Buy New or Used Car: Which is Best for You?

[Greg Bernhardt]

My dealer showed me their factory invoice sheets as well. I did not rely on truecar.com for that number. If the dealer agrees, have him show you that number, for peace of mind's sake. Good luck.

Rhody...

Rhody, truecar.com reports both invoice price and true dealer cost. Invoice cost was 21,200. The quote is under invoice cost. Am I confused here?

 

[rhody]

Rhody, truecar.com reports both invoice price and true dealer cost. Invoice cost was 21,200. The quote is under invoice cost. Am I confused here?

In your post above I believe retail is 21,200, and you were offered the car at 20,300, invoice 19,990 so your offered price of 310 $ over invoice is about 1.5%. That is a good deal. I would advise taking it.

I was really lucky I got my truck about 2000 $ under invoice, Honda paid the dealer the difference. I always said from 2005 when I start looking at them they were fine vehicles but over priced by 2500 $ Apparently the sales analysis guys at Honda figured this out too. I paid what the vehicle should have been priced at in 2005, almost to the penny. Amazing... Works for me.

Rhody...

 

[qspeechc]

Here's a question that more or less fits in with the discussion. Is it worth buying a car where the warranty has expired? Repairing a car, especially with all the electronics and fancy things in them today, is very expensive. Finding a good garage (competent, reasonable prices etc.) to fix your car is difficult.

How many stories have we heard of taking a car to get fixed, they quote several thousand more than they should, you find out later, they 'fix' the wrong thing, you have to take the car back, then they 'fix' something else, you get fed up, take it to another garage, and they 'fix' it, and so on.

 

[turbo]

Even worse, when a car is our of warranty and you try to get repairs done, you may find that only the dealerships have the diagnostic equipment and codes to determine the problem. You may have trouble finding a garage that can properly reset the tire-pressure monitoring sensors in your vehicle's wheels. Vehicles are getting 'way too complex!

 

[BobG]

Here's a question that more or less fits in with the discussion. Is it worth buying a car where the warranty has expired? Repairing a car, especially with all the electronics and fancy things in them today, is very expensive. Finding a good garage (competent, reasonable prices etc.) to fix your car is difficult.

How many stories have we heard of taking a car to get fixed, they quote several thousand more than they should, you find out later, they 'fix' the wrong thing, you have to take the car back, then they 'fix' something else, you get fed up, take it to another garage, and they 'fix' it, and so on.

Depends on your mechanical ability and on the car.

You don't buy a 'cheap' luxury car with all the trimmings even if it's several years old and has a cheap sticker price.

If you're buying some basic transportation, then you'll probably be okay if you have at least a little knowledge about cars and car repairs.

But, as turbo mentioned, tossing in the evolution of ABS into electronic stability control (or similar) and you're getting to the point where basic transportation can get pretty complicated. (I love the idea of the electronic stability control, though. I really wish I could have gotten my son's Mountaineer into the mountains before he totaled it. These really should perform very well. Funny thing is that he wasn't very enthusiastic about taking that vehicle off road and trashing it, and then he wound up totaling it anyway. Just shows you where his priorities got him.)

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

what a waste of my time! went into the dealer and found out that great price I was quoted didn't include the $750 destination fee. seriously.

 

[rhody]

what a waste of my time! went into the dealer and found out that great price I was quoted didn't include the $750 destination fee. seriously.

Yeah, when you negotiate price, make sure it includes shipping, title fee, registration fee, although the last two are fixed so you can usually figure those out yourself.

My price included shipping, yikes... stay away from places like that. I am lucky I have an honest dealer close by. I feel your frustration, is their a "rate your honda dealer" website ? If there is I would check with them.

Rhody...

 

[turbo]

That really bites, Greg. Typical sleazy sales technique. When my father and I went to the Subaru dealership to pick out and buy a Forester, I had to stay out in the cold, because the staff smelled like a perfume store. No matter. As he was passed along from the salesperson to the sales manager, and general manager, he did exactly as I asked and brought each one of them out to the arctic blast of the front lot to show me their current "deal", and each time I chiseled them down and told them to come back with a real price. They knew that my father was going to buy the vehicle as a clean sale, so they were reluctant to let us walk and he got the price that I had told him we'd aim for.

