Never bought a brand new car, but have definitely regretted a few used car purchases.
Never bought a brand new car, but have definitely regretted a few used car purchases.
Kinda. That 2012 Buick Regal GS was a mistake. I wouldn't say I regretted buying it a month in, but there was definitely some regret later on.
Harvey wrote: Kinda. That 2012 Buick Regal GS was a mistake. I wouldn't say I regretted buying it a month in, but there was definitely some regret later on.
Why is that, if you care to elaborate?
I've become a Buick fan as of late... well, I am 57 now.
I dont buy new but just about everytime i buy a fullsize truck i regret it and sell. They fit all my needs on paper but i hate driving them.
Almost sold my Samurai soon after buying it because the PO had ruined its off-road ability with low-profile tires, on top of leaving me a lot of problems created by half-assing things. Without off-road ability, the Samurai was just a slow ill-handling car. It was a lot better with some meaty mud tires on it.
Edit: Whoops, missed the "brand-new" part. Haven't been able to afford one yet, maybe never will.
dropstep wrote: I dont buy new but just about everytime i buy a fullsize truck i regret it and sell. They fit all my needs on paper but i hate driving them.
which is ironic since they are one of the few vehicles where buying new is about the same as buying 5 years old. At least around here they're the same price with 100k on it as they are with 0. But if you hate the feel, what can you do?
About a month into owning my first "new" car (actually a lightly used 2013 Honda Fit, 12k miles, still under warranty) the one regret I have is not making this decision two years ago.
After doing the "project daily driver" thing for the better part of a decade with commutes ranging from 10 to 75 miles one way (currently at about 15), the fact that I can just get in my Honda and drive without worrying about it has helped me shed so much stress...and between the gas savings and monthly parts/maintenance costs of what I had driven in the past, the car payment is actually less than what I was spending previously.
Plus, there's something to be said for knowing that I'll be able to follow the maintenance schedule from the get-go as opposed to picking up someone else's deferred mess and going nuts trying to catch it up.
Nope, never. I've bought 3 factory-fresh brand new cars in my life and haven't regretted any of them. I've bought 8 used cars and haven't regretted any of them, either.
Only got new twice, one fun car (rx8) and SWMBOs '14 focus. No regrets, the rx8 still makes me smile as much as ever, the focus still gets great mileage and is roomy enough for family hauling. Both still do what they were meant to. The focus isnt too bad to drive, either because we got one with a stick.
fasted58 wrote:Harvey wrote: Kinda. That 2012 Buick Regal GS was a mistake. I wouldn't say I regretted buying it a month in, but there was definitely some regret later on.Why is that, if you care to elaborate? I've become a Buick fan as of late... well, I am 57 now.
I got the manual transmission and that was a mistake. The gearing and tuning was really bad for sixth gear to the point where you could not even pass on the highway without downshifting. The car had lots of turbo lag in most gears, but sixth gear was just non-existent power. The car had really bad wheel hop if you lost traction at all. The shifting was also just not good. Balky, somewhat vague and with throws that were too long. The car was really difficult to drive in stop and go traffic with the manual. First gear throttle response was touchy and the car would not creep in first gear at all, it would just want to stall if you let it go down in revs.
I'm not going to say it was a bad car overall, but the manual transmission seemed like an afterthought and made the driving experience terrible. Probably with an auto it would be okay.
By comparison the 2014 Focus ST I got after that has none of those problems. It's really easy to drive slow or fast and has almost linear power (lag is really only noticeable at autocross) in every gear.
Not me, but I had the misfortune of influencing my wife's new car purchase after we decided it was time to get rid of the 2001 Audi A6 2.7T. She wanted something that got good fuel economy and was receptive to the idea of a stick shift. I knew she could drive stick, because she can run the quarter faster than me in the RX-7. Well, the car she bought was a 2010 Mazda 3S 2.5. I thought the car was fantastic. She, not so much. She said it was noisy (it was) and got marginal gas mileage (it did -- barely 30 mpg in mostly highway driving) and the manual shift got to be a pain in rush hour traffic. She toughed it out for about a year, then traded it on the 2011 Sonata Limited 2.0T, which was kind of like a frying pan into the fire thing, because the Hyundai was a total lemon from the start. After about another year, and many trips to the dealer on a tow truck, the Sonata was gone, replaced by a 2013 Honda Accord V6, which fortunately she loves and has never given us any trouble.
