Inflated Prices. Buying Used vs. New.

[MGH PA]

Rest of the machine looks great for its age.

 

[Yander]

None of the pics you show would scare me. I would get some paint on the rust areas if you buy it but everything looks good. The hours/miles are the main thing. I always ask how it does in the mud or creek to see if they say it hasn't been in the mud or if it does great we took it down to " XYZ mud boggs several times and yada yada" at which point I'm not interested. Though these machines are not really made for that so probably safe.

Have you seen this one listed a day ago. Little further (lot further) away. But looks mint. VERY low miles.

 

[Yander]

As for used vs. new, comes down to your patience with the market, the sellers and your ability to show up with cash or bank check. The good deals don't seem to last long so "let me call my credit union for financing" may not fly if the deal is real good because you will have them standing in line with cash to buy it out from under you.

I was in the market for a used ATV last summer and the good ones literally didn't last a couple days. The one I settled on was 13 years old but it looked in mint condition with very low hours and miles. Someone had bought to hunt with and didn't use it much.

But I had to look at a lot and lost a lot of opportunities due to timing and frustration with sellers etc. My patience is short regarding that and I tried to go buy new but here was no new to buy. So I stayed patient and found what I wanted. Glad I did.

Tractor was another story, I lost patience real quick with the used tractor hunt and finally just went and bought a new one. Glad I did.

 

[MGH PA]

None of the pics you show would scare me. I would get some paint on the rust areas if you buy it but everything looks good. The hours/miles are the main thing. I always ask how it does in the mud or creek to see if they say it hasn't been in the mud or if it does great we took it down to " XYZ mud boggs several times and yada yada" at which point I'm not interested. Though these machines are not really made for that so probably safe.

Have you seen this one listed a day ago. Little further (lot further) away. But looks mint. VERY low miles.

As for used vs. new, comes down to your patience with the market, the sellers and your ability to show up with cash or bank check. The good deals don't seem to last long so "let me call my credit union for financing" may not fly if the deal is real good because you will have them standing in line with cash to buy it out from under you.

I was in the market for a used ATV last summer and the good ones literally didn't last a couple days. The one I settled on was 13 years old but it looked in mint condition with very low hours and miles. Someone had bought to hunt with and didn't use it much.

But I had to look at a lot and lost a lot of opportunities due to timing and frustration with sellers etc. My patience is short regarding that and I tried to go buy new but here was no new to buy. So I stayed patient and found what I wanted. Glad I did.

Tractor was another story, I lost patience real quick with the used tractor hunt and finally just went and bought a new one. Glad I did.

Yeah, that's a REALLY clean one, and I like the color better (I know...color shouldn't matter). However, I do feel that his unit is still a decent miles/hrs ratio and he's already come down to $12,500, and if I go and like it, I may ask to see if he can do $12k even.
As for the used market, I have been watching closely since the summer for this model, and they go quickly. They only just recently started slowing down in terms of time on market. There was a 2018 LE about 40 minutes from me that just sold the other day with more miles/hours with noted damage to the plastics and front/rear bumpers for about the same price, so I think I'm in the ballpark here. Obviously, I think a few years ago, this unit would have been even less $$, but it's the unfortunate reality of our economic conditions.

 

[Hay Dude]

Just heard an economist saying with the new 1.7trillion omnibus budget that’s being proposed, it will cause further inflation and interest rates to rise even more. He predicts interest rates over 10% in ‘23.
Better buy now IF financing.

 

[MGH PA]

Just heard an economist saying with the new budget that’s being proposed, it will cause further inflation and interest rates to rise even more. He predicts interest rates over 10% in ‘23.
Better buy now IF financing.

True. I don't have plans to finance this. I don't like carrying debt that is unnecessary.

 

[Torvy]

I agree with buying new unless you know the owner well. There are other factors. If you are good at doing your own repairs and have that kind of time, the used may be better for you.

Financially, I would do a calculation based on estimated remaining life. This is totally made up, but for illustrative purposes:
Assuming the same make/model and no quality differences between the model years. Same use, etc.
If a typical UTV of that type lasts 15 years and/or 4500 hours (again, made up numbers)
Spread the cost of the unit across the remaining useful life. New Price/15 years (or 4500 hours). Compare that to Used Price/7 years (or 4161 hours).

Now, you will need to guess (estimate) how much more maintenance/repair $ will be needed for the older machine versus the newer one (annually). Don't forget to check on tire wear.

Look into buying aftermarket accessories and you could save money there versus paying the dealer mark up.

Prices will not likely be coming down, ever. The rate of increase will eventually slow down and you may sometimes find a sale in the future. Good luck, I am behind you about 4 months or so.

 

[Hay Dude]

I agree with buying new unless you know the owner well. There are other factors. If you are good at doing your own repairs and have that kind of time, the used may be better for you.

Financially, I would do a calculation based on estimated remaining life. This is totally made up, but for illustrative purposes:
Assuming the same make/model and no quality differences between the model years. Same use, etc.
If a typical UTV of that type lasts 15 years and/or 4500 hours (again, made up numbers)
Spread the cost of the unit across the remaining useful life. New Price/15 years (or 4500 hours). Compare that to Used Price/7 years (or 4161 hours).

Now, you will need to guess (estimate) how much more maintenance/repair $ will be needed for the older machine versus the newer one (annually). Don't forget to check on tire wear.

Look into buying aftermarket accessories and you could save money there versus paying the dealer mark up.

Prices will not likely be coming down, ever. The rate of increase will eventually slow down and you !at sometimes find a sale in the future. Good luck, I am behind you about 4 months or so.

I think in almost all cases buying new is better. The age-old problems is many people can’t afford new.
Now leasing is become very popular in the farm tractor world because many farmers can’t afford major repairs, either.

 

[MGH PA]

I think in almost all cases buying new is better. The age-old problems is many people can’t afford new.
Now leasing is become very popular in the farm tractor world because many farmers can’t afford major repairs, either.

I can definitely afford new, but I don't really want to outlay that much cash from my liquid funds when I still need to make room for a winch, plow, roof, windshield, soft cab, etc. You're talking $22-$23K minimum at that point. I could finance a portion of that, but even at 3.24%/3yrs which is the best you're going to get on a UTV loan, it's still sickening to pay interest on a tool/toy.

 

[timswi]

I'm not a fan of debt either...However liquidity is more important to me...I normally put at least 50% down and finance the rest to be paid of in less than 2 years--Sometimes faster if it's a toy. This way I keep most of my liquid funds and I have an easy-out if I have to sell it for some reason. Might sound idiotic to some but it has worked for me over the years.