I bought a new car (the "I wanna be like Gugs" thread)...

[Hell Mike]

there is no way in hell

That's about what I pay off on the car loan each month and that's for a six year old car.
Makes perfect sense, but a good leasing deal probably makes the most sense I think.

 

[dorian gray]

I plan on leasing if/when I ever finish grad school/have a more stable job that doesnt require so much running around.
I get $0.51 per mile right now. Woopdeedoo. That pays for gas and that's about it. Jobs that require travel are a no-win proposition. I'll never do it again.

 

[einride]

That's about what I pay off on the car loan each month and that's for a six year old car.
Makes perfect sense

it makes perfect sense until something stupid breaks and they want $3000+ to fix it on a car that's worth what, maybe $5000 now

it happens, and often too

 

[lurch70]

the idea is to have warranty coverage on it at the same time.

 

[MFJ]

basically you can pay a shitload up front for a new car which will (hopefully) be stable for a couple/few years. OR you can buy a used car and pay a shitload later when you need all new suspension or a new transmission or something.

damned if you do, damned if you don't

 

[einride]

the idea is to have warranty coverage on it at the same time.

ok. i do not trust warranties or insurances though. there is probably going to be a loophole in the fine print somewhere just when you need it the most. my basic viewpoint is you probably have to EXPECT to pay for everything out of your own pocket and if your big heartless corporation of choice decides to bestow upon you some pity money then that's a plus, just don't count on it

basically you can pay a shitload up front for a new car which will (hopefully) be stable for a couple/few years. OR you can buy a used car and pay a shitload later when you need all new suspension or a new transmission or something.

damned if you do, damned if you don't

this logic is only used by people who insist on defending new cars as a viable option

if you have an old car then please tell me what number of repairs you would have to make to get into the $30,000 zone because i am quite curious

"you will spend money either way" sure but the kind of sums we are talking about are not remotely interchangeable


i read about someone with a semi-recent car, nothing special. (probably just out of warranty!) and they wanted $6200 to replace the head gasket. what? what. what! this shit happens and it's going to happen to you. FACT: old cars are usually simple constructions and easy to repair. i paid $42 for all-new gaskets for the engine head and i will have them installed for free. cool beans.

 

[MFJ]

i am saying that either option is a shitty option. i wont have money to buy a new car for many years to come, and if i had 10k or whatever just sitting in my bank i certainly wouldn't use it as a down payment for a new car. the way i see it, we paid $2500 for my Volvo 940 which had 113,000 miles on the engine. i drove that thing for like 5 years without a single issue. that, to me, is well worth $2500 and has not convinced me that buying new is the 'viable option'

 

[einride]

i agree

the only economically sound option for car ownership is to buy a $300 car, sell it for $200 when it breaks down, and immediately get another $300 car, rinse repeat

this only works if you're not dependent on having a functional vehicle all the time

anyway the point (which is so stupid it's not even really a point) is if you had kept your 940, and something breaks which costs $1000 to fix (not a lot of shit breaks on a 940 which costs $1000 to fix but let us assume the worst). well. you've spent $3,500, the guy with the new car has probably spent $35,000, so yep, yup. yup. it takes A LOT for a new car to become as economically sound as my jalopy for instance

maybe if you own it for 40 years and take extremely good care of it so you can sell it for a profit to a collector

 

[dorian gray]

I agree with the Erik on this, in principle. I even like the idea of driving a $300 car.
Bits and pieces of cars can conceivably be replaced ad infinitum. New engines cost just a few grand compared to the cost of a brand new car, much of which goes to paying for the health insurance and pension of the moron who "built" it.

But, as a counterpoint, one doesn't need to spend "$35,000" on a new car. To me, that's approaching the level of "extreme luxury". I've never spent anywhere NEAR that figure. I think my Accord cost $16,500 or some shit. I know people *do* think $30,000 is a reasonable cost of a car, but they're also really stupid. Ftr, there's several brand new cars under $15,000. Mazda 2, Nissand Versa, Nissan Cube, Ford Fiesta, etc. All of which are quantum leaps above and beyond the shit I drove in the '90s.

 

[dorian gray]

Speaking of bullshit expenses, I am so tired of spending fucking $50 per week (sometimes more often) on gas. Nothing better than spending hard earned cash on something I literally burn. I get reimbursed (to an extent) but it's still bullshit.

 

[lurch70]

lets not also forget that if you buy a new $17,000 car lets say and drive it for 5 years while under FULL factory warranty ... and then sell once out of warranty you can most likely still get about $10-11K for it. especially for Japanese and German cars.
that's the way I look at it and forgo the headaches and "what if I breakdown" thoughts.