A few weeks later, my wife went with him to visit our little niece and she drove his Forester. When she got home, she said "I don't want you driving that ratty pickup anymore." "Buy a Forester for yourself." I called the general manager and told him that if he wanted to sell another Forester for the same price, I'd be right down, and he told me that they would lose money at that price. I called their nearest competitor and talked to a nice saleslady and asked her to call me back with her best price on a Forester with sport-shift auto tranny. She asked what the other dealership had quoted, and I told her that telling her that would be stupid on my part. She called back about 15 minutes later and quoted exactly the same price my father paid for his. I told her to throw in a set of Subaru's removable roof-racks and she'd have a deal. She didn't even pause before agreeing. I called my father, we drove over in his Forester, and she had two Foresters out for me to look at. I picked one, and we did the deal in the parking lot. She had even taken a shower on her lunch break so she wouldn't be too perfumey.

Subaru had made some nice changes in the Forester, so I didn't want to buy used. I'm still amazed that the Japanese can make a pretty loaded SUV with all-wheel drive, traction control, skid prevention, and a pretty complex automatic transmission, ship it over here, and sell it for less than $20K off the lot. Sure was a lot easier to get to that price the second time!

 

[rhody]

Greg,

Did you find an honest dealer willing to give straight answers and a fair price ? The peanut gallery anxiously awaits your reply... hehe...

Rhody...

 

[xxChrisxx]

Do you not feel like you are getting violated every day depreciation hammers you?

 

[rhody]

Do you not feel like you are getting violated every day depreciation hammers you?

Chris,

Have you bought a new car ? One in the 25,000 range ? The minute you drive it off the lot you lose 2K or more. The upside, you have a car with zero or near zero miles and a full warranty, and can be sure no one has abused it before you had it.

Rhody...

 

[xxChrisxx]

Chris,

Have you bought a new car ? One in the 25,000 range ? The minute you drive it off the lot you lose 2K or more. The upside, you have a car with zero or near zero miles and a full warranty, and can be sure no one has abused it before you had it.

Rhody...

I've never spent a considerable amount of money on a car, all my cars have been 10 years old or more. Finding and maintaining an quality old bargin runner is part of the fun for me. They've all been sold on for the same or more than I bought it for.

It's costs to maintain them, but considerably less than is lost on a new motor. The thought of buying something then it losing money whilst it's just sat there on the drive puts me off buying a new car.

The only exception I'd make is the Scirocco R, which is a spankingly awesome car. But I've just changed job and moved house and am saving for a wedding, so I'm poor!

 

[ThomasT]

I've heard the all the advice and read all the articles on why to never buy a new car. However from the option I am looking at, buying new doesn't sound that bad!

Consider my current scenario:

Used CPO 2009 LX Civic with 23,000 miles = $17,600
New 2012 LX Civic < 2000 miles = $18,600Isn't the newer model with less miles worth the extra $1000?

No contest. Buy new ... less initial wear, better reliability, and you've got a warranty = less headaches and expenditures in the long run, imo. You're buying the car to drive, not to sell. Right? Sometimes leasing is a good option. Check it out.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

No contest. Buy new ... less initial wear, better reliability, and you've got a warranty = less headaches and expenditures in the long run, imo. You're buying the car to drive, not to sell. Right? Sometimes leasing is a good option. Check it out.

Thanks! I ended up buying the 2012 Civic EX-L yesterday for $20,800. Couldn't pass up that good price!

 

[George Jones]

Thanks! I ended up buying the 2012 Civic EX-L yesterday for $20,800. Couldn't pass up that good price!

Great!

My brother-in-law ordered a 2012 Civic, and it arrived yesterday. He is pleased with the car, and with the dealership from which he bought the car.

We ordered a 2012 Civic LX, but we are having terrible experiences with the our Honda dealership, and we are thinking about canceling our order.

 

[rhody]

Thanks! I ended up buying the 2012 Civic EX-L yesterday for $20,800. Couldn't pass up that good price!

I just called a Honda Sales Manager friend of mine, he quoted me invoice price on your model of $20,982 and said anything $150 to $200 under invoice was a good price. I concur based on expert opinion. You got a good deal, congratulations, hope you like the car. BTW. My daughter has a 2010 Civic DX, make sure you rotate the tires every 5 or 6 thousand, she is looking to needing new fronts because she didn't rotate them enough. Don't make that same mistake.

Rhody...