I'm just wondering your opinions on this. I'm in a situation where I'm looking at needing to finance a vehicle in the 20000 to 25000 dollar price range. If possible is it a better investment to try to find a new car at the top end of that budget? It just seems like the older the vehicle I get the more chance whatever I get will be worth half what I'm paying for it when prices finally drop back to normal. I can get some help with a down payment and possibly cosigner and I'm in the fortunate position to be able to make high monthly payments. I don't know, it's a crapshoot out there right now guys, just trying to flush out ALL options here.
Oh man, how I wish I could wait like even a month... but I gotta get to work to be able to do anything and I've been borrowing family members cars for 3 weeks, and they are going away next week.
You'll need to find a dealer that either has an allocation coming in shortly that isn't entirely spoken for or has something in stock to get one that fast. (That's one of the reason late model used cars are selling for so much - they're available right away.) A sedan would be preferable to an SUV or Crossover due to the latter being in the highest demand. Probably a base model Corolla or Civic would be best, 2nd choices would be Mazda or Subaru.
No one can predict the future. However I'd say that since a late model used car can sell for nearly as much as a new one and sometimes even more, it would be best to go for a new car with full manufacturer's warranty if you can swing it. You have to be careful about dealer tricks like "market adjustment" additions and bogus crap added on to inflate the price. Even in today's environment you should be able to get a new car for MSRP. (Maybe less if you can wait for the coming economic recession to unfold. Some predictions are likely to happen and that's one of them.)
Oh man, how I wish I could wait like even a month... but I gotta get to work to be able to do anything and I've been borrowing family members cars for 3 weeks, and they are going away next week. But what you said is kind of my thought too, I could at least get some warranties and a better interest rate. Thanks for the 2 cents!
If you can’t find a Corolla/Civic or something similar (that’s reliable), since you’re in dire straits, consider a new Nissan Versa or Mitsubishi Mirage with a manual transmission only.
You can get rid of them when they’re out of warranty and used car prices come back down in a few years.
All the best!
Thanks for all the tips everybody, it's looking like I'm going to go with a new subaru impreza hatchback.
Sounds like a decent choice. I know several people with late-model Subarus and they've been fine with very few problems. I would not expect an Impreza to hold up for 20 years like a Corolla - but it should get you through the next 10 or so if you take care of it.
Assuming it's an automatic don't listen to the "lifetime fluid/sealed transmission" garbage. Change the CVT fluid about every 30K miles for maximum transmission life, take it easy on the thing, and don't tow anything.
Lol, "don't tow anything" it's sad that you feel compelled to say that, must be some idiots out there who'd actually do that! And good to know about the transmission, I'll be keeping an eye on that 👍👍
Thanks for all the tips everybody, it's looking like I'm going to go with a new subaru impreza hatchback. I wasn't so keen on a used subaru because I know they can have some real issues in higher mileage, but being new and having warranties makes me feel a lot better about it. I really need that awd drive too. So with that being said I guess I oughtta post a new thread about getting the most out of it!