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Cars: Buy used? New? lease? Advice needed

martinman

martinman

Member
Joined
Apr 23, 2005
Messages
55
Ok, so here's my situation... I have a family friend in the car business and I've been able to get great lease deals over the past several years. This will end soon, and I'll reaturn to paying 'normal' prices so I'm investigating options.

Here's my situation. I live ~5 miles to/from work, and various other driving throughout the week. All totaled, I drive about 80 miles a week in the winter, but more like 100-125 a week in the summer.

Now my issues. I don't want to buy a new car. However, I've never bought anything used before, so I'm equally opposed to that. Leasing is ok, but i'm not sure I'd want to pay > $500/mo (inc. ins.) for a car i will put 8k miles on / year. Sure, I'll be under the 10k minumum, but It really doesn't benefit me at all (now, the dealership would love me, cause they'd beable to get a higher price for it. Keep in mind that I know nothing about cars (however, I wouldn't be opposed to doing some troubleshooting). If anything major breaks, it's goin' back to the service shop.

For used, I'd only consider certified pre owned -- infact, Volvo offers a 6 year 100k warranty on theirs, and it seems like the the best of both worlds for me. I'd probably be looking at nothing older than an 02.. More like 04 or 03.

So, with that said, what would you do?
 
Used is by far the best use of your money, especially if you plan to keep it for some time. Even if you turn it over in a few years it will still provide a much loss ratio then a new car.
 
I would definitely buy used - look on ebay - great deals - just do your homework.
 
go used I have been doing this for the last three cars and I think that I have came out on top by 2 to 3 thousand on each of the cars.
 
The S60 or S40 from Volvo are both nice cars. Depending on how you like to drive you can find them with lots of additions, such as souped up to drive fast and take chances, or just normal. I'm sure you could find a good deal on a lease return or a trade-in at a dealer.

Or you could just go ahead and get a MINI Cooper S with the JCW kit and have a blast!
 
I would buy used all the way. You can save a LOT of money even if you have some extra repairs to pay for.
 
I bought my last new car in 1986. I tend to drive till death do us part, so I've been buying used. I got my last 3 vehicles on cars.com. Forget autobytel and the sites like it - they're just dealer crap. Shop carefully and patiently. It took me 6 months to find my truck, a 1999 F150 with the options I wanted, the mileage, and the price.
 
I never bought a new car in my life. Hell, I've never driven a car with less than 100,000 miles on it or one that is newer than 7 years old! :laugh:

My daily driver is a 1987 Buick Park Avenue with 306,000 miles. My other two cars are a 1979 BMW 733i with over 200,000 miles and a 1986 Jaguar XJ6 with 176,000. Oh, I forgot, I also have a 1992 Jaguar XJ6 with 166,000 but I don't drive it. It's for sale, ya wanna buy it? :laugh:
 
I bought new this time around. Only the second new vehicle I have ever had. By and large used is the better way to go. Except that I use a truck for about ten years and get over 300,000 miles out of them. My current Toyota I plan to get half a million. Over that amount of time and mileage I prefer a new car every decade or so.

Leasing makes sense in very few cases. Like if a business is paying for it and you don't use too many miles.

Remember the old adage: "EVERYBODY drives a used car." and you will save yourself unneeded heartache and trouble.
 
I've been leasing for the past 12 years or so.
I put down about $1000 and look for a monthly payment under $200 and take their minimum term which is usually 3 to 4 years with 12,000 miles per year.
This way I get a new car, covered under warranty every 3 or 4 years for a "minimum" down payment and managable monthly payments.
Works for me.
 
A good used is the way to go have mitubishi pajero with 200k on it which I beat the hell out of. Wife has a car we bought new done nothing but dump cash into it and it only has 60,000 on it and is 95.
 
If you are worried about stuff breaking, I would buy a new car or a newer car that still has the warranty on it. Though the great thing with most new cars today is that they are built pretty solid throughout the life of the warranty. I have only taken my car in for minor repairs (little stuff that bothered me).

When buying, I would consider what other applications I would need the car to do? Family, hauling mulch or building supplies, bringing home the occasional piece of furniture, fuel economy...you get the idea. I would be careful with leasing if you live in any place you have to park next to people on a regular basis. My wife and I live in the city, so our cars get beat up by other people. It sucks, I hate it, but that is just the price of living in the city. If we leased this would really hurt on our return. Also don't finance through the dealership, interest rates are pretty good, so you should be able to beat whatever deal they try to lay on you.

From what it sounds like you want something to go to work in, gets good mileage, and is mechanically sound. My recommendation is to go with a Toyota or Scion (subset of toyota). Most people are very happy with their Toyotas, IMHO they are the best of the automakers right now. They offer great cheap cars (Scion) and if you are a playa, their top of the line cars are great (Lexus). Hopes this helps.
 
Thanks for the suggestions everyone! I can definetly see the benefits of each, but my gut feeling is to go used.

BTW, I'm under some 'restrictions' ... yeah, you might call them that. Volvo, mazda, land rover, jaguar.. etc. etc... My requirements for a vehicle are really for kid haulin' and active lifestyle type of stuff - biking, etc. The wife already has an SUV, so I'm hoping to stay away from the genere (however, crossover might be ok).

