New vs. Used

The mindset this day in age is buying new is buying better. In some instances I whole heartedly agree. For example, underwear, mattresses, and shoes are a few things I would never buy used. Obviously no one wants to where someone else’s undergarments or sleep on a piece of furniture that maybe infested with who knows what. Used shoes can also be hazardous to your health because once a new shoe is worn it forms to that persons unique foot. Wearing shoes that are not conformed to your feet can cause back and posture problems. However, I do believe that in many instances buying used has many more positives than buying new. Buying certain things used not only cost less but may actually last longer and work better. Cars is one example of a purchase that most people believe needs to be brand new, when in reality buying a used car has much more upside. First off, when a new car is driven off the lot, the value of the car decreases between 15 to 20 percent. To put that into perspective if you were to buy a new car for $22,000 dollars, as soon as you drive away from that dealership your new ride is now worth between $17,600 and $18,700. But it doesn’t stop there, your car will continue to depreciate 7 to 12 percent annually. Used cars do not depreciate nearly as fast as new cars due to the fact the most cars lose the majority of their value in the first two years of its life. The hard part for most people when considering to buy a used car is the word “used”. When this word comes to mind people tend to think dirty and broken but really they couldn’t be further from the truth. New cars lose value so quickly that a car considered used is practically in mint condition. A new 2009 Ford Taurus goes for around $21,000 from a car dealership yet I found the same 2009 Ford Taurus with only 300 miles on it for $17,000 on Kelly Blue Book. That’s like a friend paying you $4,000 dollars to borrow your car so they can drive from San Diego to Los Angeles and back. Not only is