Poll:Vehicle habits

[rk911]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunset I sold my 12 yr old Sonata to a fellow for ~$1,200 , he had brought his "son" with him, who sat in the fellow's car the entire time. It was to be for his son, to go to College. I let him talk me down $100 because of his needs for his "son". The next day I saw my car for sale again for $3,500 on craigslist. The fellow had peeled off the LS and lied saying it was a GLS. So not all people looking for cheap cars that run are nice and decent.

+1. in 2003 we sold our 13-yr old minivan for $1500. guy said it was for his daughter. when he comes to the house with the cash he asks me not to sign the title. no deal, i say. if he wants the car then i sign the title. he thinks and then agrees. for his daughter, huh? hah!

[Global Wizzo]

I’ll keep them until the mx costs get stupid. Really like my 2014 E350, but the 50K minivan bought new for 35K depreciated over 15K in a year. Never worth buying new unless you are planning to keep long term or you just like burning cash. MHO.

[Pointby2]

2017 - Financed a new vehicle (for DW), but quickly paid it off. Still have it. VW GTI.

2016 - Paid cash for a new vehicle, still have it. Focus RS.

2014 - Financed a VW Diesel Wagon (For DW), paid it off quickly. Would still have it but they all got recalled. This was going to be her "forever" car.

2009 - Paid cash for a new vehicle (DW), kept it 8 years. Porsche GT3.

2007 - Paid cash for a used vehicle, kept it 7 years. Toyota Tundra.

2007 - Paid cash for a used vehicle, kept it 2 years. E36 M3.


Not much of a pattern there, except I prefer to pay cash and like fun cars.

[leftcoastjayhawk]

I sure wish I could vote for #7!

My standard is buy new or late model used, with cash, and keep for a minimum of 10 years or 200,000 miles, whichever comes last. And so far the kids are following at least the 10 year rule for their own cars.

We did sell the 1968 Toyota Celica in 1987 at only 140,000 miles, because of the birth of child #3. The Celica only had 4 seats, and the older daughters objected to being "double belted" into a single seat for all family outings. They had to suffer for a month until we bought a Dodge Minivan. It was somewhat roomier... (Tip: never take "double belted" children with you to the dealership when negotiating for a bigger car.)

I do still have the 1973 Datsun 240Z that I bought new. It only has 188,000 miles on it, so obviously I cannot sell that yet!

"Maintenance" costs are climbing on that 240Z though, since I just spent several times the original sticker price restoring/fixing it up. I think that officially makes it a "hobby", not a car.

[piccolopat]

I've financed vehicles in the past but for my last two, we decided to lease. We did this for two reasons: the cost to lease was extremely competitive and it was a new brand/vehicle type that we wanted to try out before buying. Our plan was to buy the cars outright at the end of the lease if we liked them or turn them in if we didn't. We ended up liking and bought them out. We've always held onto our cars for many years with the oldest having been 15 and 17 years before they died and plan to do the same with these. We may replace the older of our two current vehicles (only 10 years old but low mileage) earlier than that if our daughter needs to replace one of hers. If we do that, we'll again look at lease cost to see if it makes sense to do that again and keep our money invested for 3 years. If not, we'll just buy it cash.

[winyaz]

I generally pay cash and drive it until the estimated repair/maintenance is more than the value of the car. My last car I tried to go beyond that and I regretted it. In theory it was more cost effective to do the repairs/maintenance rather than buy a new car, but every few months something else was needed and it kept adding up. Now I may get rid of my current one after 100K miles, before the maintenance and repairs start piling up.

[dcrambler]

Pay cash for 4 year old nice cars and get them for 40-50% of sticker and then drive for 6-8 years. Makes the most financial sense to me by far. Still get a great car with low mileage (15-35K) and pay half or less. Take the difference in new and invest.

[Out-to-Lunch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by leftcoastjayhawk (Tip: never take "double belted" children with you to the dealership when negotiating for a bigger car.)

Excellent comment!

We (honestly and with no embellishment) used to drive with 9 people in a VW bug. If only it had seatbelts to do double-belting!

And I would love to have your original Z.

[ivinsfan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dcrambler Pay cash for 4 year old nice cars and get them for 40-50% of sticker and then drive for 6-8 years. Makes the most financial sense to me by far. Still get a great car with low mileage (15-35K) and pay half or less. Take the difference in new and invest.

