New car model years - Which is better, last year, this year, or next year?

"nermal" (nermal)
04/29/2016 at 13:01 • Filed to: conundrums, tightie whities, shopping

It’s time for you to purchase a new vehicle, so you put on your best outfit and head down to the local dealer to shop around. As of today, you can find 2015, 2016, and 2017 model years on the same lot, all sold as new....

Which do you choose, and why?

DISCUSSION (19)

BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest. > nermal
04/29/2016 at 13:02

None. I buy something 10 years old that won’t depreciate any more.

d15b > nermal
04/29/2016 at 13:02

Are any of them the “first year” of that particular generation? Mid-cycle refresh? Last “Special Edition” year?

Edit: NERMAL! From Garfield. Nice!

jimz > nermal
04/29/2016 at 13:04

assuming there are no significant differences between the three model years (e.g. I was choosing between a 2014, 2015, 2016 Fusion) I’d take whichever was equipped closest to what I want.

Nibby > nermal
04/29/2016 at 13:05

I bought a 2015 MY truck in October cause the 2016s were significantly more expensive and pretty much identical.

nermal > d15b
04/29/2016 at 13:06

Possibly. There are a plethora of 2015 Jeep Renegades for sale in my area as new, for example.

d15b > nermal
04/29/2016 at 13:08

If all the features, options and specs are the same, go for the brand-new 2015. The dealer would be more inclined to cut you a deal as it is an older model year. Dealers always want to move older inventory.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > nermal
04/29/2016 at 13:08

If there are no changes other than fixes from the first run, I’m a fan of second model year. Get the extra reliability of a non-first year model without the bloat of later years.

Chariotoflove > d15b
04/29/2016 at 13:10

This exactly.

Luc - The Acadian Oppo > nermal
04/29/2016 at 13:12

if they are all the same version of the car. ex: No refresh or major updates.

100% the 2015 and save anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000 bucks depending on what you are buying.

Stapleface > nermal
04/29/2016 at 13:13

Hmm, a great example of this right now would be the Civic. You can probably still find Special Edition 15's, the redesigned 16, and the new 17. The practical side of me would probably go for the 15 because of the better deal, but there was a pretty big leap between these two model cycles. My heart would go with the 17 for the manual + turbo. But my heart doesn't pay the bills. Damn you and your hypotheticals!

CalzoneGolem > nermal
04/29/2016 at 13:17

I’m looking for cars more in then 1996-2006 model years,

nermal > BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest.
04/29/2016 at 13:20

Not looking at new-vs-used, but new-vs-”new”. For somebody that likes new car warranties, as well as seats that somebody else hasn’t been farting in for the past 10 yrs, and is ok with depreciation.

BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest. > nermal
04/29/2016 at 13:23

Then between those choices I’d pick the 2015 models, since there’s usually large discounts to get rid of old stock.

Mercedes Streeter > nermal
04/29/2016 at 13:24

2017

The 2015 smarts are of an entirely different generation, the 2016 smarts have a one big quality issue, and the 2017s have that issue fixed. Done. :)

RyanFrew > nermal
04/29/2016 at 13:30

Depends. In my case, getting my hands on a ‘16 981 Boxster S, instead of the new generation, would be preferable.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > nermal
04/29/2016 at 13:35

You buy the newest one because you don’t like saving money and you want to be better than everyone else — which only lasts about six months as they will release the facelifted version this fall, making your vehicle obsolete and your soul unfulfilled.

Alex Zapata > nermal
04/29/2016 at 14:15

Honestly depends on the car, in general newer is better in this situation, if they’re being sold as brand new (in my country) you don’t get quite as much discount, so you’re better off just getting a newer car and saving the difference in depreciation from getting a 2 years newer car.

Also if I were to get a new car I’d actually quite like to spec it myself to get exactly what I want and not pay stupid money for options I don’t care for.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > nermal
04/29/2016 at 14:26

Since I have a mortgage that is far from being paid off, I typically have a max car-buying budget of $5000... in Canadian funds... though if I came across something that was a great deal for just a little more, I would consider it.

Thus, I’m not gonna be in the market for a new car any time soon.

My approach is to look at what’s available in my area that has the attibutes I want (manual transmission - but I might make an exception for a Prius, average to above average reliability, hatch/wagon body style, cert/etested), throw that info into a spreadsheet and sort by postal code, car age and mileage.

Then I look at my leading candidates within an area and go looking for cars. Anything that looks like it has been in a flood or mistreated in some way gets removed from the list.

Doing that typically gets me the best car for the money.

I also try to make it so that my rate of depreciation will be $1000/year or less... and I’ve been fairly successful at this.

So if I look at a car that costs $5000, I ask myself if that car could last for 5 years, with 20,000km of driving per year.

Looking at a car that way puts things in perpective. Many cheap/basic $5000 cars will last another 5 years/100,000km.

But is a $100,000 car gonna last me 100 years? Or is a $30,000 car gonna last me 30 years? Probably not.

Right now I’m driving a Focus that cost me less than $2000... it was a very good deal. And I’m confident I’ll get at least 2 years of use out of it... but possibly as much as 5 years

nermal > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
04/29/2016 at 15:18

Well duh. Then when it’s time for another new car, you simple do another hostile takeover of a smaller, weaker company, then fire all of their expensive long term liabilities employees, thus driving up the stock price and creating wealth.

Doesn’t everybody do this?