Does a used car save money? Or is a used car a money suck? One of the main reasons many people prefer to buy new (or slightly used) cars as opposed to very used cars is the cost of maintenance. People figure that the cost and trouble of maintenance will add up to be close to the cost of a newer car.
Now that we are retiring our van, I thought it would be fun to make it as a case study and see how the costs stack up.
1997 Plymouth Grand Voyager
At Purchase
- Purchase date: May 2011
- Age of vehicle at purchase: 14 years old
- Mileage at purchase: 176,000 miles
- Purchase Price: $2,250 (private party)
At Retirement
- Retirement date: July 2015
- Mileage at retirement: 235,000 miles
Costs: purchase, maintenance, repair
I’m not including oil changes because you would be getting those on your car whether you bought it new or used. I’m also not including smog and registration costs, as those also don’t change depending on the age or condition of the vehicle. Newer vans get about the same mileage per gallon as our older one, so I’m not including the cost of gas either.
I omitted the $285 we spend in August 2012 to replace the side window of the van because it has nothing to do with the cost of having a used vehicle. It has to do with the cost of having children. Namely a three-year-old boy who likes to throw rocks.
Funny story (at the time it wasn’t funny): We’re on a cross-country road trip when our 3 year accidentally breaks the van window with a rock. Nowhere in that town had a window in stock, so we had to call ahead and order a new window in the city we were headed to. We drove with this classy garbage bag flapping in the wind for about 800 miles! That was a great way to make us happy to fork over the $285 for a new one.
Totals
- Months driven: 51 months (4 years, 3 months)
- Miles driven: 59,000
- Total cost (purchase and maintenance): $8,486
Over the 51 months that we’ve driven our van, the purchase price and maintenance (except oil changes) has cost us a total of $8,486. That breaks down to $166 per month.
Is a used car a great way to save money?
In our case, the answer was YES.
I think in most cases the answer is yes. It’s possible that we could have paid $5,000 for a newer van, and paid less than $3,486 in maintenance over the 51 months, or paid $7,000 for an even newer one and paid less than $1,486 over the 51 months, but there’s really no way to know. Every car is going to require some maintenance as mechanical parts wear out. While a used car will require more maintenance, I don’t think the additional maintenance is more than the additional cost of a newer car would have been.
Another thing I didn’t include is cost of insurance. Cheaper insurance is another reason that used cars can save you money. While insurance takes in lots of variables, generally insurance for used cars is cheaper than insurance for new cars.
For us a vehicle is primarily a way to get from point A to point B safely and efficiently. We aren’t worried about what it looks like or what frills it has. We also don’t have to worry about depreciation.
The Next Step
So our van is now retired now. I have a feeling it has a transmission problem. There have been a couple of times when it wouldn’t shift past third on the freeway and it sounded really strained. After letting it rest, it worked fine. Also, it just started making a loud ticking that might be the timing belt. Either way, we know the next repair will be expensive. Since smog and registration are due in mid-August, we decided to start looking for a van right away, rather than wait for our Voyager to die.
We got a new van a couple weeks ago, but we haven’t decided exactly what to do with our old one yet. It kind of makes me sick that we put $650 into it last month, but my husband reminds me that it’s a sunk cost. I’ll have a post coming up on how to get the most out of your old vehicle.
Side Note: We Love YNAB
Compiling this was not as simple as it should have been. Looking up what we spent since we started YNAB to budget was easy. Before that we used Mint (here’s why we switched). To find all of our van expenses from our pre-YNAB days, we literally had to go through every transaction and pull out all the ones relating to to the van. Even so, we didn’t always remember what the expense was for (hence the ?s). This exercise reminded us how much we love budgeting with YNAB.
How About You?
- Do you buy new, used, or very used cars? Why?
- What strategies do you have for buying used cars?
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Awesome tips and ideas that everyone can follow through when buying used cars. As long as it is in good conditions and have still quality parts on it.
Wait I don’t understand how this was worth it?
You estimated your payments in total to be $166/month?
So you drove 60,000 miles in 4 years at $166/month…. but then realize this:
Your car has no value now. It has no miles left.
You had maintenance issues, which cost time and money just in the fact you can’t go to work or have to tow etc.
If you bought an almost new car or even a new car at a good price, you might pay $250-$300 a month but…
After you pay it off.. you still have 150,000+ Miles left! When you factor in those miles, your monthly payments drop below $100/month if you keep the car til it dies.