Moral of story: Wife shops for own car! I keep mouth shut! 
I've never had new either. My philosophy has always been owning two cheaper cars. Its the perfect situation because while you are tinkering with one you drive the other. Then when you finally want to tackle that big job on the first one, you take the other one out.
This works awesome until the automotive deities decide you've had too much good fortune, and BOTH cars break down on you. I've never had that happen though, really.
No offence intended, but I have always thought that except in very limited circumstances, anyone buying a new car was .....(trying to think up euphemism for stupid....) ill advised.
The limited circumstances:
1 - The manufacturer discounts last year's model so deeply that you can buy a new one for thousands less than the poor saps that bought earlier in the model year are now trying to sell their 6 month old examples for. GM seems to regularly do this - my wife bought a minivan for a total of around $7,000 off, while other owners were trying to sell theirs for a couple of thou more.
2 - you buy new because you know that the car in question will be all but unavailable on the used market in a couple of years. This applies to really low production models. I wanted a 1988 Fiero GT in 1988. I figured I'd wait around for a used one to come up. It took over two years, and the production was in the 6,000 range.
I didn't want to repeat that experience with the Solstice Coupe, so I bit the bullet and bought brand new off the show room floor. Fortunately, the great GM dealer bail out (see above) was in effect, so I still got a reduction of around $6,000 off list.
3 - possible third exception, would be a car you knew you wanted to own a long time, that had a long option list, and you decided to buy new so you could order exactly what you wanted/needed.
Bought a new Cruze - 6spd Manual turbo. Exactly what I wanted...in that price range.
About 6 mo later, SWMBO sees a 370Z roll by, and casually mentions that she wouldve been ok spending the additional coin to put one in the garage. Even says she probably wouldve entertained conversation regarding getting a hopped up model, like the Nismo edition
Never owned a new car, but there were some used ones I kind of regretted off and on. They all worked out, though.
I think the key for me has been keeping vehicles I like longer. I've had the E30 for 9 years now, and it has basically been up there with a modern car for reliability. I do tires, brakes, oil changes, and that's really about it. That car has also been turbocharged for 30k miles, gets ~25 mpg combined (30 if I don't drive fast for a whole tank), has 270k miles, and is still that easy to deal with. The length of ownership also means that, though it was expensive to fix up at first, it has averaged out to being a very cheap car. So far, I've had the wagon for about 4 years and I'm getting tired of working on it, but it's also really close to not needing anything (once the new engine goes in). Seems like pushing through and keeping a car for 5-6 years is really the key.
I regretted getting my '06 STI. Great track car, abysmal street car. Really uncomfortable seats, crappy build quality with rattles and creaks, huge turning radius, remarkably bad mpg, etc, etc.
Surprised how many have never bought new. I tend to buy new and keep forever, or until it no longer meets my needs. I've bought two new cars since 1989--Mazda 626LX commuter car until I got married and expecting kid, then dabbled in used wagons for a bit, then settled on new 2005 Mazda MPV-ES. Have also owned my truck and the RX-7 for most of that time, with a few other amusements sprinkled in.
Nathan JansenvanDoorn wrote: Where do you live where an Abarth is a necessity?I bought a Fiesta ST, but I'm sure a ten year old Corolla would have 'done the job'. I sometimes think that it would be fun to have built up the e30 into an s50 powered dd, but then I remember how much time that takes, and that it would still be a 27year old car. Sometimes the idea of an awesome project car is better than the actuality of having one.
WOW Really Paul? wrote: Meh, I bought the Abarth out of necessity, but I kept everything to tinker with.
