Shopping for a car isn’t always easy; you have a ton of options available to you, and trying to narrow them down can be a hassle. It helps to work with a great dealership that has your back as you look at cars for sale in Jersey City, but it also helps to limit the vehicles you’re looking at to make navigating everything easier. If you focus on only pre-owned vehicles, for example, you have already given yourself an advantage since you have a narrower pool of models to check out and shop from. We have customers come to us all the time wondering if choosing a used vehicle is really the best move, so let’s look at some of our top reasons to pick a used car and see if they speak to you.

Reason #1 – You Save Money

We’re not going to be coy; the biggest reason to go with a used vehicle is that it will cost less than a comparable new model. For many of us, saving money is an absolute necessity, especially with a major purchase like a vehicle. The primary reason most folks choose a used car is because they need to spend less than what a new model would cost them. It’s a good reason, so we put it at the top of our list—a lot of these reasons will come down to budget in one way or another.

Reason #2 – You Skip a Lot of Depreciation

Not only do you save money upfront with a pre-owned vehicle, but it can also retain more of its value after you buy it. It’s no secret that cars lose value over time and the biggest drop occurs in the first few years after it’s sold as new. Going with a used model lets you skip a lot of this depreciation, so you pay less, and your vehicle is likely to keep more of its value. That’s a win-win as you’re shopping for a car.

Reason #3 – Your Insurance Can Be Lower

This isn’t an absolute guarantee, but it’s worth noting that when you choose a used vehicle rather than a new one, there’s a good chance you’ll have lower auto insurance rates. Since insurance considers the overall value of your vehicle and how much it would cost to repair or replace it in the event of a collision, an older model that’s worth less would also be less expensive to replace, requiring a lower insurance payout. So don’t be surprised if a used car costs less each month to drive around Jersey City than a new model.

Reason #4 – You Get More Options to Choose From

Some people worry that choosing a used vehicle means they’re missing out on something since they can’t customize it like someone buying a new model can. In reality, unless someone is ordering their new model from the manufacturer, they’re still going off of what they find at a dealership. When you look at used vehicles, you get a huge variety of different models to choose from across a range of years and from many different brands. You have tremendous freedom to get what you’re looking for with a used vehicle, even more than with a new model.

Reason #5 – More Room for Comparing Prices

New vehicles have a set manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP); unless you find something at a dealer sale, that’s the lowest price you’ll find. With used models, the MSRP matters much less (other than establishing what it might’ve been sold for before), and a wide range of factors impact their prices. This gives you a bigger variety of prices to choose from, even between two vehicles that are the same year, make, and model. If you have some wiggle room in your budget, this gives you more freedom to compare prices and get what you need.

Reason #6 – You Can Buy a High-End Model for Less

This might seem like we’re repeating ourselves a little bit, but hear us out. Since you can buy used models for less than they otherwise cost, this can make high-end luxury vehicles that you couldn’t otherwise afford accessible to you. So don’t just think of it as buying a car for cheaper than its new price, it also opens up a wider range of options to you. If you’ve always dreamed of driving a BMW or Mercedes-Benz around Jersey City, but their MSRP keeps them out of reach, then a pre-owned luxury vehicle could put you in the car of your dreams.

Reason #7 – It Goes Easier on the Environment

Many of us are worried about the environment and want to do our part to help keep our planet clean. Choosing a used vehicle is actually a great way to do this. Tremendous resources and energy go into making a vehicle; when you keep a used car on the road longer, you offset the impact of building it and also reduce the need for new vehicles to be made. Best of all, if you choose a used vehicle with high fuel efficiency, you do even more for the environment and go easier on your wallet when it comes to the gas pump.

Reason #8 – Vehicle History Reports Are Readily Available

One potential downside to choosing a used vehicle is that you can never know what a previous owner might’ve done with it. These days, however, it’s easier than ever to get a vehicle history report on a model you’re interested in and have a good sense of how it was treated. We offer CARFAX reports on our used models and even have a large number of CARFAX One-Owner models, giving you even greater peace of mind with your used car.

Reason #9 – Used Cars Can Be Less Stressful to Drive

Let’s say you’ve been running errands around Jersey City; you come out of a store, get to your vehicle in the parking lot, and find a ding or small scratch in your door. Whoever parked next to you let their door hit yours, but they’re long gone, and all they left was a small dent to remember them by. If you have a new vehicle, you’ve only been driving for a month or two; this will probably ruin your day. With a used model, it still isn’t great, but it’s a lot less stressful because your car has been around for four or five years, so it’s going to have a little personality already. No one wants dents and dings, but they cause less anxiety when you buy your car for half the price of a similar new model.

Reason #10 – You Can Skip Problematic Model Years

This is one that a lot of people overlook. No matter how good a vehicle is, there’s a decent chance that certain model years are better than others. You see this often at the start of a new generation or after a big new feature is added; maybe the transmission sticks or the engine had an issue that was fixed the following year? Whatever the case may be, the folks who bought it new had no way to know about that. When you look at used vehicles, a little research will tell you which model years to skip and which ones give you the best vehicles around.

Great Used Vehicles for Jersey City Drivers

As you can see, there are many reasons to choose a pre-owned vehicle rather than shopping for a new model fresh from the factory. We won’t deny that there’s a certain romantic appeal to driving a new car, but once you look past that romanticism, it’s much more practical and affordable to go with a used vehicle. Ultimately, you need something you can count on to get you around Jersey City and make sure you can handle everything you want to do each day. When you choose a great used vehicle from a reputable dealership, that’s exactly what you find. All you have to do now is decide on the kinds of features that are most important to you in your vehicle, and then let us take care of everything else when it comes to finding the perfect car.