A Used Car
Every year in the United States there are approximately 60 million automobiles purchased. Of that number, over 43 million are used cars. Nearly two thirds of all cars sold in the USA are used cars!
After your house, your automobile is your biggest single investment. Obviously you want to make a wise purchasing decision. There are both advantages and disadvantages to buying a used car. Let’s take a few moments and look at both the pros and the cons.
Let’s first take a look at some of the disadvantages.
When you are shopping for a used car, your options are limited. If you want a particular make and model it will be more difficult to find.
When you purchase a used car you are getting used parts, especially those parts that tend to wear out, such as filters, hoses, belts and so on.
Most car dealers only offer very limited warranties on the used cars they sell, often limited to 30 or 60 days. New cars come with much longer warranties.
Usually a dealer will give you less on your trade-in when you purchase a used.
You will not be able to get as low of an interest rate when you buy a used car. Also, the terms will generally be shorter.
When you purchase a used car, it is harder to negotiate the price. While there are Blue Book values that can be consulted, often prices vary greatly from dealership to dealership. It is hard to know if you are getting a fair price.
The biggest disadvantage of purchasing a new car, however, is you are purchasing an unknown commodity. You simply have no way of knowing if the car looks good just because the dealer had it detailed. You have no way of knowing if it will be a great car or a lemon the previous owner couldn’t wait to unload.
On the other hand, there are numerous advantages of buying a used car instead of a new car. Let’s take a look at some of these.
The main reason people buy used cars is plain and simple: They are less expensive.
When you buy a used car you avoid the initial depreciation hit. What does that mean? Generally a new car decreases in value by more than one third in the first three years. When you buy a used car you avoid that initial depreciation hit.
A used car will have lower insurance premiums.
Another advantage of a used car is they often come with all the bells and whistles without drastically increasing the cost. Adding accessories to new cars often adds thousands of dollars to the price. On a used car these accessories may only add a few hundred dollars to the Blue Book value.
So which will it be for you? A new car or a used car? There are advantages and disadvantages to both. Do your homework and spend some time shopping around. If you decide on a used car, there are great values to be had!
For those who are considering the purchase of a used car from dealers make sure to examine the various pros and cons before deciding to spend your money.