peace of mind. if youre starting out with a 0 mile car and taking care
of it, youll know itll last. depreciation isnt really a factor if youre
going to use the car up anyway.

depreciation on a civic is insanely low, or at least, it is here in the
bay area.  on the dealers lot, a used civic with 30k on the clock is
often within $5k of a new sticker.  that's nuts.  in that case, buying
new is the only way to go.

adding to that, i drive an 89 civic.  depreciation on that in the last
year has been negative - prices have gone /up/ due to it's economy with
increasing gas prices!

Mileage-wise there's the VW diesels, but that's all one can say about
VWs.

(sigh) imagine if Honda sold a diesel engine car here...

I just traded in a 2003 Civic with 18,302 miles and the dealer is
asking $14,000 for it.  For not much more you could buy a new one.  To
save any real money on a Honda you need to go +5 years old.

Which model?

If the car is going to be used for traveling, you don't want to pay the
premium to get a hybrid.  Hybrids do their thing in stop and go city
driving.  Highway traveling, the hybrid offers nothing.

If you're buying new, you're right--don't get a Lexus that depreciates
quickly.

On the other hand, a 2 to 5 year old Lexus is a far, far better value
than a new Honda or Toyota.  Someone else has already taken that huge
depreciation hit, but the car is still a superior piece of work than
even its Toyota cousin.

If you plan to keep the car for 10 to 15 years, depreciation isn't an
issue.  You want build quality, period.  Lexus is it--but not far behind
are the Toyotas and even the Hondas.

My nephew is driving my 92 Civic Si.  It now has 140K on the clock, it's
on its original clutch, and it drives great.  Looks great, too.

On the other hand, you might look very closely at the Hyundai.  10 year
warranty and, frankly, they're the new Honda.  They've done over the
past 15 years what Honda did over the previous 15 years--came from
nowhere, got a lot of snickers, and now are pushing the big boys around
a bit with respectable cars.

GM and Ford snickered at Honda once, and look at them.  Honda and Toyota
had better not snicker at Hyundai, lest they be forced to eat crow.

Try carsdirect.com and edmunds.com if you are in the US.

If you are buying a used car, fast depreciating cars tend to be
cheaper than slow depreciating cars.  Though Lexus models might
not be that economical fuel wise, which may be a concern if you
drive a lot.

I echo Timothy Lee's comment: Use www.edmunds.com , for one, especially to
appraise used cars based on mileage, condition, and features. It will also
at least generate relative price differences between new models and IIRC
cost per mile of operation.

Hybrids are so new that their longevity isn't established. There is chatter
on the net about the battery packs and how much they'll cost to replace. I'd
wager at best hybrids last as long as strictly gasoline engine Hondas, but
possibly at a higher maintenance cost, because of the battery packs. Sorry;
I don't see much concrete info beyond this right now.

I still think the April "car buying" issue of Consumer Reports is very much
a worthwhile read, to build confidence in what you're buying. Understand
that it reviews several years of /each/ model of car for reliability in
specific areas and presents it in easy-to-read format. I believe it also
gives new car prices. Lastly, it may have some good info on the Hybrids'
reliability, at least for young hybrids.