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Old 11-09-2014, 11:33 AM   #61
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I don't consider vehicles (or any electronic stuff, or jewelry, or similar things--worth much more to me than to any buyer) as part of our net worth so would have to add them in to figure it and really the cars are an expense more than an asset. Like children but more reliable.

Our perfectly maintained 10 year old Acura mdx, as solid and safe for me as any brand new vehicle, has a blue book value of $6k to $8k. Not getting rid of it til it gets at least another 100,000 miles on it. Our 2008 Honda Civic is in the same value range with 70k miles; that one we will probably trade in for a new hybrid in the next year or two. Love the Civic but if we went down to one car today it would be the mdx.
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Old 11-09-2014, 11:47 AM   #62
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$0. I don't count my car as part of my net worth.
Yeah, it is like asking "How much of your net worth do your groceries represent?"
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Old 11-09-2014, 12:09 PM   #63
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Way less than a tenth of a percent. Tiny, actually. It's all in choosing the right vehicle and keeping it forever.
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Old 11-09-2014, 01:33 PM   #64
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DW and I have a 14-year-old Camry and an 8-year-old minivan. The former is a beater and the latter is in decent shape. They are 0.1% of our NW but are not counted as part of NW. We plan to drive both until they die (or we die, whichever comes first).

I view my beater as a perfect cover among a sea of new and luxury vehicles on the streets. Most cars give me wide berth at parking lots and I don't have to worry about getting carjacked or having bad guys trailing me home.
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Old 11-09-2014, 01:46 PM   #65
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0% , as I don't include it in NW, like most folks.
Cars are just an expense like electricity.
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Old 11-09-2014, 01:59 PM   #66
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I personally wouldn't feel safe driving a car that was a real beater. There have been huge safety improvements in cars over the last 10 years or so and my safety is important to me.
I was wondering about this because I drove my 95 accord for nearly 20 years. It still had ABS, airbags, etc. so I wasn't quite sure why it would be less safe than a modern car (maybe no stability control?). However this report suggests that vehicle age has a huge (correlational) impact, much bigger than I thought it would be:

http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811825.pdf

(Note: it's not quite the whole story because the data is a little wonky as they only include accidents where a fatality occurred which biases the results. There could also be unaccounted factors such as older vehicles tending to have older tires which leads to more accidents as opposed to the car being inherently less safe).
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Old 11-09-2014, 02:04 PM   #67
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...
(Note: it's not quite the whole story because the data is a little wonky as they only include accidents where a fatality occurred ...).

Then why aren't the percentages all 100?
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Old 11-09-2014, 02:05 PM   #68
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Probably because there could be multiple people in the cars and only 1 has to die.
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Old 11-09-2014, 02:10 PM   #69
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I won't bother to look up the values of my 4 vehicles, as the newest one is already 10 years old (but has only 25K miles).

But what's important is what shows up in Quicken in the expenses. For the last 4 years, ever since I used Quicken for tracking, the operating costs run around $7200/yr. That to me is more important.

The above includes all maintenance, licensing, insurance, repair, and as it also includes fuel for the 9-mpg motorhome, that is not too bad.

PS. I also have a few old motocycles, dirtbikes actually, that I keep up in my "mountain" home to ride the forest trails. Many people pay more for their bicycles than for each of my bikes.
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Old 11-09-2014, 02:11 PM   #70
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Probably because there could be multiple people in the cars and only 1 has to die.
Right, that makes sense.
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Old 11-09-2014, 02:12 PM   #71
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Though 26% would seem way too low, that would imply an average of 4+ people involved per fatal accident.
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Old 11-09-2014, 02:19 PM   #72
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I was wondering about this because I drove my 95 accord for nearly 20 years. It still had ABS, airbags, etc. so I wasn't quite sure why it would be less safe than a modern car (maybe no stability control?). However this report suggests that vehicle age has a huge (correlational) impact, much bigger than I thought it would be:

http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811825.pdf

(Note: it's not quite the whole story because the data is a little wonky as they only include accidents where a fatality occurred which biases the results. There could also be unaccounted factors such as older vehicles tending to have older tires which leads to more accidents as opposed to the car being inherently less safe).
Safety ratings

I can easily buy every 4 years brand new small car that has BEST TSP+ safety rating. And during those 4 years that car will on average be insignificant part of my NW.

