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I always felt that looking at a car as an investment was ridiculous.
I look at cars about the same way I look at my TV or microwave purchase. It's just a big consumer product. I can go cheap, I can go luxury, I can buy outright, I can make payments, or I can rent (lease) it. Since it's such a big purchase and a complicated machine it will break down and I or the owner (if leased under warranty) will have to pay to fix it.
Yes there are some collectible cars just like there are some collectible household appliances. But most are not.
Driving isn't free, it has costs. No way to avoid them. In my experience it all comes out about the same in the long term, it just depends how you want to manage those costs.
A wealthy man once told me "aside from basic household items and life necessities, when it comes to big ticket purchases, buy things that appreciate and rent/lease things that depreciate". House?...Buy! Car....Lease (unless you put lots of miles per year on your vehicles). Boat?....Better to have a friend who owns a boat! LOL
Like you I look at my vehicles as I do my utility bills or a cell phone bill. I dont mind paying monthly just so long as Its reliable and there for me as I need it to be and that's why I lease. I've been down that route many years ago when I would get into my beater and do a quick prayer that it starts in the morning or that I can make it to my destination without it overheating, etc.. Those days are behind me. For the past 9yrs I've been leasing a new car every 32-36 months for less than what some people spend on their cable bill. In those 9yrs I haven't had to do anything to my vehicle other than wash it and change wiper blades. Even my oil changes are covered by the dealership for the duration of my leases.
Why in hell would you have wanted to buy a 1988 M3 in 2002 for $15K, to have it jump up in value to $40K today? It's closing in on 30 years old, but still as good as it ever was, value going up not down.
You are in Texas, not in rust country, keeping an older car that *appreciates* rather than depreciates is quite do-able.
With leasing, you just take a limited bath, rather than a full one.
I can just as easily buy lottery tickets and bet on horse races.
Anyhow, assuming that I drive less than average, If said M3 had 36,000 miles on it in 2002, and I drove 12,000/year, I would be in a BMW with 200K miles. I can imagine an easy $1,000/year in maintenance on the car. Am I likely to sell a 200K mile daily driver for $31K? I doubt it.
My Dad has an E30 that has doubled in monetary value since he bought it 10 years ago. But he won't come out ahead. It costs money to store, to maintain, to insure.
Some cars are better than others, but they are depreciating assets, not investments, unless you have a skill turning a wrench and can fix and flip them.
A wealthy man once told me "aside from basic household items and life necessities, when it comes to big ticket purchases, buy things that appreciate and rent/lease things that depreciate". House?...Buy! Car....Lease (unless you put lots of miles per year on your vehicles). Boat?....Better to have a friend who owns a boat! LOL
Like you I look at my vehicles as I do my utility bills or a cell phone bill. I dont mind paying monthly just so long as Its reliable and there for me as I need it to be and that's why I lease. I've been down that route many years ago when I would get into my beater and do a quick prayer that it starts in the morning or that I can make it to my destination without it overheating, etc.. Those days are behind me. For the past 9yrs I've been leasing a new car every 32-36 months for less than what some people spend on their cable bill. In those 9yrs I haven't had to do anything to my vehicle other than wash it and change wiper blades. Even my oil changes are covered by the dealership for the duration of my leases.
It's not an either/or situation. Just because people finance doesn't mean their cars will be beaters. Lets face it, cars are built like tanks these days. With very minimal maintenance (many DIY) you can keep a car running easily to 200K without fearing that it won't start or overheat on you. A maintained 9 year old car is no where near a beater
It's not an either/or situation. Just because people finance doesn't mean their cars will be beaters. Lets face it, cars are built like tanks these days. With very minimal maintenance (many DIY) you can keep a car running easily to 200K without fearing that it won't start or overheat on you. A maintained 9 year old car is no where near a beater
A 9 year old car with a blown transmission is useless to me.
Maybe more successful people lease because of the ridiculously high down payment.
Doesn't make sense to me. Put down a lot of money, pay almost as much every month, and then you don't own the car after 3 years
That's where negotiation comes in. Negotiate the price of the car down, then negotiate the lease amount. I never pay anything, nothing down at all. I tell them what i'm willing to pay. If they don't like it, I walk. I don't even bring my check book with me. Sure, I won't own it in 3 years, but by then I'll be sick of it anyway so I'll get a new car with the latest gadgets.
For me, I'd rather lease than own because I can send it back if things start to go wrong with it.
Agree 100%. People will continue to justify their lease/purchase in order to feel better about it, but when you trade every 2 to 3 years, the long term financial impact is considerable.
No more than making a cable bill payment every month. Jesus, are some of you that poor that a couple hundred a month is going to completely kill your retirement plans and thus think it's that bad for ALL of us?
So is a 4 year old car with a blown transmission. It's not like when it gets to 9 years the transmission automatically goes out
People are acting like 8,9,10,11,12 year old cars are all beaters.
But a 3 year old car under warranty will have a loaner car and a new transmission at no cost to you. So trading it in as the warranty and free maintenance period ends avoids that $8k transmission cost, at 4, 5, or 9 years. WILL there be that cost? Not necessarily, and in fact, it's less likely than many think. But, the possibility is there for a rather large repair bill out of warranty, usually at the most inopportune time, either geographically or financially. A couple hundred a month can avoid that situation altogether, and I know people that don't make much money that spend that much on smokes and/or beer all the while complaining about their old car or truck and the latest large cost...
It's not an either/or situation. Just because people finance doesn't mean their cars will be beaters. Lets face it, cars are built like tanks these days. With very minimal maintenance (many DIY) you can keep a car running easily to 200K without fearing that it won't start or overheat on you. A maintained 9 year old car is no where near a beater
Well I wasn't referring to new or newer financed vehicles. I'm talking about those people who criticize those who prefer to go new whether it be a lease or finance, and instead try to convince everyone that buying a 7-10yr old car with higher mileage is the best way to go. For them it might be. For me it's not. I prefer to have a car that's fully covered under warranty that I can just continue to swap out every 36months. I can easily afford it and it works for me so why not?
But a 3 year old car under warranty will have a loaner car and a new transmission at no cost to you. So trading it in as the warranty and free maintenance period ends avoids that $8k transmission cost, at 4, 5, or 9 years. WILL there be that cost? Not necessarily, and in fact, it's less likely than many think. But, the possibility is there for a rather large repair bill out of warranty, usually at the most inopportune time, either geographically or financially. A couple hundred a month can avoid that situation altogether, and I know people that don't make much money that spend that much on smokes and/or beer all the while complaining about their old car or truck and the latest large cost...
Just saying once a car is out of warranty does not necessarily mean it's a beater. There is a balance.
Even if all you do is change the oil most cars these days are reliable (meaning they will start each morning and get you to your destination)
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