Buying a new or used car can be such a fun experience. During the first test drive your blood is pumping and you're excited to feel what this potential new car has to offer. Then you take a closer look into the car and see what kind of options it is equipped with and what cool features the car will be providing you with for years to come. And before driving the new car off into the sunset you have to secure financing and pay for the vehicle. Everything seems like so much fun until it is time to pay up. So I've listed the top reasons why purchasing a used car in some cases is better than going brand new. Remember the Pink Floyd song titled "Money" with the coin dropping sound as the intro? That is how I feel every time I walk into a new car dealer. I look at these amazing new cars with awe, but can't seem to get the "quarters falling out of the slot machine" sound from my mind. The price tags are so high, only for the car to be worth half of that two years down the road (no pun intended.) Depreciation on a vehicle within the first couple years is very high and you end up losing a good deal of money by buying a brand new car versus one that has a couple years of road testing.
The savings from a much lower price tag on a used car gives you an opportunity to customize the car to your liking. The most common addition is probably new rims and tires. Some bigger flashy rims add style and uniqueness to your vehicle. A personal favorite of mine is installing a new car stereo. I don't mean just replacing some poorly made stock speakers; I mean adding a subwoofer box, component speakers, kick panel speakers, a new radio/CD/mp3 head unit, and of course a DVD player with TV screens mounted in the seats. If a stereo system is not your thing, then maybe a new exhaust system or supercharger to add performance will suit your liking. Whatever it is, adding new features like these can only cost you a couple hundred to a few thousand dollars, versus the many thousand you will be saving by buying used.
A big cost that a lot of people don't think about when searching for a new car is insurance costs. New cars often come with a high priced monthly insurance payment due to the high cost of repair for new parts. There are other reasons taken into consideration as well, but the fact is, used car's Blue Book value is significantly less than a new car. For this reason your insurance costs will be substantially less, furthering your savings.
When buying a particular used car you should have a good idea of what to expect. Before the purchase you should have already done some online research into the specific make and model you are interested in and know of any recalls or common problems associated with the vehicle. By the time a car is being resold, all of these problems should have surfaced and not come as a surprise. Sometimes buying a new car there is blind faith that the manufacturer is going to give you a perfect product with no problems for many miles. This could be true for some new cars, but many others you end up with the hassle of bringing it back to the dealer for fixing design flaws and recalls the manufacturer did not foresee.
Car makers have made a point of producing a more reliable and long-lasting vehicle over the years. Most cars on the road these days are expected to last well over one hundred thousand miles, sometimes double that. This is something to remember when considering a car that is two to five years old. There are many good years that lie ahead for that particular vehicle. The advantages to buying a used car might just make it worth saving some cash to use wherever you desire.
Jake Newberry sells for NuStar Motors, a used cars Sacramento dealer, which specializes in lifted 4x4 trucks and fast cars such as used Mustangs, Cameros, and Honda V-techs.
