Varmint
NES Member
We bought a 3 yo off-lease Subaru 3.6R. It was $12,000 less than new with 35,000 miles. The drivetrain warranty is 5 years/60,000 miles so we didn't see much downside to that choice.
It's a good choice, but it's not "crazy to buy new" - The 3.6Rs when new were often getting $4-5k off sticker so you really saved $7-8k, and if not CPO (which have big markups) there might be very little warranty. One big saver is excise tax - on a new 3.6R it'd be like $1000 first year, maybe $600 second year. With a 3 year old car it'd be like $200 and $100. Plus you save sales tax.