More car for the same money

A nicely equipped new Toyota Corolla XRS will set you back around $18,000. But what if you want something bigger? For the same amount of money, you could buy a two-year-old Toyota Camry loaded to the gills or a three-year-old Avalon, Toyota's biggest sedan. Planning on growing your family? You'll find plenty of four-year-old Honda Odyssey minivans in the new Corolla's price range.

You can also move up in prestige. A new Toyota Camry XLE V6 with all the bells and whistles is a nice ride; at $30,000 it had better be. But for the same price (or even a couple grand less), you could be stylin' in a two-year-old Lexus ES330, Audi A6 or BMW 325i.