Don't forget the used car option
With all the deals going on, it's hard to imagine why anybody would go for a used car. But it's the right choice for some people -- with the proper preparation.
It's a common story. You buy a car from someone who advertised in the newspaper. The next thing you know, you're broken down in the worst part of town. It's hard to know what kind of care was taken of a car by its previous owner; whether the car requiring premium gas and synthetic oil got 87 grade from Speedway and one-off 10W-30... every 10,000 miles.
While there are no legal standards for "certified pre-owned," the little bit of security they offer in the form of a warranty is well worth the $1,000+ premium for CPO, according to the Chicago Tribune. Check out the link for more money-saving tips for auto buyers.
If you've been burned by a bad used car buy, let us know your story in the comments and perhaps you can prevent a similar fate for someone else.[Source: Chicago Tribune]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Talis 3:31PM (6/23/2006)
Thankfully I know of a few tests that, for the most part, kept me from buying a poorly used "pre-owned" car. Just simple things like, tire tread wear (if the tires are brand new, ask why; if they are bad, also ask why); checking oil to see if water (remember the GM intake gasket problem) by dripping some off of the dip stick onto the hot engine block to see if it experience"sizzles"; the biggest test of them all of course is the test drive (duh) and just looking for any thing out of the norm (drifts to the right/left, poor acceleration, grinding noises, etc.)
I guess because I grew up around classic cars and have rebuilt my share of engines and drive trains I just have a good knowledge base that others (like my grandmother for example) do not. I should hope that everyone reading this and other (auto)blogs have a similar knowledge base.
Buying a used car is not, or rather, should not be a bad if you are just smart about it.
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Pinkerton 3:34PM (6/23/2006)
> With all the deals going on, it's hard to
> imagine why anybody would go for a used car
I usually don't chide Autoblog contributors, but what a stupid statement.
Take for example, the Taurus in the pic. A 2004 Taurus LX with standard options and 35,000 miles has a private party value of $8,625.
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Ben 3:54PM (6/23/2006)
I ALWAYS buy used. From a value equation, nothing comes close. I'm about to buy a 2002 Maxima SE from a friend as it comes off of lease. It has 33,000 miles, and the buy-out is only $13,100...on a $27,000 car when new. I find it hard to imagine why peopel would go for a new car.
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points and plugs 4:01PM (6/23/2006)
If you can take your time to shop around you can find some very good used or "pre-owned" cars. This can save you a ton of money in three categories: Car Payments/Interest, Depreciation and Insurance.
Perhaps the most costly expense happens immediately upon driving the new car off the dealership's lot. Your new car depreciates a great deal instantly! Also, if you can pay cash for a good used car you may be able to insure the car with just PL&PD rather than full coverage which would be required if making payments on a new car. Insurance has become a very large expense as part of owning a car.
Of course the trade-off of buying used is getting stuck with someone else's problems. So take your time, if you find a car you are serious about take it to a mechanic you trust and use CarFax. Also, with the recent hurricanes and flooding watch out for flood damaged used vehicles. This link might help when checking for flood damage: http://autos.msn.com/advice/CRArt.aspx?contentid=4023551
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jscro 4:04PM (6/23/2006)
The last 4 cars I've bought, I've bought used. With the money I've saved over the years, I really don't think I'll ever buy new unless I can afford what I really want; which will probably never happen.
If you do the research, have the car thoroughly checked out by a mechanic you trust, and can verify the service records are legit; I fail to see the pitfalls besides the amount of time you spend in making a sound used car purchase.
I can understand the lure of a full warranty, and that new car smell. To me though, the money you eat in depreciation over the first 3-5 years just doesn't make sense.
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doug 4:10PM (6/23/2006)
All of my cars in the last 15 years have been new, but in the future I plan to buy used - 3years old. I did buy 1 used car to use as a commuter car to save miles on my "good" car. I bought a 1992 Mazda MX-3 for $2200. I test drove it and everything seemed ok. I quickly realized that the previous owners had sold it at exactly the right time - EVERYTHING needed work. I replaced the tires, brakes (total job), shocks, timing belt, head gasket, and did a complete tune up. All told I spent about $4000 which included snow tires. Yikes!! BTW, it now sits dead in my garage for unknown reasons. At least the A/C is ice cold. :)
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Lee Gibson 4:13PM (6/23/2006)
You can buy cars USED? What a shocking and surprising revelation. Where's my notepad?
