Ugh. I'm clearly indecisive and you are not helping @researcher1 , haha.
My gut here is to object on the grounds that, given the situation, my highest priority and concern is total cost.
The one I'm getting, all-in, fees, taxes and everything, is $20,800.
Assuming I even got that best case scenario, my all-in cost would be $28,900.
That's an $8,000 difference, and most of that value will be lost the second I drive it off the lot.
More importantly, this is $12-13k more than my insurance company is giving me for a new car.
Am I still wrong here?
Yes, you are still wrong...
You say your highest priority/concern is "total cost".
But you are only looking at the short-term initial cost of the vehicle, not the total long-term cost of vehicle ownership.
The new vehicle provides the lowest overall cost over the course of 150K+ miles.
Buying this used vehicle will cost you MORE in the long run, over the same number of miles.
Think about it this way...You are buying a used vehicle with 33% of its miles already used up, but you are NOT saving 33% off the price of a new vehicle.
This doesn't even account for all of the other advantages of new over used...
- You are the original owner from day one, versus buying a used car with potentially multiple owners, unknown maintenance/accident history, driving history, ect.
- The first 50K miles of a new car are the cheapest from a maintenance/repair standpoint, as it needs nothing but a few oil changes and air filters. Those best miles are already used up in a used car, as beyond 50K miles you start needing things like brakes/tires/ect.
- Lower transaction costs and less hassle. It is easier and cheaper to purchase ONE new vehicle over the next 150K miles than to purchase TWO used vehicles during that time. Think sales tax, doc fees, temp tags, ect. plus the time searching for and buying two used vehicles (dealing with stealerships more often).
- Easier and higher resale value. You will have an easy time and get top dollar when selling a "one owner" vehicle that you have owned from day one (with original window sticker, all maintenance records from mile 0, ect). This isn't the case for a car with xx previous owners and incomplete history/maintenance/records.