Worldly Purchase?

[mike]

Thanks. New thought for me. I’d of gone with the old, low mileage car. Guess I’ll have to rethink that.

What undershepherd is saying is no doubt true, but for some reason I always fall for the old low mileage cars. My 95 Honda Accord had 98K on it when I bought it for $3200 and has been very economical to maintain, now at 140K. My 04 Chevy Van had 120K when I bought it a couple of years ago for $3500 (needing a full paint job), now has around 140K and been mechanically quite good other than needing an exhaust manifold gasket job due to bolt heads shearing off. I am currently restoring a salvage titled 99 Freightliner chassis vehicle with only 30,000 miles on it, and the oil and dipstick look like they are off just off the assembly line. The rubber all needs to be replaced (airbags, tires, hoses), but even with all that, it is just so much cheaper than buying a newer vehicle. I just can't help myself with these old vehicles.

[Bootstrap]

I tend to think in terms of dollars per year.

I am now driving my first new car ever - I bought it 10 years ago for $10,500. Nissan Versa, stick shift, roll down windows. It's still in great shape.

I have generally been able to keep the cost of car + repair under $1,000 per year for the cars I have had. I've done that buying quite old cars. I've done that buying cars that were 3 years old. I am now doing that with a car bought new.

Regardless, I think "you deserve it" is a bad reason to buy anything. Salesmen use that to get us to link our self-worth with buying something. I'm infinitely valuable in God's eyes, I'm not worth much of anything by my own merit, the purchase price of my car has nothing to do with either.

[temporal1]

My typical strategy is to buy the newest, highest mileage vehicle in my price range. A few more miles reduces the price even more, but also provides assurance that it has been on the road rather than in the shop, so it must not be a lemon.

This is the advice I give almost everybody. Age always kills a vehicle before miles do. A late model vehicle with very high miles can often be purchased for close to the same price as an older vehicle with low miles. The older vehicle is almost always going to give more trouble than the newer one even if it has less miles. A vehicle with lots of miles put on in short order has very little wear to anything except perhaps tires, brakes, and wheel bearings. Engine and transmission will often look like new in a 2 or 3 year old vehicle with 100k miles on it. I have seen a 10 year old vehicle with 50k miles that the engine and transmission are completely gunked up. I know which one I would rather drive.

Except of course if its the 2019 Final Edition that you'd hope would be an "investment"

more great insights!
much of it is general info, you have a specific situation that does not come up every year, or, even every decade. i like undershepherd’s counsel on this specific purchase for you.

Wade has his unique take on it, too.
my son is a born gearhead, he prefers older cars, his ability to do so much diagnosing+repair on his own, makes a big difference in his options.

when our children were young, we bought cars with 50-70,000 miles, and called this, “low mileage.”

years later, i was able to buy a T Corolla with 10,000 miles, it was the closest i’ve ever had to a new car. after a year, i sold it for just $1000 less than i paid, the buyers paid asking price cash, refused to take it for a test drive, altho i urged them to!

i drive a 2000 T Sienna, i felt it was less investment, and more practical for living in the country. no complaints. i keep it maintained. in my location, i feel this is non-negotiable.

i think i bought it in 2007, with 113,000 miles. i think it’s at 152,000 miles now.
my mechanic says it should go to 300,000+.

i get an insurance deduction for low annual mileage.

i tell my family, if anything happens to me, try to find a good family for it. it may be greater than the sum of its parts.

o.and. a bonus.
being a minivan, it probably draws the least attention of any vehicle on the road. possibly, even from police. i am not looking for attention!
so, it works very nicely for that. i just come+go, nobody notices. i like that.

maybe i’m in denial, but, minivan model styles don’t change a lot.
my 2000 looks just fine parked next to late models ..
so, i do not think about that, either.

cars do not rust like they did years ago. huge improvement.
they don’t burn oil like they did, either.

[Josh]

One can rent cars long term between $500 and $800 a month, with taxes, depending on location and how fancy of a car you want and how much effort you want to go to to get a good deal.

