Subj : In-car touchscreens way m
To   : MIKE POWELL
From : Rob Mccart
Date : Fri Jan 02 2026 09:49 am

RM>> Until recently I was usually buying cars just rebuilt that were older
  >> and I'd only keep them for 3 or 4 years. As long as a car looks and
  >> runs okay I don't worry too much how new it is.

MP>I never had a thing for new cars, either, until the price of older ones
  >went up so much ~15 years ago.  After a bad experience buying a used one, I
  >startred to figure that if I am going to spend that much money on
  >one that doesn't come with any warranty, I might as well buy a new one.

MP>That said, the first brand new one was a lease.  The next one was also.  On
  >the second one, when the lease was near up, I saw that new cars the same age
  >were selling for about $10k more than the contracted "resale to me" value on
  >the lease contract.  So, knowing all of its history, I bought that car
  > "used."  ;)

Usually, at least in the past, a car loses about 1/3 of its value
in the first 2 to 3 years so you can often find a low mileage car
still under warranty and save a lot of money over buying new.

I have also suggested to people a number of times if they don't
have the cash to buy a fairly new car, to lease one and take good
care of it, and then buy it when the lease is up. The one time I
got a brand new car (Thunderbird) I leased it with that intent, but
then a job change didn't let me keep it so I ended up finding a
way to sell it out of the lease. I suppose the dealer can block that
but they rarely do.

I also once bought a 2 year old F-150 that turned out to still be
on lease, and when I went to the dealership to straighten that out,
they just let me buy it for what I'd agreed to pay and they changed
the ownership over for me which saved me a bunch of tax since I'd
bought it for lower than the DMV said it should sell for..
But because it was a dealership doing the 'sale' they accepted
the figures they put in.

MP>My sister had a Neon back in the late 1990s.  IIRC, she liked it.
  >I rode in it a few times and it was not a bad car.

They had a bigger engine than many sub compact cars and they were
much more solidly built and better finished, especially inside.
I liked them quite a bit, plus I was buying them rebuilt by the
wreckers for about 2/3 of what they would have normally sold for.

I worried a bit about that but these guys were very thorough making
sure everything was as perfect as possible. I had no complaints.
One time something quite expensive did fail shortly after their
warranty period ended but they ended up fixing it for free anyways
without me even suggesting they should..

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 * SLMR Rob  * Acme Parachutes - Good to the last drop
 * Origin: Capitol City Online (1:2320/105)

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