Re: Buying a used car, might as well buy new?
 

And if you go over that 3,919 limit, they will ... take you outside and shoot you? Deport you? No, they charge a per-mile fee, which - if you were careful when negotiating the lease - MAY not be a bad number. People behave like the lease mileage limits are absolute limits; they aren't. Calculate what it would cost to go 5,000 miles over the limit and then weigh that in the overall calculation.


More generally ....


I don't see from the OP where he/she was looking for used cars. The great thing about new cars is there are great services out there (eg, Costco car buying service) that lets you specify exactly what car you want (make, model, options, etc) and get an absolutely fixed quote that the dealer must honor. But for used cars, there are simply too many variables to make it as easy to comparison shop. Mileage, body condition, tire wear, installed options, etc all make it harder to compare any two used vehicles. I suspect you can get a used car at a very appropriate discount over the cost of a new car, but you are going to have to do the homework and hold firm on your offer.


I bought my used car from a lease-return dealer. I got a 3 year old car with 12k miles, and every option under the sun (many I didn't want...) for a considerable discount over the same car new.


ETA: One more thing ... even though you can get an exact price quote for a new car, if you want to trade in your existing car, they have great flexibility there and it's easy to get ripped off there. I was all set to buy a brand new car, and had a great price all worked out (thanks to the Costco program) but they would not give me anywhere near what I wanted (felt was appropriate after much research) and ended up walking away. It really does help if you can keep any 'trade-in' out of the equation!

Re: Buying a used car, might as well buy new?
 

If you're planning on returning it anyway, maybe you should just return it early?

Like Steerpike said, it may make sense just to swallow the per-mile charge. .... Or maybe a hybrid approach - use your car for local journeys and then rent a car for longer trips, though if you drove 1,000 miles in a weekend, even if the per-mile charge on your leased vehicle was 20¢ per mile, you wouldn't come out much ahead by renting a vehicle for three days.

Re: Buying a used car, might as well buy new?
 

Mileage is just a number and not always a reflection of condition, imo. I have an e46 which has hit 260k and runs like new (even has orig trans fluid), but it might be part of an exception. I tend to notice that most problems arise from lack of consistent oil changes .... and people tend to trade etc when something like a timing belt should be replaced - they rather shell out a downpayment again and borrow a crap load of money rather than to spend a fraction of that amount to do preventative maintenance ...

I've always wondered between the two; who are more car status conscious - septics or limmies?

Re: Buying a used car, might as well buy new?
 

Sometimes you're dinged for returning early. A lease is a contract afterall. But yeah, run the math!!

Re: Buying a used car, might as well buy new?
 

I was assuming that the monthly lease payments would still be due, either through the original end of the lease, or as a lump sum on surrender.

Re: Buying a used car, might as well buy new?
 

Yes. This was such a surprise to us when we researched getting a second car. We paid about 10 k or. 2 year old jeep compass with 44 k. In less than a year it had a major problem. Luckily the entire computer was changed under warranty but I would never buy another jeep after this experience. Three years ago we bought a bottom of the range Chevy sonic. It was labor day weekend and my husband called many dealers till the final one offered the best price. It was only 12 k Inc alltaxes and fees. We have not had a single problem and it was a much betterinvestment than the jeep. We intend to keep it till ours on drives ten years from now. But we do not place a high value on the kind of car we drive as in we are happy to drive modest cars and save the money. I do think electric hybrid cars like prius....are worth looking at and do seem to be out there around 12 used with mileage. My husband won't buy anything with 100 k on. Certain things do tend to go around d that Mark I believe.

I never would have bought a new car....till I saw it was better value herein the U.S..

Re: Buying a used car, might as well buy new?
 

Chrysler Dodge Jeep products have a generally poor reputation, especially for major components - even Mercedes engineers couldn't fix the problems, which is why the Germans walked away. Given the reputation of Italian engineering, I doubt that Fiat has the means to fix Chrysler Dodge Jeep either. I doubt it - look at how much more you're paying to "save" on gas. I did a quick calculation for someone a few weeks ago, and IIRC if you're paying $5,000 for a 50mpg Prius over something else that gets 30mpg, at $3/gal gas it would take 5+years at 20,000 miles per year to BREAK EVEN on buying a Prius. I suspect that most Prius owners are relatively low mileage drivers, and have made a very poor economic decision. And a Prius has more things to go wrong than a conventional car, not least the batteries which don't last for ever and cost a pretty penny.Not really, we have a Honda Accord with 313,000 miles on the clock. The motor had to be replaced at 296,000 miles, but most other things are original, including the clutch, transmission, steering system, suspension (shocks and struts), starter motor, radiator, and the exhaust system except for the cat.

