03-05-2004, 02:53 AM
REED Wrote:as ive tried to narrow it down, ive come to the conclusion that if i get another car its gonna be new, im just not willing to take the "risks" of a used car, unless i stumble across some amazing deal...
The thing with used cars is you just have to be very thorough and rational in your decision making process. Buying a car (especially for guys like us) can be a very emotional experience sometimes so naturally sometimes we make snap decisions based on emotion. With new cars this means you'll get hosed on financing and such, with used cars you may end up getting hosed with a ragged out car. Really, if you use your head you'll be alright.
I can see why you'd be hesitant about used but really its the way to go most of the time. Why absorb the first big hit in depreciation if you don't have to?
The main things I think about with used stuff:
-Find out what the known issues are for that car
-Select a brand/car with good reliability from the start
-Keep in mind repair/maintenance costs.
-Determine how much time/money you'd have to spend on a fixxer upper (if that's what you want to do)
-Where do you want to be with this car in 3-5 years (or more)? Plan accordingly. If you're not sure you're gonna want it in 3-5 then maybe you should skip it
-Probably the most important criterion: what do you want to do with the car? Strictly street/daily driver? Autox + track? Drag? Eventual racecar? Of course these questions have a lot of follow up questions...
All of this stuff may be elementary and you may have thought of it all before but when I was looking for the Geeser it took me several months to figure that stuff out. Someone needs to find that post in the old forum about "Things I wish I knew 4 years ago."