I don't need Suburban to be safe and small BMWs are not really safer or bigger.

BTW I OP also don't count car as part of NW.
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Old 11-09-2014, 02:40 PM   #73
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Originally Posted by photoguy View Post
I was wondering about this because I drove my 95 accord for nearly 20 years. It still had ABS, airbags, etc. so I wasn't quite sure why it would be less safe than a modern car (maybe no stability control?). However this report suggests that vehicle age has a huge (correlational) impact, much bigger than I thought it would be:

http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811825.pdf

(Note: it's not quite the whole story because the data is a little wonky as they only include accidents where a fatality occurred which biases the results. There could also be unaccounted factors such as older vehicles tending to have older tires which leads to more accidents as opposed to the car being inherently less safe).
Besides the new safety features of a car, one thing leading older cars to be more dangerous is rusting/metal fatique. I once jacked up a 12 yr old car and the full frame beam dented in. I suspect if living near the ocean or in Winter States that use salt, that the effect is more pronounced.
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Old 11-09-2014, 02:46 PM   #74
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There is also the "crumple zone", not sure how to describe it.

But more recent cars are much better in absorbing and deflecting collision energy away from and around the passengers. Better crumpling of the steel frame is one way to do that.

Another item may be side impacts. It's only quite recently that crash tests have started looking at side impacts more explicitly as they found out they are very common and also deadly. And as usual, what you measure improves.
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Old 11-09-2014, 03:49 PM   #75
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A little over 2% but we have two relatively new vehicles (one is 3 months old) that I hope will last another 8-10 years.
Subarus are high on the safety ladder and the AWD is great for the mountain cabin.
We didn't want to have to buy early in retirement and the plan is July 2015.
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Old 11-09-2014, 03:56 PM   #76
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We usually buy new, or CPO or slightly used (usually less than 3 years old) in the $22-24k range and keep them a long time and keep them in good shape. One is a 2005 small pickup with ~110,000 miles and the other is a 2008 with ~65,000 miles. We're probably overdue to replace the truck but it has been running good so I'm planning to keep running it for now.

Current value of both is probably less than 1% of our net worth. DW could care less as long as they are reliable. I am a little more discerning.
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Old 11-09-2014, 04:23 PM   #77
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When calculating net worth, the only non-financial asset I count is my house. I don't really know what my three cars are worth and don't care.
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Old 11-09-2014, 05:06 PM   #78
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Ballpark 0.45%. A 2006 Equinox with 193,800 miles. And I married a 2012 Honda Fit with 37,000 miles.

After 200k on the Chevy may lust for a pickup - or not.

heh heh heh -
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Old 11-09-2014, 05:10 PM   #79
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I am a bit surprised by the numbers significantly below 1% -- for those people who own vehicles. Either you have a huge net worth or the vehicles are really beaters.

For example, with the proverbial $1 million net worth some numbers I saw thrown around:

.2% - $2000
.3% - $3000
.6% - $6000
1% - $10000
.013% - $130 !!!!

I personally wouldn't feel safe driving a car that was a real beater. There have been huge safety improvements in cars over the last 10 years or so and my safety is important to me.

I don't consider vehicles as a significant part of my net worth but I want something safe and that I enjoy driving.
I wouldn't classify my 10 year old vans as beaters, even though their current resale value is low since they are not the "popular" make or style. That's deliberate on my part, save tons by staying away from the trendy and expensive. They were bought next to new and have been well maintained. Sure the bodies have their share of scrapes and dents but they are good reliable transportation. Primary safety concern on my part is that newer models have many more airbags. Stability control less of a factor since minivans, due to low center of gravity, are inherently more stable than SUVs in general.
I do agree though that there have been other structural improvements and these vehicles will probably be cycled out in next 2-3 years. Most highway trips we use the 2011 van.
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Old 11-09-2014, 05:15 PM   #80
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My guess would be that my car is approximately 1% of my net worth. However, I never include any of my personal possessions when I do my net worth calculations, because (a) I don't have any valuable antiques, artwork, etc; (b) I learnt from managing my own moves and my mother's estate that "stuff" is not worth much when you want to sell it; (c) it's depreciating and (d) it's not an investment.
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