Re: Buying a used car, might as well buy new?
 

Yes we crunched the numbers for the electric cars and the numbers came out in favor of non electric. But I thought 12 k was good for a used prius with low mileage. True about the battery. I think they will get cheaper time goes on.

Oh yes Hondas and Toyotas.....they are a special class. Would stick to those knowing what we know now.they go and go and are cheaper to fix. Yes we gotcaughtoutwiththe jeep.just arrived in the USA and we only had a few weekends to find a car and we had sticker shock at the prices of used!! But it works ok now but I just don't rate them after our experience. Avoid jeeps!!

Re: Buying a used car, might as well buy new?
 

I think from my experience here so far, is that the climate is harsher on cars here which doesn't help, and because average mileages are higher, then they have more scars. My 2004 Santa Fe has 180K on it, and has a few scratches and stonechips etc, but nothing much more than to be expected for that mileage. It came with a thick folder of S/H so it had been relatively looked after, though I did find some short cuts which I rectified at no big hassle.

Thanks for posting. I looked at some Ford dealerships for new obviously, but some local dealerships and cargurus for used.

Wow, that's low mileage. None of the pre-owned cars I have looked at so far have mileage that low, even 2016 models!

I definitely won't be trading anything in, so that won't be a problem. Thanks!

Agreed. My brother and I bought near identical cars once, and mine had double the mileage. His was a lot more problematic than mine.

Good question. I would say at an edge the Limies. Purely because with number plates giving away the age of the car, people are much more 'new car' conscious than here.

Excellent post Pulaski. I remember maybe 20 years ago(?) when LPG conversions were beginning to become the rage in the UK, people were proudly telling me what they'd save until I pointed out to them that they hadn't factored in the cost of the conversion.

P.S. You didn't put the original clutch back in the Accord when you changed the engine, did you?!

Re: Buying a used car, might as well buy new?
 

Hëll yeah! :lol:

I discussed it with the Honda dealer who replaced the motor, who I have a very good relationship with (the service rep knows I don't take BS, and don't mind paying for good service, but resent paying for what I don't need), and the clutch wasn't that worn. The initial recommendation, ahead of the engine swap, had been to replace the clutch while the motor was out, but the clutch obviously had plenty of life left in it, so it stayed in. :)

When the Accord hit 100,000 miles I wondered when it would need a new clutch, when it hit 200,000 miles I stopped worrying about it, but never in a million years would I have bet on the clutch still going strong at 300,000 miles and outlasting the engine! :blink:

Even with only an "extra" 17,000 miles (and still going strong) on the clutch I am happy that sticking with the old clutch was a good decision. :)

Re: Buying a used car, might as well buy new?
 

Back in 2007, we were looking for a replacement vehicle and were looking at an '05 or '06 CR-V. The body style changed in '07. so we thought it was probably out of our price range. the one and two year-old cars were coming in at $1500-2000 less than new and we were able to get 0.9% financing as well as the colour choice we wanted, so it made far more sense to buy new.

Plus, and this is something that most people don't know (or care about), the insurance is cheaper on a new car than it is on a used one!

Re: Buying a used car, might as well buy new?
 

I think that's a bit of a nebulous statement ... are you talking liability only, comprehensive, or what? Is this due to newer cars having better safety features? Are you comparing essentially the same model, just one being new and one being old?

Re: Buying a used car, might as well buy new?
 

He is correct with Nationwide. You get a hefty discount on insuring a new car and the discount depreciates each year so your insurance increases the older the car gets.

Re: Buying a used car, might as well buy new?
 

Unless you pay cash, you can't insure a car for liability only, you MUST have comprehensive!

...and it's not nebulous. I was told by a broker for several insurance companies that insurance is lower for new vs. used. Also, leasing carries a higher premium too.

Re: Buying a used car, might as well buy new?
 

If you are not bothered about the model, wait until the '2017' model of a car is coming out and buy the 2016 version, dealers will be offloading these at some crazy prices.

You will get 'last' years model with delivery mileage on it for a nice discount, wait for a zero apr offer as well.

Just because the old version has different light clusters or something cosmetic its now 'old'

I bought a 2015 as the 2016 model came out, I had originally looked for preowned but the prices were silly.