Of course, all of us would love to buy luxurious new car loaded with options. But we can’t always get what we want. Let's be realistic and look at all the reasons to help you choose whether you should buy a new or used car.

REASONS FOR BUYING A NEW CAR:

• I don’t want to inherit anyone else's mechanical problems.
• I have enough money, so cost is not an issue.
• When I purchase a new car, the dealer takes care of everything. I can avoid a lot of the legwork.
• I have such bad credit that if I buy a car, I need a dealer to take care of all the financial details and provide the financing.
• I need long-term warranties to take care of any possible problems, and you can only get them with a new car.
• It is important to me that I get the exact color, style, and options I want. It is more likely to achieve this with a new car.
• New cars are superior to used cars, and I deserve the best.

You’re on your own, and you have to think hard about what the best reason is for you to buy a new car over a used one. Despite all the rumors, purchasing a used car does not mean that you automatically buy into someone else's mechanical problems. Also, buying a new car doesn’t mean that you will never have any breakdowns. It is true that new cars are typically sounder cars than used cars, but considering the price, not all new cars are better than used cars. You must decide on how much you are comfortable spending.

REASONS FOR GETTING A USED CAR:

• The main reason for buying a used car is money. Used cars are cheap compared to new cars, and you typically get more value for your money.
• A car loses as much as 50 percent of its value at the end of its first year. Check in any Edmund’s new car price guides to see this trend. It takes only four more years (on average) to drop another 25 percent, so that at the end of five years many cars are down to 25 percent of their original price.

If money is a factor, your best option may be to forget about a brand-new vehicle and opt for a used car at half the price. Used cars are the best bargains. The best deals in used cars are one to two-year old vehicles with low mileage. These may have already lost a large percent of their original value but are still practically new.

The main reason for this loss in value is that many items that come with a new car have absolutely no resale value, such as:

• Transportation. This fee varies from $200 to over $500. There is no way to get credit for this on trade in.
• Taxes and registration. You will never recover these in a trade in either.
• Document, insurance or title fees. There may be a host of trivial fees that your dealer tacks on - by law or by choice. These also have no resale value.
• Leasing fees or penalties for an early return of the vehicle.
• Dealer's advertising fee.
• Special packages.
• Special interior treatments.
• AMU or ADMU.
• Dealer's profit over cost.
• Dealer's preparation costs. Some dealers will attempt to treat this as an extra option, even though it should be included in the cost of the car.

This list does not include wear and tear and normal depreciation on the vehicle itself. This merely points out fees for which you have already paid but will never recoup. A word of advice: A sound used car is a significant financial savings and should be considered for that reason alone. Most of the advantages of a new car can also be found in a used car.