Car buying tips?

[GTFan]

Everyone says to buy used and let someone else take the depreciation but I'm not seeing much depreciation on used Hondas. If I can get new for the same or just slightly more than used, why buy a car with 20k miles of wear and tear?

What am I missing?

You're not looking far enough back, a 2-3 year old Honda or Toyota with a little more miles is generally going to be cheaper than new. I bought a 2015 CR-V in 2018 from Carvana with 25k miles and saved about $8k over new. For a car with 2 years left on warranty, not that I've had any issues since then. The car looked and smelled new, very little wear (it was a Florida car with clean Carfax). Tires and brakes had been replaced but I doubt the brakes needed it.

Anything under 50k miles is barely broken in with these makes. I used cargurus.com to search for deals in my area but ended up with Carvana because my son had a good experience with them when he bought an Infiniti earlier. And Carvana had very competitive prices at the time along with a 7-day money-back guarantee and a 90-day full coverage warranty.

 

[Lsbcal]

I was thinking about this as well. I should factor in some fender benders as he will be a new driver. Maybe I'll look a bit older and hope there is more depreciation a that point. There does however appear to be high demand for used Hondas. Maybe I'll go back to my original plan of giving him my 2013 Honda Pilot and buying a new car for me. DW wants him to have something smaller though. Back to discussions with DW.

Story: in the Bay Area my wife worked for a lady who had a teen. He was very responsible. One night he was driving the VW bug he had and stopped at a stop sign. Another driver hit him from behind. The steering wheel crushed his chest and he died. Probably wasn't the safest car for their son.

So safety first. Looks should be dead last.

 

[anothercog]

Story: in the Bay Area my wife worked for a lady who had a teen. He was very responsible. One night he was driving the VW bug he had and stopped at a stop sign. Another driver hit him from behind. The steering wheel crushed his chest and he died. Probably wasn't the safest car for their son.

So safety first. Looks should be dead last.

Yikes. Given my son is at best 100 lbs soaking wet, I'm rethinking the smaller car. Thanks.

 

[pb4uski]

I'm not sure how long ago Lsbcal's friends experience was, but today's small cars are very safe. There is also a factor that smaller cars are more nimble to be able to avoid some accidents... but obviously not getting hit from behind.

 

[braumeister]

Yep, some things are just unavoidable. I got rear-ended by a drunk driver once while stopped at a red light. Knocked me into the car in front of me who hit the one in front of him, etc. Five in all, because the drunk was speeding at the time. This was in the downtown area of a big city, early in the evening. Fortunately there were no injuries. Even back then (this was in 1975) my small, lightweight car had good seat belts and was still actually drivable (barely) after the collision. So the safety aspect is highly variable.

 

[Lsbcal]

I'm not sure how long ago Lsbcal's friends experience was, but today's small cars are very safe. There is also a factor that smaller cars are more nimble to be able to avoid some accidents... but obviously not getting hit from behind.

I don't mean to cast doubts on small cars. Just find a safe car. Look at crash test results, etc.

 

[38Chevy454]

I would never get a new driver a brand new car. Especially to drive to school. Get an older one that has a few small dents and dings with around 100K, but decent maintenance history. School parking lot will just cause some dings and dents anyway.


Your old Pilot is a good choice I think. You get a new car and the Pilot can be the hand-me-down. You know the Pilot is good history and is reliable. BTW, a Pilot is not a big vehicle that your son will have hard time to get used to driving. Bigger than a small car, yes. But smaller than a full size truck or SUV. The Pilot may get a bit less mpg than a small car, but for the miles driven it is negligible difference in the long run. Insurance should not be too bad for a teenage driver on the Pilot. Young male driver is high insurance cost.

 

[Koolau]

I'd go with the oldest yet relatively low-mileage Toyota (or maybe Honda or Subaru) you could find. A 10 year old Corolla with 90K and preferably with some minor dings, dents and scrapes to lower the price. Such a car will last a college career and teach a certain level of car maintenance. He doesn't need a new car to drive to school. Just my 2 cents worth so YMMV.

 

[bobbyr]

Honda Fit discontinued this year so your can pick the 2020 model up for cheap.

The new Yaris is really a Mazda 2 sedan but drive nice.

To save money I would get something within three years, one owner, and anywhere between 80k to 100k miles mainly because it depreciates more with high mileage but not enough for the rust to be the problem. Having the mechanic to go over the used car you wish to buy before the purchase is a must.

in 2015, we looked at a Fit for my wife...but the test drive was extremely unimpressive -- ended up getting a Subaru Crosstrek that she absolutely loves

we had rare foot of snow a month ago and I had a blast driving the Crosstrek around

 

[anothercog]

So it’s decided, My son can use the Pilot I bought another car. I bought a 2021 Chrysler Pacifica Plug in Hybrid. There were some great rebates and with the $7,500 tax credit it was cheaper than a new Odyssey.

This is my first hybrid/plug in. Looking forward to seeing how long we can go before a fill up.

 

[Lsbcal]

That was a fast decision. Happy driving!

 

[Aerides]

So it’s decided, My son can use the Pilot I bought another car. I bought a 2021 Chrysler Pacifica Plug in Hybrid. There were some great rebates and with the $7,500 tax credit it was cheaper than a new Odyssey.

This is my first hybrid/plug in. Looking forward to seeing how long we can go before a fill up.

That was a fast decision. Happy driving!

Ah yeah that would be a good detail to include earlier - an 8 year old Honda Pilot already in the garage - give the older, reliable, safe car to the kid, and get a new(ish) one for yourself instead!

