Best time to buy a used car....? [Archive]

ElephantRider

11-29-2002, 08:14 PM

Hey guys. I odn't have a Celica as of yet but as soon as I get my damn Probe sold..... I am wondering when the best time to buy a car is. The car I want (I think) is in Cincy. I guess it's had 9 records in Carfax and it's a 2000. Anyways, I have heard the best time to buy is the week between Christmas and New Years. Anyone think this is true or just bs? I am starting to foam at the mouth for my first 5spd..and a Celi at that....

DGS

11-29-2002, 09:28 PM

Originally posted by ElephantRider
Hey guys. I odn't have a Celica as of yet but as soon as I get my damn Probe sold..... I am wondering when the best time to buy a car is. The car I want (I think) is in Cincy. I guess it's had 9 records in Carfax and it's a 2000. Anyways, I have heard the best time to buy is the week between Christmas and New Years. Anyone think this is true or just bs? I am starting to foam at the mouth for my first 5spd..and a Celi at that.... Actually, the best time to buy a used car is now. It's been the best time to buy a used car for some time. The used car market is incredibly flooded, used cars are seeing depressed rates due to a weak economy and I don't see the picture changing anytime soon. The reason for the flood of used cars all of a sudden, is because everyone is taking advantage of zero percent interest rate deals and are buying new cars. I think Mitsubishi has some new deal where you have no interests and no payments for a year. That is un-heard of in the car industry. But in a weak economy, business have to get creative, and the car industry is certainly doing a great job at that.

The flip side of the coin is that it sucks to try and sell a used car now. I'm going to eat a huge amount of money trading in my 2002 Jetta for my new Celica. The reason why I can share this info with you, is because I'm learning first hand what a bad time it is for sellers, and what a great time it is for used car buyers. My car dropped big time in value, more than $8,000 in 7 months!!! I'm hella pissed, but I'm not surprised. The Jetta sucks, worst purchase decision of my life. I've had it in the shop for MAJOR repairs 3 times since I've owned it. No wonder it dropped in value so much. Apparently there is a huge number of used Jettas on the market now because everyone is trying to get rid of them.

Anyway, good luck. You can't go wrong buying a used car now. You'll get a sweet deal on whatever you buy. If Toyota hadn't made so many good changes to the 2003 GT-S, I would be in the market for a used 2001 myself. I could save myself a hell of a lot of money, but the 2003 is worth the extra loot in my opinion.