If you have a mechanic you trust, sometimes they’re aware of good solid cars that their customers are selling or disposing of to get newer ones as well.
That was what happened to our car—the mechanic had a niece who wanted a car when I was getting a new one so I sold it to her for the minimal amount the dealership was offering me, $400. It was a 20 year old TOYOTA van with just over 100,000 miles. Everyone was happy with the deal.
My relatives have had good experiences buying rental cars from the rental company. They get them at good prices that work well for them for about 5+ or more years.
We aren’t able to do private sale due to needing a loan- we really have no cash to buy with. We think we are going with an accent. Seems to be the cheapest out the door besides the Spark, which didn’t give us a good feeling at all.
“Go used. New cars depreciate quickly so after the the first year or so the prices become reasonable.”
That is frequently the case new vs. used but, as several of us have mentioned, there is a different phenomenon going on right now due to protracted sluggish new car sales. Cars that are several years old aren’t that cheaper if cheaper at all. I’d take advantage of any incentives and negotiate like heck on a new car.
If someone is low on funds, I can see the appeal of a new car even if a basic model for the warranty that will go with that new car. Hyundai has a pretty nice warranty I think. (don’t quote me on it)
I’m a fan of used cars- that’s all we’ve ever bought. I like to buy 3 year old cars with lowish miles and some warranty left. (Exception: dh’s yard truck was much older).
The last used car I bought for myself was 3 years old and had 5500 miles on it and 2 years left on the warranty. I bought it for half of the original purchase price and it’s been fabulous.
I also bought my son a used car in the same age range but with slightly higher miles. Definitely a good deal.
Both cars were bought from a dealership.
I’d buy new if the price was right. Don’t discount new cars off hand.
Be prepared to walk out. I think it’s good to walk away for pretty much any reason (oooh- forgot that physical therapy/ dog grooming/hair cut appointment!) and tell them you’ll get back to them. End of the month is always better if you can wait. Remember to pay attention to total cost and not just the monthly payment, if you can. P
We always buy cars that are 4 or 5 years old and – in 30 years! - have never had it go wrong. Try Carvana ( https://www.carvana.com ) they offer financing which might get you around the loan issue.
I wanted to update everyone- we bought a car! We ended up with a 2018 Honda Civic. We paid what I think is a great price for it and it only has 10,000 miles on it. It is certified preowned so comes with a good warranty and was cheaper than all the new ones we looked at (besides the Spark, which we crossed off). We ended up looking and buying in a different state than where we live, going through my in-laws and a dealership they have a decades old many-car relationship with. They are also in the process of buying an EV through them, so they were happy to work with them.
I’ve done it all ways, and I don’t know that one ends up being that much better in the end. Zero percent financing is hard to beat, but you have to time that with when new models come out, so it doesn’t work when you need a car right now.
I did get a great deal with cars for 2 kids with opposite issues. One had 80,000 miles but was only 4 years old. Just did that one, but I think it’s been a reliable model, and should get him through college.
The other was a 2001 with 35,000 miles. That car spent its whole life in Arizona, and when snowbirds went there in the winter they drove it. I think the last decade they didn’t drive it hardly at all. Tbh, that car was a pain with a lot of problems the first couple of months, mostly because it had been sitting. The tires, belts, etc. still age, albeit at a slower rate. Lots of things went wrong. Although I got it super cheap. And I think I paid $300 or so to fix it. All the other problems the dealer took care of that first couple months. And after that it ran (still runs) great.
Having someone you trust to buy it from matters a tremendous amount when buying used in my opinion. In that last case, he made it right even though he wasn’t legally obligated to. But he knew I would be back, and I have bought 3 cars from him since then. So when I had problems he took care of me. I think if I had bought that anywhere else I would have just been out a couple thousand fixing everything that went wrong that first couple months.
I haven’t done new for a while because it just didn’t work out, but I will say it is really nice to know that if anything comes up that it gets fixed on someone else’s nickel. And usually that first few years not much goes wrong anyway.
This one actually came with the whole 3yr/36000 mi bumper to bumper Honda warranty and a 7yr/72000 mi power train. I feel like we are covered as best we can be and got the best we could afford.
Congrats—in general, our extended family has had excellent experiences with TOYOTA & Honda. My mechanic says those are his favorite brands for reliability.