Ask HN: Does It Still Make Sense to Buy a New Car?

[Anumbia]

New data reveals that a 3-year-old used car now costs, on average, only about 10% less than a brand-new version. With that tiny gap, the old logic of buying used to save big money is crumbling.

A media outlet is diving into this for a story. If you've shopped for a car in the last year, we want to hear from you:

Did you end up buying new because a used car didn't make financial sense?

Or did you buy used and feel like you overpaid?

What was the most shocking price you saw on a used car lot?

(Please note we may request your name and location if we decide to cite your story)

[Lio]

The problem as I see it is that for EVs more of the total cost of ownership is in the inital purchase price so they are very expensive to buy new.

That means that the used price can also quite high because of that initial purchase price. For a lot of people it's still a bit of a reach without some kind of finance.

However, with new cars there are all sorts of discounts, grants and 0% interest purchase deals depending on where you live.

With used EVs all the loans I've seen have much higher interest rates and so don't end up costing much less than buying new with a 0% deal.

Why pay a bank for used when you pay the same to the manufacturer's finance company for new?

With the current rate of improvement of EVs I wonder if leasing isn't the best deal currently.

[ZYbCRq22HbJ2y7]

I wouldn't buy a used dildo.

Seriously though, there are strata, like with any product. You are asking a question without enough information.

You seem like a bot harvesting information or someone surveying the space in the wrong forum.

[Anumbia]

I am not a bot. I have fixed the title.

[iwanttocomment]

With ICE cars? OK, perhaps. With BEV cars? No, no, no. Also, no.

You can buy an insanely great BEV for 40% of retail after it's gone off lease after 2-3 years. Everyone is concerned about battery life, but it'll have years to go.

I'm not going to be interviewed for the segment, but I have personally bought a like-new, just-off-lease BEV for a fraction of the retail price of the car and it is really very good.

[jillesvangurp]

EV depreciation is non linear. You lose a lot of the value in the first year because new EVs get better in ways that ICE cars long stopped improving. They get better ranges, faster charging, better battery longevity, more efficiency, etc. For some older models, you can get nice discounts on them new because of this or there are attractive incentives that somewhat moderate the impact of this effect.

After the first year, they tend to depreciate at a slower pace than ICE cars for the simple reason that there's not much that can go wrong with them and they are covered under rather long warranties. Most second hand EVs out there produced after 2017 are still under their original drive train warranty (typically eight years or 100K miles, whichever comes first). 2017 was when the Model 3 entered the market. Most popular second hand EV models are much newer than that. Unless they've driven more than 100K miles, they'd typically still have all the expensive bits under warranty.

Whether it makes sense to buy them new depends on what you are buying and where and why. Most private owners would be well advised to look for newish second hand models that are maybe 1-3 years old. The US is in a bit of a market bubble; EVs are very expensive there. And it's not seeing the same price competition. Elsewhere, EU, Asia, Australia, etc. you have a lot of low cost models undercutting their ICE equivalents for ridiculously low prices. Think 15K for low end models. Less in China. And even those will depreciate. But even those cars still see rapid improvements year on year.

[iwanttocomment]

As the owner of a 2012 BEV (still going), I do not believe that BEVs are getting substantially better year over year. Are they getting better? Of course! Within a period of a few years? Yeah, no, that's not actually a thing.

[Anumbia]

That's an interesting take. I know you said you're not looking to be interviewed, but could you tell me how recently you bought the BEV? Also, at a fraction of the retail price after 2 to 3 years; couldn't have been a Tesla. Was it a Tesla?

[iwanttocomment]

No, I wouldn't touch a Tesla at this point. It's a Volvo. Bought it in February, a magnificent deal.

I just calculated it, it was 37% of the original price. Still feels new.

[esafak]

You should edit your title to say 'cars'.

[Anumbia]

Okay.