In article , SMS wrote:
On 8/11/2011 6:45 PM, Doug Miller wrote:

It doesn't matter HOW you're paying. It's still not a sound financial
decision. Let someone *else* pay the depreciation, and buy the car after it's
lost 1/3 to 1/2 of its value.

That can work on vehicle brands that have very poor resale value, but
buying uses is often a bad financial decision if you're buying a car
that depreciates very slowly.

Wrong. That just means you need to wait longer before you buy.

Let someone *else* pay most of the depreciation.

The ten worst vehicles in terms of
depreciation are all from the Big 3. The ten best are from Toyota,
Honda, BMW, and amazingly the Mini Cooper (a very unreliable vehicle).

Buying a two year old Honda or Toyota for 90% of what a new one costs is
not all that smart since you've lost two years of warranty, and the
resale value if you ever sell it is less because it's two years older.

That doesn't mean it's smart to buy a new one -- it just means that it might
be less stupid to buy a new one than a two-year-old one.

For a Honda or Toyota to sell for 50% of the street price of a new one
would mean buying a 5 or 6 year old car.

So buy a 5 or 6 year old car. So what?

Let someone *else* pay most of the depreciation.