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It's all about what someone is happy with spending. I'm really low income, so it makes way more sense for me to buy an older used vehicle with cash, that is a dependable model (Japanese are what I prefer), and drive it until the wheels fall off. As mentioned above, they're also way cheaper to register and insure. I just carry liability and comprehensive.
I just had the transmission fail on my 93 Nissan pickup, and sat down with the calculator today to see if it was nuts for me to spend $2200 to fix it. But, after I thought about what I bought it for 3 years ago- $2,000, and I put in possibly another $3,000 into it including new tires and a new stereo, and new parts, and considering I was able to move using the truck and not have to pay a mover last year - I've had a truck that has been really dependable plus got moved for a total of about $5,000.
So, now I'll put in another $2200, plus the transmission guy advised me to replace the rear main seal while the transmission is out for an additional $200, which my mechanic agreed would be a great idea.
This is the first time the truck has left me stranded in 3 years. And thanks to having AAA, that wasn't a problem.
Anyway, now I'll have about $7,400 into it, and that includes the purchase price, taxes and license fees, basic maintenance costs like oil changes, brake pads, and a bunch of new parts that I won't have to worry about for a long time. The truck has about 180K on it, and I expect to get 300K out of it, which my mechanics have told me is completely realistic to expect, with regular maintenance and the occasional replacement of parts. I only drive around 5,000 miles a year, if that, normally, so it should last me a long time.
I don't care about fancy gadgets. The only things it doesn't have that I'd like, but can live without, are electric windows and a/c. But, the upside to that, is those are things that I don't have to worry about breaking down.
So, when you look at the total outlay for my vehicle, and registration and insurance, it's really cheap to buy an old Japanese vehicle with cash, maintain it well, and just repair it as necessary. Way cheaper than any new vehicle. It just depends on what is important to you, and how much money you're comfortable spending on your wheels.
Last edited by NoMoreSnowForMe; 07-03-2018 at 11:28 PM..
We've all said it or at least heard the phrase but is that really the smart thing to do?
I have some friends who drove their 2007 Mercedes SUV until the engine blew up (stopped working), at which point they sold it to a junker for $500. It had 150-160,000 miles on the car so was getting old but what if they had sold it the year before. They would have probably got $10-12,000 for it that they could have used to help purchase their next car.
How do you figure out when to sell your car? Is driving it until the wheels fall off really the best choice?
Here's my suggestions.
10 Car maintenance tips which I use to avoid future issues which can turn into costly repairs. Keep it simple and you will learn to avoid future problems.
1 Let's start with driving habits. Avoiding hard braking when possible, avoiding jack rabbit starts when possible, avoiding potholes when possible. Also watch your RPM although the tachometer goes to 9 or 10 thousand RPM'S 4000 is my limit and thats entering an interstate. 95% of my driving is done between 1800 and 3000 RPM great for economy and engine life. Boring yes but 300,000 miles on your car with less then one thousand dollars in additional maintenance is like getting a BOGO (buy one get one free)
2 Buy a good service manual that covers your make and model car and familiarize yourself with both the book and the car. Think of the book as an extended owners manual. Also pickup a copy of (Lemon-Aid by Phil Edmonston) for help with future buying decisions
3 Tightening all grounds on your car. The car can be 10 years old but if you just made the purchase it's new to you. Find them in your service manual and get tightening.
4 Re-seat all fuses and relays in the numerous locations which again you will find in your newly purchased service manual. I have a computer, electronic, electricity background both theoretical and hands on. Most electrical troubles begin with loose or oxidized connections. The unseen action of the relays being activated and deactivated causes a problem called "creep" in which a relay or a fuse works it's way loose from it original secure connection. Simply press each fuse or relay down to re-seat them individually. You will be surprised at the number of loose ones you find in each panels.
5 Be careful using a high pressure water wand to clean the car they can damage the paint job and sensitive electronics under the hood.. Most of those roofs and hoods that have rust and clear coat damage could have been avoided by following the manufactures recommendations on wash ans wax procedures.
6 Pull the plastic covers to inspect and then replace the missing plastic push pin rivet fasteners. Those covers being held in by these fasteners protect components from heat, rust, dirt, foreign road objects and more. These push pins fall out their cheap replace them before further damage occurs. With my latest purchase of a new car after pulling the protective cover above the engine I found what looked like a rodent nest nestled into the space between the intake manifold inlets of two cylinders. That was a first and I'm glad I caught it. This lead to an interesting read on car wiring harness insulation being partiality composed of soy.
7 Checking tightness. Same new car mentioned above gave me a clunk sound backing out of the driveway when the car was days old. Lucky for me I heard it and I am a curious kind of guy. I have driven for a living many years and knew that clunk. It was loose lug nuts on the front left wheel. Which brings me to checking tightness. This is something I do routinely on a new purchase whether its brand new, 10 year old, car or semi truck and trailer. You will be surprised at the things you will find.
8 Change the fluids a 30,000. Some manufactures recommend the same thing in their maintenance interval some don't. I find by using this practice I never had a car or truck overheat, never spin a bearing or have any kind of transmission problem. I have found that any changes in the cooling system at all deserves great attention and inspection for at least the next 72 hours. Minute leaks go unnoticed and the damage is done swiftly as you watch the heater gauge climb do to inattention to detail on the first go round. Correct antifreeze via owners manual and being certain the system has been properly and completely filled deserves extra attention as well. That goes for brake fluid as well. The few dollars in additional cost provides thousands of dollars in returned savings.