Someplace where I needed a commuter car that didn't suck the soul out of me.....I refuse to buy boring pedestrian versions of cars, life is too short to drive cars that suck. So, I have a commuter that can autox, a toy to take drag racing, and a toy that can see track/autox duty. LoL
Its nearly what I had done 7 years ago when I bought a 3yo Ion Redline
There is another reason: the car you want is or will be almost impossible to find in reasonably cared for/not beaten condition. (SRT4 of old, WRX, Fiesta ST - time will tell, Evo etc)
wspohn wrote: No offence intended, but I have always thought that except in very limited circumstances, anyone buying a new car was .....(trying to think up euphemism for stupid....) ill advised. The limited circumstances: 1 - The manufacturer discounts last year's model so deeply that you can buy a new one for thousands less than the poor saps that bought earlier in the model year are now trying to sell their 6 month old examples for. GM seems to regularly do this - my wife bought a minivan for a total of around $7,000 off, while other owners were trying to sell theirs for a couple of thou more. 2 - you buy new because you know that the car in question will be all but unavailable on the used market in a couple of years. This applies to really low production models. I wanted a 1988 Fiero GT in 1988. I figured I'd wait around for a used one to come up. It took over two years, and the production was in the 6,000 range. I didn't want to repeat that experience with the Solstice Coupe, so I bit the bullet and bought brand new off the show room floor. Fortunately, the great GM dealer bail out (see above) was in effect, so I still got a reduction of around $6,000 off list. 3 - possible third exception, would be a car you knew you wanted to own a long time, that had a long option list, and you decided to buy new so you could order exactly what you wanted/needed.
wspohn wrote: The limited circumstances: 1 - The manufacturer discounts last year's model so deeply that you can buy a new one for thousands less than the poor saps that bought earlier in the model year are now trying to sell their 6 month old examples for. GM seems to regularly do this - my wife bought a minivan for a total of around $7,000 off, while other owners were trying to sell theirs for a couple of thou more.
This is exactly how i ended up with an RX8. it was an unsold 2009 model in early 2010. Mazda threw in something like 5 or $6k in rebates, and the dealer knocked off another thousand or 2 (can't remember exactly) and a bumper to bumper extended warranty. I would also add that i would pretty much never want to buy a used RX8. I've met too many people who 'love cool cars' but don't know how to check the oil. 
I've only ever bought one brand new car, and I still don't regret it. Now, when the booze wears off, I regret some used purchases, swaps, and land-lease deals on used cars sometimes.
wspohn wrote: No offence intended, but I have always thought that except in very limited circumstances, anyone buying a new car was .....(trying to think up euphemism for stupid....) ill advised. The limited circumstances: 1 - The manufacturer discounts last year's model so deeply that you can buy a new one for thousands less than the poor saps that bought earlier in the model year are now trying to sell their 6 month old examples for. GM seems to regularly do this - my wife bought a minivan for a total of around $7,000 off, while other owners were trying to sell theirs for a couple of thou more.
This was why I bought new. The Buick was a left over at a dealer I stopped at to see a pre-owned Cruze. It was far better equipped and about $800 more than the Cruze that had 13,000 miles on it. I had regreted not looking for the turbo/6 speed until reading Harvey's post. Otherwise I'm much happier than I expected to be. We bought the Fiat new because it was exactly what the wife wanted and since she gets 10+ years out of a car the extra money over used is worth it to make her happy.
I do have one new car regret, my current Mazda 6. Nothing wrong with the car, it's actually pretty great in every way but I still miss my Mustang that I traded in to get it. It's way more economical for my commute, cheaper to insure, honestly handles better stock vs stock, is easier to park, and is more practical. But it's not a bright red 300hp rwd manual transmission pony car. 
I like to buy new cars because i like owning something from the beginning and knowing it's always been mine. Most of my driving life I've needed to make payments to afford a car, and I preferred new to used in that situation because warranty etc.
Not counting the wife's car, the only thing I have bought new was my bike. Unfortunately, when you're buying a motorcycle, without a motorcycle license, it's not possible to try many different types out on the road to see what fits you. You just can't get a feel for how the work by sitting on them in the showroom and making vroom vroom noises. Knowing what I know now I made a mistake in my choice. But I still don't regret it. Having a bike is better than not having a bike.
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