Every car I’ve owned has been used. Some are better than others. In general, I’ve had really good luck and have bought some great cars, but some have been money pits. You get better at spotting a good buy, but it’s still possible to get a bad one, it does come down do luck.

Just buy a Honda or Toyota, and all you have to do is change the oil.

That’s why I take it to the next step and never buy a car altogether. Miss me woth that shit I’ll just live in a cool city, and either bike or walk wherever I want.

Yeah, my girlfriend recently needed a new car since her ancient Ford Fiesta finally kicked the bucket. She decided to limit her budget solidly to shitbox territory because she’d just had some major expenses and didn’t want to owe someone money.

I offered to lend her some money to help her get better offers. She refused – and ended up buying a car that immediately needed a transmission rebuild that cost as much as the car itself. For which I lent her some of the money.

By Grabthar’s hammer, what a savings!

I agree. I’ve also gotten shafted by used cars (7th generation Honda Civics are all utter pieces of garbage). I don’t take depreciation into account on a new car because I plan on driving it until it’s uneconomical to repair, which means it’ll be worthless when I sell it regardless.

My parents have only purchased one used car, and it was a nearly new car from someone they knew and trusted. The other 4 cars they’ve bought in the past 40 years have been new. They keep them until they’re old and basically worthless.

I’ve rented a few new cars and I’m just really not a fan of the all lack of physical buttons and controls. The smart settings like lane control, smart cruise control, the engine turning off when stopped, and notifying me with an alert when I’ve driven to many hours are extremely annoying.

Totally agree. It’s always a risk buying used. You have to be savvy on what to look for, research if there are common catastrophic problems, and hope the vehicle was maintained properly (any car needs more than just oil changes, including Toyota and Honda) and was not abused.

Generally you’re taking less of a risk buying new because of a good warranty and known history, but be sure to get a reliable car not something that will give lots of problems over its life. Plenty of data on which cars are best in that regard. Some makers are better than others on average but reliability can vary by model and model year, even.

Yes, cars depreciate in terms of resale value. That’s why we keep ours for 10-15 years. By then it doesn’t matter.

I used to stick to that rule and get a sensible mid sized Toyota Corolla or Honda Accord that’s a few years old as needed. But in 2013 (the last time I needed to get a new car) the cost savings were really low compared to new. I think the used market was particularly hot so you’d save less that 10% of the cost, so I ended up getting my 1st and only (so far) brand new car ever.

You’ve been sold a bill of goods, or whoever tried to tell you this doesn’t understand leasing.
ex-lease cars are just as good as new, come with a new car warranty, and don’t come with the absurd depreciation.
look at cars that where released 3 years ago, that’s the used cars we’re talking about not a 1990s civic or whatever.

Poor people buy new cars, rich people lease them, smart people buy ex-lease cars.

Always take a vehicle to a mechanic for an inspection before buying it.

Next time buy a Subaru and have the guy meet you at a dealership. They do a free inspection for you

I’ve never understood the people who insist on only buying used, particularly when they have the money for new. Why spend $5-15k on a used beater if you could get a new car for $30k that won’t have mystery problems, and if they do then it’s covered by warranty? I’ve only ever had real problems in my used cars. I don’t think I ever had a used that made it more than like 4 years before dying on me. Meanwhile, I’ve had my 2016 RAV4 since January 2016, and I’ve only had to deal with a few things that just wear out naturally over time like tires and brake pads. Nearly 8 years with this car so far, and it’s been a fucking dream. My used 2002 Hyundai XG350L however was a fucking nightmare to the point that I’ve sworn off Kia-Hyundai entirely. Which is a shame because the Ioniq whatever EV seems like a pretty solid product, but I feel the need to do extensive research before getting too excited because of how badly Hyundai burned me.