as far as “deals” go, like I said, I bought a Scion. It was as cheap as they come with my 2 requirements (Auto and ABS).

If you are a student, how will you make payments?

If you can pay cash, buy whatever you want, just realize that you are paying a premium for not having someone else own it first. Even if the previous owner destroyed the clutch, you will save more in depreciation than you will lose in repairs.

I have posted on other threads my advice for new graduates. If you want it, I will rewrite it for you.

I will tell you that I have worked with car dealers, and I have trained their employees on negotiating techniques. You are much smarter than most of the people in the dealership, and they know that, and they will make sport of you. The two worst deals I ever saw were taken by a Supreme Court Justice and a CFO for an SMB. Go ahead and buy one of those new car “deals”, but I think you are likely overpaying for your education already. I know I did.

Since I prefer manual transmissions, I wouldn’t trust the clutch of a used car; I’d be checking each 4 cyl candidate for the rub marks of a “fart can” on the back bumper.

With this new car, I can settle back and wait for the plug-in hybrid of my choice, while I sock away the cash for it.

And, since my car is likely to still be in the warranty period when I trade it in, it should have a less-than-shameful trade-in value; though I’m aware that a Korean car isn’t the best “investment” in that regard.

Not all of us are financially capable of maintaining a car that “might” be reliable. We need cars that will BE reliable, or fixed under warranty.

Besides, did it ever cross your mind that, after paying our cars off, we might keep them? Buy a cheap, reliable car, get 5 years out of it, and pass it down to the next of kin.

While the car’s value depriciates, it doesn’t matter to someone who won’t be selling it anyway.

All of us can’t do that yet. We’re still on Baby Step 1.

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Landcrusher is right on this one.

There are few reasons to get a new car over one that’s a couple years old. In fact, I can’t think of any. If someone does know a reason to get a new car over a used one, let me know.

Many people will buy new for emotional reasons, then come back and justify it later. That new car smell you’re paying for costs you 20% or more of the value of the car.

Here’s what people should do (and I know nobody will… oh well). When they get their next paycheck, take out a few hundred dollars. Do this every month as a down payment for a new car. When they have enough saved up from making interest free payments to pay cash for a car, they go and get what they want.

Well, you might need to spread your word out to the whole world and let everyone know that there isn’t a single new car deal out, unless you pay cash and expect to keep the car for 22 years.

That, or maybe you’re being a bit critical. One way does not work for everyone.

Those of us who advise against buying new are not forgetting the warranty, we are just not valuing it as highly as you might be.

That having been said, if you plan to drive a car for 22 years, and you can pay cash, then there is nothing wrong with buying new at all. When you divide the money you might have saved by going used by 22 years, it just don’t matter.

Congratulations, you are the exception that makes the rule. Enjoy your new car.

OTOH, if you can’t pay cash, then no. You are better off saving your money and buying a beater until you can pay cash for a better car. Do the math. In fact, there are right now some lease specials that would be better than buying new for most people. The manufacturers are willing to eat depreciation that you would otherwise, if you bought.

Offer a Camaro that gets 25MPG and offer a ZL-1 right beside it.

While modern cars tend to be more or less reliable, when you don’t really have any money to spare, it’s always nice to know that you won’t need to have repair money set aside (save for tires, brake pads, and other non-warranty items).

From my personal research on cars as of late (I am in the market to replace my 22 year old Nissan before she starts having problems instead of after), it seems that the more reliable used “new” cars fall among the 15-16K range. For those of us (read: me) who don’t need anything more than a subcompact, it’s much more reassuring to buy a new car with a factory warranty for the same price as a used car that might possibly have half a year (in either mileage or time) left.

Of course, one could debate that you could just buy a “new” used subcompact for even less, maybe around 12K. The only problem with that is, around here, they don’t exist with mileage under 50K. That, or they include flame paint jobs with drop kits, a missing side-view, and quite possibly a hidden package of illegal drugs.

Sometimes buying a new car isn’t always a bad idea, or just based on emotions. It can make economic sense when buying a small car with little depreciation, but I also see plenty of midsized sedans go on sale with 1,500 miles, a factory warranty, and 8K off sticker.

Likewise, such stories as “My Camry’s clutch lasted 260k miles”, “my Accord has 150k miles with the same brake pads”, “I haven’t done a lick of maintenance on my 10-yr-old Nissan” are also statements that stretch credulity.

