There are many reasons to resist the desire to buy a new car, particularly in the economic times we find ourselves. The banking crisis of late 2008, Credit Crunch and the subsequent global recession has meant that everyone has to be more financially prudent than they perhaps were prior to these events.
The biggest problem with buying a new car at any time is that it depreciates in value so quickly. Within a day of purchasing the car and taking it for a drive or two, a sizeable portion of its value has been wiped out. This has always been the nature of the car market but if we consider the implications which this could have in troubled financial times, this thought alone may very well be enough to change our minds.
The reality is that all of us have been affected by the recession in one way or another, even if not directly in a financial sense. What is most frightening about what happened is that many of the banks who crashed or required extensive government bail-out to prevent them from doing so were institutions which most of us considered beyond reproach and certainly beyond succumbing to such financial catastrophes. However secure we see our own financial situation, therefore, we should learn from this lesson and ask ourselves the serious question as to what we would do in the event of financial catastrophe had we just lost several thousand dollars, pounds or whatever on a new car the week or month before? How would it make us feel?
One factor which may help us resist the desire to buy a new car is to consider carefully whether we actually need one. What is wrong with our old car that it has to be replaced? Is there anything wrong with it? If so, can it be fixed fairly inexpensively? If the desire to buy a new car is purely a desire in our heart and not through need, we should definitely resist it at this time.
Even where the desire to buy a new car is partially down to the fact that our old one is basically at the end of its usefulness, we should in the first instance consider buying a second-hand car, one which will still at least be new to us. Second-hand cars do not depreciate in value nearly so quickly as new ones and aside from the fact that we would pay less for it in the first instance, any subsequent need to sell it on would see us lose considerably less of our investment in percentage terms as well as monetary terms.
The main reason to resist the desire to buy a new car is therefore one of both common sense and financial prudence in troubled economic times. We should console ourselves with the knowledge that such times will not last forever at that by the time the storm clouds have parted, we may find ourselves in a better financial position to buy a better quality car than we could at present.