Depreciation handy when used-car shopping

The depreciation effect is especially strong in the premium brand segment, where Lincolns and Cadillacs cost pennies on the dollar as used cars, while Mercedes, BMW and Lexus cars hold their value well.

Consumer Reports routinely grades the domestic premium brands as among the most reliable cars, and J.D. Power and Associates says their dealers have some of the highest customer satisfaction scores. So if you want the longer warranty and friendly customer service of a premium brand, buying used can be a good move.

Buying used has also become much more like buying new thanks to dramatic improvements in the durability of new cars and a new emphasis on the sale of used cars by manufacturers and dealers.

Americans bought 50 million used cars last year, with major franchise dealers selling about a quarter of the total. A few years ago carmakers began certifying clean, low-mileage, late-model used cars. These cars provide many of the same benefits as new cars — they’re inspected, their worn parts like brakes and tires are replaced, and they are given a warranty in addition to any remaining factory warranty from when they were new.

Increased interest in used cars has fueled the rapid growth of CarMax, the no-haggle pricing used car superstore, which sold 377,000 cars last year through its 93 stores nationwide.

The Internet has had its usual transformative effect. Customers locate cars with just the features they want through CarMax or aggregator sites like Cars.com and AutoTrader.com.

Additionally, consumers can buy cars auctioned on eBay and posted for sale on Craigslist.

Members have sold 3 million cars to date using eBay Motors. Craigslist posted free ads for 3 million cars on its site in the last month alone, although the online classified service doesn’t track how many are sold. About one-quarter of the cars lists on Craigslist are posted by dealers.

Craigslist consumers can choose to look only at cars listed by dealers if they like the idea of buying from a company that can be expected to stand behind a sale, or they can look only at cars listed by individuals if they would rather do business one-on-one.

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