New v. used in the current market?

[Anonymous]

Prices for used cars still seem high right now. The "experts" think that prices will start to fall as supply rebuilds. Some new car dealers are starting to see cars stay on their lots longer -- suggesting that prices may go down for these cars or we'll see better incentives on new cars (for some brands). Some say that the new car market is better for buyers right now than the used car market. But that the used market will start to improve later this year (as will the new car market). It seems to me that prices for say 2-4 year old cars are still pretty high and not too far off from buying new. At what point does is make more sense to buy new?

For example: A 2024 Subaru Forester (premium trim) has dealer price of about $30K (before taxes, fees) which is $2K below MSRP. A 2021 Forester with the same/similar trim, under 50K miles is about $25K. I'm not sure how accurate these online prices are. What is the better deal here? A Toyota Corolla also seems to have about a $5K spread between new and 3 year old used. Should I look at even older used cars? I'm looking at a fairly broad range compact cars to small SUVs.

Unfortunately, I don't think I can wait too much longer to replace my 11 year old car. And it is likely not worth it to make further repairs to it that are over a couple hundred dollars. I think I'll need to buy something before the end of the year (maybe sooner). Are there other costs savings to buying used? Like lower dealer fees? I'm guessing a used car could be cheaper to insure. I'm not too keen on leasing but maybe that is something to consider in this market? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

We bought a 2022 Acura in late January. We could have bought a comparable non-luxury brand for the same price new, but we liked the Acura better.

[Anonymous]

Depends on the brand. Toyota, Honda, Subaru you barely get a discount on used and today it makes sense to buy new. These are also cars you keep for awhile, so buy new

BMW, Mercedes? It makes sense to either lease or buy a year or two used as they are taking huge value hits during the first few years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depends on the brand. Toyota, Honda, Subaru you barely get a discount on used and today it makes sense to buy new. These are also cars you keep for awhile, so buy new

BMW, Mercedes? It makes sense to either lease or buy a year or two used as they are taking huge value hits during the first few years.

I have done a comparison between new, CPO, pre-owned, and leased BMW. CPO and pre-owned beat every other scenario.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends on the brand. Toyota, Honda, Subaru you barely get a discount on used and today it makes sense to buy new. These are also cars you keep for awhile, so buy new

BMW, Mercedes? It makes sense to either lease or buy a year or two used as they are taking huge value hits during the first few years.

I have done a comparison between new, CPO, pre-owned, and leased BMW. CPO and pre-owned beat every other scenario.

Although I'd agree that with a BMW, you can saved a lot going used, some random person on the internet saying they have done an analysis isn't really helpful. Show us the analysis.

[Anonymous]

For a few thousand, new, as it will have a warranty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For a few thousand, new, as it will have a warranty.

This is the conclusion I’ve come to as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends on the brand. Toyota, Honda, Subaru you barely get a discount on used and today it makes sense to buy new. These are also cars you keep for awhile, so buy new

BMW, Mercedes? It makes sense to either lease or buy a year or two used as they are taking huge value hits during the first few years.

I have done a comparison between new, CPO, pre-owned, and leased BMW. CPO and pre-owned beat every other scenario.

Although I'd agree that with a BMW, you can saved a lot going used, some random person on the internet saying they have done an analysis isn't really helpful. Show us the analysis.

Cannot get a snippet to copy into this forum. But the basics are keeping a new car for 8 years, a CPO/pre-owned for 5, or a lease for 3 years, then a replacement lease. And of course the outcome depends on the timeframe. For 8 years, new is the cheapest because you are selling the car at the end with no replacement vehicle. Lease and CPO are suprisingly close because I dropped in $1K/year of maintenance as BMW only includes three years. Pre-owned is about $4K lower than CPO, but not easy finding the car you want as most BMWs coming off leases are CPOs.

For 10 years, lease is the most expenseive (about $2.5K > than new) with CPO $18K < lease. This is because each CPO car (they last 5 years) is sold after 5 years expires. 10 years of time with leases lasting 3 years means 3 cars acquired in a 10 year period.

Of course this analysis depends on a lot of things - is maintenance higher or lower than expected? Are they running a special offer on leases just as you are ready to buy?

In the Northeast metropolitan area where I live, leases are over 75%. The dealer told me that people are interested in driving the latest thing. Also, some buyers just want a vehicle where they NEVER have to worry about maintenance or being out of warranty. A BMW lease gets you there.

For me, mixed on what to do. A CPO can be great or have problems with little recourse if you are stuck with the latter. I know one person who leases Mercedes and then buys them for mostly cash at the end of the lease. That way, they know the car before making a purchase. Might sound crazy, but doing that with a BMW is less than getting a CPO right of the bat. BMW lease end pricing is about $6K less than CPO and $3K less than pre-owned.