The pros and cons of used cars

Guys this is either a bot or a canoe salesman laying down a few base posts to not get booted immediately.

einy (Forum Supporter) said:

Appleseed said:

The deep discounts buying used, stems from the fact you are knowingly buying seat cushions filled with someone else's farts.

Do leather covered seats hold as many farts as cloth covers seats, or do they just bounce off vs. soak in?  Inquiring minds want to know !

Leather seats are simply expensive,  organic vinyl.

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

Just for my curiosity, what was that new car, and how long did ya keep it?

I've never purchased a new canoe. Or a new car.

I enjoy the warm, fuzzy feeling I get driving a used car after the PO has eaten the massive depreciation.  Also works with motorcycles. Two of my bikes I've owned for 5+ years and I can still get 90% of what I paid for them. The PO's both lost 25-45% of the purchase price when they sold/traded them.

In reply to ddavidv :

Is that offset by deferred maintenance, hacked, hidden wiring, and general, unseen, undetectable abuse? There are advantages to buying new, especially if the type of car attracts idiots?

That's why I bought the FR-S new. I knew the boy racer that buys it,  and didn't want to deal with his mistakes.

Your logic works if you cycle out vehicles. I tend to keep them till there's nothing left.

A pro will generally have sufficient income to afford a new car.  A con may be generally down on his luck and have to settle for used.

Appleseed said:

In reply to ddavidv :

Is that offset by deferred maintenance, hacked, hidden wiring, and general, unseen, undetectable abuse? There are advantages to buying new, especially if the type of car attracts idiots?

That's why I bought the FR-S new. I knew the boy racer that buys it,  and didn't want to deal with his mistakes.

Your logic works if you cycle out vehicles. I tend to keep them till there's nothing left.

When it comes to cars likely to be modified (sports cars, off-road vehicles) then I can kind of agree with you.

For regular transportation modules, I'd always go used. And I do keep them a long time. My formula has been to buy around 100,000 miles. When I started doing this 20 years ago most people still thought cars were worn out at that  mileage. I'd run them for another 80-100k miles. Yes, I'd have to fix things on occasion, but it was actually pretty rare. Because I paid maybe 50% of the original purchase price I was still far, far ahead financially. Plus, we often didn't have to borrow much or any money to make the purchase vs a new car.

Buying a car that has been on the market for 5+ years also allowed time for major problems to rear their heads. I research deeply any intended purchase for months before ever beginning to shop. This way I can avoid really expensive or catastrophic failures in certain models. 

Our last purchase was a Jetta 2.5 wagon. VWs as a whole I'd never recommend to anyone but my wife likes them, we needed a wagon, and research showed the 2.5 engine is almost Toyota reliable. I had to fix a few oil leaks when we first bought it but I've just changed the oil for the last two years. I did replace a sticky brake caliper. That's it. We paid half of what a comparable mileage/age Subaru would have been. It's now got 180,000 miles on it and we'll continue to run it until the auto trans dies, which it will eventually. But for under 6 grand purchase price, I don't care! It's just a car that sits outside and carries dogs around. 

I will admit it has become much more difficult to stick to my criteria lately. The horrible complexity of modern cars, the much higher purchase prices and the utter lack of things that aren't jellybean crossover SUV-things will make the next purchase a lot harder. If the Jetta died tomorrow I honestly don't know what I'd even look at. But it still wouldn't be a new car.

If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, must be a canoe. 

03Panther said:

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

Just for my curiosity, what was that new car, and how long did ya keep it?

96 Impala SS.  Got it in March of 96 and sold it in April of 2020 to EastSideTim.  We raced it at the challenge that year.  That car went with me to Indiana, California, New Orleans, and Austin.  It has been driven in 47 states and titled in three.  (well, now 4 or 5)

I was on my way to an interview for a bartender position.  I drove past the local Chevy dealer and saw the SS coming off the trailer.  I parked quickly and went over to the truck driver as he backed it off the hauler.  Since I was dressed in slacks and a polo for the interview, I pretended to be a salesman.  I told him (not lying) "hey, the customer is here for this car" and I motioned for him to get out.  I drove it around back, looked at the invoice, walked in the managers office and put $100 and the packet on the desk.  Negotiated $275 over invoice (but I'm sure he made a couple grand on my trade).

I never made it to the bartender interview, but the dealership manager offered me a job on the spot so I started the next day.  I had the option to do up to three months on salary.  I only ever sold 4 cars in the three months I was there, so I made about $4500 in wages sitting in an office for 8 hours a day and dating the receptionist.  I think I got my money's worth out of that car and that dealer.

I can't swim, or don't anyway, so canoes are a solid no for me. 

In reply to bobzilla :

But just like um hypothetically if you were going to buy a canoe would you go new or used? That gunnel warranty looks appealing for gunnel bobbing. Never know what kind of stress the first owner put on a canoe. 

This thread sure is chumming the waters for canoe bait, isn't it ?