Don't Buy New.

A new car feels like a reward, and the monthly payment on the dealer's screen looks manageable. What the screen leaves out is everything that happens after you sign: the value that drains out of the car, the interest on the loan, the insurance, and the repairs that arrive whether or not you budgeted for them.

"Don't Buy New" is for anyone who needs a car and wants to keep as much of their money as possible while getting one. It makes one argument. For most buyers, a new car is the most expensive way to get from place to place, and a good used car bought carefully does the same job for far less. You'll see the numbers, work through the math with your own figures, and finish with a plan you can follow from budget to keys.

The figures come from named sources listed at the back of the guide, including AAA's 2026 ownership-cost study, Kelley Blue Book, Edmunds, Consumer Reports, and the Federal Trade Commission. Where a number is an example the guide calculated itself, or a rule of thumb rather than a research finding, the text says so. The guide also covers when buying new can still make sense.

You get an 18-page PDF: nine chapters, a conclusion, a 27-step action plan grouped into five phases, and the full reference list.

This guide is general educational information about buying a car. It is not financial, legal, tax, or investment advice, and it doesn't account for your personal circumstances. The investing examples inside are hypothetical, and returns are never guaranteed. Consider speaking with a qualified financial professional before making a major financial decision, such as taking out a car loan.

What's inside:

• What a new car really costs: the full five-year ownership bill, with a worksheet to find your own monthly cost of driving.

• Depreciation: why the biggest cost never arrives as an invoice, with a worked example on a $50,000 car.

• The loan: how a long loan can leave you owing more than the car is worth, and what that does to your payment.

• Set your ceiling before you shop: two rules of thumb for what you can afford, and how to work backward from a payment to a purchase price.

• Buy used, and buy at the sweet spot: what to look for in a car that's a few years old, how certified pre-owned compares, and why to skip the extended warranty.

• Inspect the car and read the paperwork: a walk-around checklist, what an independent mechanic inspection covers, and how to read the Buyers Guide on the window.

• Get your financing before you visit: how to arrive pre-approved, with a side-by-side loan comparison of a new and a used purchase.

• Keep it, maintain it, and invest the difference: ways to make the savings actually add up, with a hypothetical $300-a-month example.

• When buying new can still make sense: the cases where new is the better call, and how to check your own.

• Appendix, Your Step-by-Step Action Plan: 27 numbered steps in five phases, each pointing back to the chapter that explains it. It's a plan you can work through, not a summary.