Trouble spending & cars

[Gearhead Jim]

So here's my dilemma, and it's one I know others have struggled and posted with (at least the general problem). I have trouble spending money on myself. In a past life, I spent way too much on cars but have been really good for nearly a decade now. Our current FIRE savings rate is 50-60% of pre-tax income. I've been setting aside a significant amount of money each money for a "car fund" that is outside of our FIRE savings and it's now a good size.

So now I'm struggling to spend the car fund. On one hand, we're saving quite a bit for FIRE, but on the other hand another $20-40K gets us there that much faster. I know there are at least a couple car guys in the forum and a whole lot of not-car guys and gals. How do I decide what to do? How did you?

Not a problem I have.
Let me know if you need some help...

 

[LARS]

What is your maintenance cost for these cars?

Honestly, I do not keep close track, but the costs are certainly not high to the point that I take note.

That having been said, my BMW's have been a mixed bag. I had an extended warranty on the 2002 X5 (traded last year for a 2012 X5 3.5d), which came in handy (repairs exceeded the cost of the insurance). The 2001 BMW 330CiC, on the other hand, has cost next to nothing and I didn't purchase an extended warranty on it. Its cost have been basically yearly oil changes and that is it.

The Porsche has been down right cheap to own (assuming you call $250 to $300 yearly oil changes cheap ). Prior to his car I owned Ferrari and it was very, very expensive to maintain.

I should also say that the X5 is the workhorse and gets all the miles (12,000 miles p.a.). The 2001 BMW has 35,000 miles and the Porsche has 15,000 miles.

 

[aja8888]

I have seen hundreds of those dead along the road, but I have yet to ever see a live one.

In 19 years here in Texas, I have never seen a live one until two months ago. I was leaving Ft. Smith, Arkansas for Dallas and left the hotel at 4 am to miss traffic. I took a route south out of Ft. Smith that was not heavily traveled and between small towns I spotted a live armadillo working his way across the road. He was moving very slowly and I suspect that is why these creatures get nailed as often as they do.

 

[Accidental Retiree]

...and so does our local wildlife population.

A couple of weeks ago while pulling our RV, I collided with a what I can only assume was a partially deaf, nearsighted buzzard. Whatever the reason, he was a second or so too late in initiating his departure from the roadway diner. Last week our daughter who lives nearby hit a deer and did $3,000 worth of damage to her car and totaled the deer.Then last night DW was involved in a hit and run with a feral hog.

Enough already...

LOL. Sorry for your various animal altercations, but I sure got a good laugh out of reading your descriptions. Thanks!

 

[pletal]

Bently

So here's my dilemma, and it's one I know others have struggled and posted with (at least the general problem). I have trouble spending money on myself. In a past life, I spent way too much on cars but have been really good for nearly a decade now. Our current FIRE savings rate is 50-60% of pre-tax income. I've been setting aside a significant amount of money each money for a "car fund" that is outside of our FIRE savings and it's now a good size.

So now I'm struggling to spend the car fund. On one hand, we're saving quite a bit for FIRE, but on the other hand another $20-40K gets us there that much faster. I know there are at least a couple car guys in the forum and a whole lot of not-car guys and gals. How do I decide what to do? How did you?

Kind of off subject here, but I am a car guy. I've been saving money for a new car. My present car is only two years old, but you cannot go into spend mode when you have been in save mode for ever. A few weeks ago I was invited to test drive the new Bently GT's at Road Atlanta on the track. Wow what a car, costs what my wife and I live on for four years. The cheapest car was 200k. Maybe in my budget , but not in my mindset.

 

[Telly]

My "daily driver", but I usually don't drive daily, is a 20 year old truck.

Reading posts in this thread, I think my definition of "a car guy" may be different than that used here.

 

[aja8888]

My "daily driver", but I usually don't drive daily, is a 20 year old truck.

Reading posts in this thread, I think my definition of "a car guy" may be different than that used here.

I'm not sure what the this community's definition of a "car guy" is here as I am relatively new to the group. We all have varied interests and passions. I have noticed that a lot of folks here have worked hard early in life and saved like crazy to get the the point of FI, and some have started much later (like me). The main interest for a lot of folks was saving and being frugal. That doesn't leave a lot of time or funds for an expensive hobby or passion.

I belong to a few auto enthusiast forums and the tone of the posts are focused on "everything auto". There is very little, if any, diversion into topics that are not car or automotive news related. On one board, I am a senior member and it has over 100,000 members and probably 10,000 of those are pretty active. The members are from all over the world and we even have a threads in French (for our Quebec crowd). Much different than here, for sure and very technical topics and information database. It's so technical that a certain auto manufacturer has engineers that monitor it for our suggestions and possible solutions to their issues.

I suspect there are a few car and motorcycle enthusiasts here that lurk and really don't dwell on their passion as it doesn't fit the LBYM lifestyle. From what I can tell (generalizing), the membership here buys economical cars, like the Prius, Camry, Honda's, etc and primarily sees their cars as transportation with little interest in knowing much more that where the key and gasoline go. Maintaining cars to the group is viewed as necessary and an inconvenience.

Purchasing autos at the lowest price is not what this group likes to deal with as the lowest cost is not obvious so many take comfort in using buying services and relying on TrueCar statistics to get to a price point they are comfortable with. Most folks here do not appear to buy used cars for the same reason (unsure of lowest correct price) and stick with new.

I enjoy this community as it is a good departure from the auto boards I spend time on. Those light my fire as I am an engineer and love things electrical and mechanical. What I get from here is knowledge on a wide variety of topics and opinions on subjects I need be following.

 

[explanade]

BTW, have people who've FIRE'd run into problems getting leases at the best rates because they no longer have a paying job?

What happens to your credit rating after FIRE?

 

[kgtest]

I just bought a used 01 honda civic for the DW because she liked it. There aren't too many options for used vehicles on island here and I had to pay 3500 for it with 120k miles. My plans are to sell it for roughly the same price when I move off-island.

I drive a 2011 1/2 ton 4x4 truck which is my luxury truck. The DW hates driving and specifically parking it so that is fine by me. We drive the cheap Civic as often as humanly possible. I will ship the 1/2 ton to Cali and go on a nice road trip when this gig is over since the truck has fairly low miles at 20k.

I have always wanted to own a red sports car when I was younger, now I am happy to have the pickup when I need it and a little 4banger as a daily driver.

This setup is basically part of my FIRE plan. I never plan on buying 2 new vehicles at once in hopes of securing an even earlier FI. After reading articles on how to plan your 30s I noticed most households will purchase 2 new vehicles in there 30s so I am trying to only purchase 1 in my 30's in the hopes by the time I reach my 40s I won't care as much about my whip.

Here's a better question, in your years of driving, how much have you spent purchasing vehicles, and how much have you made selling vehicles.

In my 16yrs of driving I have spent $42,400 on 4 vehicles that averages out to $2,650/year over these 16years. If I factor in what I sold 3 of the vehicles for and the 10years I plan to get out of the newer truck, my annual cost drops to $1,457. If anything else, this is a cool way to look at some of your numbers.