At what point does "new" make financial sense?

This was (is) my case. I'm single now, living a bachelor life (not entirely true - I have a girlfriend, and although it is serious, marriage and kids are a long way off) and I have enough financial leeway to buy new. That's what I did after a LOT of math calculations, hard questions, and hours upon hours of research online. If I waited until I was 40, I'd most likely have kids, and I cant guarantee I'd have such an amazing job that I could realistically buy new (not to mention who knows what the economy and new&used market will be like). I wont go over all the new vs used arguments here; but at the end of 2011, it made more sense for me - all things considered - to buy new.

 

Stop. You're not getting it. I'm not arguing context. I'm talking about traits endemic to all new vehicles, or all used vehicles.

Vehicles lose money. They do not gain it. That is the end of the financial discussion. It could easily be argued that no vehicle makes financial sense.

Whether or not the cost of the vehicle is WORTH IT to you, the potential buyer, and how you wish to manage that cost (which is what you are talking about), are separate topics. In fairness, this seems to be what the OP was asking, even though he used the wrong words, so your information is probably quite relevant to him.

 

I prefer new, regardless of price, but that is just my personal choice that has less to do with finances. I don't like sloppy seconds--with trucks, even more so. You just never know. The vehicle may be immaculate and have no negative Carfax info and appear to have no problems on a test drive and check, but you never know who was using it and how. Was the person doing a lot of offroading with it? Did it once have a big fat lift with fat tires that wore on the suspension and drivetrain components? Was the person frequently trying to tow items beyond rated tow capacity? For me, a new vehicle takes the worry out of such uknowns and gives me the peace of mind. As far as being 'Toyota Certified'-means nothing to me. An 18 year old dealer mechanic doesn't know either how the person was using the truck, and unless the mechanic took apart all the components, they don't know how bad components have been worn from extreme use. A lot of people use and abuse their trucks.

Also, interest rates will always be signifigantly higher on used vehicles, so in the long run, you end up losing a lot of the money you think you are saving, unless you pay cash. In short, I would never buy a used truck, unless it was an old 4x4 truck or jeep going for peanuts that had tons of miles and I just wanted it as a toy to use and abuse and wouldn't have to worry about tearing it up.

 

I beg to differ. Paid 24k-ish for mine new last year. Trade in on KBB says almost $26k, private party almost 28k.

 

Maybe we need to look at this at a Total Cost of Ownership, plain and simple. The cost of the truck is what you pay minus what you get when you sell. If you buy for 30 and sell for 25 and have it 5 yrs or 50k miles, you know it cost you $1k/yr or $1k/10k miles. That's excluding the additions of taxes, ins, interest, etc. Of course the only problem is knowing the future value of a Taco. All we have is historical values to go off of. But given that, one should be able to find something reasonably accurate to make a decision on.

Now I'm just waiting on someone who likes to crunch numbers to bust out a spreadsheet with some examples for us all. Nothing like some numbers to drive home a point.

 

I find KBB to be high across the board. What they are selling for is what they are worth.

 

I went through this analysis before buying my 2012. I bought new, it makes a lot of sense on this vehicle.

Also: Test Drive, Test Drive, Test Drive. Test the one you are looking at 2x or more on separate occasions. What ever you do, make sure you don't have a defective truck, it happens: bought my (nearly impossible to find model) sight unseen from out of state and when it arrived it has nasty drive train shake - still battling Toyota to get it fixed.

 

When I can afford the payment, and plan to drive the truck till it will not move anymore.

I paid 17,500 for a four year old truck. New was stickered at 29-30K for the same thing. Someone ate that depreciation.

 

I figured I'd go ahead and pay another $2k for the new 2012 with 35 miles on it so I could break it in right. I'm planning on keeping this for 15 years like my Gen I, so $2k over 15 yrs = $133 per year. Versus lord knows what the first owner did to the truck the first 15k miles.

When I bought my Gen I new, the salesman said, "Hey, we have a good deal on one, only 200 miles, a guy brought it back." However, I noticed the plastic below the ignition key was scraped up, just as if the guy had took it to Baja and his keyring was scraping wildly because of all the gyrations.

 

Generally, $1000 over dealer invoice is the going price. They should show you their invoice, and if not Edmunds or Kelley will give you the apx dealer invoice so you have a reference.

In my area, the asking prices used are close enough to that $1k over invoice that I didn't want to waste my time traveling all over hell and back to check out 10 different trucks that met my wants. Better to hit one new truck the dealer has in stock than spend a week looking and not get what you want to save $200 per year over the life of the truck.

 

I bought new, but waited until the end of the year. Got a great deal on a truck I wanted, in new shape with a new warranty, for $6,500 under sticker (with a $3,500 trade). It amazes me that people will pay 85% of what a new truck costs for a truck with two years of use and 35,000 miles on it. You saved a few grand and gave up the best, most trouble free years of ownership of that vehicle.

If I didn't buy new, I'd buy one with 100,000 miles, pay with cash and expect to make repairs and upgrade whatever breaks.

 

Yeah, that 85% was what got me into a new one. I'm not gonna run all over town fighting traffic looking at 10 different trucks and all the phone calls using up my cell minutes to get a used one.

 

Maybe the guy just had a problem trying to find the hole!

 

I came across this when deciding to buy a Taco last year. Used were going just a few thousand short of new. When you look at mileage and the fact that you don't know what the last owner did with it, new starts looking pretty tempting. What pushed me towards a new Taco was the warranty and the 2 years of free maintenance. When I put that up against the used that didn't have the same, choice became clear. And I've always been a fan of used. This is my first new vehicle ever!

 

I wish I had just ponied up the extra couple thousand and purchased new. Bought my one year old TRD Sport a couple months ago and it turned out to have been abused. The dealer fixed the main damage, but I still have concerns about how it's going to be in the future and still haven't gotten all of the noises out of the front. If I can't get this worked out soon, I'll be seriously contemplating adding $60 a month to my loan payments to have a new one that I know hasn't been abused.

 

It is all in you-re head. At what point in you-re life you'll decide: I want to have the best, I am untitled to have the best, I am worth it. It may be the difference ending up dying at a trailer park in Oklahoma, or a mansion in S Hampton.

 

^^^ And this is why you dont agree to a 7.5% interest rate on used vehicles. I took a 3.5% interest on my used truck and the dealer couldnt touch it. I bought used but it was the right deal and I was flexible. I paid just under 24k for my 08 but it had 13k miles on it. The BB value today with it having 45k on it is right at 24k although BB values arent always realistic. I save 7k from sticker on my truck. But anymore you cant find that on the certified preowned. Also if you come across the 0% financing they where running awhile back on some of their vehicles then it is really a no brainer in that case.

 

Pretty sure new rates are lower then used rates in most cases. For me a $24k truck vs one 2 years older and $22k wasn't worth it. Tack on the fact it was a manual trans and the decision for a new one was easier for me. Crunch the numbers.

 

I bought new because I wanted to be the only owner and know everything that truck has gone through. I was looking at an 09 with 34k miles and ended up getting my 11 for 2k more with only 97 miles on it. Plus I've never bought a new car and wanted to try it out.

 

The only reason in my opinion to buy new is if you throw all the resale value thought process out the window, get what you want the first time, and keep it til it dies.