“Free” transportation - a by-product of driving a “worthless” car

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Thrift probably does play into it, but mostly, I just can't understand the concept of tossing out a vehicle that is still doing a good job of whatever it is I bought it for in the first place.


One of my cars is a 1999 year model. It still is just as cute as it was the day I bought it, It runs good, it has never required a repair. It gets the same gas mileage that it did when new, the seats are still comfortable and I can drive it for 8 hours straight and not hurt my back, the paint looks good, it comfortably carries the amount of shopping stuff plus my dogs that I need to move around town and get home.


I'm just mystified by this concept that I should toss this car (which I like very much) away and buy myself a brand new one that isn't going to look any cuter or carry my grocery shopping any better. OK, I admit I could get a car with better gas mileage but that comes at a cost of comfort and cargo space. I'm getting good enough gas mileage and I can afford to buy gasoline.


My little car gets super good maintenance and it is garaged which keeps it running good and looking good.


Seriously. Why should I spend $20,000-$30,000 to buy a new car that I won't like any better?

[eddiehaskell]

Originally Posted by ncole1

Don’t boast so much. I have 2 friends that said essentially what you are saying now. One of them had his car break down very severely with engine crankshaft failure a year or two later. The other one tried to convince me that his cost of driving was very low....and his car died just about 2 months after that conversation. Watch out!

I’ve kinda decided to buy a new car when this one breaks. At that point I’ll start the process over. I’d be happy to get another year, but being a Toyota I could be waiting a while...maybe longer than I want.

[eddiehaskell]

Originally Posted by jcp123

I tapped into this vein a long time ago. My then-girlfriend, now wife, gave me her beat-down car, at the time 12 years old and nigh on 200k miles. It was ugly and rough, but I drove it another 70k miles over 5 years on under $1000 for everything save fuel and insurance.

Spent $2500 on a ‘97 Civic, which means I overpaid, but I intend to drive the wheels off of this car, so again, not a big deal. It will die its death with me.

I don’t have to care much about hail, door dings, mileage, or resale. It’s glorious considering that I formerly drove borderline show-car quality 60s Mustangs as DDs before, which, while reliable, still obliged me to wash them, fix any small faults, consumed Tahoe levels of fuel, and warranted more strict basic maintenance than I can get away with now.

Some folks don’t realize the joy in driving a low value “beater”. Dings, dents, scratches, dirt...who cares. You don’t even have to wash them because you probably aren’t all that concerned with maintaining the paint or any kind of resale value. I’ll gladly park beside the overflowing buggy return thing at Walmart.

[turkey-head]

Fewer obligations means less stress and worry. Pretty basic concept. For a man with my skill-set, it's not hard to keep just about any halfway-decent car running. So my 19 year old beater is a great option for me. Just got back from a 2000+ mile road trip last week in what is now my 328,000 mile ride. I did have to tighten a hose clamp where the p/s return hose was seeping a little oil. No other problems.

Obviously this wouldn't be such a great option for those not endowed with my god-like mechanical prowess. But we all have our strengths and weaknesses

I was interested in fast cars when I was younger. Now I'm interested in overall utility. So sorry if that bores some folks