Daily coverage of the world of cars.
Young people don’t buy cars, right?
We’ve been hearing it since the millennial generation reached adulthood. The rise of car sharing services such as Uber and Lyft gave pundits and writers evidence to cite, while carmakers and dealers tried to figure out sales tactics to woo young people.
Does the youngest generation really despise car-ownership, though?
Probably not, though they do have certain expectations when considering the purchase of a car.
When I was young and poor, I always fantasized about leasing a new car, because the monthly payments were so attractive. Of course, with a credit score in double digits, no responsible car company in the world would have leased me a new one.
Now that I’m older and married to a woman with a good credit history, I’m no longer attracted to leasing. We hold our cars for a long time, as witnessed by the 2008 Mazda5 and 2002 Dodge Neon parked in our driveway.
With my perspective out of the way, let’s ponder 5 questions to figure out whether you should lease or buy your next new car. They can help you determine what will work best for you.
Even rich people love to save money.
There are some people in this world who could walk into any car dealership they want and write a check for any car on the floor.
Sometimes, though, they just don’t have the time to spend at the dealer and go through the hours-long process of buying a car.
For those people, and for regular car buyers like you and me, auto brokers can be a true blessing.
I remember the day the world changed.
We tend to remember exactly where we were when momentous events mark a distinct “before” and “after” in our lives.
In this particular case, many years ago I was watching television, casually unaware my world would change with the very next advertisement.
It was an ad from Hyundai, the laughable Korean car company, promoting a 10-year, 100,000-mile warranty.
“How could this be?” I thought, “Cars aren’t even supposed to last much past 100,000 miles.”
Of course, today we all know differently, as cars routinely pass that mark and even double it.
The 100,000-mile warranty has become standard fare for Hyundai and Kia and even inspired General Motors and Chrysler to add (and then revoke) 100,000-mile warranties.
Now there’s another warranty on the market that might keep pace with the life of current vehicles: the 20-year, 200,000-mile warranty.
Costco doesn’t sell cars, but it’s the second-biggest car dealer in the country.
That’s an oxymoron that’ll make your head explode, especially when you consider that the only organization to move more metal than Costco is AutoNation.
Costco’s wildly popular car buying service has been used by hundreds of thousands of people over the years, most of whom chimed on our blog post questioning just how good a deal Costco offers when it comes to cars.
Of course, it’s not possible to walk into Costco and drive out in a new car. The service is really just a middleman between the dealer and the consumer.