- Joined
- Nov 27, 2014
- Messages
- 9,203
I've been doing a lot of reading and see a general consensus that a couple year old lower mileage car is a good option. This makes sense to me, but I'm looking for some numbers and methods to get the cost down yet drive a reliable car.
The past several years, I've been leasing. Mostly 2 years 50,000 miles. Get that for about $550 per month and you're driving for around 27 cents per mile. This seemed pretty good to me because I was driving that much and really liked driving new cars and having virtually no repairs. My current lease is a truck for 2yr/30,000mi for $255/mo = about 20 cents per mile. Probably a little closer to 22 cents since I used reward points as a down payment.
However, now I'm moving into retirement and I'm not sure the equation hold up. I'm probably going to drive less than 10,000 per year and my wife even less. I'm looking to have two cars (one nice/newer and one just to get around in). I'm focused on the newer one. I'm finding it hard to see it costing less than the 25 - 30 cents I've been spending. Simple calculation - 2 year old car, $20,000 - would have to drive 100,000 miles to get the cost in the 20 cent range and that doesn't include repairs.
So, does anyone look at their purchase in terms of cost per mile? If so, do you have a sweet spot? For example, buy a 2yr old car, drive two years and sell before problems and while the value is still there. Or, drive it into the ground?
The past several years, I've been leasing. Mostly 2 years 50,000 miles. Get that for about $550 per month and you're driving for around 27 cents per mile. This seemed pretty good to me because I was driving that much and really liked driving new cars and having virtually no repairs. My current lease is a truck for 2yr/30,000mi for $255/mo = about 20 cents per mile. Probably a little closer to 22 cents since I used reward points as a down payment.
However, now I'm moving into retirement and I'm not sure the equation hold up. I'm probably going to drive less than 10,000 per year and my wife even less. I'm looking to have two cars (one nice/newer and one just to get around in). I'm focused on the newer one. I'm finding it hard to see it costing less than the 25 - 30 cents I've been spending. Simple calculation - 2 year old car, $20,000 - would have to drive 100,000 miles to get the cost in the 20 cent range and that doesn't include repairs.
So, does anyone look at their purchase in terms of cost per mile? If so, do you have a sweet spot? For example, buy a 2yr old car, drive two years and sell before problems and while the value is still there. Or, drive it into the ground?