Astrology

Buying a new car vs a pre-owned car – which is better?

July 4, 2022
Bharat Times

Should I buy a new car or take a pre-owned car? One question that every car buyer asks himself before buying a new vehicle. In this post-COVID-19 era, personal mobility has taken a big priority, and right now, considering the number of launches we have seen in the last few years, we are only spoiled for options. But the question here is, which one makes more sense? Buying a new vehicle or buying a pre-owned vehicle? We have listed some of the major pros and cons of both to help you make the right decision.

Buying a pre-owned car:

Pros:

  1. The most important advantage of buying a used vehicle is that it is a better option financially. They’re pretty cheap, and you let someone else take the biggest depreciation hit on the car.
  2. Nowadays almost every bank offers finance on used car. Also, considering the smaller price tag as compared to its new counterpart, the loan amount and EMI tenure are likely to be lower.
  3. The used car market is also the best place to buy the vehicle of your dreams, which may be out of your budget in the form of a new car. There are a lot of premium/luxury cars offered in the used car market at reasonable prices.

Shortcoming:

  1. Reliability becomes one of the biggest disadvantages of buying a used car, especially when you buy from an unorganized seller. You may need to do more repairs after a short period of time. If in doubt, buying from authorized sellers can be a wise choice, who sometimes offer warranties of up to 1 year.
  2. There’s a fair amount of paperwork involved, so unless you’re buying from an organized seller, you’ll need to take care of all that would otherwise be taken care of by the dealership for you.
  3. Another disadvantage of buying a used car is that you have to compromise on many factors like color, features and sometimes model. If you can’t find the model you like in the desired budget, you may need to expand your search to other models.

Buying a brand new car:

Pros:

  1. Buying a brand new car means that you get a vehicle with all the latest features and equipment available in the market. Other than that, the emotional feeling of having a new car is certainly unmatched.
  2. Maintenance costs for a new car are much lower than for a used vehicle and most new cars will have very few repairs in the first few years. Plus, they come with a warranty of several years and parts are also readily available.
  3. New cars get lower interest rates as compared to old cars. Also, getting a bank loan for a new car is very easy and you get more options to choose from.

Shortcoming:

  1. New cars are more expensive than used vehicles and will put a big dent in your pocket. Sometimes the difference in amount is almost double what you would pay for a used vehicle.
  2. While buying a new car, you will also have to incur several additional costs such as registration fee, road tax, RTO fee, etc. Not so when buying a used car.
  3. Depreciation is higher on a new car than on a used car. On average it is about 20 percent for each year in the first three years. This means that your new car will lose 60 percent of its value in the first three years.