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Yea. My first 2 cars were a 1991 Honda Accord that I got with 130k miles on it (died around 180k in 2007) and a 1993 Lexus ES300 that has about 160k miles but a solid oil leak. Now I'm driving my mom's 2007 Honda CR-v since she's in Boston and it's awesome. Direct audio-in connector, awesome gas mileage, smooth ride... I wouldn't pick this out if I were buying a new car, but it's great regardless.

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I'm with Martin on this one. I have friends who seem like they're always buying and selling cars, and it just seems like a giant pain in the ass to me. You always owe something.. I want to own my car outright and drive it until that thing into the ground, then get a new one. It'll make the new car that much better, too.

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That shouldn't and doesn't matter unless you want to sell it, or I suppose it influences how much you get if you get in an accident.

But if you're going to drive it forever, it doesn't automatically get 20+% worse. It's just perceived as worse by others because they go, "wait, he just bought the car and he wants to sell it? What's wrong with it....?"

So just don't crash your car.

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you could always lease cars. that way you can get a brand new car at the end of the lease, every time your lease expires, so you're driving a brand new car that shouldn't have major problems every few years instead of driving around a piece of shit. it's the same thing as financing a car if you can get over the fact that you're renting it instead of steadily paying it off for the full ownership rights.

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It's discouraging to me to make that kind of investment and immediately lose value like that. It's probably just me. I'll stick to buying slightly used cars from people that have already taken that hit from now on.
You can't think of a car as an investment. Investments appreciate in value. You're purchasing something to use.

I don't know how I feel about leasing. I've never really looked into it. It certainly seems to have it's upside, but my instinct is that as long as you take care of your car, owning it pays off in later years.

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It's discouraging to me to make that kind of investment and immediately lose value like that. It's probably just me. I'll stick to buying slightly used cars from people that have already taken that hit from now on.
You can't think of a car as an investment. Investments appreciate in value. You're purchasing something to use.

I don't know how I feel about leasing. I've never really looked into it. It certainly seems to have it's upside, but my instinct is that as long as you take care of your car, owning it pays off in later years.

it all depends how much you drive, they have caps of 12,000/15,000 miles a year on the lease. I could have saved almost $100 on my payments going with a lease but i dont want to risk the mileage since I plan to drive more now that I have a reliable car. I bought a 2010 nissan sentra, being an adult is fun.

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I lease my current car. Since I work at a job that is straight commission, I write off the miles, and as Duff said, I get a new car in a year, and 2 years after that, etc etc. Like MCM said, there is something to owning your car outright, but if you 5 year payment plan it, it isnt worth it, unless you go to the dealer with a bag of money. of course my lease isnt the cheapest, but i didnt want to plunk down 30k for a car up front.

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I bought my car new in 2006 and at first I thought I'd never buy new again. However, I've been thinking about it and after I kill this thing I probably would buy new again. Shopping for a used car can be a headache if you're very set on what you want. My needs are minimal, but I like the comfort of buying new.

I only have about $2500 left on my car. I think I'll pay it off after the holidays. That'd be about 6-months early, which is pretty good.

My plan for this car is get rid of it once it starts giving me problems. I hate having to deal with maintenance and be without a car for a day or two. I'm going to start saving up immediately for the next one by taking half of my current car payment and putting it into savings. The other half is doing towards my student loans to dent those more.

I put $3500 down when I bought this car, but next time I'd like to have much, much more.

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I'll never buy a new car again. It loses about a quarter of it's value the second you drive it off of the lot.

A 25% loss is incredibly inaccurate. I've bought far too many new cars myself, plus I work in the wholesale auto auction industry and I see every week that simply isn't true for most cars. Sure, an SUV or truck or a similarly difficult vehicle to sell in this market will take a significant hit, but any decent Japanese car or fuel efficient vehicle will only take about a 10% hit in the first year.

Used cars have been selling for higher prices lately because people want to save every dime they can so the demand for used is up. Also, if you finance a used car you usually don't get the best financing incentives (below 5%) so if you do the math over the total term you can sometimes pay more for your used car.

Plus, working at a car auction, I see literally thousands of vehicles weekly that are absolutely trashed; brand new cars with less than 2,000 miles on them with blown up differentials, knocking engines with 15,000 miles, scratched paint, stained and ripped interior. People simply don't know how to take car of their cars.

I'll only buy used if I can buy it cash. If I'm going to finance I'll go new. That's just my $0.02.

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I'll back your used car prices are higher. When my g/f was looking for her car a few months ago she wanted to go used, but not too old. We were looking at a lot of 2006s and they were only $3,000ish cheaper. Which is basically the payments you would have made on those cars had they been new. I didn't think it was saving that much because in the end you're getting an older car that has a shorten life span for the same amount of money. Now we were looking at cheaper cars Honda Fits, Scions, yada yada and that played a part.

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i bought my car used in 2007. it's a 2006 malibu and was used as a company car for a year. it was $6000-$7000 cheaper than a new one, and still had most of the new car warranty left on it, so i think it was a pretty decent deal.

i'm so stoked that i only have around $2000 left to pay on my car. freeing up that extra couple hundred bucks a month will be so nice.

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I'm so far away from paying off my car it's ridiculous.

On the plus side, there is a lot to be said for driving off the lot in a brand new car you just bought. Pretty great feeling.

my parents just got their first brand new car in 21 years. the last one they bought new was an '89 buick station wagon, which my dad was still driving until they just got a 2010 malibu. but now the poor man just inherited my mom's '93 buick park avenue, and she's driving the new car. it's ok though, if it was up to him, he'd drive old buicks til either he or the car died.

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What kind of car does everyone drive?

1984 Toyota 4Runner. I just spent $2,000 having my friend completely overhaul the engine from top to bottom (all OEM/Japanese parts-no half ass rebuild). I'd rather put a little money into that thing and have it last another 200,000 than have to deal with a payment/insurance on a new car. My last new car, a 2008 Subaru WRX, cost me $600/mo in insurance and payments. Fuck that.

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