Buy It Used

You know the value of that shiny newcar drops like a rock the minute you driveit off the dealer's lot. Buying a preownedcar makes so much financial sense that it'ssurprising that only half of the country'supper-income families drive one. It's hardto deny that going the preowned routelets you drive a lot more car for a lot lesscash, since the first owner has taken thedepreciation hit for you. Depending onthe make and model, the value of a newcar may drop by a third or even moreover 3 years. But with today's higher qualitycars, there is no equivalent drop inperformance. Even a car with 100,000miles on the odometer is likely to haveseveral years of reliable service left. Todrive the best deal, check used car valuesat Edmunds (www.edmunds.com), andthen check the car's history at Carfax(www.carfax.com).