As New Car Prices Edge Over $34,000, Used Cars Take on a New Shine in Texas

Dennis McNabb had just started thinking about buying a roomier car last year when he suddenly had no choice. A heavy storm rolled across Texas and dropped golf-ball-size hail that pummeled his 2013 Hyundai Genesis and punched holes in the sedan's windows.Another shock came when McNabb, a firefighter from San Antonio, saw the sticker prices of new cars. The Toyota 4Runner SUV had caught his eye, but 2016 models were more than $40,000 when loaded up with the heated seats, touch screen and other options that he wanted.McNabb quickly found a solution: a used 2014 4Runner with 38,000 miles that cost him just $29,750 and came with a one-year warranty."The new ones are fairly expensive, and you lose about a third of the value as soon as you drive it off the lot," he said. "The 2014 is pretty much fully loaded, and it's practically the same car as the 2016, but way less. Kind of a no-brainer."Over the past several years, as the U.S. economy has gained steam and consumers have rushed out to buy new cars, the average price of a new automobile has edged higher and higher. Last year, new vehicles on average sold for a record $34,077, according to Edmunds.com, an auto-information website. That's a 2.7 percent increase from 2015 and a 13 percent jump since 2011.  Continue reading...