How much of your net worth does your car represent?

[Options]

Don't include car in net worth and about to drop mid-$30K on a small luxury car in Spring 2015 as a present to myself for having achieved FI.

[steelyman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Options Don't include car in net worth and about to drop mid-$30K on a small luxury car in Spring 2015 as a present to myself for having achieved FI.

Nor do I (include car in net worth). It's 11 years old but has been regularly maintained, has been garage-kept all its life, and still looks great. I want to keep it for at least another 5 years. It doesn't have all the latest electronics but I don't mind.

Enjoy your new car!

[foxfirev5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by steelyman Nor do I (include car in net worth). It's 11 years old but has been regularly maintained, has been garage-kept all its life, and still looks great. I want to keep it for at least another 5 years. It doesn't have all the latest electronics but I don't mind. Enjoy your new car!

The fact it doesn't have the latest electronics is a huge plus. Likewise DW's 10 year old Lexus doesn't have the latest and I'm hoping it will go at least another 5-7 years. Meanwhile I just drove my tech laden company luxo truck home with no heat/ no radio/ no GPS ( which I don't need anyway)/ and a maddening white/black screen flash for 500 miles. Skip the gadgets and keep transportation simple. I have to chuckle when I see friends that equate status with the car you drive. Little do they know.

[steelyman]

I got a GPS a year or so ago and love it. As a bonus, I dropped it into my backpack and put it in a rental car (saving the $11/day the agency wanted). I was driving somewhere I really don't know very well.

An iPhone works well too, but has less features.

[foxfirev5]

I guess I'm a little cranky after one more road trip. Maybe after 35 years nonstop on the road a little burnout is setting in. As far as GPS, I think I know every road in the NE US mile by mile. If I would go with one it definitely would be a portable and not a built in unit.

[steelyman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by foxfirev5 I guess I'm a little cranky after one more road trip. Maybe after 35 years nonstop on the road a little burnout is setting in. As far as GPS, I think I know every road in the NE US mile by mile. If I would go with one it definitely would be a portable and not a built in unit.

I can relate. I know someone who has to drive to Asheville (a beautiful place, but a lonnnng way away).

[WhoDaresWins]

When I purchased my new vehicle this year I got the base model with no nav vs the much more costly model with the tech package (my requirements were a V-6, concierge service and AWD). I use my smartphone for directions. This with good coverage from a somewhat pricey Verizon plan will take me anyplace I am likely to go.

[Options]

Quote:

Originally Posted by foxfirev5 The fact it doesn't have the latest electronics is a huge plus. Likewise DW's 10 year old Lexus doesn't have the latest and I'm hoping it will go at least another 5-7 years. Meanwhile I just drove my tech laden company luxo truck home with no heat/ no radio/ no GPS ( which I don't need anyway)/ and a maddening white/black screen flash for 500 miles. Skip the gadgets and keep transportation simple. I have to chuckle when I see friends that equate status with the car you drive. Little do they know.

I absolutely love the gadgets on my 10 year old car (then again I love that car), though it doesn't have a GPS. Lord do I need a GPS. A phone GPS has kept me from turning around and going back home as a result of being so lost. I could get lost in a closet. Looking forward to the new car with even more gadgets. You can keep the status. This is about rewarding myself for being so frugal-bordering-on-cheap for the past couple of decades. The reward for such frugality of course is being able to FIRE in a matter of a few short weeks.

[Meadbh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by steelyman I got a GPS a year or so ago and love it. As a bonus, I dropped it into my backpack and put it in a rental car (saving the $11/day the agency wanted). I was driving somewhere I really don't know very well. An iPhone works well too, but has less features.

When I bought my Honda CRV 2.5 years ago I eschewed the top of the line model with the navigation system, saving over $1000. I then spent a few hundred $ on a state of the art Garmin. It's great for road trips in Canada and the continental US. I have also used it in rental cars in Hawaii and Ireland, so it has certainly paid for itself. I have loaded it with maps for Ireland and the UK as there wasn't enough space for all of Europe, and periodically my computer tells me to update it. However, you still have to use common sense when you have GPS. Occasionally in rural areas it chooses closed or very minor roads. If a route doesn't seem plausible, always ask a human being.

[steelyman]

I bought my GPS (a Garmin 3590) based on a reference here at E-R. I was away for a month while home hunting, so it paid for itself over the rental car rates. And I still have it!

[WhoDaresWins]

I was talking to a cousin today who lives on the other side of Pittsburgh. She purchased a new Jeep Grand Cherokee on Wednesday (although unlike me she is also keeping her 2001 vehicle). The dealer originally told her it would be delivered tomorrow but as it is coming from upstate NY (Antartica!) that changed to next week. She was delighted they had a concierge service and dropped off a "free" loaner car today as she has a church event tomorrow and a funeral near Philly on Monday. For singletons with one car, a service like this makes life more tolerable.

[Walt34]

+1 on the Garmin (or almost any other brand) over the grossly overpriced-failure-prone-costly-updated factory ripoff.

Go to OfficMax, Walmart, heck, even the drugstore sometimes and all of them are cheaper and have free updates now.

[aja8888]

I've had Tom Toms, Alpines, Garmins and others since they came out. I think I paid over $400 for the first one and it was marginal according to today's standards.

My latest is a Nuvi Garmin with only Maps (the traffic is not that good and they paste ads in it). Since I travel "a lot" it's a tool I would not be without.

In my new Passat, I declined the $4,000 upgrade to Navigation.

[steelyman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by steelyman I can relate. I know someone who has to drive to Asheville (a beautiful place, but a lonnnng way away).

This person called me today on their way. First they said "I am going up the mountain". Then they said, "I am going down the mountain".

I told them to stick their pinwheel out of the window and yell "WHEEEE!"

(don't you dare do that around here...)

[RNwastash]

We have a 2007 Honda Accord, 2007 RAV 4, and a 2006 Scion. They represent .025 % of my net worth.

[X501]

Less than 0.1 percent of net worth. 1984 Buick LeSable. Under 200K miles, still running strong.