We are shopping for another car for my wife. I deliberately did not say "new" because I haven't bought a brand new car since the early 1980's. Buying new just does not make financial sense. For example, one of the cars we looked at was a 2005 Pontiac GTO. The car has 6200, yes, six thousand two hundred, miles on it and is priced at about $26,000. When the car was brand new, it sold for about $34,000. So, you've got a 2 year old car with very low miles that is worth $8,000 less than the original owner paid for it. My philosophy is I will let someone else take that hit. I can't afford to piddle away that kind of money. Now, if you buy a brand new car and drive it until the wheels fall off, it may BEGIN to approach economic good sense, but even amortized over say, 10 years, why increase your expenses by $800 a year? And so, I usually buy "program" cars.
Anyway, I wanted to get your folks input on the cars we are considering. We have eliminated the '05 GTO from consideration because it is black. I owned a black car once and swore I would never own another. Black is beautiful, when it is clean, but black cars are impossible to keep clean. So here are the cars we are considering:
First, a 2004 Pontiac GTO. Red with red/black leather interior. 18,000 miles. Priced at $24,000, it is a little higher than it should be, but the car is exceptional. Here is a link:
[link
http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/coupe/112_0312_2004_pontiac_gto/]http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/coupe/112_0312_2004_pontiac_gto/[/link]
Secondly, for your consideration, a 2007 Monte Carlo SS. 2200 miles and priced just short of $26,000. Red with grey leather interior. Here is a link:
[link
http://www.rsportscars.com/eng/cars/montecarlo_ss.asp]http://www.rsportscars.com/eng/cars/montecarlo_ss.asp[/link]
And lastly, a 2005 Mustang GT. Red with black leather interior. 5 speed manual. 3200 miles and priced again, just short of $26,000. Here is a link:
[link
http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/coupe/112_0411_2005_ford_mustang_gt/index.html]http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/coupe/112_0411_2005_ford_mustang_gt/index.html[/link]
Personally, I think the Mustang is too high, although it is a very nice car and obviously has low miles. New, with similar equipment, is around $32,000. I have just never been much of a Ford man but this is definitely a fun car to drive.
So, which car???