Ownership philosophy on your new car (lease, insurance, vehicle, 2014)

[k374]

This is for those who have purchased a brand new or near brand new (less than 2 yrs old) car. What is your personal philosophy? Did you buy it to drive it as much as possible and anywhere (long distance trips etc.) or are you trying to save miles on it, drive it sparingly? The former of course means that the car can take quite a beating... on long road trips you can easily have dust, rocks, debris etc. hit the car and chip away at the finish etc. Do you even care about those things?

Financially it makes more sense I think to drive the car as much as possible without regard to "preserving" it so that you get maximum value out of it since it's depreciating anyway. And polishing the car and not driving it does not add too much additional value to a car after 5-6 years.

[mclasser]

I buy new cars with the intention of driving them into the ground. I can maintain them my way from day one and don't have to worry about possible mistreatment/hidden issues from previous owners. Sure, there's depreciation, but the trade off (to me) is peace of mind.

[somebodyfromnc]

I have multiple cars. My daily driver, which I bought new, I drive whenever I need to go somewhere. I'm not trying to keep miles off of it. I have two older weekend cars, I only drive them when the weather is nice, the rest of the time they sit inside the garage.

I also keep my daily driver nice. I drive it a lot, but I keep it clean, waxed, I try to avoid potholes and such and I park at the end of the lot to avoid door dings. Obviously some rock chips and stuff are unavoidable, I touch them up when I notice them.

I usually get a new one every three years, I put about 60-70,000 miles on it in that time.

[louie0406]

To me a vehicle is a tool. It’s something I depend on and need it to work for me when I need it. This is why I lease and never buy used. My leased vehicles are always covered under warranty. If a problem occurs I simply drop it off at the dealer and take a loaner until my car is fixed. When the lease is up I drop it off and pick up a new one.

Unless its an exotic or rare collectors model, I never understood pride in car ownership. It’s nothing but a depreciating asset.

[Me007gold]

Cars are meant to be driven. Drive it and enjoy it.

[johngolf]

My last three car purchases were new. The prior two I kept about 6 to 8 years each. As the mileage approached 125K it was time to trade. My present is a 2017 Ford Explorer and as I average only 9K miles per year now it will be a long term keeper.

Typically on long trips (over 600 miles) I fly and rent a car unless I am going to stay for a long time. I am going to Boston (1,000 miles) this July for 2 weeks so I will drive.

[High_Plains_Retired]

Cars are like any machine that is meant to be used. Airplanes break down when they are not flown and automobiles break down when they are not driven. This increases the costs of ownership.

I don't drive much anymore due to health reasons but considering the extraneous costs of automobiles like insurance, registration fees and the cost of parking structures like home garages, carports, driveways or in my case barn space, I vote drive the wheels off any car you buy. Cars are just a tool and they are plentiful.

[HWTechGuy]

I have a company vehicle, so I only do pleasure driving in my own vehicle. It's a 2014 with only 14K on it. I anticipate it will last me a long time.

[southernnaturelover]

You can put 30k miles a year on a car, but if you’re meticulous about maintaining it, it’ll still look and run like new 5 years later.

That’s what it all comes down to, is maintenance. Some people maintain their vehicles and others don’t. Same with houses or anything else.

[jackmccullough]

I have a problem with the poll because "drive the car as much as possible" makes no sense to me.

If I have a new car I will drive it as needed. Driving it "as much as possible"? Even if I don't have anyplace to go? Why would anybody do that?