What's more exciting than driving off an auto dealer's lot with a beautiful, brand new automobile, complete with that wonderful new car smell? Well, how about the excitement of saving up to $10,000 on a new car? It's possible. In fact, it's easy, if you just define "new" as new for you but not necessarily brand new. The best deals today by far are on cars coming off a two-year lease or "program" cars, that is, cars that have been part of a rental fleet. Here's a personal example. Two years ago, I decided it was time to find new wheels. I used a site called cars.com to search for the car I wanted -- a Chrysler Sebring. I had chosen this car because I had rented one on a business trip and liked its looks, maneuverability and gas mileage. Edmunds.com, another site I like, lists the price of a 2005 Chrysler Sebring as $19,595. I'm going to assume that in 2003, the price was slightly lower, let's say $17,800. I was patient and searched cars.com and a number of other sites for about three weeks. I finally found a beautiful, dark blue 2003 Sebring with 13,900 miles listed at $12,500. I drove to the dealer that day and eventually purchased the car for $11,800, My Sebring was a program car and had been in service as a rental unit for about a year. However, I saved about $6,000 vs. a new 2003 Sebring on a car that had just 14,000 miles and more than two years left on a three-year bumper-to-bumper warranty. Plus, the car looked pretty close to brand new to me. Naturally, you will save even more with more expensive vehicles. For example, one dealer here in my city is advertising 2004 Buick LeSabres that had an original manufacturer's list price of $28,495 for $14,981. This dealer also has 2005 Pontiac Bonnevilles with an original manufacturer's list price of $28,586 for just $14,981. Okay, I know that nobody pays the original manufacturer's list price. So, for the sake of the example, let's suppose these two cars actually sold for around $25,000. This means you would still save about $10,000 and that's with no haggling. Maybe there was a time when buying a used car didn't make a lot of sense. But, given the price of new cars today, you are far ahead of the game to find the car you want that's one or two years old. If that car has a year or two left on its bumper-to-bumper warranty and a 50,000 or 70,000 mile warranty on the drive train, you can hardly go wrong. Shop carefully and you can probably even find the car of your dreams as a "certified" ? used car. Each car manufacturer defines certified a bit differently but here's one example. A certified used car from a Ford dealer goes through a rigorous 115 point inspection, and comes with a 6-year, 75,000 mile limited power train warranty, a vehicle history report, 24-hour roadside assistance, and several other nice features. While you will pay a bit more for a certified vehicle, it does come with a bit more peace of mind. Can you save $10,000 on your next car? It's easy if you just remember that a one- or two-year old car is new to you. |
