As a rule of thumb, figure that a car's value drops by half every four years. For new cars, the bulk of that depreciation occurs in the first year of ownership. A new $30,000 car is worth only $22,500 after just the first year -- a full 25% less. Over the next three years, its value will fall by another 25% off the original price to $15,000.

The longer you own the car beyond this, the smaller the bite taken each year by depreciation. If you bought the same car when it was four years old for $15,000 and resold it when it was eight, it would be worth about $7,800, according to CarPrice.com's Depreciation Calculator. So you save almost $8,000 over four years just on depreciation by buying used, to say nothing of added savings from insuring an older vehicle.

A new $30,000 car is worth only $22,500 after just the first year

Originally posted by el jeffe
Yup thats the way it goes.
The KBB (Kelly blue book) has upped the value for the WRX by $500 at this quarters book at least.
I spent no more than $2600 for every car I have owned.
Guess I'm poorer than you.

el jeffe "the bottom feeder"