Thomas P.M. Barnett :: Weblog

ARTICLE: Is Happiness Still That New Car Smell?, By MICHELINE MAYNARD, New York Times, October 21, 2009

All part of the downsizing.

Despite our family of six and three-care garage, we've always stuck with two cars. Minivan for taking younger pair around and for whole-of-family travel, and small sedan for older kids to commute to HS. I don't have a car and don't need one, as I only drive back and forth to the airport.

Personally, I love the new car smell and just got two new ones for the family.

Why? Our Honda dealer is desperate for used models, and so was offering very nice trade-in values. So we trade in our 2008 Odyssey with 44k for a 2010, losing the nav system (bought Garmins already) and keeping the DVD system, and we lease instead of buy, dropping our monthly payment by a nice chunk.

So the move was one of short-term economy, and I was surprised that the lease option worked, because we put on miles and that was always the hold-up. Difference with Honda? If you trade in or buy at end of 3 years, you skip all penalties for higher mileage, and "residual" or trade-in value is already set.

So, besides swapping the Odysseys, we traded down from a 2007 Accord to a 2009 Civic, again losing the nav and a couple hundred in monthly payments.

But the real reason why I favor new cars over used is the safety factor. I drive a ton of rentals and you really notice the difference. Plus, I've totaled a car once and remember the process well. I don't ever want a car more than three years old on safety technology.

But now we lease and don't buy, so suddenly no debt on the books.