Pro's and Con's of a Used Car Purchase

davidsapper
Apr 6, 2014
2 min read

First things first, obviously at Auto Mart, we believe that buying a used car is usually the best decision. It's what our entire business model is based on and it's nothing that we are trying to hide. So when we have a blog post about the pro's and con's of buying a used car, it can be difficult to stop our bias for used cars from showing.

That doesn't mean that you should discard our opinion. As always, our purpose is to inform you and help you find the vehicle that is correct for you, no matter if it is a new or used vehicle. So when trying to make the decision of whether you're better buying a brand new car or a vehicle that is a few years older, let this blog help be your guide:

The advantage of buying a used car

Let's start with the obvious positives: Buying a used car means that you pay less for the same vehicle. But not just on the price of the vehicle. Used vehicles cost less because:

*Depreciation: Typically, a new vehicle purchase will lose roughly 50% of its value in the first 3 years. So for example, a vehicle that you buy for $50,000 today will be sold in three years for roughly $25,000.

*Insurance: Insurance is more expensive on a new car vs the same model of used vehicle. Car insurance rates reflect the value of a vehicle and with the decrease in value of a used vehicle its a cheaper vehicle to insure.

*Options: You can buy a pre-owned model of the same car that is fully equipped for a fraction of the price of a new car. Buying a pre-owned vehicle means that you can get things such as automatic climate control, bluetooth, navigation, leather, moon roof and better trim.

The drawbacks to a used car

We can't deny that there are a couple of drawbacks of buying a used car:

*Warranty and Reliability: When you purchase a used vehicle, you're not sure what you are getting. Making things even more complicated is the problem of lacking the new car warranty. You can dodge this issue by purchasing a used car warranty.

*Finance Charges: Are you financing your vehicle purchase? Financing a new vehicle usually means a lower interest rate compared to a new car. These rates are usually provided by the new car companies to drive sales.

The cold hard facts are that you can save a large amount of money when buying pre-owned. There are concerns that come up from buying a used car when it comes to reliability and warranties.