This has been stated here on AW before, but I never miss a chance to say it again....
This is intended for those newly commissioned Ensigns, or those about to be:
I worked at a car dealership as a salesman for a brief period of time... The best thing I learned there was how poor an investment a new car actually is.... Getting a car even one year older can save you bookoo bucks.
Most new cars are worth less than half (usually between a half and 35%) of their value in 4-5 years.... Now we all know that a car is a depreciating asset, but this isn't slow depreciation.... I just don't know why so many fresh Ensigns go out and buy that $40,000 BMW, when it's going to be worth $14,000 5 years later....
The bigger shell shock is the shear hit they are taking the second they drive it off the lot.... The (true) saying was that it will lose 20% of it's value in it's first 20 minutes of ownership! That's $8,000 that ENS spent driving it off the showroom floor.
As far as I'm concerned, that's a lot for the new car smell. People convince themselves: Well, I only want new so I have a warranty or blah blah blah.
Do yourself a favor if you have your mind made up on a new car... Go look at certified preowned. Cars models are produced virtualy identical for a set number of years (3-5 years usually before the model changes). That means that the 2009 BMW you are looking at is identical to a 2004 model to the naked eye.
Now if you get certified preowned, the dealership will usually recondition the leather, fix any interior/exterior blemishes, throw some new tires on it, fix any knicks in the rims etc etc. They'll also usually service things like the power steering system, redo the brakes, filters, etc etc and do a several hundred point inspection. Some companies have higher standards as far as certified preowned status, but our dealership would spend anywhere from $1,000-$2,500 reconditioning a vehicle to certified preowned status... And a lot of times after they were done you couldn't tell the difference between that car and a new car.
On top of this, with a certified preowned, you get a warranty! So, in our BMW example, you get a 2006 BMW that is practically indistiguishable from the 2009 BMW sitting right next to it.. Difference? 30k on the odometer... Oh yeah, and about $25,000.