LogFAQs > #932959129

NEW car, no. Though depending on where you live, owning a car in general may be pretty much necessary to live anything resembling a normal life.

That being said, the main advantage of a new car over an older one is that, the older the car, the more likely it is to have problems or break down. Which you'll either need to be able to repair yourself, hope it's still under some sort of dealer warranty (if you're leasing direct rather than buying from a used car place or an individual), or you're going to have to keep paying a mechanic to fix. If you're mechanically inept and are just buying from Craigslist or something, you may find buying an older car will actually cost you more money in the long run than just buying one new.

My father used to be good at repairing cars, so he'd just buy old junkers, fix them up, and if they broke down while he was driving them he'd just do whatever he needed to do to get it running again, so he'd rarely pay more than the cost of parts. But I can barely change my own oil, and I don't like the risk/inconvenience of breaking down and getting towed (even though I have roadside assistance), so I just buy new now.

My one friend leases - which can cost more in the long run than simply buying new outright, but which spreads those payments over time to make them more manageable if you don't have a lot in savings, and which has the benefit of being able to take the car back to the dealer for covered maintenance.
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"Wall of Text'D!" --- oldskoolplayr76
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