My Brand New Car: Part Two

My post last week on my new car purchase brought up some interesting observations (and a few not-so-nice comments, thank you very much) and it’s obvious that the purchase of new vs. used vehicles is quite a controversial topic with decidedly strong opinions on both sides.  With that in mind I’d like to offer a few clarifications of my position:

• Someone has to buy the new cars so that others can buy them used when they’re sold.  However, you won’t be buying my car as I plan to keep it until it dies a natural death – 15 or more years from now.
• My husband is a master researcher who looks for a reliable vehicle for the long term at a reasonable price.  This is why we would never purchase a brand new model in its first year of production. 
• You can’t do research for poor driving habits, lack of regular maintenance and the inevitable “lemons” that can appear in any make or model.  With our new cars we have never had any serious or costly repairs even in their later years.
• To be fair, we have owned used vehicles that were pretty decent and gave good value for money, but with our record we don’t want to take any more chances especially now that we’re getting elderly and own only one vehicle.
• Financing for new vehicles is a lot less expensive – currently 0 – 2% from most dealerships and a lot of them offer rebates.  We negotiated a good price as though we were getting financing, then received considerably more savings when we finally offered a cash deal.  (Don’t forget, I have at least 10 years to save for a new car so I can pay cash next time, also.)

Obviously, the new versus used car debate will never end.  Everyone has his or her own firm convictions.  There is no right or wrong answer, only different opinions.  For what it’s worth, these are my views and I’m pretty stubborn so it would be difficult to change my mind.