Buying Your First Ride: New or Secondhand?

Whether you are buying an automobile or aircraft after receiving your driver’s or pilot’s license, you must make your decision more carefully. This is because both purchases entail big expenses. They could be the biggest investment you will ever make.

Now, if you are torn between purchasing new and used cars, read on as we will discuss here the good and bad side of each.

New automobile
Fresh from the factory, unused and untouched—it is yours. Such is the pleasure you get from driving a brand new car. It makes less financial sense, however, because it can lose about 40 percent of its value within just three years. Only then from that point the depreciation rate slows down.

Pre-loved wheels
With this purchase, you get more for your money because the first owner has already absorbed most of the depreciation cost. As a result, you buy at the start of the low-cost part of the ownership cycle, which means that all the expenses you are going to incur as a result of owning a vehicle are reduced. Here are the particular benefits you can enjoy.

• Same ride for less – As mentioned above, buying something preloved spares you from the heaviest depreciation hit. A brand new Honda Accord, for example, can cost you about 13,000 pounds. But if you bought a two- to three- year-old unit, you are likely to get it at just around 3,000 pounds.
• Certified used. Many manufacturers and dealerships these days offer more and more certified pre-owned programs or CPO. This bridges the gap between new and preloved rides, ensuring buyers that they are purchasing well-inspected and repaired vehicles.

Of course, there is also a downside to buying CPO automobiles, and it has more to do with financing. This is because getting a loan for used rides is often more difficult. The interest rate, in particular, is quite high (though this may be compensated by low insurance rate). In addition to this, by choosing a pre-loved item, you might miss out on some of the latest safety and technical gadgets. There’s that new car smell, too, something that can give you that great feeling.