HACKER Q&A
📣 Anumbia

Does It Still Make Sense to Buy a New Car?


New data reveals that a 3-year-old used car now costs, on average, only about 10% less than a brand-new version. With that tiny gap, the old logic of buying used to save big money is crumbling.

A media outlet is diving into this for a story. If you've shopped for a car in the last year, we want to hear from you:

Did you end up buying new because a used car didn't make financial sense?

Or did you buy used and feel like you overpaid?

What was the most shocking price you saw on a used car lot?

(Please note we may request your name and location if we decide to cite your story)

  👤 ZYbCRq22HbJ2y7 Accepted Answer ✓
I wouldn't buy a used dildo.

Seriously though, there are strata, like with any product. You are asking a question without enough information.

You seem like a bot harvesting information or someone surveying the space in the wrong forum.

👤 esafak
You should edit your title to say 'cars'.
👤 iwanttocomment
With ICE cars? OK, perhaps. With BEV cars? No, no, no. Also, no.

You can buy an insanely great BEV for 40% of retail after it's gone off lease after 2-3 years. Everyone is concerned about battery life, but it'll have years to go.

I'm not going to be interviewed for the segment, but I have personally bought a like-new, just-off-lease BEV for a fraction of the retail price of the car and it is really very good.

👤 Lio
The problem as I see it is that for EVs more of the total cost of ownership is in the inital purchase price so they are very expensive to buy new.

That means that the used price can also quite high because of that initial purchase price. For a lot of people it's still a bit of a reach without some kind of finance.

However, with new cars there are all sorts of discounts, grants and 0% interest purchase deals depending on where you live.

With used EVs all the loans I've seen have much higher interest rates and so don't end up costing much less than buying new with a 0% deal.

Why pay a bank for used when you pay the same to the manufacturer's finance company for new?

With the current rate of improvement of EVs I wonder if leasing isn't the best deal currently.