Is is morally wrong to buy a used car?

[Liberal_in_LA]

A certain percentage of cars have been repossessed. is buying one feeding on someone's misery?

Sorry... just making a point.

[Duer 157099]

1. Apples and oranges

in the same way that mandated car insurance is compared to mandated health insurance

[gratuitous]

2. Define "used"

After all, even one right off the assembly line has a certain amount of use. So aren't you always picking up someone else's cast-off unless you make it yourself? I'm on the fence about whether you could use prefabricated steel or would have to mine, smelt and mold your own. I could go either way on that, but I'm sure there's a "right" answer, because DUers are always so s-m-r-t!

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

10. + 1/10 of a mile.

:think:

[Morning Dew]

3. You should only buy new Chinese made goods - - -

from WalMart.

:evilgrin:

[Buzz Clik]

5. No one will ever buy them used, even from a Repo Man.

[Buzz Clik]

4. Eh? I lost the train of thought real early. It's okay to buy a used car.

:shrug:

[Travis_0004]

6. Even if you know it was repossed, its not wrong

Car dealers need to stay in business, and that may mean reposing a car. If they can not resell it, then they loose lots of money, and cars become more expensive, and some people could not afford them.

I would have no problem owning a car that was reposed. Its sad when somebody looses a job and also looses their car, but the fact is a lot of people buy cars they can not afford. Also, if I buy a nice reposed car, then I'll sell my car privately, allowing somebody else to get a car for a good deal.

[951-Riverside]

7. Is this a joke? Are you making fun of DU?

Sorry... just making a point.

...I'm confused.

[BlooInBloo]

9. I can't think of any reason why anyone would do that.

Really.

[DainBramaged]

18. Really!

:spray:

[customerserviceguy]

13. There was an earlier thread

about whether or not it might be moral to buy a foreclosed house. For those who think it is not, perhaps changing the subject to a car helps them to get a better focus on the situation.

[951-Riverside]

20. Thanks for clearing that up n/t

[Prism]

8. Not the same

Houses are often homes. People have strong emotional attachments to them, attachments that not only include memories, but also warmth, security, a firm foundation. Losing your home can have devastating consequences for a person. People can live without a car.

Watching someone lose their car and watching someone forced out of the home where they raised three children is a somewhat different experience.

[elocs]

11. A bigger question would be about buying a reposessed house,

a place that may well have been somebody's home and an important part of their lives, a place where their children grew up and where there were many happy memories. I have thought about benefiting from that type of misery and personally I would have problem with the house, but not as likely a car.

[customerserviceguy]

14. So then, the moral difference is sentiment?

How would you propose measuring the sentiment that a repo'ed car owner had? Or, since it is a gasoline-using, planet-polluting death machine, no amount of sentiment toward it is as warranted as it would be for "home, sweet home"?

Would you make a distinction in homes between those really cute Victorian places that look so nice in pictures, and a trailer in a park, or a McMansion that reeks of wretched excess?

Do I really need the sarcasm tag here?

[elocs]

16. Yes, for me the difference is sentiment. Just my choice.

Too bad I won't be able to read anymore of your posts. :hi:

[customerserviceguy]

24. Too bad you couldn't admit that it was a fairly irrational basis

without feeling the need to block me. I guess that's just part of the thought process of an irrational mind.

Good thing you won't see this, it might disturb the cloud you're living on.

[LWolf]

21. Yet people need a place to live,

and we shouldn't have any standing empty.

I guess the real question would be about how to change the status quo so that people don't lose their homes in economic hard times.

[Warpy]

12. You do what you have to do

and if you need a car and can't afford to go into debt for a new one, buy used. There is an equally good chance it wasn't a repo. Dealer demos, rental fleet cars and others are out there, as well as cars traded in by people who want something newer.

My dad bought new cars until he retired, then he bought used cars from rental companies. His reasoning that while the cars had been all over the road, they'd been maintained better than the average used car. He might have been right, he did all right with them.

[madinmaryland]

15. The real question is it morally wrong to buy a new car?

The energy and materials required to build a new car extract a toll on the environment.

[DainBramaged]

17. Is it morally wrong to buy repossessed soda???

Sorry......just making a point.

[beyurslf]

19. Yes.

And it is morally wrong to live in a house sold at auction. And it is morally wrong to wear clothes made by children. And it is morally wrong to eat food picked by people being paid less than minimum wage. And it is morally wrong to breathe air that is polluted. And it is morally wrong to live.

So, be immoral or die.

[petronius]

22. Actually, I feel more conflicted about buying used books

But I don't buy a lot of cars so it isn't something I'm losing sleep over...

:shrug:

[ManiacJoe]

25. What is the conflict with used books?

[petronius]

26. I suppose it could be that the author is not being supported by the exchange,

but really I was just playing around. I thought the OP was going the 'used cars are bad because autoworkers need jobs' route...

[lefthandedlefty]

23. I have no problem buying used wrecked or repo vehicles