What’s the most common advice we here: buy a 2-3 year old Honda or Toyota. While I have done this in that past, it’s a very narrow view that is not the best for everyone.
Let’s say Jim and Karen live in Lansing, Michigan, have 4 young kids, and need third row. They drive 10,000 miles a year, and generally don’t do their own maintenance.
Reddit says get a 2 year old Toyota. The Highlander is to my knowledge the cheapest 3rd row they sell. 2 years 30k your looking at $30,000 for a mid trim package. You’re going to pay a higher interest rate due to buying a used vehicle, and the car is half done with it’s factory warranty.
Or you can buy a brand new Dodge Journey sxt for 15k out the door (don’t look at Msrp, use autotrader) you going to have more warranty, pay less in interest and insurance. In ten years when it has 100k you can catch it on fire, buy a new one and still have less invested then you had invested in a 2 year old Toyota.
On top of regular depreciation, you have Michigan rust which is brutal and expensive on older cars, the fact that kids are going to destroy the interior, and it’s nice driving a new car and not one that’s 15 years old.
I’m not saying it’s bad advice buying a 2 year old Japanese car, just we’ve Ecco-chambered it so long as fact that we fail to recognize other options that maybe just as good or better.
Submitted January 21, 2019 at 06:42PM by gerbil_jammer http://bit.ly/2S50uI6
