Ownership Cost and Consideration

Used or New Car

Ownership Cost & Consideration

Price

While price should be an important consideration in choosing a new vehicle, it should not be the only one. Look further down the road to get an idea of the car's overall ownership.The best-selling cars and trucks aren't always the ones that hold the most value. Manufacturers often pump up sales with hefty rebates that make the cars more attractive to buy but also lowers the resale value by artificially increasing demand.

New Hang ups
Nearly New, A Smart Way to Save. If you insist on being the first one to drive the car you own, then this advice is not for you. But if "nearly new" or "barely used" don't offend you, read on. Dealerships have to make cars available for test-drives. They also let their sales staff drive new cars to and from home. Sometimes, celebrities from a golf tournament or other major event borrow vehicles for short periods. These cars often end up as "demos" that may have a few hundred or several thousand miles on the odometers but they're still "new" vehicles, never having been titled, and thus are still under full factory warranty. Don't dismiss them as used cars. If you can save hundreds, even thousands, by buying a model with a few miles on the clock, why not? In the long run, it won't matter that you weren't the first to drive it out of the showroom. The money you saved will be the lasting memory. Be cautious, however. A car being sold at the end of a model year with 10,000 miles on it isn't a demo. It's used and should be priced accordingly. Compare the price of any demo to a brand-new example of the same model to see how much you would actually save.

Buying Considerations
If you're trading in your old vehicle, it's best to talk about that after you receive a price on the new one. That'll help you compare price quotes among dealers and decide if you would rather sell your old car privately.