Chris and I have been talking about buying a newish car for quite some time now. But the reality is, we need to pay down his car before we can actually do that. While we will probably be holding out for a while longer, I learned an interesting tidbit today about new car buying that I would like to share...
As we all know a brand new car looses value as soon as you drive it off the lot, but I just learned it can be as much as 20% or more- wow! According to Edmunds.com, a car retains the most value between years 2 and 4. By year five the average car has about 60,000 miles on it and that's when we usually have to start putting money into it for big service items like a new timing belt or water pump or new tires.
Another interesting fact is that the average person only owns a car for about three years. So (for you average folks) if you sell your car between year 4 and 5 you may get most of what you paid for it back and avoid having to pay for all of service costs. Now, the moral of this lesson...if you are in the market for a new car, the best bet for your money is to actually look for a two year old car with low mileage. Additionally, look for one with good gas mileage and lower emissions so that you are also doing your part for the environment.
While buying this beauty pretty much goes against everything I just said, I would still love to have one...
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