Good Used Cars To Buy

Q.I could use your frugal help. I have to buy a new car, since my current one has 170,000 miles on it, and isn't worth putting anymore money into. Do you think I should buy a new car, or purchase a good used one? I know in the book, The Millionaire Next Door, the author writes it's better to purchased used. Reason being, I won't have to take the hit on depreciation value of the car. However, say I purchase a used car that will need $2,000 in repairs the first year and a half. Isn't it that just like taking a deprecation hit off the new car, anyway? Plus, I don't know that much about cars to begin with, that affords me the confidence to adequately purchase a used car with good conscience. What do you suggest? Can anyone recommend a good website or two that will educate me in the car buying process? How about your personal experience with purchasing cars.

A.This has been discussed to death but I'll give you my quick US$0.02... If you buy a beater (older car > 100K miles) of reputable quality and have mechanical knowledge or know a good mechanic, you can save mucho bucks. You assume NOTHING works, pay $1500 for the whole car, and treat the repairs as a car note. If you are buying a newer used car, my personal advice would be to spring for the extra bucks to get any used car OTHER than a Saturn from a Saturn dealership. They will go over your car with a fine-toothed comb and repair anything that looks suspicious, and will take the car back if you decide you don't like it. I say not to get a Saturn because they are real proud of their own cars, and IME charge about 20% more for Saturns than for other brands of similar quality and in the same condition. Be very wary of buying from individuals, as odometer fraud has become rampant. I was ripped off this way, and have encountered several people who simply could not be convinced there was anything wrong with it when the issue came up in casual conversation. If you buy from another dealership that has a program similar to Saturn's, make sure the car you are buying is really in the program and that the work is really done. A slick salesman pitched me on another car that was "guaranteed" and slipped the form I signed acknowledging that it WASN'T into the mountain of paperwork you sign when the deal is closed. Good used cars are expensive, but now that I can afford what they charge I will always buy from Saturn dealerships. As for buying a new car, you're right. You get ripped by the instant depreciation. You can probably find a used car with very low miles from someone who overextended themselves on the note (this is an exception to the caveat about odometers, since a very new used car will be obviously new looking).

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