Car Buying Advice - Buying new or used?

spacemocha92

My wife and I just got married a couple weeks ago. She has a monstrous SUV that guzzles fuel. We're selling and and buying something with much better MPG, because we have decently long commutes from our place (45 min one way). We don't have the money to pay cash for a new car. From someone with more vehicle expertise than myself, would it be better in the long run to maybe buy a 2002-2007 Camry with ~220,000 miles for two or three thousand and save up for a new car later? Or would buying a new car with a monthly payment potentially save us from spending money on costly repairs? We make in the mid-30k currently, but my wife is looming for another job.

Michaell

spacemocha92 said:

My wife and I just got married a couple weeks ago. She has a monstrous SUV that guzzles fuel. We're selling and and buying something with much better MPG, because we have decently long commutes from our place (45 min one way). We don't have the money to pay cash for a new car. From someone with more vehicle expertise than myself, would it be better in the long run to maybe buy a 2002-2007 Camry with ~220,000 miles for two or three thousand and save up for a new car later? Or would buying a new car with a monthly payment potentially save us from spending money on costly repairs? We make in the mid-30k currently, but my wife is looming for another job.

I'll add my .02, then call in some other regulars to offer their opinions, as well.

Any car with 220,000 miles on it is at or very near the end of its useful life. Yeah, you can keep it running, but can you afford the hassle of having the car in the shop even 1 day a month, with such a long commute.

You may want to consider leasing, though the mileage restrictions may not work, depending on how many miles your commute is (45 minutes in Nebraska is way more miles than 45 minutes in Chicago, for example). But, you can get into a new car for under $300/mo, under warranty.

qbrozen

Well, those certainly aren't the only two choices. My suggestion for folks who drive so much and on a budget such as yours is to set your sights at about $12k for a car 4-6 yrs old with as few miles as possible. Forget the Camry and look for a reliable car that depreciates more than a Camry. For example, you can get a 2014 Elantra SE with 30k miles at that price. With $2k down, that should run you somewhere in the vicinity of $250/mo for 4 yrs. 

stickguy

I agree with QBrozen. At some point, cheaper cars run into the law of diminishing returns. They just get older without getting cheaper to buy!

A well used high miles Toyota could be OK if you needed a 2nd car to go 2 miles to the train station every day. Not however for a long commute like yours. Lower miles used makes more sense than new, IMO, when you have that long commute because you will put miles on the new one so fast that you will really accelerate depreciation on it.

so, I would shoot for something in the a newer age range with not too many miles, and you should be able to get into a 2014-2016 with 25-50,000 miles, for that low teens price point.

I would also try and stick with a mid size 4 cyl sedan to get a good mix of comfort and economy, or at least a bigger compact. especially coming out of a large SUV. some real small cars are not that much fun to drive on the highway.

Here are a couple of random ones I found near me, just as an example.

Very good deals right now on slightly used Hyundai sedans. Same for a lot of other brands.

http://www.jsautohaus.net/used/Hyundai/2016-Hyundai-Sonata-dab69a250a0e08be37faf84c8128367f.htm

http://www.jsautohaus.net/used/Hyundai/2017-Hyundai-Elantra-d3ee57260a0e08be3be845bfd5de88ed.htm

benjaminh

spacemocha92 said:

My wife and I just got married a couple weeks ago. She has a monstrous SUV that guzzles fuel. We're selling and and buying something with much better MPG, because we have decently long commutes from our place (45 min one way). We don't have the money to pay cash for a new car. From someone with more vehicle expertise than myself, would it be better in the long run to maybe buy a 2002-2007 Camry with ~220,000 miles for two or three thousand and save up for a new car later? Or would buying a new car with a monthly payment potentially save us from spending money on costly repairs? We make in the mid-30k currently, but my wife is looming for another job.

Toyota has very low lease/finance rates on the Camry, and the same is true for the Honda Accord, Hyundai Sonata, Nissan Altima, etc. My local Hyundai dealer has c. $9000 off the list price on a few Sonatas. It's cheaper than some used cars. I think new is often better than used, and can even be less expensive in the long run—and a lot less trouble.