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Jay 4:19PM (6/23/2006)
I've owned 7 cars in my 12 years on the road...5 used, 2 new. Every used car I've ever bought were rolling junkpiles that left me stranded every few months. The 2 new cars I've bought have been practically flawless. The initial depreciation hit on a new car is pretty bad, but I've gotten to where I'll gladly swallow it to get something all new that I know is being taken care of properly.
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Nick 4:20PM (6/23/2006)
"From a value equation, nothing comes close. I'm about to buy a 2002 Maxima SE from a friend as it comes off of lease. It has 33,000 miles, and the buy-out is only $13,100...on a $27,000 car when new. I find it hard to imagine why peopel would go for a new car."
So the first person paid approximately $13,900 to drive a brand new car for 4 years (under warranty, no less) and probably never put a cent into other than gas and oil (given it's only 33,000 miles). Now you're going to pay $13,100 for the same car, only out-of-date, and due for it's 36k, and certainly tires and brakes within the time you'll own it, plus the possibility of uncovered repair/maintenance?
Buying new makes sense for some people.
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Drewboy 4:28PM (6/23/2006)
I bought 2 cars about the same time, and the used one is just as reliable as the new one - meaning, both have never failed on me! One's an "H", the other a blue oval.
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ron 4:39PM (6/23/2006)
Back in the early 90's we bought a 4-year old Cadillac Eldorado with 45K miles on it from a local Caddy dealer. By the time we hit 90K miles we had replaced the tires, power antenna motor, electronic dash, electronic climate control panel, water pump, radiator, steering rack, and transmission. At about 95K miles the aluminum engine block started rotting from the inside out and let the antifreeze mix with the oil. At this point the car was toast. Every one of these major problems meant the car was out of commision for at least 1 week. The dealer told us these were all common problems for this car. Finally we gave the car to GOODWILL. For what we paid overall for the 6 years we drove it we could have leased a couple of new cars (3 years each) and most likely not had nearly the problems we had with this boat!!
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rj 4:46PM (6/23/2006)
Any vehicle will need normal maintence, tires, brakes, belts, hoses, fluids, filters, shocks, struts,timing belts, bulbs, wipers blah blah blah.
If you keep a new vehicle long enough you will have to replace all those parts as well...
I buy used and do most of my own work, my car is domestic so parts are cheap and common, I can buy OEM, aftermarket, reman, or used parts from a recycler.
So my used vehicle had some things that needed to be replaced due to the way the PO used it but the cost of these parts and my time was significantly less than the thousands of $ difference in price between new and what I paid.
Still it is a much nicer vehicle than anything I could have got new for the same price.
My theory is this, if a car is junk after 5 yrs it was junk when it was new. I wouldn't buy any car new that I would not buy used. Eventually every car is a used car.
My car gets ok gas mileage ... but because it is so reliable and so inexpensive to maintane it is no more expensive to operate than an import "economy" car.
False economy if you ask me ... my friend spent more $ in one repair on his civic than it "saved" in gas money in 1 yr of operation vs mine.
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Nick 4:47PM (6/23/2006)
I bought a CPO '04 Sebring Coupe last July, lived as a rental for the first 20k of its life. Got a fat warranty on it, and it's been an excellent car for us so far.
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Paul Spe 4:53PM (6/23/2006)
Keep in mind this article is from the Chicago Tribune. Vehicles in that type of environment rust and wear fairly quickly. That has to factor into the longevity and value formulas of used vs new.
The most I have ever paid for a vehicle was 9k - and that was a huge splurge to get something fun. ALl of my previous vehicles were under 5k and over 100k miles. I have not had a major mechanical failure in 15 years of driving used vehicles with well over 100k on the odos.
Oh by the way, Hondas.
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G. Snyder 4:56PM (6/23/2006)
Sounds like Jay and Doug did not do very good jobs at checking out the cars they bought. No matter what anyone says about it, the car looses a ton of value as soon as you drive it off the lot. It is very hard to justify that ... although I am sure that those of you who buy new cars will.
As stated, if you do your research and make a sound car buying decision, a used car is a much better value than a new car and can prove to be trouble free. Just take a look at what you would pay for a new car - then go and look at what the same money buys used. Hmmmm....Accord LX or used BMW 3, new Corvette or used 911, new Kia Rio or used Accord.
