Is it a Bad Idea to Purchase a Car in its First Model Year?

The odds are against any car in its first model year. Any number of small glitches, kinks and other bugs can pop up in that first year, which makes buying one an uncertain proposition. Maybe you just can’t wait, though. Maybe the car is so appealing, so trendy, so enticing, you just can’t help yourself.

Is it a bad idea to purchase a car in its first model year? (Ask.cars.com)

Comments

See "2000 Ford Focus"

I know this isn't going to be a popular statement but it rings true in my 27 years of buying cars and trucks. If you avoid buying a domestic brand in it's first year of production you significantly reduce your risk of getting a lemon. I have never regretted buying a Japanese model in it's first year and only once did I regret buying a European make. The Japs are better at the details and much, much better in their dealer service. I've had one exception, a Ford dealer, who went above and beyond to fix the engineering defects in my 2000 Taurus. My best overall experience is a tie between Honda and Lexus; multiple cars, multiple dealers, always received exceptional service.

I partially agree with you wilson. my partner and I owned a first year bmw x-5 and it was horrible, but we still liked it enough to buy a second one and it has been flawless. I think the reason why the japanese cars are most of the time more defect free the first year that they are here is because they are not really first year vehicles- only first year in our country.

There is also a trade-off on this: 1st year models are USUALLY cheaper than subsequent year models, despite having the same pkg and trim level. USUSALLY, but not always.

for domestics, it depends on the car.... is it truly a first model year (Saturn ION) or is it a car based on a car platform already out there (Chevy Cobalt). I had a first year ION and it was alright (not exciting, but didn't have any problems), but they improved upon it every year after introducing it.

another thing to consider is whether the import is actually a first year model. the koreans have generally kept a model on the domestic market for a year or so before releasing it in the u.s., working through the quality issues before exporting the vehicles to the u.s. the japanese do this with certain models too.

I've had the pleasure of buying three first year models; Ford Tempo, Chevy Cavalier and Honda Del Sol. The Tempo was tolerable, the Cavalier a nightmare. We gave the Del Sol to our nephew after 172,000 miles because we got tired of it. Since the Tempo and Cavalier we have not purchased any Big 3 products, nor do I think we ever will. In fairness, I do believe that most cars produced today would be reliable, however, as with life, nothing is guaranteed.

Carson,
Are you kidding me? The Tempo was just totally a piece of junk.

Had one(Well, actually two, if counting the Mercury Topaz that I drove before it), stalls at red lights, got to put in neutral and step on the gas. 5-6 mechanics can't find out what the heck is the problem.
Traded in for $800 for an eight year old car.

Chrysler is the worst of all cars, with the most problems in their vehicles. They never take time to get bugs out. They really rush to bring the vehicle out because they know it going to sell good, and are greedy for money. Then when they notice there are issues with the car. Then later they send out issue notices to bring the vehicle back to the dealer. Chrysler really sucks with vehicles. Maybe for 2008 they changed their mind of rushing out vehicles and messing up their repetation.

j's post makes no sense at all. He drove a Topaz that I guess he liked since he turned around and got a tempo which couldn't have been a first year (since he had a topaz before). We are talking about first year models here, right. Wait, maybe it was a first year model that was purchased used. If it were a new car- then there is something called a lemon law which everyone should learn about, it protects you when you have a car that "5-6 mechanics" can't find the problem with.

Actually, I don't think the lemon law only applies to new cars. Anyone know for sure?

I have a son in law that works for Ford (F150 assembly line) and they work for months to get the production glitches out before the actual production starts. This eliminates a lot of problems related to production. It doesn't do anything for non-production related problems. However, there can be many problems that are not "recall's" but "Technical Service Bulletins" or problems that are known if the customer complains about them. I had an 04 Mercury Mountaineer, it took the entire 3 years or 36000 mile warranty period to get all the problems out of it. Seemed like it was always going in for service. It had the transmission repaired 3 times (one TSB), the Air Conditioner evaporator (unit under the dash) replaced under a TSB, Rear End noise under a TSB, driver's power seat stability (movement) under a TSB and several other problems under TSB's (there is a long list of TSB's that I found on the internet). This was not a "first year" vehilce.