Plus, you don’t have the inconvenience of the car breaking down all the time until it gets older, and you can actually show up to work and make money!
I am pro-used cars all the way! I am 25 years old and have had two cars in my life, both a few years old when I got them. Both were purchased private party, no sales tax, no dealership hassling and negotiation.
My first was a 2003 Hyundai Tiburon I got in 2008 when I was 18. We paid 9k for it, I had saved up about $4k from working as a restaurant hostess the past two summers and my parents covered the remaining 6k, with the plan that I was to pay them $300 per month until my loan through the “bank of Mom & Dad” was paid off. I went to a state school and my parents were firm believers that first year university students benefited most from living on campus. They had paid for a year in the dorms for both of my older sisers, but because I got a scholarship that completely covered my tuition and room & board they considered the remainder of the loan paid off.
My second was a 2012 Kia optima EX-Turbo that I bought Summer of 2013. I’m in sales and was about to move across the country into a role that required LOTS of driving to visit clients, and a semi-nice car to take clients out for lunch, etc. I bought it from a man that had gotten it brand new from the dealership and maintained it PERFECTLY for the year + he’d owned it. I paid $21,500 for it – it has ALL the options, leather, backup camera, heated/cooled seats, sunroof, bluetooth…you name it. I put down $6k and financed the rest through my local credit union – I’ve been paying off the loan aggressively this year and it will be paid off by this October!. At a dealership it would have cost about $26k + tax. I’ve only had one major repair which was a busted high pressure fuel pump ($1k). Overall it’s been a very reliable car and I am VERY happy I bought private party.
Anyhow, just my 2c – I highly recommend buying used and buying private party! Good luck getting top dollar for your van!
Thanks for sharing your experience Jen. Sorry I’m so late responding. That’s pretty cool that your scholarship not only paid tuition and room/board, but in a way it helped pay for your car too (via mom and dad). 🙂 And an early congrats on having your car paid off next month!
This is a great article, Stephanie! Thanks for sharing your case study. I think it requires a skill for one to be able to identify which (used) car is still good and which one is not.
Thankfully we take our vehicles to a mechanic to get an inspection and another opinion (we are definitely not mechanics). Hopefully the inspection catches any possible major problems.
After many years of driving “clunkers” that left me stranded in some inconvenient, and sometimes scary!, places, I bought my first new car in 2004. A Honda CRV. I still drive it today! I paid it off quickly and have maintained it well. A few months ago, I started to wonder about a new(er) car. I was thinking I could buy another Honda, but just a year or two old, and have a nice upgrade. What a surprise! Hondas that are just a year or two old are NOT significantly less expensive than new ones! I decided in the end to keep driving the one I have. At 11 years, it has cost me around $189 a month to drive – and the reliability has been great! I think I’ll just drive it till it dies….
That’s awesome Kelli! It sounds like it was a great investment! Thanks for sharing!
Interesting! I was fully expecting to read your article and have it convince me to buy used, but it has just convinced me to keep on leasing. My lease price is $189/month with zero down. Not a big difference in price from your monthly costs but it’s a brand new car and all maintenance is covered, including oil changes. For me, I couldn’t handle having to coordinate all those repairs or having a car break down with two small kids in it. Too stressful. Do I get any money back at the end of my lease? Nope, but I’m guessing you won’t get much for yours at this point either. Every financial guru says leasing is a terrible idea (and to buy used cars) but I’ve never seen an actual example that makes it seem worth it to me. (Oh, I should mention, I’m not leasing anything fancy. We lease Honda Fits or VW Jettas, base models. I’m sure leasing a mini van would be much more money, in which case comparing apples to apples you would have the better deal financially than leasing would be.)
Thanks for sharing Amber! I’ve always heard that leasing was a bad financial option too, but I think often they are talking about leasing fancy cars. That’s great that it works well for you!
Yay! New – or rather, new-to-you – car shopping! Fun! I may or may not have a *slight* CarMax addiction… ahem. My current car was a used purchase – it was 2 years old with <10k miles on it and had all the bells and whistles – and after the trade-in, we basically paid for tax and license cash. SO. AWESOME. Unfortunately, it's a lemon and in the shop at least once a month which may or may not contribute to my CarMax addiction. Sigh. This is my first used car since I was a teenager and I won't lie, I'm not really horny about diving back into that pool after this experience, but I may not have another option fiscally when the time comes.