Would you mind sharing how you pull this off in the real world. Cause I am not seeing that large of a discount on slightly used cars. For example do you look for a certain brand or type of car to make this happen?

We just traded off a car we drove for 8 years, got a very fair offer from the dealership. That car has already been turned over..It had around 100K and needed new tires...looks like it sold for about a 55-60% discount off the original purchase price...now sticker price is not always purchase price.

[doneat54]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ivinsfan Would you mind sharing how you pull this off in the real world. Cause I am not seeing that large of a discount on slightly used cars. For example do you look for a certain brand or type of car to make this happen?

It depends on the models you are buying, not true across the board. For the popular reliable stuff (Honda and Toyota sedans for example), resell is higher and you can get that much off for a fairly new car. Both other models, that are just less poplar but still good cars you can. We bought Volkswagen CCs, a '12 and a '13, when they each were 2+ years old, for just about exactly half of sticker when new. Still have one of them.

Pickup trucks, forget it, their values stay up for a long time.

[atintera]

#5 for me. After reading Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover book, I realized one of the biggest mistakes I had made in looking back was my car buying habits. I had started with new cars and loans, and only once paid off the loan before trading in. Over time, I had put soooo much $ into the cars on average each year. Since then, I paid off all debt in only 3 years, and have since only bought cars with cash. Never regretted it and is way more fun. If you like newer cars, just buy one that is 2-3 years old! It will be a lease return and in excellent shape for nearly new feel yet save you lots.

Also - unless physical reasons prevent it, consider doing our own oil changes and even brakes. Both are very easy and don't require lots of knowledge or investment. Over time, that saves a substantive amount of $ and provides a DIY hobby!

[Ctarborist]

I prefer 5. DW prefers 1.

[indiajust]

only two purchases, both new vw's. stumbled into 2 well worn old trucks. still have second vw and second truck. 94 mazda and 98 jetta. just not ready for the 2000's yet.

[Markola]

Mostly 1 and 5. We tend to buy 2-3 year old certified cars and max the warranty, then keep them 10-15 years.

[ragabnh]

I am a car guy, bought and sold 7 cars since 2014, all used except one, payed cash and traded all for other ones. I don't like leasing.

Most expensive was $100k Porsche 911 and the least expensive was $14k for a used Toyota Tacoma truck which I needed for some construction work and sold after one year.

[Markola]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ragabnh I am a car guy, bought and sold 7 cars since 2014, all used except one, payed cash and traded all for other ones. I don't like leasing. Most expensive was $100k Porsche 911 and the least expensive was $14k for a used Toyota Tacoma truck which I needed for some construction work and sold after one year.

Interesting. That’s about a car per year. Did you make money on the sales, if you don’t mind saying? It’s something I’ve thought about doing and am curious what works.

[Koolau]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Markola Interesting. That’s about a car per year. Did you make money on the sales, if you don’t mind saying? It’s something I’ve thought about doing and am curious what works.

My BIL is pushing 80. I haven't actually kept track, but I'd put 50 bucks on his owning at least one (different - not all new, but mostly new) car for every year of life so far. I recall years when he traded 3 or 4 times, so I'm working on a pretty safe margin. I'm not sure if HE actually knows. IF he ever made any money on a trade it's probably purely coincidental. Some of us just like our cars, and I too really appreciate cars - from afar. I'm just too practical or frugal or something to Blow That Dough but I take no position on what others do with their own money, so YMMV.

[ragabnh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Markola Interesting. That’s about a car per year. Did you make money on the sales, if you don’t mind saying? It’s something I’ve thought about doing and am curious what works.

Lost on every single one of the cars, I buy mostly used 2 years old and certified, with the exception of 07 MB SL600 which I still own along with 2017 Lexus Lx 570.

[Markola]

Thanks. I’d guess one has to find a way to buy consistently at a wholesale price. I see these ratings on Auto Trader.com of “Good Price” and “Great Price” and I wonder if there is a worthwhile arbitrage play possible? It’s probably a lot of hassle to trade, insure, register, then sell so, so far, I’ve talked myself into just leaving my money in stocks.

[GravitySucks]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Markola Thanks. I’d guess one has to find a way to buy consistently at a wholesale price. I see these ratings on Auto Trader.com of “Good Price” and “Great Price” and I wonder if there is a worthwhile arbitrage play possible? It’s probably a lot of hassle to trade, insure, register, then sell so, so far, I’ve talked myself into just leaving my money in stocks.

Even a decent gain gets wiped out from sales tax here.