When buying a used car, what's the opitmum age of car to go for?

Question

A newer car will cost more to buy, but less to maintain, and will last longer. An older car will cost a lot less to buy, but more expensive maintenance.
Is there an optimum age of car where you'll get best value for money?

Answer 1

Here's an article on edmunds.com that basically says the best bargains are 1-2 year old cars and 6+ year old cars, as those are the steepest depreciation points in a car's lifetime:
http://www.edmunds.com/advice/strategies/articles/77147/article.html

Not sure if I 100% agree, but it's something worth looking into.

Answer 2

From a mechanical factor of view there will likely be no change and if you'll be able to manage to pay for to shop for a automobile of that age then you're not likely to be preserving it for the following 10 years. Look at what assurance is to be had at the two vehicles, so much now a days can have include a three yr assurance and if that applies to each cars opt for the more recent one to get the longer assurance protection. With vehicles as new as this and with such low mileage the 6k change in mileage is of no outcome what so ever.

Answer 3

Serious shopping is the real key. I used to work for a company that inspected Used Cars for the buyer, at their expense. We once worked with a local TV station, investigating classified ads for cars. The disappointing result was that 90% of the ads were run by resellers. Many posing as if they had owned the car for years. So first off be a serious shopper, don't get excited about appearances. I told people that when they called, or if you email, about an advertised vehicle, ask if the car is titled in the sellers state, in the sellers name & will they show you their ID & the title? If you get ANY answer but yes say T-Y & hang up, don't believe the BS stories about selling for a friend etc. Now as to car choice, watch for over-looked cars. For example, Suzuki & Subaru build solid dependible cars for a reasonable price, they are cheap used, because everyone thinks of the big players. But if you have $8.5k it will buy a new Kia, with a 10yr/100k warranty, according to ads here.

Answer 4

I think you should stay away from anything older than 1998. You might be lucky, and find a nice car older than this, but its hard to come by. Make sure and check out all the car history on it. For example, accidents, regular maintenence records.....that will be the best way to determine what your getting yourself in to.

Answer 5

Perfect used car is a Honda Civic about 5-7 years old regardless (well, almost) of mileage for $5-7,000. It still has plenty of life left with absolutely minimum maintenance.