As far as what to do with your dead van: haul it to CarMax (I *SWEAR* I don't work for them – lol! We've just always had really good experiences with them :D) and get it appraised. At least you'll know where to start if you choose to sell it privately or you can sell it to them or donate it for the tax write off – which I've done and that was awesome.
Good luck!
Thanks Bonnie. We already bought another van through a private party. As far as our old van, I heard from a friend that CarMax buys cars (even if you don’t buy theirs) and it’s fine if they aren’t in tip top shape. With the noise it’s making and the problems we’re foreseeing, we wouldn’t feel comfortable (or want to go through the trouble) selling it to a private party on our own. I just wish I knew the ballpark of what they’d offer. I don’t want to drive it there (an hour+ away) to find out they’ll only give me $100 for it (I’d be better off selling the tires alone). We’ll see!
Stephanie, since it’s such a drive to CarMax (I’m out in the sticks, so I totally get it!), maybe make a phone call to them for a ballpark estimate. If it’s not in writing, and thereby obligating them, they might give you a range. The worst they can say is no. Another option you might try is Kelly Blue Book online:
kbb.com/whats-my-car-worth/. Put in all the specs on your car, including that it’s in bad shape, and see what they come up with for a dealer trade-in price. That may give you some idea of what CarMax might give you for it.
Good idea. I’ll try giving them a call. Can’t hurt!
I think it is awesome that many individuals are able to make used cars work for them. Let me offer the other perspective, and those good “used” cars have to come from a previous owner that has taken care of them and bared the burden of new car costs up front-right? Otherwise, there would not be a pool of good used cars!
I am a new car kind of girl. I am not ashamed by it. I won’t apologize for admitting I love new cars. I make it a priority in my budget. It is what works for me. I am in my late 30s and my husband is in his early 40s. We have no kids, but do have a large dog. We live in a cold climate that necessitates (or is certainly made easier) by AWD/4WD. I live in one of the more expensive large cities in the country. Due to a recent relocation, it is not unusual for me/us to drive 7+ hours each way in 3-4 days in said cold/snowy climate multiple times a year. Both my husband and I are working professionals that (unfortunately) work in fields that have some expectation of driving “a nice car.” In fact, his company car allowance policy requires him to maintain a car 5 years or newer or he loses it! (but we do get a $675 month taxable car allowance for it).
Our current cars are 1) 2015 BMW SUV (bought in 2014 and has 10K miles) which we put more than one-half down for and the rest is financed at 1.9% with a credit union and 2) a 2010 Chevy Traverse (paid off, 75K miles). In my adult driving lifetime I have owned 4 new cars that I am the primary driver on and 4 more for my husband. We buy a new car every 4-6 years, although usually pay off in 3 years or less so do have some time with no car payment. I have never owned a used car nor have I driven a car past 100K miles. Crazy? Maybe, but it works for us. What I love about a new car is that it is new and shiny (I am one of those people that park far away and hope no carts hit my car). All my maintenance and mechanical has a warranty for most of the time I own the car. If my car breaks down the dealership will fix it and give me a loaner free. I budget only for my car payment (or if the car is paid off then for minor repairs or the next car I will buy and nothing more). I have general ease most of the time it will get me from A to B with no problems. I have decided to drive my car for another 2-3 years (this is new territory for me) to help pay off some other student loan debt. Recently, I had to put $2500 in it for an A/C problem-dumb luck? Maybe, but on my new car I wouldn’t of had to do that. Now, I hope it holds out with no major repairs for another 30K miles and 2-3 years!
I love your perspective Maureen! I don’t think there’s anything wrong with loving new cars. Because it’s a priority for you, you budget for it! That’s what budgets are all about– making sure you spend according to your priorities. That’s really cool that your husband gets a car allowance! 🙂
So I am curious, but not so good with math! I am curious as to how your total cost per mile compared with the original vehicle owner’s total cost per mile. Do you have their maintenance costs or just a list of the maintenance that they did? To me it seems awfully expensive to have spent $8400 and only used a vehicle for 4 years!
The cost per mile for their used van was 14.4 cents/mile. On the two brand new cars that I’ve bought and no longer own the cost per mile was lower. The first one was an 01 Kia Sephia that I drove for 3.5 years before my brother borrowed and totaled it. After payments for 3.5 years, what I had to pay for the difference between what the insurance covered and the worth of the car because the number of miles driven and new tires (twice) I paid $17,000. I drove 263,000 miles my per mile cost was 6.5 cents. The next car I bought was a 06 Saturn Ion 2 in Dec 2005. With payments, repairs and new tires it was $24,100. We drove it for 171,214 miles before trading it in for a larger vehicle so our cost per mile was much higher than the first at 14.1 cents/mile. We would have kept it longer but our then almost 14 year old was the same height as me (5’11.5″). It wasn’t comfortable for him to be in the backseat with two car seats for the younger two.