Actually, it would be a difficult choice for me. I like the versatile interior of the Fit. Seriously, though I get the point. Peopl focus too much on the mpg without taking into account the total cost of ownership and actually comparing cars in a holistic manner, including resale value and driving enjoyment.

Why buy a tiny car that gets no better mileage than the next size up. I’d love a new Fiesta, but the highway mileage better begin with a 4.

If it isn’t changed too much from the existing Mazda2 that it will reportedly be based on, it should get 40+ mpg, hwy. If they actually offered it with the 1.0L gasoline engine used overseas as the base engine, it would get 50+ mpg hwy, but what self-respecting American is going to buy a car with a 1.0L engine? I mean other than one with a clear understanding of what a sub-compact commuter car should be and why they are buying a Mazda2/Ford Fiesta in the first place.

OTOH, if I were buying a new car today, I also would be looking at mileage more than I used to. Why? Reliability is not the differentiator it used to be. I think mileage may be important for resale values in the future, so you might as well look at it. Even with $80 a barrel likely coming back, I think that the value of efficiency will hold value better than it did last time around.

I think Sherman Lin has it right: if you’re buying a new car anyway (even if that means a new-to-you used car), it makes sense to buy something more economical. When I needed to buy a new (used) car last year, I bought a compact instead of another mid-sized. When my in-laws needed to buy another car just this month, they opted for a compact instead of another minivan.

Most people accept that owning a car for transportation is going to cost money. That money is broken down in to two parts
(1) Operation expenses (fuel, taxes, maint.,)
(2) Capital expenses (the cost of buying the car and interest on financing the car).

You have control over how that money is carved up. True, the total amount may be the same, or more. But you can change mix so more goes to the car company than the to fuel companies.

For me, I’d rather have a greater percentage of my transportation money goes to Japan than to Saudi Arabia.

In fact, I’d be willing to bet that a lot of people can rationalize an increase in transportation cost by knowing that they will, after 5 years, be sending less money to Middle East fundamentalist and to Latin American communists.

Nothing wrong with that. I’d love to be able to tell Saudi Arabia and Chavez to go pound sand, even if it costs me a little more out of my pocket.

The typical owner of a just-paid-off 3-year-old ’70s car had an exhaust system, battery,and shocks on borrowed time. Chances are, he’d already replaced the bias-ply OEM tires with another set that now had less than a year to go.
And rust was already showing up in the wheelwells and was quietly chewing through the underbody.

Today’s 3-year-old gas guzzler is still a new car.
If my 10.5 year-old Ranger is typical, the owner has 7.5 years and counting on the exhaust, 5.5 years on the shocks/struts, a couple more on the battery.Little or no rust is evident in both the places you see and those you don’t see.

I’m only on my 3rd set of tires in 122,000 miles,so if the SUV owner (or should I say mortgagee) is typical he’s got another year to go on the OEMs.

Getting rid of a “new” 3-year-old vehicle that you owe 3 more years’ payments on makes little sense.

Why buy a tiny car that gets no better mileage than the next size up. I’d love a new Fiesta, but the highway mileage better begin with a 4.

That’s because we Americans MUST have a new car! Can’t live without it. Just look at how many people suffer the payments each month. Many now justify the payment by mentioning the decreased fuel bills since they bought a Civic/Corolla or whatever that got better gas mileage than the paid-for Silverado they had. Umm..sure. While the fuel costs did go down, as mentioned, the overall costs of vehicle ownership most likely wind up going way, way up (payments, increased insurance, factor in depreciation). Most of us do not look at the total factors involved in car ownership and then wonder why we don’t see a huge savings at the end of the month. Again, the lower mileage is just a way to make them feel better about the purchase…

It is an awesome toy. After playing with it, the conclusion that i’ve come to is that if consumers were rational, everyone would be driving around in a 3-year old japanese sedan.

Lots of people must really purchase on emotion before all else, the knee-jerk reaction to gas prices is no big surprise.

Edmunds.com has a neat “total ownership cost” prediction tool that makes certain assumptions (12,000 miles/year, maintenance costs, gas prices, future market conditions). If I remember right, they predict buying and driving a new Ford Focus will cost exactly as much over the next 5 years as buying and driving a 5 year old Toyota Tundra.