Can you recommend some guidelines on buying used? Do I need to worry about anything besides mileage beings I'm looking at relativly newer used vehicles? I spent some time on consumer reports and they have good recommendations in terms of model year and reliability. Beyond this, is it just a matter of figuring out which options I want, and then hold out of the "the one"?

Oh, last question -- certified preowned vehicles. Is this a viable option? Or a way for dealerships to pump more money out of you?

Thanks again!!
mm
 
Best thing I've done is buy a brand new 04 when all the 05's were out. The savings were astronomical since the dealer is trying to get rid of them all. It's a year old yet it's brand new.

Course I plan on keeping it forever to.
 
Captain Leafheart said:
I've been leasing for the past 12 years or so.
I put down about $1000 and look for a monthly payment under $200 and take their minimum term which is usually 3 to 4 years with 12,000 miles per year.
This way I get a new car, covered under warranty every 3 or 4 years for a "minimum" down payment and managable monthly payments.
Works for me.
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My wife is in a similar situation, only drives 8-9k per year. We've leased her last 3 vehicles, as they are covered "bumper to bumper" for the term of the lease. If you do your homework, and lease a vehicle with a decent re-sale value and high demand for used, Honda Accords, Lexus 300/400 series, etc; you may be able to sell the vehicle for more than the buyout at the end of the lease and pocket a few bucks.

We've been fortunate, as we sold her last 2 for more than the residual at the end of the lease. One was a loaded up Jeep Grand Cherokee, and the other was the aforementioned Honda. Just be leery of high end "luxury" cars and sports cars, as they take quite a hit in the first couple years, and the residual value is often higher than the going rate on the same vehicle used.

Just my .02! Good luck!!
 
....the lone vote for new here.... :p

My wife and I are in two very different boats, mileage wise.

I drive about 55 miles a day, round trip to my work. My mom lives about 130 miles south of us, and I try to visit her at least once if not twice a month. Bottom line is that I'm a 20K+ a year guy. I've bought my last three cars new, put 250K on them, then sold them before I had to do any major repairs. I've enjoyed very reliable motoring; can't recall ever being stranded. I'm pickey about routine maintenance. But - I don't drive "high end" cars; my last three cars have been VW's (no dis to the loyal VW owners out there). Sure I know they'll go longer than the 250K but that's about 12 years for me so I don't feel any big remorse in letting them go. I pay them off as fast as I can so I get to enjoy 8-10 years of no car payments and a very reliable car in the process. I've had a 79 Rabbit, a 92 Jetta, and my latest - a 2004 Jetta TDI, all bought new.

My wife only puts 8-10K a year on her car. So, we didn't feel any remorse in buying her a new BMW this year. However, I plan to keep that car forever.... :laugh:

Long and short of it is that I've always felt the risk is higher with used than new, but it's a matter of personal choice. If you do your homework, you can find great used deals. My buddy just bought a Toyota Celica for his daughter that was a "grandma" car that still looks and smells new, with 20K on it, for about $9K - far below book on the particular model. Hard to go wrong on something like that.

My $00.02 - B.B.S.
 
1. CarFAX for making sure you're getting a straight car, and also that it is not a flood or salvage title.

2. Buy privately, and not from a dealer. CPO is not worth the many thousands of dollars extra you pay for it. Find a private deal, and pay a mechanic $75 dollars to make sure the car is in good condition. You just saved a couple grand.

3. Be a cash buyer. When you go to make the deal, have the cash (or preferably a bank check) on you and tell the seller you are ready to buy. You can get great deals by making it easy for the seller to sell.

JK
 
since you live in Dearborn and get lots of snow and rain... I would recommend a used Subaru... either An Outback, Forester or Legacy (if you like tradition cars). Subaru reliability even beat out the famed Lexus brand in the recently Consumer Reports annual auto issue and their All Wheel Drive System is second to none. I would look for one with the 2.5L Boxer engine, this is a very adequate and reliable engine and it mated wonderfully to the AWD system. You can usually pick up at 3 year old model for about 55-60% of it's new price.
 
jabba said:
since you live in Dearborn and get lots of snow and rain... I would recommend a used Subaru... either An Outback, Forester or Legacy (if you like tradition cars). Subaru reliability even beat out the famed Lexus brand in the recently Consumer Reports annual auto issue and their All Wheel Drive System is second to none. I would look for one with the 2.5L Boxer engine, this is a very adequate and reliable engine and it mated wonderfully to the AWD system. You can usually pick up at 3 year old model for about 55-60% of it's new price.
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Believe me, I'd love to have that choice. But alas, I cannot (see post above).

However, you did mention some of things i'm interested in:

1. 4WD/AWD (a must)
2. Manual Transmission (sort of a must... but maybe not unless CUV)
3. Storage space -- bike rack

I'm leaning toward a wagon - Volvo XC70 or the Volvo SUV XC90. Other options are the Volvo V50 (I test drove one, really nice, but no used yet -- too new). Out of all the options I have, Volvo seems to fit my lifestyle the best. Well, land rover too, but way to $$$...
 
How about a used E320 (4matic) or 530xi (I think that's the all-wheel-drive version)? I'm not sure about the $$ on one of those from 03 or 02, but it would have the AWD and also fit a couple kids real nice.
 
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