What is the best strategy for frugal car ownership? (prices, value, price)

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by Pitt Chick

Too many variables...

Make & model of car
MPG
city driving or highway driving
condition of car bought
etc

Agreed, and needs to include such details as insurance and license fees (Varies by location).

Also some folks are VERY concerned about having the latest in 'safety' gear (that's fine, b'cuz as an engineer, EMT, and lifelong commercial driver, I know how likely those things are to save you. (yes sometimes, no sometimes).

Since I am in the boonies my biggest risk is being hit by a log truck or a drunk / meth-head driving a big pickup, but uninsured... I keep paid up on my life insurance.

I also am a big MC fan / rider, so my days are numbered. The family on the other hand.... They get the good stuff (airbags, ABS...)

Some folks want new and modern... me, I want crank windows and NO PLASTICS (ex-plastics engineer)

[pvande55]

There is another option for those living in areas with good public transportation ZipCar. Basically renting by the hour.

[PastTense01]

No one has mentioned insurance and taxes. If you spend serious money for a car, you usually feel you need to buy comprehensive/collision coverage. But if you only spend a couple thousand for a car, liability is all you need. Likewise registration fees are often much higher for newer cars.
I buy cars in the 100,000 to 200,000 mile range.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by PastTense01

No one has mentioned insurance and taxes. If you spend serious money for a car, you usually feel you need to buy comprehensive/collision coverage. .

And it is a requirement for most car loans on newer vehicles.

[rsh56]

- Drive a stick.

- Make sure it is stable at highway speeds, not loud or hesitant.

- Routine maintenance.

- Pay in full = no monthly car payment (if you plan on driving it till its wheels fall off).

- Check out the diesel-powered cars and drive them.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by pvande55

There is another option for those living in areas with good public transportation ZipCar. Basically renting by the hour.

Zipcar (in Chicago) is a very expensive option.

$60 annual fee
$25 application fees
$8 per hour; $72 per day
Even higher on the weekends


Most people needing a car in Chicago would do better heading outside the city limits (Park Ridge, for example) and renting a car from Hertz for the weekend (a deal is usually about $24/day) or Enterprise ($9.99 per day, 3 day limit, 100 miles per day) on the weekend than Zipcar.

How can you tell who is renting a Zipcar? They are the ones watching the clock to make sure they get their chariot back to the parking spot before it turns into a pumpkin.

[NCN]

When it comes to cars as transportation, the most important issue to me is safety. We buy a good car new, drive it until we feel it is no longer safe or the repairs equal more than a car payment would be and then go looking for another car that no one else has owned and abused. We make sure repairs are done by a qualified person and the maintenance is equal or better than the manufacturer suggests.

[TiredOfSFL]

Except for my very first car which I soon had to "sell" due to unemployment and the fact that I'd just been learning to drive, I've never had a new car. After I finally got a driver's license in 1991 my first car, a Dodge Aries SW, was a 1983 model. It was in fairly good shape so I really didn't have to spend much on repairs. Anyway, not having payments to make since I paid cash for it, any yearly expense for maintenance and repairs was expected and very doable for a low-income single mom like me.

I kept my "Dodgie" until the year 2000 at which point it really needed some serious repairs. I then was given (yes, free) a Hyunday Sonata of '91 or '92, can't remember anymore, and while the motor ran very smoothly it was missing a lot of things in the interior and the very first week it needed some repair, and it kept breaking down on me until about 2 years later the motor overheated, I forgot to look at the temp while running my a/c on a hot day, and that was the end of it. I chose not to fix it and just gave it away to someone who wanted it just as it had been given to me.

Next, my daughter and I bought a low mileage Chevy Cavalier 2000 from a little dealer I knew who bought cars at auctions. We shared it until I bought another one of a different color in 2004. It had an a/c problem right after we bought it but once that was repaired it didn't give any trouble for a good while, my daughter drove it to work and to go to college in another town, and eventually to a university even farther away and that little car was a "trooper" and since it had also been paid cash, the repairs were not a problem. She kept it until last year.

As for me, I still have mine and although now it's begun looking ugly (needs a paint job bad and some interior work too) I still love it dearly. 20 mo. ago I drove it from W. Palm Beach, FL to Greenville, SC (about 660 mi.), I had it checked before I left and invested about $200 to get some things fixed/changed and the only problem it gave me was a blown rear tire shortly after I passed Columbia, SC, but the highway had lots of holes, it was 3pm in August (very hot!) and I was driving at about 70mph, frankly, it was a miracle I didn't crash! Since then I've just had oil changes, lightbulbs changed, a small oil leak fixed and a belt changed, but I don't drive very much so maybe that's why. However, considering how old it is now and that it's a rather inexpensive American car, I think it's been pretty good.

So yes, I'm all for used cars if you can trust the source where you got it from.

[FL2MT]

All else being equal I would think that #2 probably strikes the best balance as far as the lowest cost of ownership over the lifetime of a vehicle. You avoid the immediate depreciation in those first few years but still get a relatively new vehicle so your maintenance costs aren't as high as #3 or #4.

[wankel7]

I bought my 2004 Focus Wagon for $6000 and 85K in 2009. It now has 153k on and going strong. I think it is time to take off comprehensive thought :/ Car insurance costs do add up though.