New Cars , Who Buys 'Em?

I'll try and make this brief, and get it off my chest and get my rant over with.

New Cars,---NOT!

So I had a wad of cash and it was sitting there. Thought about buying another CD, which is what we usually have done. So tie up $30,000 for 5 years and get 1.02 at best. Not a comfortable idea for me.

OK--Inflation is coming so--hey! New Car!! Wrong on that too.

New Chev Tahoe---$46,000 at best deal. My Tahoe is a 2006 in cream puff shape. 90K miles, looks and drives brand new.

New Tahoe 46,000
Trade offer 8,400 (low balled by the dealer)
Edmund's first year depreciation on 2012 Tahoe: 10,300
Sales Tax: 2,812.00

Here is the result: $2,000 low ball on my trade (losses)
$2,812 sales tax
$10,300 first year depreciation

OR: $15,112,00 spent for the act of simply "buying"
a new car. (this lost forever at the moment of
screwing on my license plate).

Of course I knew this, and I knew buying a 2-3 year old used car makes much more financial sense. However the new cars are flying off the lots this year. I guess people have more money to waste than I do. And this lost paying cash for the new car. So here is what I did: Had the 100K miles services done on my Tahoe. Had it detailed, and brought it home and did even more detailing myself. Wow that Tahoe I have looks like BRAND NEW and it has NO FIFTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS IN PURE LOSS from buying it. I calculated the time needed to absorb the depreciation of the new Tahoe would have been holding it for TEN years.

Pardon my French, but *crew you Mr Dealers!!!
Rant ended.

New cars no problem!!!!

Here is what you do. Run your existing cars in the ground. Trade when it makes financial sense to do so. Yeah you will not get what you want from a dealer but do you really want to deal with selling it your self? I just limped my wifes Liberty into the dealer with a blown trans, no ac, no radio, and a broken window operator. They gave me 2k for it as it sat. Still cannot believe I got it there.

Anyway, repairs complte I would be lucky to get 3K out of it so the hassle was just not worth it. Picked uo a 2012 Dodge Dart that gets 40mpg and the gas mileage alone makes up for half the payment.

Since you apparently have a Large SUV you may find value in purchasing something small and good on Gas to get you around. I have a 4X4 pickup that I have been driving daily and my gas bill was cut in half when we bought the car.

I financed it to the max term to get the payment low. Idea is I can make 2 payments per month but when a raint day comes I only need to make 1. This is a great way to go for flexibility.

If considered I highly recommed the Dodge Dart. Hands down it is the most impressive econo care for the money.

Herb,

You know you and I would have gotten along I do believe had we been in the service together. I am with you on the used car thing. I normally always go in for the used vehicles. I get the CARFACTS info and go from there. I am normally looking for one owners and if I can weed out the age that is normally good as well.

Then, I never take my vehicle to the dealership to be worked on unless there was some perk that I got like free oil change for the first year or something like that or some warrenty work that needed to be done!

Hey I was in class #38 how about you? I was set to go to #37 however, the Gulf War happened and so I went with my soldiers instead. Retired back in 1997 after 25 years.

It all boils down to what do you want, and how long do you plan to drive it? Yes, you can absorb the depreciation but you need to drive your car 150,000 miles or at least ten years to do it.
Everytime I look or shop cars I always wind up selling myself my current car. I am going to admit I have the icky hots for a new Yukon or Tahoe. That is a fact of life. I also have a 2008 Chevy 4X4 with only 40,000 miles on it. I don't fear gas prices as much as the absolute loss taken on buying a new vehicle. I would need my current Tahoe to either have a big problem or quit looking good before I could bring my stingy old retired butt to trade it. If there is another 50,000 miles in my current car, I really need to suck it out myself, rather than "giving" it to a dealer and letting someone else have the miles. I am a little gifted if I may say so, in making older cars look good. I always have been able to do that. What pisses me off the most is the dealers. I would pay their entitled profit if they were honest with me. Most are not. Maybe all are not? I wish they would say "I will sell you this car for $xx and I am going to make $xx on the sale".
A business is entitled to a profit. That is free enterprise of America. Just show me the honest figures, and I might just pay you the profit. Just don't mess with me.

@Nate
I graduated SGM academy in July of 1991. I was in the top 20%. I took most of the course by mail, and attended the resident part graduating 19 July 1991. I had just come home from Desert Storm in time to attend. This was the absolute best military course I had ever taken. NO hats! No salutes!!! USASGMA Ft Bliss!! Had 30 years of service, retired in Sep 2002. (enjoyed about 6 months of terminal leave). Went into property management with wife in Jan, 2003. (Wife retired public school system in 2001).
Cheers!

I never buy a used car. People get rid of their used cars so someone else will get stuck with the problems.

I've had my share of used cars. They require too much maintenance, and my time and peace of mind is worth more to me than any savings realized by buying someone else's discarded junker.

I am not a mechanic, nor do I have any desire to be. I do not want to "get my hands dirty." I want to keep my professional appearance so I can keep my own customers. What's your time worth? The same as the minimum-wage high school dropout who works at the oil change place? My time is worth more to me than his, so I will gladly fork over a twenty bucks for an oil change while I do something more worthy of my time.

All dealers may not deserve our business, but it is a consumer's choice to find the ethical ones and give our business to them. I've purchased three vehicles from the same dealership, who happens to have a A+ rating with the better business bureau.

I haven’t purchase a new car in ages, as I feel that they are overpriced. At one point of my life I sold cars, and I can tell you the best bet is to buy something used. Yes, you have to ensure that the car is in good maintenance order, and that you get the dealership to at least agree to some type of warranty, even a 30-day. As soon as you purchase it, take it to a trusted mechanic and get it evaluated.

I just recently purchased a used Mercedes SUV, and I asked the dealership to allow me to drive it over to my mechanic real quick, which they did, and my mechanic ran some quick test and it past. As soon as I signed the ownership paperwork, I made them give me a 30-day warranty which they did, and then I dropped the car off for a full checkup at the Mercedes dealership which also past. So, at the end, I got a nice Mercedes for below the market value, as I got a great deal and to this day have no problems with it.

Little late to the conversation but here are my thoughts. With a new car you also have to factor in the warranty and extended warranty (only if offered by dealer/manufacture, no 3rd party nonsense). This covers any issues that go wrong with the car. I can't tell you how many times my warranty and my tire and wheel protection plan through All State has saved my butt. I just bring in my car and walk out with minor fees. Not having to worry about paying for parts or run flat tires which cost the same as my house (only kidding but seriously expensive tires). Now compare this to my old car that every time something needs to be fixed, it's a large chunk of change out of my pocket. Things on cars break, and it's a good feeling to know that most of the time it's covered at little to no cost to you.