- Joined
- Jan 21, 2009
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- Political Leaning
- Undisclosed
I am all about function over form.
I have had very good luck buying used cars (and trucks),
but that market is becoming less of a good deal.
In the past, I used a simple formula.
Select a vehicle/year that is roughly at the end of the payment cycle.
Select a vehicle/year that consumer reports list as better than average reliability.
Look at the brand lot where the vehicle came from (i.e. used Ford on a Ford lot)
Try and find one that came from that dealer.
Have a trusted Mechanic check it out.
The idea on the dealer lot, is that someone bought the vehicle, made all the payments,
and liked the vehicle/dealer enough to go back and get another.
It also takes advantage of the fact that many people get a new car itch as that last payment is coming up.
We go to both extremes. If for utility that is ALL we care about. If for personal and pleasure usage, we want it to about form in terms of reflecting the opinion we have of each other and ourselves. What you drive is a bit like what you wear - it tells about you. Plus there is the question of the quality of life for the time spend in a vehicle as that becomes your environment.
For utility/work vehicles, we singularly care about function - meaning cheap but good running beatup old trucks. We don't have to worry about dinging them up or keeping them clean - just keep 'em running and drive them til they drop.
But for personal use, we go for unique, powerful and impressive. Thus our trucks, other than not wrecked, are about the cheapest around and we buy them for $2-3K. But our personal use vehicles are rare, "status," and very poor fuel economy monster-power machines ranging for a 600 hp prototype Italian 4x4 designer SUV (of a defunct company) to 800 hp Mercedes. We buy all vehicles used and generally at very low prices even for being used.