Chust wrote:

- quote -

I discovered the same trend about two years ago when I bought my new car
(also an "econobox" as you put it). It looks like the "savings" of a used
car are really only applicable for more expensive cars. I also suspect that
there just aren't all that many small used cars anyway - the kind of person
who buys a $10,000 car is probably a person like me, who drives it a long
time (I had my Ford Aspire about 8 years), rather than "trading up" every
two years.

I decided that saving just a couple of thousand dollars in price on a
subcompact wasn't worth giving up the warranty and sense of security of
buying new. I ended up getting a Hyundai Accent, new, for $10,000, and I am
happy with the decision - it was a lot easier on me to buy it new, and I'm
pleased with the car. I did buy a 2002 model late in the year (on a rainy
day with no customers in the dealership!) which helped keep the price low.

Like you, I paid cash. Definitely the way to go, in my opinion.

--Holly

I am in the market for a car, and I'm trying to look into the financial
numbers for buying new vs. used.

Every financial guide I've read says "Buy used" -- but when I look at
the prices of cars, it seems a lot less clear cut.

I'm in the market for an econobox -- something like a Ford Focus, Toyota
Matrix, basic Subaru. The price for new is around $14-$16 K. Looking
at listings through places like Carmax and autobytel.com, the listings
appear to run roughly $1,000 lower per 10,000 miles. For example, a car
that would sell for $15,000 new seems to list for $13K with 20,000
miles, $10K with 50K miles.

It doesn't seem like this presents a huge argument for buying used. If
you factor in the value of the warranty, higher risk from buying a used
car, and additional repair costs, it seems like the cost of a used car
would need to be lower to represent a real value.

Am I simply looking in the wrong places for used car prices? Is the
issue that new economy cars are generally priced more reasonably than
new SUVs and high end cars?

Or am I missing something else?

FYI, I am planning on paying cash rather than financing, so interest
costs shouldn't be an issue.