can't because existing votes could fall into 'always new' or not. no biggie.

 

there's no 'right' answer, even financially. those who 'always' buy used figuring they avoid the initial depreciation hit are right but they're buying an older car. may not be 'much' different, but it is different, and the warranty is less if any left, and the biggest variable, there's no guarantee (despite carfax etc.) as to how the car was really treated.

sounds like buying cars off lease, but i guess a private party can only sell a leased car if they buy it out of lease first, which makes the whole thing kinda complex.

just wondering, how do you find such cars? sites like autotrader?

and if a car fits all those criteria, i've no doubt the owner is pretty 'proud' of their used car so the used price will be higher than average. that is, unless someone's in a jam and HAS to sell.

 

i guess i just love seeing an odometer with less than 100 mi. on it.

 

and the new car smell..

 

From autotrader all of them, none of them were lease(whoever buys the lease intent to keep it not sell it). The price was way less than at the dealer but the owner wanted to get more than the dealer/carmax would have offer him as trade in. so win/win.

 

I used to only go new, but I have tried used luxury and am hooked. If you find a low mileage car still under warranty ( that can be extended ) that's 2-4 years old you can usually buy a much nicer car for a great price and still have peace of mind that the warranty is still good

 

yep, I usually try to buy used with at least 1 year of OEM warranty left

 

New, unless it is from family or friends. I never plan to sell any of my cars after my first one.

My first car was heavily abused despite selling it at very low mileage (~15k) in my senior year of high school. It looked pristine and had all the maintenance records, but the way I drove it... I am not sure it would last to 50k miles without major engine problems.

 

New if:

1) acceptable negotiated price,
2) great financing options (like 0% APR),
3) and keeping the car for a long term period instead of a frivolous temporary secondary car.

 

Always pre-owned ("used").
Let someone else pick up the initial depreciation.
I never worry about shopping carts bumping into my car, or getting that inevitable "first scratch" on my car.

I've driven many cars with under 200 miles on them while on business (new rentals from Hertz, Avis, etc). I'd rather drive my old LS430 than those "new" cars.

Sent from an Android device using IB Automotive Group forum reader.

 

My last car was 1 year used and i drove it for ~7 years. I bought my IS brand new and it is ~7.5 years old now. My next car will likely be used. The older i get, the less money i want to spend on an "average" car.

 

My wife drives a vehicle for 6 to 8 years so I always buy her a new one (the 13 ES300h replaced an 06 Volvo S80). Since I put more miles on a vehicle, I usually drive it 4 to 6 years and typically buy used with 15,000 to 20,000 miles left on the warranty. However my MDX was bought new due to the cheap financing as I could earn more on the funds.

In looking at some of the December lease deals on various models, if you could negotiate the capital cost to a good number, it would be tempting to lease and then wait to see if the car was worth more than the residual. I used to play that game in the 90s on Yukons when GM was using unreasonably high residuals just to move vehicles.

 

It depends.

Luxury cars I have only bought USED. But my IS350 was the exception. Very good deal I got.

But an average car I would buy new.

Cars here are neglected and driven like crap and are too risky to buy used.

Besides I cannot afford a brand new Lexus :P

 

Used CPO'd....saved $40k vs buying new on my vantage and $15k on our GLK. i took the money saved on the GLK and bought a rolex for my wife and i.

 

A used car can quickly become more expensive than new, if you figure in repairs and time lost from work to attend to these repairs. I'm pretty much sticking with new at this point of my life.