Best Time To Buy Used Cars

Q.Have been shopping for a new car recently and was wondering what the best time to buy a new car was? I know the end of model year clearance are upon us, and this is the end of July. Is August normally a good time, and would it be the end of August? I understand it's normally good to buy towards the end of the month so the dealerships can close out their numbers. I'm currently driving an '89 Prelude Si (16 year old car!) and have normally purchased used cars in the past. People are now telling me to bite the bullet and just buy new this time - no surprises of the previous maintenance history/owner, and you get the full warranty. Also understand it is normally more frugal to buy a car that is about 2 years old, so the depreciation sets in a little! Opinions and any factual knowledge on this??

A.Never....since the value of any new vehicle will drop faster than a block of ice in a Phoenix driveway. Leave the dealership and kiss at least 20% value bubbye. Find yourself a Lexus dealership and buy a one to two year old vehicle. It will come with all the warranties you need and you have saved yourself $10,000 minimum. I know - once you sign on the line and drive off, it'll be one of the quickest ways to lose money. There's piece if mind in it - after always buying used all have been good except for one lemon. Happened to be an old VW - was desperate so I picked it up. Wasn't looking for something along those lines. Solid and reliable cars they are. Looking at the Civics/Accords, Mazda 3/6 and Toyota Corolla. I know, we're talking about different class vehicles. Was originally looking at the size of a Civic Si or EX and Mazda 3 - but after receiving a great offer on the Mazda6, started looking at the Accords as well. Only looking at the manual transmission - that's what I prefer to drive. If buying one of the certified pre-owned or just pre-owned cars from a dealership - these cars tend to hold their value very well. Put in a little more and you have new.

Buy New Used Cars

I am going to move to mid. west next month. I would like to spend $5k to buy a reliable used car for my daily commuting. If this is not a dream, please tell what kind of car I will get. If you just out of school and get a $45k job, will you dire...

Question about car prices

Why is it just about every other consumer product comes down in price, but cars keep getting more expensive? All of these things have more technology(just like cars) now then years ago, yet cars get more expensive. Still, I think we are luc...

Buy Used Cars In Utah

When coal was handled in box cars in the 1950's were doors boarded up part way the same way cars used in grain service were? How high would these "coal doors" be? It is my understanding that certain types of coal had to be kept dry therefore the...

Sell Used Cars Online

I've posted an ad on cars.com to sell my Concorde. I've gotten a couple of responses but they sound fishy to me. In both cases the buyer is out of state and wants to arrange to have the car shipped, that just doesn't sound right. It's a 94 Concord...

Any homebrew auto-tuners?

Are there any construction articles around anywhere that describe an auto-tuner similar to the LDG and SGC offerings? I need an auto-tuner that I can control from a laptop, and set frequencies as needed (mostly for ALE). I can do the digit...