Over the first 6 years I owned cars I bought 6 used cars. Four of them were purchased for $1,000, I put $2,000-3,000 into each of them in repairs and tires with the most miles I drove in one of them being 10,000 miles. Two of them I drove less than 5,000 miles. So the lowest cost per mile was 30 cents. One of the vehicles I bought for $400 and did no repairs on it. I drove 8,000 miles before it died on me making the cost per mile 5 cents. I bought one for $3500, it was a Suburban got new tires and rims which cost me $1500. I only drove it 5,000 miles making the cost per mile $1 but I sold it for $5,000 when I bought a new car so I drove that one for free (except gas/insurance) for the 6 months I owned it. I bought a seventh used vehicle in Nov 2009. It was an 06 Chrysler Town & Country that we paid $14,500 for the car, brakes and tires. We drove it for 50,000 miles before an idiot who was high hit us head on. That cost per mile was 29 cents.
Our current vehicle cost $21,458.72 brand new last May. The cost per mile right now is $1.073. It’s large enough that all 5 of us, and the dog, can fit in it comfortably. Even after the younger two reach adult size which should be with in the next 8 years we will all fit comfortably. We plan to keep this vehicle until it dies or finally decide to take the leap to living in another country. For me buying brand new has been a much better deal so far, with the exception of the $400 cheapo car I bought and didn’t repair. I think a lot of people get it ingrained in their mind that buying used is always better because some financial “expert” says it is so. It isn’t always better. Brand new cars don’t have to cost $30,000 or more. There are several that are great that are $15,000 to $25,000, even a few sub $15,000 cars that are pretty great.
Now if you can find a low mileage low priced car that has been taken care of excellently that will allow you to keep it for 100,000 miles or more then it may end up being a much better deal. I haven’t been able to find a car like that though where I’ve lived. Maybe it’s because I’ve always lived in fairly rural farming or mining areas and people tend to be harder on their cars than in other places in the country.
I’m impressed at your record-keeping! 🙂
I do have their maintenance cost record, but I have no idea what they paid when they bought it. I think they bought it in 2002, so there was an owner before them.
When the $8400 breaks down to a monthly cost, I don’t think $166 per month over the life of the car is bad. That’s much less than the monthly payment on a new car and it includes all the repairs.
Amy thank you for your numbers! Based on other financial sites touting used cars, I was expecting Stephanie’s per mile cost to be a lot less – in the 5-8 cents per mile range so I really didn’t trust my math. If you need a car for 14 years and pay $166 a month for it, you are still paying almost $28K which looks a lot like a brand new car price. We love having virtually no maintenance costs (except for tires, wipers, and ~knock on wood~ we still have original brakes in my 7 year old new car.) We have never come close to to paying what Stephanie has paid for maintenance over four years. Even with vehicles 10+ years old that we originally purchased new.
When I met my husband, he had a truck which he kept for a 15 years. I always told him to enjoy it because he would never get another one because I always thought they were so expensive to buy new. Then 2 years ago, we started looking for a replacement vehicle for him (we are northeast with snow and a very steep driveway + plus his money pit toys that he hauls.) What did we end up getting – a brand new, not fancy, pickup because it was the best deal (around $25K with some lucky great incentives). Prices for quality used vehicles were so inflated that it seemed ridiculous to us to still pay all that money plus having to take the risk on higher maintenance costs. The kicker is his truck insurance is way less than expected and he gets pretty much the same highway mileage that my sedan does.
I guess my lesson learned from all of this is that you always have to run your own numbers and do what is best for your personal situation at the point in time you have to make the decision. We buy new cars but never in a million years would we have gone six figures in debt for a degree, let alone a 2nd degree. Everyone’s life story is still pretty interesting. Thanks for blogging.
Great lesson Amy! I agree we each need to run our own numbers and decide what works best for our situation and priorities. I am by no means an expert on the subject.