But, I do believe "first year" vehicles do tend to have more issues than later year models. Also, subsequent year models tend to have more options (such as engines) and even some have more models.

It's not a bad idea to purchase a first year model per say, but a lot has to do with who the car manufacturer and selling dealer are. I've had tremendous success with my two Honda dealers and my wifes Acura dealer, however based on past experiences I will more than likely never step foot into a Chrysler or Ford showroom again. I do agree with the above poster who said more than likely all cars built today will be reliable, so in a sense you can't go wrong, but for me personally it's all about basing the purchase on quality (not just reliability) and customer service. In my experience the Japanese dealers, especially Acura, are the most customer-centric. I think Jeep and Ford dealer service are the worst.

Buying a new car is not something everyone gets a chance to experience, so enjoy it regardless of what you end up purchasing. There really is nothing like a brand new car.

January 1993 I bought a new Redesigned Dodge Colt,which was made June 1992 (obviously one of the first 1993 models).It has been a very trouble free car.Still knocks off 37mpg at will.This new Colt was introduced in Japan a year or two earlier before we saw it in the states (the 92 US Summit/Colt was still the 1985 model here)so,any bugs in the new design got worked out before US model 1993 Job 1.

the honda fit was outside the country for years. and then you have those that are totally new.

Bought 9 cars new, 5 first year veh's. 85 Toyota diesel pick up was absolute junk, 78 f-150 was excellent, 81 honda was ok, 85 olds ok, 94 ford aspire was great. Wife influenced other vehicles, puegot (horrible!) 89 mustang ok, 99 toyota junk!(all wifes fault on buying this one 100%) 2000 nissan ok.
retired and am buying used now, 2004 mustang EXCELLENT!! 2006 f-2504x4 ok. Decided after all the hoopla to base my decisions on my own experience on not on internet "pro's" and will be replacing the mustang with a 2005 or 2006 mustang. I think I've been most comfortable with fords with the least problems. However when there was a problem ford dealers seamed to be the most unsympathetic.

There was an old saying in the 80's, that "GM finally got a car right, right before they changed/canceled it"

If I could have bought a last model year car, right before the new generation came out, I'd porbably have more power, more options, improved quality, and probably at a lower price too. The only problem is I'd be driving a New "old" car.

For instance, right now you can find leftover '07 Accords and they have many more features then their first year cousins ('02 IIRC?) And probably a lot cheaper (or more negotiable) than their '08 cousins.

I've owned alot of cars IMO... 19 and counting.... All from various makes. There have only been a few that have left me stranded. 1st was a Chevy Chevette.. Clutch disintegrated. The second was a Geo Storm, Ignitor went out on the insterstate in the middel of no-where on two seperate occasions. The next was a first year run Honda Del Sol. Ignitor went out, out in the sticks of Georgia. It was fixed by the dealer and never had a problem afterwords 9car had 127,000 when traded. The next was a Volvo. (Headgasket went and over heated the car). After that was a Ford Escort (transmission...twice), Dodge Pickup (problems too numerous) Ford Ranger (front right brake stuck and caught on fire) power steering pump whined from day one, and the AC never held a charge of freon. 2005 Honda Civic, front right wheel bearing went out on a road trip. 1992 Toyota Pickup... Overheated. 2002 Hyundai Elantra (dealer sold me a salvaged car.... enough about that one.)

Infosaur, the problem with last year cars is parts. If you don't keep your cars more than about 3 or 4 years, this will not be a problem, but if you do, you will find that parts become progressively difficult to find, starting with needing to be ordered, to unobtainable.

We've got a 10 year old Ford with a whole bunch of now unobtainable parts (including the cat), rendering a car which needs a small amount of work to keep it on the road, unusable.

For preference I would buy a late first model year car - engineering changes will often occur during the first year - or an early second model year car (as soon as they start being discounted).