Purchasing a used vehicle can be a wise financial decision that will allow you to save thousands of dollars, if you take the time to do your homework ahead of time. This is especially true in these hard times when you are pinching pennies and trying to save on fuel.

New vehicles lose approximately 40 percent of their value within the first few years of leaving the dealership. At that point, the process of depreciation slows down a great deal until the point it reaches the salvage value of the car.

Buying a good used vehicle allows you to pocket approximately 50% of its original sticker price while benefiting from a fairly new car. A pre-owned vehicle also has many other advantages. For example, it has reduced depreciation, and lower costs for an auto warranty, registration, and an insurance premium.

In addition, the cutthroat competition of today has resulted in manufacturers building cars that are more reliable and also carry longer auto warranty periods. Therefore, it isn’t uncommon to find cars that are three-years old that still have original new car warranties by the manufacturer.