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Me and my partner bought our first brand new car (2017 Highlander for the curious) a few years ago after being a used car family for so long. Had a lot of medio

Me and my partner bought our first brand new car (2017 Highlander for the curious) a few years ago after being a used car family for so long. Had a lot of mediocre service with used cars, but nothing to write a nasty online review about or anything. Gotta say, with the new car and its full warranty, we have felt like kings in comparison to past experience. Anytime we need any amount of maintenance we get an appointment and then whatever it is is fixed free of charge. Maybe we got lucky, but the dealership has definitely delivered on its promise of complete warranty coverage. I know many consider buying a new car some kind of financial cardinal sin, but I’m sold on it now.

jsmith99 5y ago
In the UK at least, most manufacturers let you buy an extended warranty for a few hundred pounds a year even if you bought the car second hand, so long as it's no more than 3-5 years old.
kylehotchkiss 5y ago
Definitely not a sin - you know that past you maintained the car at safe levels and you didn’t choose to cut corners. You didn’t let yourself spill coffee and soda all over the car. And you can keep it running well over 100,000 miles. And this might be the first car your future children drive!
atdrummond 5y ago
Right now the economics of the used car market are so poor that buying new is a better play, assuming you can find the vehicle you want.
- metadat 5y ago
  Have you verified this personally? Out of curiosity (and fear), I looked up used 2007 Highlander this morning on SFBay Craigslist, and there was plenty of inventory and they looked like a reasonable bargain, around $6-10k for one with relatively low miles considering they are 16 years old. Maybe prices at dealerships are way up? Or people want newer cars and those are crazy expensive? I am certain my friend who just paid way too much for a newer used Toyota is a moron in such matters.
  - atdrummond 5y ago
    It’s possible things have changed in the last few months but I ended up going with a new hybrid recently (October in the Bay Area) when I couldn’t find anything reasonably priced in the 2-5 year old market I would normally play in. I wasn’t looking over a decade old but the prices you describe still sound higher than what models like that were going for pre-pandemic.
    - mark-r 5y ago
      It's the chip shortage. The demand for new cars is greater than the supply because of supply constraints, so it spills over to the used car market. Prices in the used market go up until supply and demand are balanced again.
  - technothrasher 5y ago
    Yes, I think you're looking at cars so far back that the prices, while still elevated, aren't quite as bad as more recent used cars. I just ordered a new car for myself (my old car was recently totaled by a deer strike) and had to pay MSRP, because nobody is offering any discounts. That probably means I paid $1500-$2000 more than I would have a few years ago when I could negotiate a deal. Alternatively, on my wife's 2018 car that was coming off lease, I just bought it out for $27K, while on the open market the car is currently worth about $40K. So we're looking at $13K overpriced on the used car vs $2K overpriced on the new one. Still doesn't quite make up the "drive off the lot depreciation" of a new car, but it gets pretty close.
    - _huayra_ 5y ago
      A very similar thing happened to me. Any used car or on-the-lot new car (in whatever apportionment a dealer will get) is hiked up to astronomically levels for impatient folks. This means when things eventually correct in price, there will be a lot of salty bagholders. By ordering and taking the bus for a few months, buying a car from the factory was the best deal. I usually buy used cars and maintain them myself to a good degree, but that's only on the premise that you really don't lose much value on them from years ~5-10. If the price halves over that time, I might as well lose a similar amount from years 0-5 from regular depreciation and have warranty coverage.
metadat 5y ago
It's not a sin, just do what works for you! People have highly variable approaches to the financial side of big ticket items. Highlanders have always been good to me, I've heard of them lasting to 500-600k miles without major problems and still work fine. Since I drive about 5k miles per year, I'm hoping mine will last me 80 more years. That's reasonable, right? :P
- kayodelycaon 5y ago
  Assuming something important doesn’t rust, corrode, or disintegrate over time. ;)
- kylehotchkiss 5y ago
  This is why I love Toyota! I feel that buying things that last longer is as important for the environment and humanity as reducing emissions. Building things has a huge carbon footprint, and often a human rights ones as overseas mines often don’t take as good care of their staff as they should.

jsmith99 5y ago

In the UK at least, most manufacturers let you buy an extended warranty for a few hundred pounds a year even if you bought the car second hand, so long as it's no more than 3-5 years old.

kylehotchkiss 5y ago

Definitely not a sin - you know that past you maintained the car at safe levels and you didn’t choose to cut corners. You didn’t let yourself spill coffee and soda all over the car. And you can keep it running well over 100,000 miles. And this might be the first car your future children drive!

atdrummond 5y ago

Right now the economics of the used car market are so poor that buying new is a better play, assuming you can find the vehicle you want.

metadat 5y ago
Have you verified this personally? Out of curiosity (and fear), I looked up used 2007 Highlander this morning on SFBay Craigslist, and there was plenty of inventory and they looked like a reasonable bargain, around $6-10k for one with relatively low miles considering they are 16 years old. Maybe prices at dealerships are way up? Or people want newer cars and those are crazy expensive? I am certain my friend who just paid way too much for a newer used Toyota is a moron in such matters.
- atdrummond 5y ago
  It’s possible things have changed in the last few months but I ended up going with a new hybrid recently (October in the Bay Area) when I couldn’t find anything reasonably priced in the 2-5 year old market I would normally play in. I wasn’t looking over a decade old but the prices you describe still sound higher than what models like that were going for pre-pandemic.
  - mark-r 5y ago
    It's the chip shortage. The demand for new cars is greater than the supply because of supply constraints, so it spills over to the used car market. Prices in the used market go up until supply and demand are balanced again.
- technothrasher 5y ago
  Yes, I think you're looking at cars so far back that the prices, while still elevated, aren't quite as bad as more recent used cars. I just ordered a new car for myself (my old car was recently totaled by a deer strike) and had to pay MSRP, because nobody is offering any discounts. That probably means I paid $1500-$2000 more than I would have a few years ago when I could negotiate a deal. Alternatively, on my wife's 2018 car that was coming off lease, I just bought it out for $27K, while on the open market the car is currently worth about $40K. So we're looking at $13K overpriced on the used car vs $2K overpriced on the new one. Still doesn't quite make up the "drive off the lot depreciation" of a new car, but it gets pretty close.
  - _huayra_ 5y ago
    A very similar thing happened to me. Any used car or on-the-lot new car (in whatever apportionment a dealer will get) is hiked up to astronomically levels for impatient folks. This means when things eventually correct in price, there will be a lot of salty bagholders. By ordering and taking the bus for a few months, buying a car from the factory was the best deal. I usually buy used cars and maintain them myself to a good degree, but that's only on the premise that you really don't lose much value on them from years ~5-10. If the price halves over that time, I might as well lose a similar amount from years 0-5 from regular depreciation and have warranty coverage.

metadat 5y ago

It's not a sin, just do what works for you! People have highly variable approaches to the financial side of big ticket items. Highlanders have always been good to me, I've heard of them lasting to 500-600k miles without major problems and still work fine. Since I drive about 5k miles per year, I'm hoping mine will last me 80 more years. That's reasonable, right? :P

kayodelycaon 5y ago
Assuming something important doesn’t rust, corrode, or disintegrate over time. ;)
kylehotchkiss 5y ago
This is why I love Toyota! I feel that buying things that last longer is as important for the environment and humanity as reducing emissions. Building things has a huge carbon footprint, and often a human rights ones as overseas mines often don’t take as good care of their staff as they should.