[Isaac Zachary]

As far as new vs. used goes, many seem to feel we are pretty much at the point of vehicle perfection. Basically the same as the point of diminishing returns. The same can be said of electronics. What does a new car or computer have that a 3, 5 or 10 year old one doesn't? If you have a newer vehicle or computer I don't see any reason to upgrade to a brand new one, unless you accidentally smash yours.

During this pandemic I've been hunting down cheap or free computers of all sorts. Laptops, towers, PC's, Mac's, etc. Some are over 10 years old. I usually keep the hard drive for storage, add a smaller SSD for the boot drive, up the RAM to 8GB, and sometimes throw in a faster processor. Sure, I might spend some $100 fixing up an old computer, but in the end they run like a brand new +$500 one. Add to that, that with modern day Windows and Linux and the slowing of needed performance gains a newer computer can last many more years, perhaps even decades, before needing to be replaced.

The one area that you have to buy new all the time is mobile electronics, or OS dependent hardware in general. Even Mac's and Chromebooks have a limited life span because of this. When the OS is tied to the hardware it's only a matter of time for the manufacturer to stop supporting it.

Of course cars are mostly different in the sense that roads don't need upgraded vehicles in order to work. The worse that can happen with modern day vehicles is that the infotainment center, especially the integrated GPS navagation, will become outdated over time. This is why, as a used car buyer, the infotainment center is not a selling point to me at all. But it is to those who buy new.

One thing that gets me about new vehicles and electronics is that people keep buying them not only inspite they have diminishing upgrade benefits but also because they've lost their cool factor. When I was a kid cars were cool. Sure, there were the vehicles built strictly for practicallity. But then there were the muscle cars, the sports cars, the hot hatches, the novelty little mid-engine cars, the tuners, etc. SUV's and pickups used to be cool back then because people could actually use them to do things like go off-roading. Even novelties, like the automatic doors on minivans was cool back then. But now everything is a grey crossover. That's all that seems to exist on the roads, at least here in the USA. Nothing is new, except maybe the hybrid and EV categories. But that's about it. It seems like coolness is now measured by the size of your infotainment screen.

The same can be said of electronics. Every year, phones, tablets and laptops are just a little bit thinner and a little bit faster and have a little bit better camera. But other than that, I don't get why people are buying new, other than because they can or for those who end up losing or destroying their possetions. I got a "budget" phone, that feels just as smooth and fast as any flagship phone. In fact, budget phones actually have more useful features, like having a headphone jacks and SD card slots.

Another thing to factor in is that used stuff has a sort of proof-of-reliabilty. If you look at buying a 5 or 10 year old car and there's one brand everyone knows that in those years has a high transmission failure rate, you know not to buy it. But if you buy a brand new one, even from a reputable company, you really have no idea of how it's going to hold up for the next several years. For an example, my Prius has over 200,000 miles on it. Sure, it needs a new HV battery that's a couple thousand dollars if I go OEM. But at least I know it'll last another 200,000 miles.

In summary, if you already own it, your best bet is to just keep it as long as you can. If you own a car, CHANGE THE OIL REGULARLY AND USE THE CORRECT OIL!!! Try to fix things when they're a small problem before they develop into a big expensive problem. If you have a computer, look into 1. putting the boot drive onto an SSD and keeping the HDD for your folders by moving personal folders by using "Location" in the properties menu, 2. upgrading the RAM to at least 8GB, 3. seeing if you can change out your processor for a faster one, 4. GETTING RID of all unnecessary apps like free, non-stock virus and malware protection, and 5. changing settings to optimize speed, not looks.

If you need to buy another vehicle, phone, computer, etc., the question of whether it should be new or used depends on a lot of factors. Where do you live? Are used things cheaper (or maybe even free) there, or nearly as expensive as brand new? Are you good at fixing things yourself? If you aren't who do you have that can do the repairs, are they truely good at it, and how much do they charge? How available are the parts to the cars/electronics you are looking at to buy?