Sometimes, being second in line is the best place to be.

For example, letting someone else have first shot at a hot car often buys you a discount on a great nearly-new car. They get it first, but also get to pay full mark-up as well as absorb the often staggering depreciation in value that occurs during the first few months of a new car's life.

If you check into it, you'll discover that a few recent models are particularly exceptional buys the second time around, largely because of the 20-30 percent (or more) difference in their retail value from showroom-new to just a year or two old.

For the most part, there is nothing wrong with these cars; some simply had inflated prices when new due to being "the latest thing." Take the Chrysler PT Cruiser. When it first appeared, some dealers were getting $25k or more for cars with an MSRP of $17,000 simply because it was "hot" and "new." Now, you can buy a two-year-old PT fully loaded for around $15,000.

Or, let's say a manufacturer launches a car with high expectations - and a high MSRP - but it doesn't do as well as hoped for one reason or another. An excellent example is the Volkswagen Phaeton, a large luxury sedan with a base price of $66,950 that can run as high as $100,000 when equipped with every available option. The Phaeton was VW's first foray into the very high-end luxury segment. But as nice a car as the Phaeton is, people apparently aren't ready to pay Mercedes or BMW prices for a Volkswagen. VW just doesn't have the name recognition as a premium brand on par with the established luxury brands (for now, anyhow). As a result, one can buy a slightly used Phaeton for a bargain price, and be driving a vehicle equivalent to a 7-Series BMW or Mercedes E-Class for a lot less than you'd pay to own one of those cars.

Here are some other cars that are steals the second time around - even if they once cost some poor soul an arm and a leg to buy new.



Imports

2004 Volkswagen Phaeton: Initially priced at upwards of $66,000, first-year models of Volkswagen's ultra-premium large sedan have depreciated significantly, to about $45,000 for the V-8 model, mainly because the car is not perceived as a high-status car, even though it is just as nicely equipped and powerful as other cars of its type. Another VW model in this category is the W-8 version of the Passat mid-size sedan. An '04 model with the powerful eight-cylinder and VW's excellent 4Motion all-wheel-drive system has a current retail value of between $24,000 and $26,000 - less than you'd pay to buy a current-year V-6 Passat with 4Motion AWD. Like the Phaeton, the W-8 Passat didn't quite break through in the way VW had hoped. But that doesn't mean it's not a great car - or a great deal for you.


2000-03 BMW 7-Series: These "pre-Bangle" BMWs are in many ways more desirable than the 2003-present redesigned 7-Series, which has received mixed reviews for its controversial exterior shape and notorious "iDrive" controller, which many people could live without. The classic lines of these older Sevens will wear will as the miles roll by, too - very much as older Jaguars always look stately and composed, even after ten or 20 years have gone by. Current retail prices of 2000-04 model-year BMW 7-Series sedans range from just over $25,000 to about $80,000 for an extended wheelbase, V-12 equipped 760Li. But that's a lot more affordable than the current car's $69,000 (for openers) MSRP.



2000-04 Nissan Frontier: If you need a compact pickup, you've run out of options - if you want a new pickup, anyhow. Nissan was the last automaker to offer a compact-sized pickup, but in 2005 redesigned the Frontier to mid-size dimensions and raised the price by several thousand dollars, if you want 4x4. But you can pick up a sturdy, reliable older Frontier with a reasonably fuel-efficient four-cylinder engine and four-wheel drive (a combo no longer available in the new Frontier) for around $7,000 for a '99 model to about $20,000 for a loaded (and barely used) '04 model.

2002 Nissan Frontier SC by Eric Peters (3/11/2002)
The only crew-cab long-bed compact truck you'll find from Japan Inc.



1999-2004 Land Rover Discovery: Though replaced by the larger, more powerful LR3, the iconic "Disco" has quite a following among off-roaders and Land Rover enthusiasts. The only real downside to owning a Discovery is that it rides and handles like a real-deal SUV - meaning it's not at its best hugging hairpins or doing 90 on the freeway. But it is immensely rugged and capable, with all the hard-core off-road gear that has made Land Rover vehicles famous over the years. And it's far better to take a $12,000 used Discovery (the average retail value of a '99 model) off road than a brand-new $44,000 LR3! (Older Range Rovers are also good deals, especially now that Land Rover has announced a mildly redesigned model for 2006.)

