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Buying Luxury used cars

411 messages,  Last post on Jul 13, 2009 at 10:22 AM

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#405 of 411 Re: Why? [hpmctorque] by Mr_Shiftright HOST May 24, 2009 (7:44 am)
Replying to: hpmctorque (May 24, 2009 7:27 am) Good points.   Yeah let's try to swing back on topic here. Thanks!
#406 of 411 The Sweetest Spot by hpmctorque May 24, 2009 (1:16 pm)
There's probably more than one sweet spot for buying a used luxury car, but I've concluded that the sweetest one is to buy one just before the typical five year factory warranty expires, with no more than 30,000 miles on the odometer. I would include one that's a few months older than five years, with a few more than that number of miles, if the owner (in the singular, because it gets harder to gauge how the car's been driven after the first owner) had been meticulous about maintenance. By this point most of the depreciation has been borne by the original owner, but the car still has ~80% of it's useful life ahead of it.   As we've noted in this discussion, the depreciation on used luxury cars has accelerated significantly during this recession, especially for those who can pay cash, so it's a great time to buy. What I'm not sure of is the sweet spot for selling or trading the hypothetical 5 year old, 30,000 miles car. I'm thinking that age is less important than mileage, so maybe age can be disregarded, and one should follow shifty's suggestion (if I'm recalling correctly) and bail out at ~80,000 miles. Do I have the sale part about right?   What about doing the necessary maintenance and repairs and going to 150,000-200,000, so you enjoy the full benefit of your expenditures. I mean, why spend the money, only to sell at, say, 110,000-120,000 miles?   Your thoughts?
#407 of 411 Re: seat comfort... [Mr_Shiftright] by corvette Jul 11, 2009 (8:21 pm)
Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Jan 02, 2009 12:32 pm) My strategy was always to buy very *very* well-cared for luxury cars that someone else had JUST dumped a boatload of money into, then drive them a quick 5K--10K and then bail out while everything was still okay.   Replying to an old post, I know, but I had it bookmarked...   I'm not sure how commonplace this situation was back in the "good old days," but today I don't see many used cars for sale, luxury or otherwise, where the owner has just invested a lot of money in repairs. It's usually more like "1998 Luxomobile for parts" or "2001 Cloudmobile transmission needs fixed [sic]."   I can see buying a used car and flushing all the fluids, replacing wiper blades, and changing the timing belt, tensioner, and idlers, where applicable (a grand or so, I'm guessing), but buying something that's not driveable sounds like a losing proposition. Replies to this message: Mr_Shiftright (Jul 12, 2009 7:17 am) euphonium (Jul 13, 2009 9:45 am) Mr_Shiftright (Jul 13, 2009 10:22 am) and 1 more...
#408 of 411 Re: seat comfort... [corvette] by Mr_Shiftright HOST Jul 12, 2009 (7:17 am)
Replying to: corvette (Jul 11, 2009 8:21 pm) Good point. What you might see today is a well-cared-for luxury car that has had money dumped into it previously on a generous scale of maintenance and repair, but that is now facing YET ANOTHER repair bill----a repair that in and of itself might not be all that formidable but that has finally discouraged its loving owner. (i.e., "the last straw"). Replies to this message: euphonium (Jul 13, 2009 9:45 am) Mr_Shiftright (Jul 13, 2009 10:22 am)
#409 of 411 Re: seat comfort... [Mr_Shiftright] by euphonium Jul 13, 2009 (9:45 am)
Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Jul 12, 2009 7:17 am) Perhaps it is the frequency of the repair bills rather than any other reason original owners get frustrated & under emotion rather than reason, trade it off only to buy another yet to be repaired luxobarge.   Before letting emotion rule, determine if the first year depreciation and sales tax on a replacement vehicle is more costly than repairing the original. Of course it is, but by how much? Replies to this message: Mr_Shiftright (Jul 13, 2009 10:22 am)
#410 of 411 Re: seat comfort... [euphonium] by Mr_Shiftright HOST Jul 13, 2009 (10:22 am)
Replying to: euphonium (Jul 13, 2009 9:45 am) I often tell people to add up and average 12 to 24 months of repair bills, and if that monthly average equals 1/2 of the cost of a new car monthly payment, or even lease payment, (+ lease cap reduction costs) it's really time to bail out. So if you're pumping $300 a month into that old luxo-barge, maybe that's not a good idea anymore.   The last half of a car's long life is rarely the best half.

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