$166 a month does look pretty crazy over 14 years! We knew it wouldn’t last anywhere near that though! When we bought the van we knew we’d have some repairs along the way and we were fine with that. We didn’t want to buy new and have a car payment (we’ve never had a car payment before). We feel like it met our needs and we enjoyed it. I wasn’t trying to put this example out there as a “look what we did– you should do it too” sort of thing. I was just curious how it all added up and I thought others would be interested to see the numbers too (which is why I just called it a case study). 🙂
That’s really cool that your husband’s truck costs less than you thought and gets great mileage too! 🙂
I completely agree that buying used cars are worth it! This analysis is wonderfully thorough and really helpful to anyone weighing the pros and cons of purchasing a used vehicle.
I’ve never had a new car, but usually stick to 3-5 year old cars and drive them into the ground. More important than anything for me, though, is the reliability of the brand. I’ve always driven a Honda or a Toyota and never needed a major repair, although all of the recent recalls have made me a little more nervous. I’d rather have a 15 year old Accord than a 3 year old [insert almost any other car company her]!
One note about oil changes: newer cars need oil changes less frequently than older cars, so you may save a bit of money on a newer car that way (though still not enough to justify the savings, in my opinion). My mom’s Prius (2013?) only gets them every 10,000 miles, and she doesn’t pay extra for more oil or anything. My ’04 Honda goes 6,000 miles before the recommended oil change. And a lot of new cars just have an indicator telling you when to bring it in, which is huge in terms of convenience and making sure you aren’t changing the oil too soon and wasting money that way.
I didn’t know that about oil changes. I agree that it’s not enough of a savings to make it worth buying a new car instead of an older one, but it sounds convenient.
My in-laws swear by Toyota Camrys. 🙂
We love the old cars when we buy a car. I think it would be nice to have a new car with less problems, but I just can’t stomach paying what a new car cost. $30,000 for something that you just drive around seems crazy to me. I usually try to find a car that is around 4-5 years old, so hopefully not coming with too many problems.
I know! It’s crazy what the price is on new cars!
I’ve done a mix of used cars and brand new cars in my 19 years of being a licensed driver. They both have their benefits. When I was a single Mom who commuted 1.5 hours each way for school and worked 2 part time jobs, having a brand new car with a warranty was what I needed. I didn’t have to worry that my car would break down on me leaving me stranded on some rural rarely traveled road in the middle of horrible weather. I didn’t have to worry about some unexpected repair bill that could cost me thousands of dollars that I didn’t have. It was definitely worth the cost to me. Now that we have the cash to invest in repairs if needed and live in a place where we aren’t car dependent a used car isn’t such a big deal.
I could definitely see how a warranty would be nice in that situation!
Wow, that really worked out well for you, I’m impressed! Our first car was a Taurus, gifted to us at 150,000. We drove it for two years before it was totaled and along the way replaced tires, alternator, batter, radiator, wipers, and before it was wrecked the transmission was failing. This was at 180,000 miles. The value of the car was $2000, and we spent $1680 of the insurance money on a used car.
This used car was 20 years old, but only had 94,000 miles on it, which was a lot less than any thing else in our price range, as well as a new A/C system and new tires. It also averages 30 mpg, pretty awesome for an old car. We did research the model and it didn’t have a bad rep, and we’ve seen a number of them come and go on the market with well over 200,000 miles on them, so we thought our chances were good.
Oh man, that car has been nothing but trouble. Replaced the fuel pump, transmission, distributor, cap and rotor, spark cables and plugs, fuel and air filter (air filter was destroyed by mice), wiper bushings, brakes and calipers, steering belts, and now working on the O2 sensor. We’ve spent more than the original price of the car, but we’ve been able to afford it because my husband has done every repair himself except for the transmission.
I’ve been stranded at the side of the road so many times in my (5 year) married life, I don’t think I will ever trust a car again, even though our current car has been reliable so far. Another point to consider when buying a used car is if you are willing to deal with repairs yourself. Even having replaced all of those parts we’ve still spent less than $4000 (counting purchase) because we haven’t paid for labor. At this point we’ve only put 23,000 miles on it, though.
The trade-off with a used car (even if you do your own repairs) can be peace of mind. I thoroughly dislike cars. To me they are unreliable, fickle money-eating beasts. This was an interesting post for me. Given my experiences with used cars, new cars look really attractive. Yet I find myself wondering if a new car would just break down too.
