Should I buy a new, CPO, or used Honda Accord for commuting?

I just got a new job out of town and my commute will average 25,000-30,000 miles per year. Since I will be adding so many miles to the car every year, does it make more sense to buy a new car because of the warranty and slightly better gas mileage, a CPO because of slightly cheaper upfront cost, or a used car with 40,000-60,000 miles already on it but for $16,000 (instead of $20,000 for CPO or $25,000 new)?

Simple answer.

Buy what you can afford to spend. If money isn't the issue buying a new car is the obvious answer.

If you want to break it down look at it this way.

You could spend $16,000 on used over $25,000 for new and keep $9000 in your pocket. That $9000 will go a long way in maintaining a nearly new car with low miles. Especially a Honda. 60K miles is nothing. The car is still like new.

With the CPO car all you're doing is buying a used car plus an expensive extended warranty. Same car, more money. You're assuming the car is going to break down and that $4000 you're spending is going to cover the repair costs. Sometimes it does, often times it doesn't. I'd personally rather keep my $4000 in my pocket and pay for the repairs in cash if and when they occur. The money you are spending is at risk and you are assuming you'll need it for repairs. It's a Honda, they rarely break down. If the car never breaks down or never needs a major repair you've tossed away $4000.

If you can afford a brand new car then none of the rest matters. Spend the money and buy new and don't concern yourself with what the car is going to be worth in 8 years when you decide to sell it.

It seldom pays to buy a new car. I like to buy one or 2 year old cars that have already suffered most of the big hits to depreciation you can usually get them with low enough mileage that you can extend the manufacturers warranty to 100,000 for a modest amount of money. Found a 2013 Honda Accord EX 14,000 miles in my area for 20,000 and it is a CPO. You can get a Honda Care warranty for it pretty easily. The Accord is nice, I just bought a 2014 EXL but I just commute 10 miles a day to work. If I was doing a lot more driving, I would chose a different car. I found a Honda Civic LX with 18,000 miles on it for 15,000. Toyota Corolla and Kia Rio are also good choices. They are cheap to operate and inexpensive to buy.

Since you'll be putting a lot of miles on it get a CPO or gently used. Most still have factory warranty. The CPO will be better as it will cover almost as much as a new. And the bright side of a used one is it won't depreciate nearly as fast. And it's a Honda you can generally get over 200k out of those.

Because you will be putting on more miles per year than the national average which is between 12,000-15,000 miles per year, you would be better off buying a CPO or used car rather than new. If you buy new, the depreciation will be tremendous and buying new is almost never a good idea.

Also, brand new cars do not get the best gas mileage mostly due to engine break in periods. With the exception of two American cars, I've always driven German vehicles and they have almost always come into their best fuel mileage once past 50,000 miles. You're driving style will also dictate the type of mileage you get. I've beaten on hybrids and gotten the mileage down into the teens and I currently have a E55 Benz hot rod pushing almost 500 hp at the wheels but cruising at 70-75mph I can return 24MPG. Beat on it and you'll see 9MPG.

With the kind of commute and mileage you'll be seeing if I were you I would look into Honda Civic's, Toyota Scion and Mazda 3's. To start with.