new or used, you vote

Okay guys, here's the ultimate car buying question. I'm planning to replace my aging Jeep after the first of the year. At 160k it won't go for ever as a daily driver. I know how much I want to spend. So, do I buy a new vehicle in this price range. Or do I buy one a couple of years old with more features for the same price. I tend to keep cars a long time: jeep 10 years, truck 15 years. I'm torn about which to get. What say ye?

Keith: No question here. BUY A USED ONE. Especially if it has all of the options that you want and can't add after market. Reason? You will lose<BR>15-20% off the value of a new car the minute you drive it off the lot. Let someone else take that beating. The best buy would be a program car. They are usually low mileage, and have the remainder of the mfg. warrenty and it is still eligible for extended warrenty purchase if it does not already have one, and if it does have one it is transferrable one time. Been involved in both deals so this advice comes from<BR>experience.

the answer to this question can be different for different people and situations. If u only plan to use your hi-mileage jeep as a 'local' vehicle or only for 'ruff-service' then u just mite want to consider keeping it. If u NEED a first-line car for long trips and so-forth then consider upgrading.<P>By-and-large, what AL says IS correct. However, over the last 10 years or so i have noticed that late and even not-so-late model used cars r nearly as expensive as a new one.... and finding a used car with low mileage (under 30K miles) is nearly impossible anymore.<BR>Buying an car (truck, m/c, et-al) is something that must be a continuous and ongoing effort. I mean: that one should ALWAYS keep themselves in a financial position to buy a BARGAIN when it happens to come along. And they DONT come along when u want them too. OR, to put it another way, 'u gotta be there with the resources when it happens'.<BR>ONe must also divorce themselves of the psycho/sexual emotion that is so heavily and latently attached to car ownership. This means that sometimes we must accept certain models or brands that we dont really want but can 'learn to live with' because its at a price we cant refuse and be able to recognize such opportunities when they come along.<P>I could go on and on about this but i think u get the drift of what i'm trying to say.

....yeah, by the time we go sit at the dealership and wait for them to make a repair for too much money or go 2 or 3 days without car waiting for them to repair its just about as ez to go out to the garage and do it myself. I've had several people (mostly girl friends) over the last few years scoff at me for changing my own oil. They go stand in line at jiffy lube and drink bad coffee in their waiting room all morning waiting for their oil change while i can have mine done in an hour and never leave the ranch. There r certain conditions and situations that can be most benificial in buying NEW...but i really cant think of any other than a situation of desparation or somekind of emergency situation.<BR>I've NEVER owned a new one in my life and probably never will. At times when i was tempted to go buy a new one involved situations that pointed to buying new. However, i found that i was MUCH further ahead getting rid of the situation itself rather than buy the new car to appease it. It amazes me at how many people i see working $30K/yr (or less) jobs driving $30-40k cars to work and back as much as 400 miles a week in salt and rush hour traffic. I dont know. But it sure does not compute with my pencil and paper. Go to work to pay for the car so i can drive the car to work to pay for the car to drive to work.....????? WILL someone PLEASE explain this to me???

[Steve Brown]

I was lucky with my 91 Wrangler. During the 10years adn 165k I've owned it it never went back to the dealership once for anything. The repairs I've had done - most recently a radiator and replace fan motor in AC - were all done out of warranty and by my corner mechanic. He and I go back so far he has keys to all my vechicles and just charges the bill to my credit card without me there. Makes it easy to drop off and pick up cars after hours. Generally, I thinking about getting a two-year old lease-return Grand Cherokee with 30k or less or the just-introduced Jeep Liberty which is smaller. Acutually, with all the lease returns, the GCherokee with an I-6 will cost about $4k less than the Liberty with a V-6. I'm just mithering. Thanks for your thoughts. What say you, RO?

[RO]

I think I have to go along with the other guys on the good used one that should have any of the bugs worked out and indeed someone else has taken the beating on the depreciation it takes once it leaves the new car dealer. Besides, it seems to be directly proportional, the newer and newer the car the uglier and uglier they become. You just have to check it out good and be sure it hasn't been abused or wasn't traded in because of any particular problems. Or, you can do as a friend of mine with his Toyota.....350,000 miles before he traded.

Thanks to all for your input. I'm certainly not enamoured with new cars - a given for a Packard owner. These days people lease cars for two years then throw them away. Amazing for things that cost $20k, $30k, $40k and more. I'll gladly take someone else's leavings if it saves me $$$$$. Also, the Wrangler cost $14k 10 years ago and after 165k miles it is still going to fetch roughly $3k in the market where I am. That breaks the cost down to about 8 cents a mile or $3.80 a day. Not bad for basic transportation. Oh. I had fun with it, too.

Oopps. Forgot the $3k residual value. It was even cheaper. Gosh.

Steve: having driven both the Cherokee and Grand Cherokee for a living don't bother with Grand. IfI where to buy a Jeep it would be a Cherokee with the Inline 6. My mechanic says stay away from the V8 models. The other small SUV I would consider is a Chevy Blazer with the 4.3 V6 engine. The 4.3 engine is trouble free andtough as nails. Fords forget about them thier V6's are not worth sqwat. I have great respect for the Jeep 4.0 engine also. That inline 6 will hang and bang with the 4.3 any day.

Yep, that inline 6 - same as in my Wrangler - goes back to the old AMC days and is tough as a rock. Acutally, I like the old Cherokees. Plus, they were designed by Dick Teague and we all know I have one of his vehicles and really like them. I like my SUVs plain jane and utilitarian. That's what they are supposed to be, not sissified like msot are today. So it sounds like a two year old Cherokee with less than 30k miles would be the best choice. And since the Cherokee is now out of production the used ones have gone down even more in price.

[RO]

Back in 1977 to 1986 I had the REAL Cherokee, i.e., the big Chief....5,150 pounds of awesome 4WD but after 100,000 miles it was worn out.

To bad you cannot get an FJ40 Toyota Land Cruiser. I had a 67 that I kept for 140K miles<BR>toured the mtns. and hills of California, dropped a Chevy 350 in it and raced it for 2 years. That was a vehicle that would a jeep in its tracks except in mud.

at 0% financing you are asking this question? Might I remind you of all the doctored up flood cars being passed around on the market? Again I have to ask why would you have doubts at 0%? What are you waiting for?