Which of these 2 cars would be better to buy between this 2014 Camry or the 2020 Camry?

I was curious, between these two cars, which would be the better car to get? Both are from the same dealership. I wasn’t sure if it would be worth it to spend more to get the lower mileage and less possible damage, or get the cheaper one with more mileage and whatever this moderate damage is. Any ideas what the best choice between the two is? This car would be used as a daily driver, and also for fun stuff like trips.

1st Car: 2014 Toyota Camry 2014.5 XLE Sedan
Listing Price: $9,990 Mileage: 164,994 miles
Color: Midnight Black Metal
Accident: minor to moderate damage from hitting a deer, the damage is to the entire frontal area and front sides, Functional damage reported, Airbags did not deploy
Not Toyota Certified and no warranty

2nd Car: 2020 Toyota Camry LE 4dr Sedan
Listing Price: $24,999 Mileage: 14,514 miles
Color: Celestial Silver
Accident: minor damage on the right side door, few scuffs, minor cosmetic damage only
Toyota Certified used with Warranty

I’d definitely go for the 2020 model.

The 2014 has all sort of problems; some of them you can see now, but I guarantee there are more lurking that you can’t see. Aside from the lower price, why would you want to buy that basket of potential trouble?

The 2020 if those are your only choices

But at that price and mileage, you can find a 1 owner no accidents Camry

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I find it odd the dealership put the 2020 Camry for sale without doing the bodywork.
Anyway, between the two, the 2020 is the preferred choice.
As It_s-Me said, for $25,000 you should be able to find a Camry, or equivalent, with low mileage and no damage.

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The 2020 car is the better choice if it has to be between these two cars. The 2014 is 150,000 miles closer to the junk yard. It should need significant work on brakes, suspension, and rubber parts long before the 2020 does. After 8 years there aren’t repairs anymore, just maintenance, no matter what goes wrong.

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Where are you that you can’t find a better choice of used vehicles ? Both of those are over priced .

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Yeah, take that $25,000 and get the best undamaged car you can find.

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I will go against the prevailing wisdom. This only if you can pay cash for the old Camry and either have some money left over or a credit card with some limit you can use for repairs.

Maintain it well, fix problems promptly and drive it untill it dies… which could be awhile. Save money you’d spend on a payment so you can pay cash for your next car.

Avoid the debt merry-go-round on things that depreciate… like cars, boats and motorcycles. Only borrow for things that appreciate, like real estate.

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@Mustangman -
You’d buy this car, even with this damage? I assume it is unrepaired:

I’m assuming the OP can afford either one. If not, take the $10,000 and buy an undamaged car.

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Saw a 2014 legacy with hail damage for $4k. Had salvage title. But, it was cheap. Much cheaper then Camry.

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I am assuming it is repaired based on the price. The description seems like it came right off a CarFax.

No, I wouldn’t buy a damaged Camry for 10 grand!

I assume most people finance cars because they do. That is why I specified buy for cash. I would never finance a 164K mile car.

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First , how does this thing qualify for Toyota Certified ?

Second , if this person has cash or can afford to fiance a 25000.00 damaged used vehicle why are they not looking at something new or at least in better shape ?

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OK, I get it, damage report off of Carfax. I’d prefer one that hadn’t been repaired. There’s a 2014 near me for $9000, but don’t know if it has a clean carfax.

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It should be very easy to inspect the repairs from the deer hit. Does the hood line up properly? Is the upper radiator support bent? Was it repaired well? Was proper rust protection used on the repairs? Were after market headlights put in, or original Toyota? Is the AC condenser bent? Were the hood mounts replaced? Was an orginal Toyota hood used, or a non Toyota one that will rust? You know you can get a Toyota hood from a junk yard for cheap. You just have to wait for the right color to show up.

For $15,000 more you can get a car with 150,000 fewer miles and 6 years newer. $15,000 is a lot to pay for 6 years. I would want to buy the cheaper car, but the thing that turns me away from that is the unknown maintenance history. If it was properly serviced and used on the highway then I’d go for the older one. If it was used as a city delivery car than I wouldn’t want it. But both are overpriced. That’s the real problem.

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The car in question is a 2014.5. Toyota stopped production mid season because of problems and then came out with the 2014.5 corrected version. If the later version can be verified, then the 2014.5 would be viable, pending a thorough examination of the “deer” damage. But typically deer only do cosmetic damage and not structural damage. Just want to make sure that it actually was a deer and not hiding something else.

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Instead of looking at two cars with huge price differences, I’d first decide on how much I wanted to spend on a car and then find the best one for that price.

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Of those two, I’d choose the 2020. I purchased my used truck at one year old, turned out to be a good choice. The sweet spot for used cars is around 3-5 years imo. So before making an offer on a 2020 at that price, suggest to check the rental car agency used car lots for comparisons.

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And how much would the eventual head gasket replacement cost?

I too find it odd that the dealer would not first repair the damage but maybe you are talking about a used car lot or something. At any rate depends on your finances and how you expect to use the car and for how long. If you want to throw repairs that would be likely up to you.

But assuming you would keep the cars for a useful life of 200,000 miles, the first car would cost you 28 cents per mile. The second car would cost you 13.5 cents per mile to drive it to the 200,000 mile mark. Pick 300,000 miles and the older car is slightly cheaper. So the newer car is cheaper all things considered equal.

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Dealers don’t sell wrecked cars, the OP posted information from the vehicle history report.

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