I have often wondered the reasoning behind this trend of people buying cars and in less than one year of useage, they want to sell. So many of such adverts litter the auto section of this forum. With the knowledge that purchasing a vehicle is not a one day decision. For many, it's a decision made over a period of time (from 6 months to one year or even more) depending on the frequency of one's income. Majority of buyers save money over a period time prior to buying cars of their choice. Yet others take loan in order to buy a car.

The only exception to this rule of the thumb is the rich who can decide to purchase a car with little or no time to think about it, provided the car tickles their fancy & satisfies the need for it thereof.

Now, after deciding upon budget, brand and model, someone buys a car. All of a sudden, the enthusiasm about the car starts to dwindle & then there's a quest for a higher, newer model or even a different brand entirely. I believe there's only a fraction of users within this group who can frankly afford the upgrade.

I have a strong feeling that others just dabbled into car ownership when they are not financially ready or buoyant enough for the kind of vehicles they bought. For this group of car owners, cost has gone up exponentially in terms of fuelling and general maintenance. It has become a struggle to maintain a balance albeit keeping the car and sustaining their families and for the single ones among this group, keeping up with other financial demands. Within this period of car ownership (less than a year), depending on the state of the car; certain parts are expensive to replace. And sometimes, there's an underlying problem that came with the car which they can not cope with or afford to replace.
Often times when I see the advert "3-6 months used or used less than 1 year", this group of owners readily comes to mind.

This does not detract from the fact that some very few genuinely desire an upgrade or in the least a change. A simple cost benefit analysis would help a lot of these kinds of owners determine at first what they really need and not what they want.

What do you think? Am I alone in this thinking or missing something?

Poor budget analysis n d quest to "show off".
I am talking from experience.
Nice piece.

Too much money.

I have had thAt thought for a long time but apparently those in. Nigeria are More affluent than those of us abroad who use the same car for 5 years so don't be a player hater. Reason is that Nigeria s are only exposed to the usual Camry and Accord they pay a boatload of money to find out those cars are boring now they want to buy the next fad and it all end up the same as last purchase

sultaan:
I have had thAt thought for a long time but apparently those in. Nigeria are More affluent than those of us abroad who use the same car for 5 years so don't be a player hater. Reason is that Nigeria s are only exposed to the usual Camry and Accord they pay a boatload of money to find out those cars are boring now they want to buy the next fad and it all end up the same as last purchase

Exactly.

So that others who don't mind being a year behind can trim off as much as 30% to 50% off the MSRP! depending on the mileage

From my own experience, I buy and sell a particular car from people's perception. Almost everyone saying something about a car being hot and all the ish. I buy the car and finds out that it is just a pile of metal on wheels and there is absolutely nothing in it to excite me. Kaboom! Off it goes to the market and subsequently to its next owner.

After about 2 or 3 tries, I stopped that and started buying cars that tip my fancy. I also have another problem. I don't intend to buy and use any used car for more than 3 years. So, I usually sell off most used cars I bought after 2 years or thereabouts and brand new cars for not more than 6 years, mostly 5 years.

Yesterday, I saw a car Camry 2008 model with a "for sale" sticker. I got interested because a friends wants to buy it. So we approached the driver to inquire about the price. But just to unleash my curiosity, I asked how long it's been used. Surprisingly, the man said 3 months. Just to get further details I asked "why would you buy a car only to sell within 3 months of use. He quickly replied that he wants to upgrade. I didn't bother to probe further but I think there's a problem with the vehicle which he does not want to disclose, though, the car looks clean interior and exterior.