JoshK]

I had owned 4 vehicles including my current Jeep Wrangler ('02).  My second vehicle was purchased new.  But that is when I lived in California and a car was a big part of your lifestyle.  After that I moved to NYC (and later Toronto) where a car was a luxury for convenience of getting out of town or running errands.   So my last two vehicles I purchased used off my folks.   One was a Subaru outback that served its purpose and I wasn't worried about parking it on the street and the abuse to your bumpers that comes with it. 

My last vehicle is completely impractical for a DD, my heavily modded Jeep Wrangler.  It was my dad's toy for many years before he moved to where off road trails were too far away to use.  So I bought it off him.  I use it to run errands and get out of the city and do a little digging in the mud and climbing whalebacks.   I commute by subway 15 mins to work and take cabs/subway when I go out at night to a bar or restaurant, so the gas guzzling is of little consequence. 

[JLM]

Unless you know the care/owner, buying used is a crap shoot.   

Depreciation is the unspoken factor in car ownership.  Buying a brand with poor resale value is a mistake, usually reflected in lots of expensive repair shop time and added cost at time of swapping.  Or worse yet, if involved in an accident can leave you with more remaining payoff than than insurance payoff.

Buying a used Honda/Toyota or another well respected brand is almost pointless (they depreciate so slowly). 

Leasing typically only works in a business application or when you can drive the number of miles in the standard lease agreement.  Even then it's more expensive than financing with never ending payments and after market add-ons is a no-no.  Of course you can be charged for "excessive wear and tear".

[brooklyn]

I’ve bought new and pre-owned over the years. The last ten years it’s been a couple of
preowned Honda’s of various models.. Great cars that retain there value and run well..

[Mike B.]

Both for me also. It was fun to buy new when you sat down and went through individual features you wanted. Then they went to groups. If you want X you get Y and Z also. If you are in a big hurry and willing to shop nationally or within a region, you can usually pick up the make and model you want only a year or two old with low miles for a huge discount from the selling price.

[zybar]

I have purchased new, used, and leased.

Each has it pluses and minuses, but at this point I am pretty much just buying used.

Three out of four of our current cars were bought used (2009 BMW M3, 2007 John Cooper Works MINI, and 2001 Audi A6) and one new (2012 Mazda CX-9).

The BMW and MINI looked like new and had very low miles when purchased.  One was bought off a dedicated BMW forum and the other from a best friend. 

In both cases, it couldn't have worked out any better!!  Awesome cars and the 40-50% depreciation was swallowed by somebody else. 

Just finished paying off the Mazda (we purchased it with an interest fee loan) and I expect to get a lot more miles out of it (it "only" has 110,000 miles).

Based on my research, getting a used car that is 3-5 years old with low mileage seems to hit the sweet spot and what I now shoot for.

George

[rpf]

1/4 new, 3/4 used, with the last few being used. I put so few miles on these days that buying new, the car would start to have major age related problems before it had serious mileage on it.

[glynnw]

Depends on the car.  I have had 2 Subaru WRX's that I bought new, because I was afraid a used one probably had been owned by a kid who abused it.  But I did buy a used Porsche that, aside from a new clutch, ran well for 5 years until I sold it.   I don't think I would hesitate  to buy used if the vehicle was probably owned by older person - say a Buick.  I pay cash or don't get it.  I don't think I have paid any interest in the last 10 years.

[WC]

In the past we have bought used cars. The last 5 or 6 we all bought new, intending to keep them a while. That worked with my Toyota 4-runner (11 years), but not with my wife's last 2 vehicles, Saab 9-3 (good car, but no dealer after it went belly up - 6.5 years) and the Kia Optima (1.5 years - looked good, but the car wasn't going last mechanically, and it needed new tires).

If you want a used Honda or Toyota of recent vintage with low miles, you are not saving all that much and in some cases the price is the same as the deal you could get from a dealer for a new one. So pick out a new one with the options you want.