 

[dorian gray]

Yeah, but your overall cost-per-mile (the only true indicator of economic impact of a vehicle) only increases the longer you keep the car (paid off as soon as possible, of course). Buying a new car every five years is just plain ol' expensive. Great if you can afford it, which most people *seem* able to do, but it's not economically sound. Breakdowns are really no big deal. You can just rent something while your is in the shop, yeah? Maybe I've just never suffered a breakdown. My parents did. Constantly. It was an embarassing. It's the reason everything I'm saying is only theoretical. In reality, because the sufferings my parents endured with their cheap American shit breaking down on the side of the road, I am inclined to lease a new Benz every couple years (I just can't afford it )

 

[lurch70]

post-carburator cars a less prone to anything if you take care of them well.

a friend has a Corolla (that I found for him). it's a '97 I think ... he bought it used about 8 years ago I think for $2.5K

car needed nothing in those 8 years besides basic maintenance.

 

[einride]

But, as a counterpoint, one doesn't need to spend "$35,000" on a new car.

hehe

i don't know what shit costs in the usa, i know the VERY CHEAPEST volvo you can buy in sweden is no less than $32000 in your money just to pull a number out of my hat. $16000 will MAYBE buy you a new car, you could probably get the cheapest engine option in a little romanian dacia (made from outdated renault parts) or MAYBE the cheapest, smallest kia or other korean make with an 1,0l engine and nothing else

Buying a new car every five years is just plain ol' expensive. Great if you can afford it, which most people *seem* able to do, but it's not economically sound.

yeah that's the thing

there's a very huge difference between "can afford it" and "this is a smart thing to be spending my money on"

if you buy everything you can afford, soon enough you can't afford shit

i mean if there's nothing you want more in life than a fancy ass car then go right ahead but WHOOOOOOOOO CAAAAAAAAAAAAARES. literally no one you would want to associate with cares whether you're driving the latest aston martin or an audi 100 held together by bubblegum and sheer willpower.

post-carburator cars a less prone to anything if you take care of them well.

i'm sorry but this is just not true

not because fuel injection systems are not more reliable than carburetors, and not because manufacturing is not generally tighter and more well-controlled these days, but because THERE IS SO. MUCH. STUFF. that can and will break in a modern car. the more auxiliary systems you have that can break, the more of them are going to break.

sure they work great today but let's see how many of them are around fully functioning in 20 years before we drop any definitive statements on what's prone to what

 

[Hell Mike]

it makes perfect sense until something stupid breaks and they want $3000+ to fix it on a car that's worth what, maybe $5000 now

it happens, and often too

But a good lease/new car has warranties and shit that covers stuff like that.

i agree

the only economically sound option for car ownership is to buy a $300 car, sell it for $200 when it breaks down, and immediately get another $300 car, rinse repeat

this only works if you're not dependent on having a functional vehicle all the time

Then you can have two. Should last twice as long so the overall cost isn't a lot worse.

Yeah, but your overall cost-per-mile (the only true indicator of economic impact of a vehicle)

How about cost-per-[time](month)?
Calculated on a realistic average mileage, this is the way to count imo, of course with sporadic long runs taken into account.

A good lease isn't that much more expensive than a reasonably new car with insurances and taxes and all of that bullshit taken into account, and if/when I/you/one/whoever can afford it, the ease of it all is worth a few cents as well - You pay the monthly cost plus gas and that's it, if shit breaks they replace it and when the lease ends you sign a new deal and get a new car.

sure they work great today but let's see how many of them are around fully functioning in 20 years before we drop any definitive statements on what's prone to what

Not relevant because the people on the NEW CAR NEW CAR side won't own one of those cars in 20 years so they don't give a fuck, neither does the car industry since they want to sell new cars etc etc. Western consumerism, you know the drill.

 

[dorian gray]

The a/c on my Honda is really lame. In fact, I'm wondering if it isn't actually broken.

 

[lurch70]

there are other indirect effects with new car ownership. I closed countless deals when I owned my first MINI just from chatting it up with clients in/about it. it was a big deal car at the time here. now it's like a Trabant.

 

[lurch70]

I am not even sure what's going on here ... but it's Florida

 

[einride]

Not relevant because the people on the NEW CAR NEW CAR side won't own one of those cars in 20 years so they don't give a fuck, neither does the car industry since they want to sell new cars etc etc. Western consumerism, you know the drill.

well it IS relevant if the subject is "post-carburator cars a less prone to anything if you take care of them well"

 

[Hell Mike]

well it IS relevant if the subject is "post-carburator cars a less prone to anything if you take care of them well"

New shit is practically MADE to break, everyone knows that