 

[mitchjav]

DW and I decided to buy an extra car for son to drive himself to school. We are thinking of a Honda Civic.

The question is whether to buy new or used? I'm looking at somewhat used vehicles (2019) and they are only priced about 10% less than new MSRP (at Carmax and AutoNation).

The past few vehicles we have bought new I have bought below dealer invoice which was around 10% less than MSRP.

Everyone says to buy used and let someone else take the depreciation but I'm not seeing much depreciation on used Hondas. If I can get new for the same or just slightly more than used, why buy a car with 20k miles of wear and tear?

What am I missing?

Bought a Hyundai for DD last year (she paid for half). Went through a dealer who buys cars at auction. Landed a vehicle (last year model) with less than 2K miles on it for $8 or $9K less than new.... might try that route...

 

[anothercog]

That was a fast decision. Happy driving!

I can be pretty impulsive some time. We just went to check out the trim levels but we got swept up in it but I also knew what I wanted to pay going in. The rebates are really good right now and I got a really good price so I was happy with it.

It will be DW's new daily driver. She's been wanting a more modern car. I'll let DS use the 2013 Pilot. I'll use the 2005 Odyssey until it become unreliable (or DS totals the Pilot, in which case he'll have to drive the Odyssey) then get something new for myself.

 

[eytonxav]

I think the differential between a 2019 used and a new one is relatively narrow, because the 2019 is still fairly new. Why not look for a low mileage car that is a bit older, maybe 2016-17, and compare against that.

 

[RetMD21]

Bought 3 new Hondas and had problems with all of them. They do hold theri value. I think Hyundai is underrated and the used ones are a steal.

 

[GTFan]

Agree, a lot of folks overlook Hyundai/Kia but they make great reliable cars now. Part of the stigma, here at least, is that the dealers are targeting lower-income folks and are therefore pretty crappy.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Nobody has posted this yet...

This is an unusual year to buy a car. I have read that due to electronics and other (foam ) shortages That Honda has stopped production in at least two of their factories. Many other OEMs have the same issue.

So supply and demand means that, this year, you will probably not get so great of a deal on a new unit.

Similarly used car prices have gone way high this year.

Perhaps what some have posted is vaguely true, but this year both new and used are likely to be pricey

 

[meleana]

How old is he? When our son was 16 we were lucky to be given a free toyota corolla for him- old- 1991-but in great shape and not a lot of mileage. He drove that to hogh school and his part time job until college. That;s when we gave him our old 2004 RAV 4 until it died and at age 29- in 2017- he bought his own car- a brand new 2017 Suburu Imprezza. He special ordered it and everything.



And a few weeks later he totaled the car after crashing into a cement medium at a toll booth. Thanks be to God he was unhurt. If you were to see the car you would have thought the worst.


Insurance paid out and he bought another one the dealer was able to get off the lot of another dealer in another state, but not with all the bells and whistles and the color- his original car had.

 

[gooddog]

Bought both of our cars new, and for less than the used ones (same model/features) were going for. The dealer doesn't get all the kickbacks from the manufacture on used cars that it does for selling new cars - simple as that really.


Buy new, don't have somebody else's problem. Even if it costs you 1k - 3k more, isn't it worth it?

 

[Music Lover]

Bought both of our cars new, and for less than the used ones (same model/features) were going for. The dealer doesn't get all the kickbacks from the manufacture on used cars that it does for selling new cars - simple as that really.


Buy new, don't have somebody else's problem. Even if it costs you 1k - 3k more, isn't it worth it?

It's extremely rare that a used car sell for more than a new one.

My 3-year old Acura TLX cost less than 70% of new. It's been 100% problem free so I have no regrets.

 

[shafer9]

It doesn’t have to be a Honda. I totally agree on getting something that’s a year or two old with 15,000 miles on it. It will run forever and you don’t have to pay the depreciation. But there were Toyotas around. Kia and Hyundai make a terrific car now. Mazdas a good value and depreciates quickly. Etc.

 

[gooddog]

It's extremely rare that a used car sell for more than a new one.

My 3-year old Acura TLX cost less than 70% of new. It's been 100% problem free so I have no regrets.

Got my 2016 Jeep Cherokee (new) for ~$7.5k ($21.3k vs 28.72k) less than sticker, and it was cheaper than what they were asking for 2 year old Jeeps sitting in the parking lot. Got in on 'Black Friday', so there were some good discounts. This is with 4WD.



Got my 2019 Ram 1500 (new) for ~$11k ($21.59k vs 32.39k) less than sticker, and it was MUCH cheaper than what they were asking for 1 - 2 year old Ram 1500s sitting in the parking lot. Even got them to deliver it, although I had to pay for that ($750 for a delivery that was more than 400 miles away - one way). This is with the RamBox.



Maybe I got lucky? Or know how to negotiate?


The dealer that I bought the Ram from has offered to buy the truck back for more than I paid, they need used truck inventory for those who think they are saving money buying used - his words.



You can see I matched your 'savings' of 30%, but got the first 3 years of life on both purchases.

 

[teachme]

The question is whether to buy new or used?

Late to the posting party but usually watch new car rebates and specials versus a low mileage certified used and make the decision based on reasonable price comparison.

A month ago purchased a certified used 2018 Equinox with under 10K miles for about US$4K cheaper than the negotiated price on an equally equipped 2021 Equinox so the decision was easy...certified used it is

 

[eddiegorniakjr]

If you pay cash when buying a new car should you expect to pay more or less?