With this in mind, it doesn’t make sense to pay more than that on payments for a new car. A rental car is perpetually new and has minimal or no insurance cost, no maintenance, no per mile cost, and also has the convenience of “free” parking at airports.

An especially good combo might be a a questionable but very cheap used car (or two); when both of them aren’t working or you need to take a long trip, just rent something.

I'm confused at this suggestion. I've been leasing my VW Tiguan (2016) for $269 mo. & it was $0 down, sign & drive- so that's way less than a rental car? I'm trying to understand the advantage of your suggestion- I've never had a car payment of more than mine is now- leasing, if you find the right deal, seems a good option for someone in my situation (it seems)

If it’s a good deal for you, then that’s a good deal; leases often have a mileage limit. A lease combined with getting rentals for long trips can make a lot of sense. My brother did that for a few years and computed his total vehicle cost at 18 cents a mile plus fuel, registration, and insurance, which seemed like a good deal to me. At the time BMW would sell extra miles on a lease at a quite low cost if you bought them in advance.

[Valerie]

I tend to think in terms of dollars per year.

I am now driving my first new car ever - I bought it 10 years ago for $10,500. Nissan Versa, stick shift, roll down windows. It's still in great shape.

I have generally been able to keep the cost of car + repair under $1,000 per year for the cars I have had. I've done that buying quite old cars. I've done that buying cars that were 3 years old. I am now doing that with a car bought new.

Regardless, I think "you deserve it" is a bad reason to buy anything. Salesmen use that to get us to link our self-worth with buying something. I'm infinitely valuable in God's eyes, I'm not worth much of anything by my own merit, the purchase price of my car has nothing to do with either.

Well I never had a salesman use that tactic at all. Actually, I've been very impressed with new car salesmen/women- no pressure, no tacky tactics-

Used car is "barely" an option- Neil is against it. Plus- they've added so many accident preventative features that I really appreciate these days. I figure by the time I'd sell it, those new features would be very attractive to parents of teens who would be needing cars. You can't get these on older cars. And if you can't afford to be without a car while one needs repairs, its terrible- been there done that too much. A 7 yr warranty for VW is attractive, peace of mind, no big expenses

[Valerie]

This is the advice I give almost everybody. Age always kills a vehicle before miles do. A late model vehicle with very high miles can often be purchased for close to the same price as an older vehicle with low miles. The older vehicle is almost always going to give more trouble than the newer one even if it has less miles. A vehicle with lots of miles put on in short order has very little wear to anything except perhaps tires, brakes, and wheel bearings. Engine and transmission will often look like new in a 2 or 3 year old vehicle with 100k miles on it. I have seen a 10 year old vehicle with 50k miles that the engine and transmission are completely gunked up. I know which one I would rather drive.

Except of course if its the 2019 Final Edition that you'd hope would be an "investment"

more great insights!
much of it is general info, you have a specific situation that does not come up every year, or, even every decade. i like undershepherd’s counsel on this specific purchase for you.

Wade has his unique take on it, too.
my son is a born gearhead, he prefers older cars, his ability to do so much diagnosing+repair on his own, makes a big difference in his options.

when our children were young, we bought cars with 50-70,000 miles, and called this, “low mileage.”

years later, i was able to buy a T Corolla with 10,000 miles, it was the closest i’ve ever had to a new car. after a year, i sold it for just $1000 less than i paid, the buyers paid asking price cash, refused to take it for a test drive, altho i urged them to!

i drive a 2000 T Sienna, i felt it was less investment, and more practical for living in the country. no complaints. i keep it maintained. in my location, i feel this is non-negotiable.

i think i bought it in 2007, with 113,000 miles. i think it’s at 152,000 miles now.
my mechanic says it should go to 300,000+.

i get an insurance deduction for low annual mileage.

i tell my family, if anything happens to me, try to find a good family for it. it may be greater than the sum of its parts.

o.and. a bonus.
being a minivan, it probably draws the least attention of any vehicle on the road. possibly, even from police. i am not looking for attention!
so, it works very nicely for that. i just come+go, nobody notices. i like that.

maybe i’m in denial, but, minivan model styles don’t change a lot.
my 2000 looks just fine parked next to late models ..
so, i do not think about that, either.

cars do not rust like they did years ago. huge improvement.
they don’t burn oil like they did, either.

