New vs. Pre-Owned

[isabel]

Can someone dumb this down for me? I'm considering getting DH a car for his birthday. He's been wanting a new one for a while now and it's going to happen sometime soon anyway. So I'm looking at cars online and checking out the pre-owned stuff. It doesn't really seem like the prices for the pre-owned vehicles are that much less than the new ones. I'm confused about why pre-owned is better.

[pamela]

It depends on the brand of car and how old it is. You take a huge hit in resale value just driving the car off the lot. Then it further depreciates from there. For example, Toyota holds its value really well so for me personally, if we were going to buy a car just a few years old, then we might as well enjoy the brand new car because the prices are so close. Domestic auto-makers however tend to depreciate a bit quicker and used cars are a better deal.

[Yankees21]

Certain brands of cars tend to depreciate faster, so if you buy pre-owned the first owner eats a lot of that depreciation. When we were looking at Hondas, the difference didn't seem to be very much, so we elected to buy new vs. a couple years old.

[isabel]

So, what I should do is talk to dealers and figure out an average price for the same car new and pre-owned and decide if the difference is big enough? For what it's worth, DH wants a Kia Optima. There is a decent difference from what I can tell (like $8,000 ish), but I suppose that difference depends a lot on how low I could get a new one for.

[cricketwife]

This is not answering your question, but are you seriously thinking of buying a car FOR your DH WITHOUT your DH being involved? That just seems like a disaster waiting to happen on several levels.

[Deleted]

I don't know anything about Kias, but I do know that later model Hyundais are as reliable, safe, and overall "good" as Hondas or Toyotas. However, they do not retain their value nearly as well, so you can get a great deal on a used one (I know Hyundai also has an excellent transferrable warranty). A Honda will retain its value well though, so if I were looking to buy used I'd look at Hyundai (or similar) and if I were wanting to buy new I'd get a Honda (or similar).

[isabel]

May 14, 2013 19:56:56 GMT -5 cricketwife said:

This is not answering your question, but are you seriously thinking of buying a car FOR your DH WITHOUT your DH being involved? That just seems like a disaster waiting to happen on several levels.

I know exactly what he wants. We've talked about it several times over the last year. This is something that has been on his mind for a while now. I wouldn't be considering it if I wasn't 100% sure that he would be happy with what I get. I completely understand where you're coming from though.

Thanks for the responses, everyone. That all makes sense.

[dexteroni]

May 14, 2013 19:38:48 GMT -5 pamela said:

For example, Toyota holds its value really well so for me personally, if we were going to buy a car just a few years old, then we might as well enjoy the brand new car because the prices are so close.

This is why we ended up buying our Subarus new rather than used. The price difference between new and 3-year-old models was only a few thousand. It hardly seemed like a big enough savings, plus recent used models were scarce because people tend to keep Subarus for a long time, so we just bought new.

[aurora]

Instead of talking to dealers, look up the car you want (new and used) at Kelley Blue Book and Edmunds. You'll be able to find typical prices in your area.

[mollybrown]

Pre owned is only better if you get a great deal. All of our Hondas have been purchased new, because the price difference hasn't been enough to justify not getting a brand new one. And the interest rates are usually better on new cars vs. used, if you were planning to finance.

$8,000 is a big enough difference for me, unless you're talking about a $50,000 car or something.

[msmerymac]

It might depend on options, too. Are you looking at base price vs. a fully upgraded used car?

[Susie]

For cars that hold their value well (Hondas, Toyotas, Subarus) sometimes it doesn't make sense to buy pre-owned. One time when it DOES is when you're about a year or two after a major change to a body style. The old body styles tend to be discounted. We bought a 2008 Subaru in late 2009 and got a fantastic deal.  2009 was when the body style changed, making ours look older.