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Buying New Cars
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RSS FeedAuto industry crisis: Should you buy a new car in 2009?
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| Yes | 62% | 32 votes | Total: 52 votes | |
| No | 38% | 20 votes |
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Add to FavoritesYes, if you have the money. During this economic recession, the manufacturer will try their best to increase the sales. Most of them will offer their products at a very interesting price. Even cars will be selling at a discounted price or if not the products come with an interesting package. The key to survive the economic slump is to increase the spending of citizen of a country. By doing this, the economic activities will increase and GDP of a nation will rise. So we can say that if you would like to buy a car you can do so because you are not only buying for yourself you are also being patriotic.
A car energy efficiency will deteriorate with time. It means, your 5 years old car is using more gas, produce more carbon and need more maintenance compare to a brand new car. So a trade in with a new car is an appreciated effort in order to reduce the energy crisis, pollution and green house effect. The R&D in green technology has contributes to a more environmental friendly cars offer to consumer. Nowadays, people have the option to drive a car running on batteries, electrical power or even hydrogen. The alternative energy will cut the demand on petrol and other hydrocarbons. If this continue to emerge as a new source of energy in transportation, the oil price will be stable and will not skyrocketing like what just happen last year.
If it happens that you haven't own any car yet, now this is the time to buy, not just because the discounted price, interesting package, patriotism and being environmental friendly like I have mention above. If you do not own a car, your mobility is limited especially if you are already married. During the economic downturn, it is quite difficult to travel long distance as money should be saved. Long distance traveling will involve air tickets, hotel accommodation and renting cars. So if you have your own car, a visit with your family members to a local park, or any interesting place would be more advisable where you can come back to your home by the end of the day, save on hotel. Everybody can benefits from this type of escape in the weekend. Most of the job sectors are on quite a stressful condition because of the economic slump so spending quality time with the family outside the house would help to dissipate the tension of the weekdays.
Though one might think that saving is the best to do during the economic slump but it is not entirely true as sometime the money you spend is actually an investment for us to triumph during this bad day. So if you have the money and would like to buy a car you should not think twice.
Learn more about this author, An-Nur Nasir.
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No
Buying a new car in 2009 makes as much sense as it did in 2008, or any other year before that. If this economic crisis has taught us anything, it's that we need to be more careful with the financial decision we make and the amount of debt we go into. The purchase of a car is a major financial decision, second only to the purchase of a house. It is time that more people start looking at the benefits of buying a used car.
The main reason why buying a new car is a bad investment is the depreciation. The moment you drive that new car of the lot it has lost some value. By the time you get home more value is gone. And after your first thousand miles, once the new car smell starts wearing off, that new car you bought 2 weeks ago has probably lost 20-30% of its value. Before you make your first payment on your new car, your loan is essentially underwater; meaning the car is worth less than the amount you owe on it. Add to that the interest you pay on your loan and it will take a long time before you can sell the car without having a balance left to pay on your loan.
If, however, you buy a late model used car in good condition with low mileage, you can avoid that depreciation while still getting a great car. According to Consumer Reporters, the biggest ownership cost for the first 5 years of a new car is depreciation, which they estimate to be 46% of the total cost of ownership.
Another reason to buy a used car is quality. Car quality has improved a lot over the last couple of decades. The average life expectancy for a new car is around 8 years or 150,000 miles, according to Consumer Reports. Depending on how much you drive, a used car with low mileage can be a dependable and reliable purchase.
Warranties, for long a major selling point of new cars, are now also being extended to certified used cars. There are third-party companies now that will sell additional warranties on used cars, further protecting used car owners from having to worry about saving money for major repairs.
If you are considering buying a new car in 2009, you should think long and hard about the decision. You might get a good deal, but it's impossible to escape the instant depreciation to the car's value the moment your drive it off the lot. And after a couple of months of driving it daily, it will likely not look like a new car anymore. Consider buying a used car. You can get a great car for less money without having to sacrifice on the options that you really wanted.
Learn more about this author, Henry Case.
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