[quote=EconProf]…The trouble with buying used is transaction costs of at least 10%. There is the biggie of sales tax, but also the huge difference between wholesale and retail if you buy at a dealer. Yes, you can take the time and trouble to buy from an owner, but most car owners, like delusional home sellers, are in love with their overpriced car. I don’t have the patience to educate them. Plus, you don’t really know what you are going to get. Just buy new and take good care of it![/quote]
EconProf, I’m not sure what you mean by “transaction costs” but a title transfer fee in CA is $15, the seller is required to smog the vehicle and as a used vehicle buyer, you don’t have to replace the registration sticker until the month it is due. You also must know that a private party doesn’t have to give you a bill of sale reflecting the “exact” price you paid him/her for the vehicle, and, in any case, your sales taxes would be MUCH higher if you bought from a dealer and the dealer would collect them from you. I’ve had good luck throughout my life buying private party vehicles. I’ve always insisted on having the owner’s service records. I didn’t feel they were “in love” with the vehicles they needed to sell. In a few cases, they couldn’t make the payments anymore and wanted to get out of their auto loan they had already paid on for a 2-3 yrs without damaging their credit. I went to their lender with these sellers and paid off ONLY their loan and the lender mailed me the pink slip. The old owners didn’t recover any money at all!
In used vehicle purchases, cash talks. I’m glad to hear that buying new works for you but I will never pay the premium (even if I had unlimited funds). It’s just throwing thousands of dollars down the drain, IMO.
