You loose 25+% of it’s value when you drive it off the lot.
That’s not generally true anymore. A friend of mine just bought a new Toyota Avalon, and with the various rebates and incentives he got from the dealer, he paid $800 less than the bluebook value of the car with 15,000 miles on it. And that doesn’t even factor in the difference in financing a new car vs. a used car (he paid cash).
I’m a big believer in used cars, but I buy cars that are 5+ years old with lots of miles on them (I’m poor and good with a wrench). New cars are so reliable these days that they lose very little value in the first couple of years, and you can often get better deals on a new car than on a late-model used one.
