“When you do the financial argument, used (pre-owned) is probably the best value if you do want to buy a car (especially higher retail cost vehicles).”

I’d like to comment that it’s often not always clear that used is a better choice than new, even for higher priced vehicles. (Not that OP implied that it is.) It’s important to think ahead about how long you plan to keep a car and if you are going by age of the car or how many years you own it.

Also important is if you are going to always buy new or used. Let’s say you have 40 years of car purchases ahead. You may only need to buy 4 new cars to cover that time-frame but 5 or 6 used ones to bridge from now till then, which skews the math on overall cost.

The repair record for a model is important, too. For example, I have read for years that BMWs have lots of expensive repairs after the warranty runs out. I have no experience with these so can’t vouch with personal stories. So, while buying used avoids lots of depreciation, a couple big repairs may negate these savings.

Moreover, there’s the hassle of buying used if not going to a dealer. Unknown amount of time to invest looking at them. Individual sellers have been very willing to lie about how many owners there have been, where the car was previously registered, if it’s been in an accident, etc. An individual who purchases cars to resell one at a time and sells it before purchasing another (is this just called a small dealer?) didn’t really lie but certainly hid particulars about a car that I’m sure he knew about. It drove the best of the lot that I tested and I committed to buy as long as it got a good review from my mechanic. In three minutes the mechanic called me to look at the car and pointed out that it had been in a major accident and that it hadn’t been repaired properly. If you don’t know what you’re doing, ALWAYS have a trusted mechanic give a prospective car a thorough inspection!

If going to a dealer, you’ll usually have to pay a good premium. CarMax is outrageous for the cars I’ve seen but I do know people who wouldn’t buy used anywhere else.

With my last purchase, I finally got tired of dealing with dishonest people and bought new. While I couldn’t afford as nice of car, it’s worked out well financially compared to what I would have expected from the used purchase I was initially trying to make. However, I certainly will consider used again next time I’m in the market.

Hope these comments add to the conversation.