9 Change all your bulbs on the cars eight birthday. Next time you are out for a drive pay attention to to number of lights burned out in cars you are driving by or following. It's money well spent not having to ever think about lights.
10 Buy a cheap obd2 code reader. This tool will allow you to make accurate assessments of engine warning lights and put these emergencies in their proper prospective. That service manual I mentioned earlier will then become the reference which can turn a $1500 repair into a $50 repair you do yourself.
Remember these are simple preventive techniques I use and have been very profitable for me over a lifetime, not recommendations, they may not be for everyone. You also have to read manuals both operator and service to advance your skill level in both repair and safety techniques as part of your own training in what I call my hobby . Good luck.
We've all said it or at least heard the phrase but is that really the smart thing to do?
I have some friends who drove their 2007 Mercedes SUV until the engine blew up (stopped working), at which point they sold it to a junker for $500. It had 150-160,000 miles on the car so was getting old but what if they had sold it the year before. They would have probably got $10-12,000 for it that they could have used to help purchase their next car.
How do you figure out when to sell your car? Is driving it until the wheels fall off really the best choice?
Only 150k miles and the engine blew up? Well, there goes any inclination I may ever have had to purchase a Mercedes. My twenty-year old is driving the Honda sedan we bought before she started walking, and it's still running fine.
This topic has been hashed over many times. There is no universal solution.
For purely lowest cost, one side chooses to buy used and keep it going as long as possible, and for the most enjoyment and lowest anxiety, the other side leases new every few years.
Personally, I prefer a slightly used, e.g. 1 year old car that I maintain and keep until it's about 10 years old. I used to keep them longer; my previous two cars lasted 18 years each, but now I'm too old to do much work beyond basic maintenance.
However, when I hear people arbitrarily saying that you ought to just buy a clunker, e.g. a $500 car and drive that, I disagree. Safety and reliability needs make clunkers a bad choice for most people. A cheap car like that is in wear out mode. Anything can and will fail at any time. That makes transportation too unreliable.
I've only had one wheel fall off, it was in Ukiah California, in a '84 Ford LTD wagon. Had it put back on, and was on the road the next day. But that is larger than the number of cars I had in which the last nail in the coffin was engine failure, which leads me to believe oil changes are greatly over-rated. Many of my former beaters may very well have had poor oil change diligence before I got them, and the engines were still running when I walked away from them. But, in all fairness, some of the leaked or burned oil so much that they wee undergoing constant oil change, self-drainng and I just topped them up.
As long as I still trust it to be reliable for my wife and kids to ride around in I’m not inclined to replace, but with some limits. My vehicle is a 2002 Toyota with about 104,000 miles on it. The drive train is as good as the day it rolled off the assembly line. With our living situation changing I expect I’ll have at least 180,000 on this and maybe closer to 190,000 within the next 3 years. My wife’s car is a 2010 Toyota with 136,000 miles. She won’t be putting as many miles on it over the next 3 years as I will on mine, but I expect her to still be at about 180-190,000 by then as well. We will assess at that time but the plan is to likely replace one of the vehicles then. I don’t think we’ll absolutely need to but I also don’t want to wait so long I am buying from a position of need. Dealers can detect desperation. Plus around that time is when we will need to be thinking of what our oldest child will be driving. (Yikes!)
I don’t subscribe to any singular thought process for owning a car. I get it when people like driving newer cars and swap them out every few years. Not my style but for those who can afford to do it, I say good for them! If I buy a car new I keep it a long time. I bought a 2005 Mustang new and only last year did I sell it and bought the afore mentioned 2002 Toyota. I paid about $8k for that and if I get 4-5 years of use I’ll feel like it was a good get. Meanwhile our 2010 we bought new and we will be at 11 years of use before we consider replacing it, barring major accidents.
We've all said it or at least heard the phrase but is that really the smart thing to do?
I have some friends who drove their 2007 Mercedes SUV until the engine blew up (stopped working), at which point they sold it to a junker for $500. It had 150-160,000 miles on the car so was getting old but what if they had sold it the year before. They would have probably got $10-12,000 for it that they could have used to help purchase their next car.
How do you figure out when to sell your car? Is driving it until the wheels fall off really the best choice?
LOL I did that one time ( drive until it was coming apart after an awful divorce my ex took everything including my and our 2 yr old daughters clothes . I DID still have my own good old 1981 Mercedes 300D w/manual transmission ( you know the one that looks like a gold brick tank ) and it saved us , I drove that thing until 2006.
Years later I remarried and he just kept fixing small stuff until it finally let go in the 400,000 mile range - it was pretty much a steering wheel and some seats - kind of . I gave it to a neighbor who had loved it and wanted to try to keep on fixing it . It was no longer waterproof by then and made crazy sounds when you drove it ,but I wouldn't be surprised if he were not still driving it today .
One of my VERY favorite vehicles of all was a 1982 Scottsdale 1 ton SINGLE cab dually . I drove it for years also the wheels weren't falling of but when I started to shift this dust started to come up from the shifter . I asked my oldest son what is that dust ?? Is that smoke ?or ??? He said NO MOM THOSE ARE FUMES !!! so i had to let it go . Best horse hauler ever . At the time I just didn't have the $$ to fix it .
Last edited by DutchessCottonPuff; 07-04-2018 at 09:47 AM..
In general I am fine with throwing, you know, 40-50-80-100 bucks into a beater I am driving......just a cost of keeping the thing fairly reliable and safe.
But when my beater needs a cash-injection of a couple hundred bucks, it gives me pause......then I carefully evaluate whether to put the money into it, sell it or scrap it.
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