New cars can be really expensive – that’s no secret. Sometimes we find ourselves in the position where we need a car, but don’t necessarily have the available cash to do so. Unfortunately, there are many people out there who don’t appreciate the benefits of buying a used car and instead enter into expensive financial agreements instead.

This article will look at three reasons why you should consider purchasing a used car over a new one.

1. Huge potential to save money

The first is the most obvious, and one that everybody considers when weighing up whether or not to buy a new car. Used cars will often come in thousands of dollars cheaper than their newer counterpart.

While you might be purchasing a model that’s a couple of years older, it’s the equivalent of buying an iPhone 5 instead of the 7. You’ll miss out on some features, but you’ll still get the same overall experience.

The amount of money you can save is often incredible. This is due to depreciation. In the first year alone a new car will lose 30 percent of its value. What that means is that if you purchase a car for $25,000 new – after the first year it will be worth just $17,500. Purchasing a new car is risky business, and while you can choose a model that depreciates well, you’re still set to lose plenty of cash.

If you’re willing to wait a couple of years for your dream car – and you’re not too concerned about somebody else driving it around before you – then the savings are most definitely there.

2. Cars are more reliable than ever before

First of all, we would advise against buying a used car any older than ten years, otherwise, you might find it breaks down after six months of use. Fortunately, the quality of the used car market is improving year after year due to the many technological advances in car manufactory.

What this means is that a car built in the last decade is much likely to last longer than one built the decade before. The average age of an automobile is now around 11.4 years, but people, on average, will buy a new car every six years. This leaves a healthy 5-year gap, where any savvy shopper can take advantage of the used cars market and pick up a reliable vehicle for cheap.

3. It’s great for the environment

More than a quarter of total carbon dioxide emissions a vehicle will create in its life-cycle derives from its initial transport from factory to dealership.

Then you have to consider how many cars are trashed every year. Last year saw total car sales reaching 90 million worldwide – which begs the question, what did everybody do with their old cars? While some may have been sold, that’s a lot of potential cars on the scrapheap.

Incredible. If people were to purchase more used cars, instead of buying new, it could relieve the environment of an incredible amount of CO² and work wonders for the ecosystems we’re so heavily dependent on.