Quote:
Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay
Ya, that's where taking the cost of the loan into consideration is important. OK, so my disconnect isn't as bad as I thought.
I do need a new car, and I could certainly pay for a brand new one in cash, just struck me as not doing it right I guess? Put down a healthy down payment, make sure the monthly payments fit into my budget and then invest a good chunk of the remaining money.
And I would almost certainly by used. 2 yrs old is perfect I think.
At times I feel like I have to much sitting in the bank doing nothing productive but the though of just dumping a majority of it into a new vehicle strikes me as bad use of resources.
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It will take some additional research, but what you should really focus on when buying a new (or new to you) vehicle is total cost of ownership and the single biggest expense when it comes to TCO is depreciation, so you want to look for vehicles with strong residual values.
The reason why a lot of people focus on two year old used cars is it's a general sweet-spot for the second buyer's TCO... Most depreciation happens right away with a new car, so the depreciation curve has likely started to level off. The vehicle's been driven enough to iron out any service or mechanical issues, but still has some warranty coverage going forward.