Yes, I bought a new car. Not a used one, although I looked, and looked. I'm no rookie at buying reliable, old(er) cars for cheap and driving them until the wheels fall off. This has been my go to since I was 16. I was replacing a 1997 Subaru Outback that had been nickel and diming me for the past few years. When I first caught the MMM bug about a year ago I thought it would be cool to do my own auto mechanical work. I changed the plugs and plug wires which immediately reminded me why I don't like doing auto work, it's not fun to me. While skinning my one remaining un-skinned knuckle, I suddenly remembered changing an alternator when I was in high school and much un-fun that was, so no more mechanical work for me.
Back to my rationalization for this car... When I went to the Honda dealership and wanted to test drive some used cars they had listed, most were lease returns with 30-40k miles on them that were selling for $~2500 less than the 2017s. They had just discounted the remaining 2017s and were pretty motivated to sell these cars. I had test drove a handful of other models and the Fit was my favorite. I'm very happy with the car. Although my commute is minimal, I do a fair amount of driving around the Bay for a couple of hobbies of mine and the car suits me quite well. We paid cash, no financing and the bump in insurance isn't really that significant.
The used market wasn't really that great. Yes I could have purchased a used Prius for much cheaper and I even saw a few Scions, but most seemed overpriced or at least not worth what I wanted to pay.
I surprised myself by buying this car but am absolutely thrilled about my choice.
I fully understand this is a depreciating asset and if I was smart i would have taken that extra 10k, bought a used car and invested that cash in some index funds. I didn't, I bought a reliable car that I'm not going to have to worry if it's going to start every time I turn the key as was the case for the past 3 years with my old Subaru. It's a good feeling. Thoughts??
(it might help to mention that my wife and I are financially in a pretty good place, I could have certainly bought a lot more car than this.)