re: First Time Car Buyer - Update on page 4

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lightstream


Great company to deal with. I have an unsecured loan at 1.99 % for my truck. Yes, unsecured.

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I have a 2.45% unsecured for my used truck with Navy Fed.

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I meant to type 75%, my bad.

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That's not happening on an Accord either

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And yes, I understand that it doesn't exactly work that way because of depreciation, but I just feel like I can actually get a car with the features I want without having to go over budget. The car has also passed the dealer inspection and comes with a limited warranty.

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What features do you want/need?

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A car purchase is just one piece of the puzzle here. I understand the pros of buying a new car under warranty, but I can buy a certified pre-owned with a warranty for 75% of the sticker price.

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I just don't understand this logic. If a new car fits your budget then why buy used? I could shite in a box and put Certified on it. Now you just have a Certified shite box. If you have other expenses coming down the line then why not buy a car that is going to last longer? You'll generally have to replace a used car sooner than a new one.

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Have owned two 2013/2014 s40s, one was trouble-free until about 125K when suspension issues cropped up; fixed those & kept on driving to about 175K when we replaced it with a passsat. The other ran like a clock to 175K, when all kinds of odd things began happening. Motor mounts needed replacing, ignition cylinder, weird sticking AC baffle caused a loud constant clicking, etc etc. But we hung onto it because of the 2K towing capacity. I did take meticulous care of the cars w/all scheduled maintenance/services, and both are still daily drivers on the road today w/other owners.

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See, this sounds normal to me. That's about the reliability and usage I would expect from the good car manufacturers before I would start to need repairs.

You can get a new sonata around 20k. It has the backup camera but not leather at that price. I've been looking at them.

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I said my max budget was $20,000 and then everyone comes on here and says spend $4,000 more and buy a new car. I would do that if I could.

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Buy a three-year old car and then get ready to start replacing tires, brakes, battery, etc. The 60K mile service will be a major one. That's why people buy new cars and dump them after three years. You'll get a much better deal on a base model new car than a used one. Look for factory incentives and if you're a low mileage driver, consider leasing. Don't even consider money pits like VW and Volvo and Jeep.

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Need:
Leather seats
Heated Front seats
Dual Zone climate control
Keyless entry
USB/Aux phone connectivity to sound system

All of those things are pretty much guaranteed in the price range I'm looking at.

If possible, I'd also add in:
Backup Camera
Bluetooth phone connectivity
Steering Wheel controls

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Forget about the first three items; they're pricey and unnecessary and often require a package upgrade with even more unnecessary features. The rest of them are standard on most 2016 cars, even the base models.

Instead of looking at Accords, look at a Civic or a Subaru Impreza. Both are safe and reliable and priced under $20,000.

OP, email me and I will see what I can do for you with my inventory

Look, I understand where you're coming from and I have really been considering the advice you have given me. The truth is, in my situation, buying a used car makes the most sense financially. Like I said, my wife and I just finished working the first 6 months of our careers. Our total family income is around $80,000 yearly. We came from a situation where we had nothing saved or invested prior to taking these jobs. It's possible to be financially secure on a budget, but you have to make the smart move every time. I want to be able to buy a house, start investing, and begin putting money away for retirement in the very near future. If we purchase a used car, we can get everything on our wishlist and still stay within budget. Sure the car will be 3 years old and have some mileage on it, but in the long run it still becomes the cheapest option. Part of the reason we drove our cars for so long is out of necessity. These are the cars our family gave to us as teenagers and they were totally paid off. We couldn't afford to upgrade until now. This will not always be the case. My wife is already in the process of being promoted and should receive a 35% salary increase in the near future. I am not far behind and should receive a raise after completing my first year of work for the company. All of this is possible, but you have to stick to the plan.

Here is some hard data to prove what I'm talking about:

LINK

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Leasing: The average midsize car lease is based on a car that sells for $24,775 with drive-off fees of $1,154. This results in a $294 monthly payment for three years.

Buying New: When buying the same car, the average down payment on a five-year loan is $4,104. The average interest rate is 1.64 percent, resulting in a monthly payment of $400.

Buying Used: The average price of a similar 3-year-old midsize sedan is $15,688. The average interest rate is much higher: 6.04 percent. The average down payment is $2,304. The monthly payment is $301. (Fewer low-interest deals are available for used cars, and the credit scores of people shopping in this category are lower, according to Edmunds data.)
After six years, here are the total out-of-pocket costs of each financing method:


1. Leasing
2. Buying New
3. Buying Used
Total out-of-pocket costs
1. $23,476
2. $28,104
3. $20,364

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In terms of out-of-pocket expenses, leasing costs $4,628 less over six years than buying a new car, excluding any repair costs the new car might incur. The out-of-pocket cost of buying a used car is $3,112 cheaper than leasing and a whopping $7,740 cheaper than buying a new car. Again, any costs of repair for the used car are excluded here.

Here is something essential to remember about the apparent lower cost of leasing versus buying new: At the end of two leasing cycles, the person who leases doesn't own the car. He or she has to start a new lease-or-buy cycle. Meanwhile, the person who bought a new car now owns a 6-year-old vehicle worth about $9,687 on the private-party market, according to Edmunds data. The person who bought the used car now owns a nine-year-old car worth about $4,794.

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When we deduct the current value of the new and used car from the out-of-pocket costs, the long-term cost picture changes:


1. Leasing 2. Buying New 3. Buying Used
Final costs
1. $23,476
2. $18,417
3. $15,570
In this basic comparison, it appears the person who leased the two midsize sedans paid $5,059 more to drive these cars for six years than did the new-car buyer. Buying a used sedan saved the purchaser $7,906 as compared to leasing during this six-year cycle. Buying used rather than buying new saved $2,847.

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