Quote:
Originally Posted by mike sevel
I am considering a new 4 series coupe.
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Then why are you posting this on the E90 forum?
Here, I even did the hard work for you and linked directly to a thread discussing F30 pricing over at the F30 forum.
Quote:
Originally Posted by colorado.e9x
Yeah definitely don't buy new. A cars value immediately goes down by about 10% the moment you drive it off the lot
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I disagree with this. If you're paying MSRP for a car, then yeah you're a sucker and you're going to eat a lot of depreciation. But if you're not buying a special one-off car and you're not paying MSRP, then you aren't instantly losing 10% of the sales price when you drive away.
New vs. used comes down to personal preference and your negotiated sale price. When I bought my first new car (after my trusty used car finally died on me) I was always taught this myth of "NEVER BUY A NEW CAR YOU'LL LOSE SO MUCH MONEY," so I focused my search on a three year old used car. The prices were ridiculous. I was looking at Honda Accords, and they were all $17,000-$18,000. Most of the ones I looked at in this price range had minor cosmetic issues that I didn't feel like dealing with, and one "certified pre-owned" model even had an obvious slipping transmission. So instead I shopped around and bought a brand new one for $20,500. Spending $3500 more for a brand new car was worth every penny for me, as I put 160K miles on it over 13 years with nothing but routine maintenance. Prior to the accident that ended its life, the body, paint, and interior were immaculate because I took care of it since new.
I also once bought a used Audi A4 because it was $15,000 less than a new one and still had a year of warranty left. That was a good decision, better than buying new, at least from a new/used decision standpoint. The decision to buy an A4 turned out to be a horrible choice due to the numerous electrical issues I had to deal with. Looking back on that purchase, I was against BMW at the time because the E46 didn't have as much potential to easily increase power (being NA) as the A4 could with upgraded turbochargers and a reflash, but the E46 would have been the better car for sure.