Buying a New (To Me) Car (1 Viewer)

[Burke]

Yep, both @Seeking Alpha Social Club and @TX_Golf_N_Poker are essentially correct. While I do think there have been safety advances in the past 1-2 decades primarily I have no interest in being stranded on a highway with two (or more) urchins. Of course there is no way to completely eliminate this possibilty, but in my experience the odds of this occurring are significantly higher in high-mileage vehicles....and that just makes sense.

Things will break over time.....that is inevitable.

 

[bergs]

I had two SUVs over 18 years go 210K and 205K respectively in the Northeast before things started to rot out and I had head gasket issues.

I got a new car in 2017 and I’ve got 60K miles on it but already replaced the shitty CVT transmission (under warranty) twice. I desperately want to get my old SUV but it’s north of $50K now with the insane price increases, and I could get a truck on the same body but I loathe car payments :-(

I’m in AZ now where rot isn’t a problem and the car is garaged so no heat-related issues. I guess my plan is to drive this another 15 years or until the CVT croaks outside of warranty, whichever comes first.

 

[krafticus]

I got a new car in 2017 and I’ve got 60K miles on it but already

Damn, you don't drive much. My 2021 (purchased in September 2021) is pushing 45k miles already. I mean, It's been to Ohio twice, PA a bunch, but mostly local driving. My commute is only 12 miles each way too.

 

[Budha]

I bought a 2011 Ford Edge with 197k miles on it…but it was only $4,000. It drove like a dream and shows so signs of stopping. Very well take care of. I’ve had it for 6 months now, put another 10k on it and no major issues. All I’ve done is chance the oil and replace the radiator fan and one wheel bearing. Cheap stuff. And very convenient to have 3 cars if anything needs work.

My wife and I paid off our other 2 cars about 5 years ago. We decided that unless something crazy happened and we had no choice that we wouldn’t have a car payment ever again. We have the Edge, a 2013 Escape (145k miles) and a 2013 Buick Verano (133k miles). Maybe I’ve gotten lucky but it seems that if you just do the maintenance and change the oil on time (I always use full synthetic) these things go for a long time. We don’t drive them hard either, so that probably helps.

Interested to hear the approach some of y’all take as far as used/new and how everything is holding up. At this point I can’t imagine ever buying a new car unless I just had a lot of money to blow.

I have found used car financing is generally about double (or even higher) then new car financing, which can really impact the size of the monthly payment.

For the last 20 years or so, we have bought new, taking advantage of very low interest rates and pay 1.5 or 2x the monthly payment. We typically pay off in ~ 3yrs and keep them until they start having major issues.

We generally have 6+ years of no payments. (Which we bank for the down payment for the next one, etc). We spend virtually nothing on financing in the end. (The dealership finance guys hate us when we buy cars - lol)

That has worked out pretty well for us over the years. (Grant it, we aren’t buying $80k+ cars, but they are nice cars that last ~10 years).

 

[CraigT78]

The only brand new vehicle I've purchased was the current minivan - and for the same reasons above, most current safety technology and the reliability of the wife driving with 5 kids in the back.

All the kids cars have been relatively newer used vehicles, and my daughter is on #3, boy 3 is on #2. Our requirements were backup camera, air play, and all the airbags. Glad we did as accident #2 was a high speed collision and lives were saved due to the safety features of the 2019.

2018 Ford Focus (wrecked)
2019 Chevy Sonic (wrecked)
2019 Nissan Sentra (in Alaska with her, probably wrecked)
2014 Ford Focus
2014 Ford Escape (driven until transmission and engine were out)
2020 Nissan Rouge

 

[bergs]

Damn, you don't drive much. My 2021 (purchased in September 2021) is pushing 45k miles already. I mean, It's been to Ohio twice, PA a bunch, but mostly local driving. My commute is only 12 miles each way too.

I used to drive all the time to the office in MA and Foxwoods/Mohegan. Now I work from home and everything is pretty much in a 15 minute radius (breweries, restaurants, casinos, airport, etc).

We’re working though visiting all the towns in AZ (which is geographically large) but couldn’t hit some of the overnight trips and 4+ hour drives because of some issues with Roscoe the Bulldog. Hoping those are cleared up shortly and we can bring him with us.

 

[BPTDirector]

Our last four cars with the exception of one that was T boned and totaled have all gone 300k plus miles. My family has owned an auto repair business my whole life and advances in car tech have seen maintenance go from twice yearly tune ups and oil changes every 2,000 miles to now being 100,000 mile tune ups and 7500 mile oil changes if you use synthetic oil. None of these cars were new or ultra expensive, starting with a 95 ford escort, 98 Mazda 626, 2008 Toyota Avalon, 2013 Nissan Altima(totaled), 2015 Altima, and now a 2021 Honda CRV that we did buy new. The Honda is AWD gets 33 miles a gallon, has lane minder and proximity features that I love and really use now that all my driving is one handed, so advances made in the last few years are very nice to have, including back up cameras. My pleasure mid life crisis car is a 2004 Thunderbird rag top, fun to drive but only driven on good weather days and less than 30k miles. Change your oil, get brakes checked regularly, tires and alignment when needed and you are all set. None of my cars used were over 15k, the Honda was 25k new and I will drive the crap out of it for the rest of my driving career most likely. Next car purchase for my wife, I’ll trade the Tbird and get her a new SUV in the 30k range and we will pay cash to get the best deal.

 

[Budha]

and we will pay cash to get the best deal.

Surprisingly, this may not get you the “best deal”. I’ll let @doublebooyah85 elaborate (or say I’m full of it - lol)

Generally, new car dealers don’t make all that much on the car. They make their money from the financing deal and manufacture incentives.

IME You may likely get a better “price” on the car getting crappy financing, and then using that cash to immediately pay off the loan. (The dealer makes very little $$ on a cash deal to be honest)

Edit: This can totally be situational depending on the, then current circumstances, etc. (are they over inventoried, slow month, are tax payments due, are they 3 cars away from hitting the next tier bonus, etc, etc..)

 

[Anthony Martino]

I would highly recommend avoiding any vehicles producing during the pandemic as many companies struggled with staffing issues and were essentially hiring warm bodies to fill positions, dealing with supply shortages, etc. often resulting in quality issues.

 

[JustDave]

My approach was very similar to yours essentially until I had kids. I always had two beaters in the case one wouldn't work for whatever reason. My wife felt that my approach was unsafe for children essentially - I didn't totally disagree.

My last two cars were:
- 1999 Lexus RX300 w 190k miles
- 2009 Ford Edge w 230k miles

I bought a brand new Lexus RX a few months ago. I love it.