Cars fresh and used, brought together by the relentless force of depreciation.
From the May 2014 Issue of Car and Driver
If “A Brand-New Car!” represents the modern-day American Dream, what then is a well-cared-for, pre-owned vehicle? If it’s something less than dreamy, certainly a used vehicle doesn’t present quite the new car’s depreciation nightmare. Which is what enabled us to put together this quintet of comparisons, new versus old vehicles similar in price and purpose, if not prestige. We sourced excellent examples of the old cars, market values aligned in price with the MSRPs of their new counterparts. We also collated info about warranties, repairs, and running expenses with help from Vincentric. What we found is simple: Driving anything costs money, but the former is always more important than the latter.
2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray vs. 1990 Ferrari Testarossa
2013 Porsche Boxster vs. 2005 Acura NSX-T
2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4×4 Overland vs. 2010 Land Rover Range Rover Sport HSE
2015 Subaru WRX vs. 2010 Audi S4
2014 Mitsubishi Mirage ES vs. 2005 Volkswagen Phaeton