The Economics of Car Ownership

[tim123]

You would lose less money on buying the 3 year old option assuming it’s reliable but you will get a 3 year warranty on the new one.

Buy a 1 year old and have the best of both worlds!

Why is that?

I have never understood why anyone would sell a one year old car unless:

a) it's a lemon.
b) it's a high milage car that's been clocked or abused (or both).

tim

[expat]

Reminds me of that program last night, 'pay off your mortgage in 2 years' they made him sell his beloved classic wooden sailing dingy and his sports car to get some cash to put in the pot, **** that if paying off your mortgage early means selling the things you enjoy I'll wait thanks.

If you buy other things with money that you could have used to pay off the loan on your house, you are in effect buying those things on credit. Just as long as it's a decision made with eyes open.

Yes I can quite see that there might be things better than retiring early. Personal choice.

[gingerjedi]

Why is that?

I have never understood why anyone would sell a one year old car unless:

a) it's a lemon.
b) it's a high milage car that's been clocked or abused (or both).

tim

Some people have more money than sense and can afford to take a hit for a shiny new one, I just bought a 1 year old Honda with 2 years warranty and just 6k on the clock 5k cheaper than new, don’t be so pessimistic.

[milanbenes]

morning all,

to answer a few questions, I don't want a new car for new car sake and it is not my life goal to buy a new car

expat, the 6 year old 1.9tdi 4x4 skoda now has 120,000miles, the turbo has packed up so it is now an sdi and there are funny rumblings from the backend when I go over bumps, so whatever happens it's gonna need some hefty cash spent on it.

why think about buying a new one ?

when I got this one it was three years old and had 60k miles, I would love to run it up to 350,000 miles but with these problems at 120k miles I am not sure it will get that far without significant investment

which leads me to question, is it worth every three years buying a three year old car and having to replace it three years later

what about buying brand new, knowing the history and running it for 6 or 7 years ?

it is simply a question of economics, nothing to do with wanting to own a new car, unlike el_duder don't have life goals of wanting to buy a brand new golf

thanks for the feedback,

Milan.

[expat]

what about buying brand new, knowing the history and running it for 6 or 7 years ?

It is true, most people who have done that have been very happy about it. That would depend on the history (yours) being one that you like. But it is amazing how a modern car properly looked after gives you very little trouble for a long time. Buy used and you've got to ask who makes the selling market: answer, all owners of lemons, wrecks, and abused cars want to sell; many owners of cared-for quality items want to hang on to them.

I've got one that I bought new in 1999 and it's long paid-for so it's all free now . I'll run it till it breaks, on the Bangernomics principle (If it ain't broke don't fix it; if it is broke, don't fix it - brakes and steering excepted).

In fact I'm thinking of garaging my main car and getting another banger