Buy a new or fairly used car?

Financially speaking, you're almost always better off buying a used vehicle.

This is because the depreciation value of vehicles is always the steepest the first 3 years ( many depreciating to half of their original purchase price ). But a normal 3 or 4 year old vehicle ( by normal I mean a car that has not been abused, has been maintained according to the manufacturer's recommendations, and has accumulated an average amount of mileage during that time span ) will still last for many more years, again assuming it is driven normally and maintained as recommended.

A good used model is usually a better deal. The greatest depreciation of a car should take place in its first two or three years.

You need to find the cars you want and compare their prices, warranty, necessary improvments on the used car like new tires? new battery? no warranty? etc. vs the extra you'd pay for the new car.

Used cars are always a crap shoot, in that you don't really know how they were taken care of and problems can come out of nowhere.

If you can afford a new car, I'd go that route. Even a less fancy car but new.

I think the BEST value for your money is a 2 - 4 year old certified used car , often with some of the factory warranty still remaining.

Compare prices and see for yourself. Certified used cars often sell very close to a new car price and have much lower resale value. Also the "certified" title doesn't mean much now.

You can get ahead if you buy a used car directly from previous owner. Ask for mechanic inspection and maintenance records. Bargain.

You take the biggest hit on a new car.

But you still take a hit on a late model used car because of the wholesale to retail spread.

Lots of cars easily go 150k miles with no major issues.

So buying a car with 50-80k miles is not a crapshoot if you have a mechanic check it first

8 years ago I bought a car for about $1900 that only had 62,000 miles. I still have it. I guess it has 86,000 now. I need to fix something about once a year but its no big deal compared to the thousands I save compared to most people.

I can afford any car I want...with cash. I choose not to waste my money, rather to have it work for me.
Rather than me work for it.

http://www.daveramsey.com/article/drive-free/lifeandmoney_automobiles/

I'd say a middle-aged (2001 - 2006) Volvo XC70 4WD station wagon.

1-2 year old car.
Try Carmax or Autonation.
The best thing about either is you get a great deal with the benefit of warranty. Yes, either will cost more that a private seller but you have someone to go back to for any problems in the 1st 30days. And if you get extended warranty, then longer.