The October 2008 Report: Is Buying Used, Better than Buying New?
There was a school of thought a few years ago that told us that a used car was a better buy than new. The reasonings were quite simple and hard to argue against:
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Today’s Vehicles are Reliable- There was a time back in the eighties, when a smart consumer would be wise to unload their vehicle every time the warranty ran out. Why? Because the cars weren’t built so great and needed a lot of attention. Today, most cars are built to last well into the upper 100 to 200 thousand mile range (especially Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Ford, and GM).
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Used Cars Reduce your Drive the New Vehicle off the Showroom Floor Penalty- You’ve heard the saying that once you drive that new car off the showroom floor, its automatically worth several hundred to several thousand dollars less… well its true.
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Used Vehicles Give you More Vehicle for the Money- When you are talking about a new car, you can get a brand new bottom end Chevrolet Cobalt for around $16,000. But if you are willing to go several years older, you could be looking at a clean BMW (with all the bells and whistles) for around the same price.
In Comes the 2008 Stock Market Flush
This advice has not necessarily changed… but the state of the economy has altered the fate of most new cars. You see, as the stock market continues to flush, so does the sales figures for most automakers. This means that dealerships are sharing the same dismal outlook as the manufacturers. The only way around such a situation is to offer consumers a deal that they cannot refuse. Such deals as of currently are special financing (0% APR), cash back, and major discounts off the current pricing of certain models.
The only catch, is if you don’t qualify, you won’t even be invited in on these deals. So if you’ve got good credit, now is not a bad time to get in on a new car deal. If you’ve got bad credit, then you should follow the above advice and get a good solid used car. The APR really is where it is at when it comes to the purchase of a new vehicle… and if you can get in on a 0% deal, it would be hard to find a used car deal that would be much better.
Here is a current list of a few of the new car deals currently going on through October 31, 2008 (via U.S. News & World Report). Get in on them while the getting is still good!
BMW- 0.9% APR financing on most 2008 models.
Buick, GMC- 0% APR on most 2008 models.
Jeep- Up to $4,500 cash back on selected models.
Ford- 0% Financing on selected 2008 models. Up to $7,500 cash back on some trucks and SUVs.
Kia- Up to $5,000 cash back, or 0% financing on many 2008 vehicles.
Mazda- $2,750 cash back, or 0% APR financing on 2008 Mazda6. 0% financing on 2008 CX-7 and CX-9 SUVs.
Nissan- 0% financing on some 2008 trucks and SUVs. Up to $5,000 cash back on 2008 trucks and SUVs.
Subaru- Cash back and 0% financing on many 2008 vehicles.
Toyota- Up to $1,000 cash back on Corolla and Camry. Up to $5,000 cash back on pickups and SUVs. 0% financing on most 2008s and 2009s.
