Old vs. New

Boy, I think I am starting to get addicted to this blog thing.... its a great way to get out my frustrations (or just let people know whats going on in my head :) This blog is going to be about old versus new - geared specifically at new vehicles. Another common topic of discussion of late is whether or not it makes more sense to buy a new vehicle or get an older used vehicle (long-term costs). Ok... here we go. The below charts are taken from Edmunds.com - a very respected website on vehicle information.

This is for a brand-new 2006 Toyota Sienna LE (base price of $27k) - this is a very highly rated minivan w/ excellent reviews.

		Year 1		Year 2		Year 3		Year 4		Year 5		5-yr Total
Depreciation		$4,176		$2,989		$2,631		$2,333		$2,093		$14,222
Financing		$1,764		$1,424		$1,058		$665		$241		$5,152
Insurance		$1,451		$1,502		$1,555		$1,609		$1,665		$7,782
Taxes & Fees		$1,875		$133		$119		$108		$108		$2,343
Fuel		$1,568		$1,615		$1,663		$1,713		$1,764		$8,323
Maintenance		$389		$621		$541		$1,872		$925		$4,348
Repairs		$0		$0		$93		$224		$327		$644
Yearly Totals		$11,223		$8,284		$7,660		$8,524		$7,123		$42,814

This is for a used 2002 Toyota Sienna LE (base price of $14k) - exactly same as above but 4 years older.

		Year 1		Year 2		Year 3		Year 4		Year 5		5-yr Total
Depreciation		$1,759		$1,543		$1,358		$1,203		$1,080		$6,943
Financing		$950		$767		$571		$359		$130		$2,777
Insurance		$1,388		$1,437		$1,487		$1,539		$1,593		$7,444
Taxes & Fees		$965		$68		$61		$55		$55		$1,204
Fuel		$1,646		$1,695		$1,746		$1,798		$1,852		$8,737
Maintenance		$854		$1,066		$411		$1,503		$563		$4,397
Repairs		$349		$406		$472		$549		$640		$2,416
Yearly Totals		$7,911		$6,982		$6,106		$7,006		$5,913		$33,918

So we can see that even though it seems that a new car would be less costly, the reality is that the older car will actually cost you less every year. Even though maintenance will be higher, they are easily offset by depreciation & higher fees/insurance. Now that you can see "cold hard facts" you may be able to determine that the logical choice would be to choose an older vehicle over a newer one.... of course, this is provided you can "handle" not having something flashy & new.