2003 Land Rover Discovery by Marty Padgett (8/19/2002)
Keeping the faithful, wooing the converts.



Domestics

2004 Pontiac GTO: The initial year of the "reborn" muscle car legend suffered from fairly anonymous styling and was really hurt by the hardly-secret news that GM planned to increase the car's engine size and power substantially for the '05 model year. Why buy a 350-horsepower GTO with a 5.7-liter V-8 when, a few months later, you could buy a 400-horsepower one with an even bigger 6.0-liter engine? The value of those first-year GTOs has taken a beating as a result - down almost $10,000 to about $24,000 on the used market. But the '04 model's 350 horsepower is nothing to turn one's nose up at, especially if the price is right. With just a portion of the many thousands you'll save buying an '04 Goat vs. a brand-new one, you could easily bump the car's power up to the 400-hp level and still have a wad in your pocket for tickets and insurance surcharges.

2004 Pontiac GTO by Marty Padgett (11/10/2003)
How does an old-school coupe make it in the day of the hot hatch? Big power, that's how.



2001-05 Pontiac Aztek: Okay, it's not the best looker on the dance floor, but underneath its dumpster-on-wheels-body is a very solid GM minivan platform pretty much the same as the less cosmetically challenged Pontiac Montana van and other GM minivan cousins like the Chevy Venture and Buick Rendezvous (another good buy, incidentally). There's nothing functionally wrong with the Aztek, and if you can get past the exterior styling, these things are ideal as inexpensive, drive-the-wheels-off-them family haulers. You don't care what your lawnmower looks like so long as it works. So why worry about the Aztek's funky lines if it saves you a fistful of dollars? New, these vehicles were priced in the mid-high $20,000 range; but you can pick up an '03 (for example) for about $13,000 - roughly half price. Even an '04 model (hardly a year old) has a retail value of less than $15,000. (Another good buy in this category is the Ford Freestar and its predecessor, the Windstar. Both are decent vans, just not near the level of class leaders like the Honda Odyssey or Toyota Sienna. But they're a whole lot cheaper and you can put the money you save on car payments toward junior's college fund.)

2001 Pontiac Aztek by Eric Peters (1/28/2001)
A jaw-dropper, but no beauty.


2005 Buick LaCrosse: This is a very nice mid-size, near-luxury sedan that had the bad fortune to be introduced as Buick enters its death throes - very much like the last few Oldsmobile models, especially the final-year Aurora sedan (yes, another excellent buy). This is a brand-new model with excellent build quality and features for the dollar, but GM is already discounting brand-new ones in an attempt to shore up flagging sales. By early '06, you should be able to snap up a value-priced LaCrosse for a lot less than you'd pay for a Lexus ES330 or Toyota Avalon. (The Pontiac G6 falls into this category as well - Oprah's loss is your gain! Sort of.)

2005 Buick LaCrosse by Eric Peters (11/22/2004)
Not a Lexus, but a long way from the past.

2004 Chevy SSR: This retro-styled sport truck is kind of interesting and though it hasn't sold well, it can be a neat addition to your garage if you want something with the curb appeal of something like a Plymouth Prowler but with some practical considerations, notably a lockable bed that can double as a nice-sized trunk. Like the GTO, the first-year SSR suffers from lukewarm market response and a horsepower deficit relative to the current (2005) model, which has caused its value to drop considerably. You can buy an '04 for between $35,000 and $38,000, while a new one will cost you more than $42,000.

2004 Chevrolet SSR by Bob Hall (7/14/2003)
The ultimate niche vehicle?

2000-02 Lincoln Continental: It's big and boozy, with an ultra-soft ride and a nice V-8 engine and plenty of power. But because it never really took off, this large front-wheel-drive luxury sedan was cancelled after the '04 run, and as a result is a steal on the used-car market. This was a $45,000 car new; now it's available for about $17,000. (The just-retired Cadillac Seville is another model in this category.)

2003-04 Mercury Marauder: When new, Ford Motor Co. offered tremendous discounts on these all-black high-performance versions of the full-size, six-passenger Mercury Grand Marquis-but despite the push, the Marauder never did as well as the very similar Chevy Impala SS of the mid-late 1990s. Yet it's likely the Marauder's value will pick up as they become more collectible - and the fact is the Maruader's 300-horsepower 4.6 liter V-8 actually offers more total horsepower than the old Impala SS's Corvette-sourced V-8 did (though the Impala was a bit quicker). New, these cars had MSRPs around $34,000. Now, their "street value" is around $23,000. That's a ten-grand drop over just a single year. Good for you - bad for the guy who bought it first!

2000-02 Lincoln Continental: It's big and boozy, with an ultra-soft ride and a nice V-8 engine and plenty of power. But because it never really took off, this large front-wheel-drive luxury sedan was cancelled after the '04 run, and as a result is a steal on the used-car market. This was a $45,000 car new; now it's available for about $17,000. (The just-retired Cadillac Seville is another model in this category.)

The just-retired Cadillac Seville is another model in this category.