Second to a house, buying a car is the most expensive purchase most of us will make. Choosing whether to buy a new vehicle or used vehicle sometimes seems like a tough decision but in reality, it is a no-brainer. Here are some reasons why…

Vehicles are becoming much more reliable as the technology in building them has become much more advanced. Because of this, vehicles are also lasting much longer. The problem with buying a new vehicle is it depreciates heavily in the first 2-3 years. This means that a $30,000 vehicle can depreciate 20-25% as soon as it is driven off the lot. Also, in the first few years of ownership as odometer miles click away it continues to depreciate very heavily. It is not unlikely scenario to have a vehicle that originally sold for $30,000 that has somewhere in the 30,000 mile range after three years sell for close to $20,000, a 33% drop in price. You would be smarter to be the owner of the same vehicle when it reaches $20,000 as over the next 5-10 years depreciation slows considerably at just a few percent per year. Wouldn’t it make more sense to be the second buyer that saved all that money and still has a relatively new vehicle to drive?

When purchasing a preowned vehicle that is only a few years old the car is usually still within its manufacturer’s warranty and is generally in “new” condition with no mechanical issues to be found.

The easiest way to verify when the car was originally purchased so you know when the warranty began and how much time it has remaining is to check one of the reports readily available such as CarFax or AutoCheck. These reports will tell you the history of the vehicle maintenance that is already been performed in any red flag issues such as accidents.

Extended auto warranty coverage is also available at very reasonable pricing on these vehicles as they are still considered “new”. To check on pricing and coverage availability you can contact companies like Auto Advantage Inc. at www.autowarranties.com.