If not for the high cost of mini vans, & the awful gas mileage, I'd like one, actually had one when the children were growing up- we looked at them too recently. You don't put many miles on a car it seems, compared to me- we tend to take off & go a lot- our church a commute too-

[Valerie]

One can rent cars long term between $500 and $800 a month, with taxes, depending on location and how fancy of a car you want and how much effort you want to go to to get a good deal.

With this in mind, it doesn’t make sense to pay more than that on payments for a new car. A rental car is perpetually new and has minimal or no insurance cost, no maintenance, no per mile cost, and also has the convenience of “free” parking at airports.

An especially good combo might be a a questionable but very cheap used car (or two); when both of them aren’t working or you need to take a long trip, just rent something.

I'm confused at this suggestion. I've been leasing my VW Tiguan (2016) for $269 mo. & it was $0 down, sign & drive- so that's way less than a rental car? I'm trying to understand the advantage of your suggestion- I've never had a car payment of more than mine is now- leasing, if you find the right deal, seems a good option for someone in my situation (it seems)

If it’s a good deal for you, then that’s a good deal; leases often have a mileage limit. A lease combined with getting rentals for long trips can make a lot of sense. My brother did that for a few years and computed his total vehicle cost at 18 cents a mile plus fuel, registration, and insurance, which seemed like a good deal to me. At the time BMW would sell extra miles on a lease at a quite low cost if you bought them in advance.

We went to the auto show Thursday- apparently 75% of people lease now, than buy- it works well for some- it did for us, this last time- yes- if its a good enough deal, its a nice option for certain situations

[Valerie]

I said I wouldn't bug you about this but.....

A friend told me about a former co-worker who is selling her 1999 VW Beetle.

34,000 miles, asking $2500. She had bought it a fee years ago, from someone who barely drove it. I know, her & her hubby are particular, take good care of things, and would have thoroughly checked this beetle out.

At first I was not interested, then I thought of many comments on this thread- thinking if I paid cash, I'd have no car payments while we continue to save for new car.

But its 20 years old! Still- 34,000 mi on 20 yr old car? Wise or foolish?

You still there undershepherd? Our computer is in shop, my phone won't let me message on fb

[undershepherd]

I said I wouldn't bug you about this but.....

A friend told me about a former co-worker who is selling her 1999 VW Beetle.

34,000 miles, asking $2500. She had bought it a fee years ago, from someone who barely drove it. I know, her & her hubby are particular, take good care of things, and would have thoroughly checked this beetle out.

At first I was not interested, then I thought of many comments on this thread- thinking if I paid cash, I'd have no car payments while we continue to save for new car.

But its 20 years old! Still- 34,000 mi on 20 yr old car? Wise or foolish?

You still there undershepherd? Our computer is in shop, my phone won't let me message on fb

Don't do it. Even being well maintained and low mileage it is going to be a lot of trouble going forward. Those years of VW's were not known for their reliability. And the interiors are prone to falling apart when they reach that age.

[Valerie]

I said I wouldn't bug you about this but.....

A friend told me about a former co-worker who is selling her 1999 VW Beetle.

34,000 miles, asking $2500. She had bought it a fee years ago, from someone who barely drove it. I know, her & her hubby are particular, take good care of things, and would have thoroughly checked this beetle out.

At first I was not interested, then I thought of many comments on this thread- thinking if I paid cash, I'd have no car payments while we continue to save for new car.

But its 20 years old! Still- 34,000 mi on 20 yr old car? Wise or foolish?

You still there undershepherd? Our computer is in shop, my phone won't let me message on fb

Don't do it. Even being well maintained and low mileage it is going to be a lot of trouble going forward. Those years of VW's were not known for their reliability. And the interiors are prone to falling apart when they reach that age.

Thank you Undershepherd