Indrid Cold
Member In Black
I had a long debate with my sister n law (CPA) over the merits of buying new vs used and finance vs cash.
Her general feeling which I agree with...a quality used car is a better investment than a new lessor quality car just about 100% of the time. Cash vs finance...she was kinda on the fence...pay interest on a depreciating asset...not good...pay cash for a depreciating asset...not good either. When pressed to get off the fence...she said that if you have the cash and you're not going to be cash poor after the purchase...cash is best.
I've owned about 8 or 9 vehicles...the 1st 4 were all new, all financed...I paid off 3 of the 4 and the 4th the insurance company paid it off (totaled)...surprisingly...I had a $4000 cash windfall...added my gas guzzling SUV which got a whopping $3500 in trade and put that down on 2 used cars.
I think buying used generally makes more sense financially, I just have an emotional want/need for cars to be "mine" and don't feel like I'm really wasting too much money because I generally keep them for about 8 years. I am very suspicious about any used car that is only a year or two old, worried about picking up a lemon that somebody is just desperate to get rid of...I would have to know for a fact that the buyer just couldn't make the payments or bought the wrong type of vehicle for them (i.e., it would have to be from a friend or coworker).