50k invested or peace of mind?

[Arizona1]

For the last couple of years I felt like a moving target in my small car. Traffic deaths inched past 40000 last year so I looked up vehicles with least injuries reported and found this 4x4 truck. I looked for used and read that through title washing around 60% of flood vehicles are sold again as clean title. I bought our little car for $4000 in 2010 and sold it for $3150 in February. I honestly didn’t want a new car but after 6 months I can say that I really like it. For me the peace of mind outweighed investing the cash this time.

[racy]

Good for you! We only have one, short life to enjoy.

[The Cosmic Avenger]

So are you saying that you spent $50K on a new truck? If that doesn't put a dent in your other spending, or if it does and you're happier with the new truck than with the other spending, then great! We are still working, but we saved up cash and bought our first new vehicle in 11 years in 2017, and it is much more fun to drive. We joke that with adaptive cruise control, collision avoidance, and auto-everything, our Outback is smarter than we are!

[atmsmshr]

Safety and good health are priorities.

Consider checking crash test ratings by independent evaluators before buying vehicles.

We are making an effort to be more careful drivers as we age, and our last purchase has blind spot assist and lane tracking to help make up for slowing reflexes and attention.

[joeea]

Hopefully you got the safest color.

[Arizona1]

It doesn’t make a difference in our spending but we always considered new vehicles frivolous spending. Most of us who have retired early have gotten there partially by not buying new vehicles. It’s several hundred dollars a month difference between earnings on the money and losing to depreciation.
For me this was like buying a burglar alarm in a bad neighborhood.

[Spock]

Watch youtube vids of dashcam worth events and you'll never leave the house again.

Back when I lived where you do, I was amazed at the number of traffic accidents... its not uncommon for a car to plow into the back of a line of traffic at a stoplight because "the light was green" but traffic hadn't started moving yet.


My thought was to buy a junker pickup and weld steel tubing (if not actual I-beam) around the perimeter. I would lose the energy absorption of a crumple zone, but oh well.



I ended up buying a motorcycle... go figure.

[Andre1969]

It's hard to put a price tag on peace-of-mind, but when you factor in the overall population, and the miles people drive, cars are probably safer than ever. Even if overall deaths topped 40,000 last year, I'd imagine the overall death rate (deaths per million vehicle miles traveled, or whatever it is) is still continuing to drop. Or, even if it went up a bit, it's probably a number that's so low, it's going to be hard to get it much lower.

[ckelly78z]

We have driven older cheap vehicles for years now (our newest car is 2004 with 175,000 miles), but I am able to maintain them, and fix them when needed.

I fully understand the "peace of mind" deal because my daughter had a 100 mile round trip commute every day, and was having more, and more problems with high mileage junkers. I help design new parts for Honda cars in my job, and suggested that she look into getting a new Civic because of the attention to quality that I see every day from them. She bought a new 2018 Cobalt blue Civic for less than $20K, and still raves of how much she loves it after 15,000 miles.

[ExFlyBoy5]

I'm with you. I purchased an "almost new" (Carmax latest model year) pickup truck that cost me about $35K. But, it has good crash ratings and I do feel much safer in it than my previous Infiniti. Where we live almost every vehicle is a truck (and about 1/2 of them are super duties) and I really wouldn't want one running into me with the little car.

Would I have preferred to save that $? You betcha...but in the grand scheme of things, it's not a huge amount of money and the peace of mind was worth it.

[Spock]

[dirtbiker]

My full time commuter is a dual sport motorcycle...

[ExFlyBoy5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spock

There are some videos of this thing being run into a concrete wall at 70 MPH and the host is seen walking up and OPENING THE DOOR. Granted it's small, but it's a safe little car. I personally like a little more "stuff" between me and potential offenders of my space, but thinking "smaller" is simply dangerous is an outmoded thought.

Quote:

As for safety, the ForTwo did well enough in crash tests by the independent Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) to earn the group’s highest rating—five stars—thanks to the car’s steel racecar-style frame and liberal use of high-tech front and side airbags. Despite such good safety performance for such a tiny car, IIHS testers caution that larger, heavier cars are inherently safer than smaller ones.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/a...kimpy-on-fuel/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iKGfo1wmOM

[Andre1969]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ExFlyBoy5 There are some videos of this thing being run into a concrete wall at 70 MPH and the host is seen walking up and OPENING THE DOOR. Granted it's small, but it's a safe little car. I personally like a little more "stuff" between me and potential offenders of my space, but thinking "smaller" is simply dangerous is an outmoded thought. https://www.scientificamerican.com/a...kimpy-on-fuel/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iKGfo1wmOM

I think the majority of accidents are single-car accidents, and in those cases, small cars often do very well. Or, when the small car runs into another car (provided it doesn't under-ride a truck) they usually fare pretty well. But, it seems like when a small car gets hit by a bigger vehicle, that's where they can be vulnerable.

Of course, all cars have gotten much safer over the years...things like high-strength steel used in the construction, better-engineered crumple zones, multiple airbags, and so on, have done wonders. Still, all things being equal, I think a bigger car will tend to be safer. For instance, run a 2018 Impala head on into a 2018 Spark, the Impala is going to come out ahead, although the Spark's occupants would fare better than if you, say, ran a 1978 Impala into a 1978 Chevette. Now, run a 2018 Spark into a 1958 Impala, that might be a whole different story!

[ExFlyBoy5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andre1969 I think the majority of accidents are single-car accidents, and in those cases, small cars often do very well. Or, when the small car runs into another car (provided it doesn't under-ride a truck) they usually fare pretty well. But, it seems like when a small car gets hit by a bigger vehicle, that's where they can be vulnerable. Of course, all cars have gotten much safer over the years...things like high-strength steel used in the construction, better-engineered crumple zones, multiple airbags, and so on, have done wonders. Still, all things being equal, I think a bigger car will tend to be safer. For instance, run a 2018 Impala head on into a 2018 Spark, the Impala is going to come out ahead, although the Spark's occupants would fare better than if you, say, ran a 1978 Impala into a 1978 Chevette. Now, run a 2018 Spark into a 1958 Impala, that might be a whole different story!

I agree 100%. Yes, the advancements have come a long way, but in the end, physics is going to win. So for me, bigger is better.

[joeea]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arizona1 For me the peace of mind outweighed investing the cash this time.

For real peace of mind, keep the $50k and don't drive.

[freedomatlast]

When evaluating a vehicle based on safety, remember that many SUVs and trucks have a higher center of gravity and are more likely to roll over in certain maneuvers and collisions.

[Mr. Tightwad]

Tesla Model 3 got the best safety ratings in the last 7 years by the NHSTA. Europe came up with similar results.

Its what I drive.

[RobbieB]

I don't worry about highway safety, I own 4 motorcycles.

I did want to buy my first new car so I did, a 2019 Chevy Impala for 45 grand.

Time to enjoy the fruits of the investments!

[joeea]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Tightwad Tesla Model 3 got the best safety ratings in the last 7 years by the NHSTA. Europe came up with similar results. Its what I drive.

Because of the safety ratings?