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New vs Used Cars
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The Age-Old Debate
The answer to this question changes depending on your financial situation and your long term goals. Each type of vehicle has advantages as well as disadvantages and we will explore a few here.
The advantages of purchasing a brand new car appear obvious:
Because of a better interest rate and longer repayment period, you may actually pay less monthly for a new vehicle than a used one. The rule of thumb is, the older the car, the shorter the repayment period, the larger the monthly payment. So why pay more monthly for a used car? 
After no-deposit finance, packaged prepaid insurance has to be the next most significant development of recent times. Many of the happy new-car owners on the road today would have been unable to complete their vehicle purchase if they had to pay the insurance premium themselves. This is indeed a powerful advantage. Only some finance companies offer this feature for used cars and even then it's usually for in-house transactions.
There is no greater peace of mind than that offered by your new vehicle manufacturer's warranty. A typical warranty covers the vehicle for up to three years, and some manufacturers offer even longer warranty periods. In Barbados a warranty for a used vehicle sold by a dealer is typically only 3~6 months if any is offered at all. In some cases, where the vehicle is under three years of age, you may be able to benefit from the unused portion of the warranty on a car that was originally sold in Barbados as new.
In theory at least, your new vehicle should give you years of trouble-free motoring as minimum maintenance is required. It normally takes some time before your new car requires things like tires, batteries, brakes, fan belts and suspension components. Even a good used car may incur maintenance expenses earlier simply because someone else was using it and the parts have started to wear out.
New car purchasers do not have to worry about the history of their vehicles simply becaue they are the first owners. Some used cars are sold with uncleared and undeclared debts and may be reposessed from the next owner by the original finance entity. Yes, this still happens in Barbados even though debt-history checks are supposed to made before used cars are financed. New vehicles are sold damage-free; however, the local damaged car market is largely unregulated and consumers need to guard against unwittingly buying a well disguised former wreck as their dream used car. Now, there's nothing wrong with refurbishing damaged cars for resale, but the buyer must know what he or she is getting into.
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