That’s nice that your husband takes care of the repairs, but frustrating that you’ve had so many of them! It’s definitely not fun throwing money at an old car, but at least you don’t have a car payment (for a newer car) on top of the repairs. 🙂
We bought a used 1998 Toyota 4Runner two years ago (after being a 1 car family for over 2 years), and I think it has totally been worth it. We paid $2950 cash for a private sale. We have put some work in to it since then (about $1200, which included new tires and something to do with the brakes/suspension/struts? I can’t remember exactly, just that we got quoted over $1000 for parts and labor!). We have a friend who works for Toyota, so can get the parts for cost and has a side business working on cars. We would so much rather pay him a TON less money to do the work than pay a garage. It usually takes about two days (yes longer than a garage might take), but we saved over $600! So in our case that worked out. I figure a car payment on a newer car doesn’t preclude you from having any problems with a car…just ask me about my Ford Focus (nevermind, I don’t want to talk about it!).
That’s great that you have a friend with a hook-up! You’re right that having a newer car doesn’t preclude having problems. Sorry about your Focus experience! 🙁
We are used car people too, but I will say that I find there is a lot of value (albeit, not monetary) in reliability! I think it can be tricky to figure out how to balance the risk and reward of buying used v. REALLY used! 😉
It is hard to find a balance. That’s one of the reasons we at least get our cars checked by a mechanic so we don’t have any surprises right away. Some risks can’t be anticipated even with the best prevention methods.
Your car registration costs don’t change. But here in Wyoming we pay registration fees based on a cars factory costs x years of service rate x .03. Registration on a brand new $50,000 (lots of people buy trucks) is $900 the first year. If you buy that same $50,000 vehicle in year six it will cost $225 to register. This can make a big difference in the cost of a brand new vehicle vs a six yr old + vehicle.
Also we have had a 1993 toyota tercel for 12 years now. $300 in repairs + $1500 purchase price. Lower registration and insurance costs. It has cost us about $12.50 a month to own.
Wow! That’s definitely something to take into consideration if your state does that. All the more reasons to get your car used!
PS- Your Tercel is a rock star! That is amazing!!
New brakes again in only nine months? I think I would go back to the guy who put the first set in and ask about that and see if you aren’t entitled to some type of refund. There should be a warranty on the parts and labor. Can you sell the new tires to try and get some of your money back? In the past, we have donated cars to charitable organizations when they no longer ran and were able to claim a tax deduction. It worked out pretty well for us and was an easy way to get rid of (towed away for free) the non-working car.
That’s exactly what I said too! They covered the brakes the second time, but not the calipers (which was the more expensive part). It was just the driver’s side that was the problem, but they have to replace both sides. He said that it was super dirty and full of gunk, which caused the brake to wear out so fast. We don’t know where the gunk came from, but we’re guessing that something must have been leaking onto it. That’s another reason why we’re not keeping it around.
I am hoping to sell the tires to get some of our money back. We might see what a place like CarMax will give us for it and if it is less than what we could get for just the two new tires, then we’ll sell the tires and donate the rest. We’re still looking into options. 🙂
Wow, that looks like it really worked out for you! I didn’t work out for us. We paid cash for our van in May 2009 (it was a 2002) with about $150k miles on it. We had to get a new car in February 2011 because the van died. To get it repaired would have cost us over $6k. We had various repairs along the way. That car was my biggest regret. We were trying to plan ahead for when we had a family. I wish we would have bought a little junker or paid a down payment on a nicer car that we could still have.
Since we only have one car that I need to get back to work, I can’t afford frequent trips to the shop. I would like to pay cash for our next car (hoping it will be our second vehicle so we will have a little more lee-way on repair time). I hope we can find a great deal on a well maintained van. Car and house shopping are the worst!!! Probably due to the financing — I’m convinced to go cash!
That’s a sad that your van didn’t end up being worth it to you!
One thing that has helped us (and maybe you did this too– it’s still not a guarantee) is that we always take a car that we are thinking about buying into a mechanic and pay for a full inspection on the vehicle so we can go into the purchase or negotiation with our eyes open. It also gives you some grounds for negotiation if the car will need some repairs.
This is a great study on the value of used vehicles. I purchased a new car in 2007 and paid on it for 6 years when it was totaled. I bought a used car in. 2012 (an 07 Rav4) and just finished paying it off this past Friday. I don’t want car payments for a very long time.
The key is finding a used car that was well maintained. Looks like your van was. You could get into a money pit on a hoopty
Congrats on paying off your car! It will be so nice to not have payments!
Our van was well-maintained. The seller gave us the maintenance records when we bought it.