Oh, and stop complaining about replacing tires. You are an idiot if you cannot anticipate tire wear. Tires wear out. That is what they do. There is no other part of the car that paints a more clear picture about what is going on. Balance problem? Misalignment? General wear? It is all right there - so that is your own fault...as if new cars won't need tires someday too.
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Fabulo 5:02PM (6/23/2006)
"I find it hard to imagine why peopel would go for a new car."
- Included warranty, available longer bumber to bumber warranty (bough my last car with a 5 year b2b warranty)
- Better reliability. If the car gets abused, it'll be your fault. If your used car was abused, you won't find out before it breaks down.
- Getting what you want. Right trim, color, options, engine, etc. To some people that's very important.
- New car smell. (as opposed to 3 years of seeped in sweat, farts, tacobell, wendies, spilled milk smell)
There are lots of reason why people want new car.
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skaz 5:09PM (6/23/2006)
Especially after I saw the issues my mom has had with all of her new car purchases, I decided at a young age that I would never, EVER buy a new car. I've now gone through half a dozen or so used cars and I've never felt like I was ripped off by any of them.
My mother still looks at the car she bought and feels a pit in her stomach -- she still owns money on that heap.
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Ryan 5:26PM (6/23/2006)
Buying used I think is smart, my partner and I purchased my 2004 Mazda 3 brand new, because life was not going to be the same without one and they just came out :-)
But when it came time to trade in our shitty 2001 VW Jetta we purchased used for example:
We purchased a 2004 (in 10/05) Mitsubishi Outlander
I know, mitsubishi, blah blah blah, but hear me out! It's been great BTW.
So brand new it was 24,500
We purchased in in 10/05 with only 5,772mi on it!
And it was only 15,000 basically brand new, still smelled brand new. We carfaxed it and it was a "corporate lease vehicle" but almost fully loaded?! So it was a "corporate lease vehicle" for only 5,772mi and we saved almost 10k.
So from 10/05-Present day, the outlander now has I think around 18,000k on the ODO and we are getting ready to take it from Las Vegas to Eureka CA. Never have had a SINGLE problem, but we are still at just 18k :-)
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Mike 5:37PM (6/23/2006)
I picked up a Certified Pre-owned 2004 Dodge Stratus ES in January of 2005 from Bankston Dodge in DFW (Autonation dealership)
it is a V6, nearly all option vehicle, former rental car. Picked it up in Jan 05 with 32k miles but it has a 8 year 80,000 mile warranty. Paid $10,100+tax
Middle of summer, check engine light comes on. Turns out that the knock sensor went bad. Dealership says that DCX considers the knock sensor an "external accessory" therefore is not covered under warranty.
dealer wants $1,700+ to fix. You must remove the intake manifold to access the sensor.
If I perform the fix myself, the powertrain warranty is voided.
So, I am left to drive a 2004 Stratus with a tic over 50k miles on it with an 80k mile warranty that has a check engine light on and a retarded ignition timing (computer reads it as the knock sensor being tripped, so it retards the timing) because a part that requires the removal of the intake manifold to access is considered an external accessory.
GGGGRRRRRRRRRRRR
Certified warranties do not mean shit.
I have my vehicle on Cars.com, and am going to change the price monthly to reflect what is left on the loan till this car is sold. It is a good car, I just would rather have an XJ (can more easily work on, solid axle)
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idave101 5:41PM (6/23/2006)
In sort of a pre-midlife crisis I bought a 2003 Wangler Sport about 3 months ago. It had 55k mi, some aftermarket products (lift, wheels, etc), and a power train warranty still good for 15k. Needless to say i've used the extended warranty already (both diffs were leaking, and the tranny required two new syncros for reverse and 2nd gear).
Used is a gamble, but if you take the right precautions it can be very financially rewarding. I've seen the previous owner's loan paperwork... he paid $30k for the Jeep. When you pay for options like windows, the price can climb pretty fast. Three years later I bought it for $12,500. Holy frejoles, that's a lot of money saved. I'll put only 5k miles/year on it, it looks great, and is a load of fun.
For me it was perfect, even with a few flaws.
One item I haven't heard mentioned is that all of these new car rebates going on now actually drives the price of used down given they have to compete. A cars total price take so many factors into account, depreciation being a major one. Used typically helps ease this cost considerably for those worried about saving money.
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