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The vehicle market is a game. One in which you need to get a grasp of before purchasing. At this current time, with HUGE rebates and LOW financing from the big 3, buying a new truck may seem like a good deal, but here is the low down.
The MSRP's on these trucks are inflated to keep the incentives rolling, thus making it look like you are saving BIG. Do you REALLY think they will knock off $4k AND finance it for you for 0% ??
At any rate, because rebates are huge and financing is cheap or free for new trucks, the used market, 1-3 year old trucks, is A) flooded because everyone has bought new and B) cheap because of the rebates, etc. When new trucks get "cheap", used trucks get "cheap" as well.
Today, I can buy a new Chevy 1500 4x4, ext cab. short bed (just an example truck here, this won't fit most folks needs, but the example applies to most trucks out there) for $32k, out the door. I can buy an '02 or '03 model with 10k-25k miles for $21k-$23k. Roughly a $10k savings or about 1/3 the price of a NEW truck for a truck that has only a fraction of it's life used on it, many times still has a factory warranty and will be a very reliable vehicle for years to come.
Study the market. The low or free financing and huge rebates sound great, and they are, but look at the slightly used market. There are some pretty cheap trucks to be had that are just broken in and have many years of trouble free service left.
The MSRP's on these trucks are inflated to keep the incentives rolling, thus making it look like you are saving BIG. Do you REALLY think they will knock off $4k AND finance it for you for 0% ??
At any rate, because rebates are huge and financing is cheap or free for new trucks, the used market, 1-3 year old trucks, is A) flooded because everyone has bought new and B) cheap because of the rebates, etc. When new trucks get "cheap", used trucks get "cheap" as well.
Today, I can buy a new Chevy 1500 4x4, ext cab. short bed (just an example truck here, this won't fit most folks needs, but the example applies to most trucks out there) for $32k, out the door. I can buy an '02 or '03 model with 10k-25k miles for $21k-$23k. Roughly a $10k savings or about 1/3 the price of a NEW truck for a truck that has only a fraction of it's life used on it, many times still has a factory warranty and will be a very reliable vehicle for years to come.
Study the market. The low or free financing and huge rebates sound great, and they are, but look at the slightly used market. There are some pretty cheap trucks to be had that are just broken in and have many years of trouble free service left.
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