Poll:Vehicle habits

[Gumby]

This economics professor might help you with that:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnth...wth-does-not-cause-inflation/?sh=2878571d42f5

It is conventional wisdom that printing more money causes inflation. This is why we are seeing so many warnings today of how Quantitative Easing I and II and the federal government’s deficit are about to lead to skyrocketing prices. The only problem is, it’s not true. That’s not how inflation works.

In any event, we are getting way off topic.

 

[OldShooter]

You are amazing being able to tell what the future inflation rate will be!

This reminds me of all the people who "knew" the results of the 2008 election would usher in crippling inflation. We know how those predictions turned out. Now, it's happening all over again.

Yes. There are people, too, who claim to have some kind of predictive "vision" for stocks. Equally amazing, I guess.

 

[jimbee]

This economics professor might help you with that:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnth...wth-does-not-cause-inflation/?sh=2878571d42f5




In any event, we are getting way off topic.

Off topic, yes, but thanks for the article. A nice, clear explanation.

 

[beowulf]

I’m sorry to see all the bad info about Tesla. I was hoping to purchase one within the next few years, but there is no way that I would buy a car where major component failure is designed into the vehicle after 5 to 6 years. I keep new cars for a minimum of ten years, longest was 17 years. It’s a matter of economics. When the repairs begin to be more than the value, it’s time to sell or donate. There are many reliable cars, why would someone buy one they know will have expensive failure during the first 5 to 6 years? I understand that works well if you are leasing - you then pass the planned failure on to the next person and get a new one. However, I keep cars for a long time and Tesla is now off the list. I’ll stick to Lexus and Acura (the latter being the one I kept for 17 years, the former is only 10, with several more to go ). BTW, I am hoping that more EVs are developed that have better reliability and longevity than the Tesla. My son has a Camry hybrid with 160K miles on it with no engine, dash, or other repairs. Just normal maintenace.

 

[RetiredAtThirty-eight]

I’m sorry to see all the bad info about Tesla. I was hoping to purchase one within the next few years, but there is no way that I would buy a car where major component failure is designed into the vehicle after 5 to 6 years. I keep new cars for a minimum of ten years, longest was 17 years. It’s a matter of economics. When the repairs begin to be more than the value, it’s time to sell or donate. There are many reliable cars, why would someone buy one they know will have expensive failure during the first 5 to 6 years? I understand that works well if you are leasing - you then pass the planned failure on to the next person and get a new one. However, I keep cars for a long time and Tesla is now off the list. I’ll stick to Lexus and Acura (the latter being the one I kept for 17 years, the former is only 10, with several more to go ). BTW, I am hoping that more EVs are developed that have better reliability and longevity than the Tesla. My son has a Camry hybrid with 160K miles on it with no engine, dash, or other repairs. Just normal maintenace.

This is just hilarious! Tesla doesn't design major component failure into the car after 5 or 6 years of use! I'm not sure where you got that idea. In fact, they engineer their most recent powertrains to last 1 million miles. Tesla is constantly improving their products as soon as a problem is identified.

Yes, they are replacing a bunch of touchscreens on their early Model S cars for free. But they did not intend for these parts to fail, it was an accident, just like any other mass recall from Toyota, Ford or GM. Remember, Toyota had bad paint on millions of their cars - it would start to flake and peel after 4-9 years. They didn't do it on purpose, it was an accident. And like all good carmakers, Toyota has remedied the problem.

It's very short-sighted to think a problem that originated in 2013 is still being installed into 2021 models. By this logic you could never buy any car ever made.

We tend to keep our cars a long time and we've had two Tesla Model 3's for three years and have two Cybertrucks on order. Our Tesla's are the most reliable cars we've ever had. Bar none. But I wouldn't buy a used Model S or X that was made during Tesla's early years. As a manufacturer, they just started hitting their stride in 2019/2020. Their early cars were great cars but that's not to say there weren't a few kinks.

Like all new cars, there will still be the occasional problem or issue down the road but they are already much more reliable than any gasoline powered car.

 

[beowulf]

I can and do expect that a well built and expensive car should have components that won’t fail for many years, if not the normal useful life of the car. This is the quote from Tesla that gives me pause “ 'It is economically, if not technologically, infeasible to expect that such components can or should be designed to last the vehicle’s entire useful life,' Tesla said in the letter."

That was in the context of failures that took place well before the expected life of the car. Owning a car with no problems during the first 3 years of ownership is meaningless. Most car warranties are now for 4 years. I expect the engine and most major parts of a car, with the exception of consumables, to last for 10 years or 100,000 miles. It’s not like we are talking about buying a Yugo for $10K.

There have been defects in cars since they were invented. Some have been spectacular failures, others were cosmetic (paint) failures. All cars have them. However, Tesla stating that their touch panels may fail after 5 or 6 years is not acceptable to me. You clearly love your Tesla’s. That’s fine with me. But please don’t expect others to have the same feelings towards inanimate objects as if they were human. It’s just a car, and an expensive one at that. I’ve bought cars that developed defects over time. I’ve owned over 20 different brands of cars. Some were bad, some were good and some were great. That’s life, and you learn from each experience.

 

[RetiredAtThirty-eight]

I can and do expect that a well built and expensive car should have components that won’t fail for many years, if not the normal useful life of the car. This is the quote from Tesla that gives me pause “ 'It is economically, if not technologically, infeasible to expect that such components can or should be designed to last the vehicle’s entire useful life,' Tesla said in the letter."

That was in the context of failures that took place well before the expected life of the car. Owning a car with no problems during the first 3 years of ownership is meaningless. Most car warranties are now for 4 years. I expect the engine and most major parts of a car, with the exception of consumables, to last for 10 years or 100,000 miles. It’s not like we are talking about buying a Yugo for $10K.

There have been defects in cars since they were invented. Some have been spectacular failures, others were cosmetic (paint) failures. All cars have them. However, Tesla stating that their touch panels may fail after 5 or 6 years is not acceptable to me. You clearly love your Tesla’s. That’s fine with me. But please don’t expect others to have the same feelings towards inanimate objects as if they were human. It’s just a car, and an expensive one at that. I’ve bought cars that developed defects over time. I’ve owned over 20 different brands of cars. Some were bad, some were good and some were great. That’s life, and you learn from each experience.

You can buy a Yugo for $10,000.00?

Sounds like a waste of a perfectly good $10K.

 

[RetiredAtThirty-eight]

Yes. There are people, too, who claim to have some kind of predictive "vision" for stocks. Equally amazing, I guess.

Well, I would hope the 100,000's of hours I've spent researching public companies over the last 30 years for investment purposes weren't a complete waste of time. No one would bother to read their earnings statements if this were not true, they would just buy the company because it was listed on a public exchange.

I hope you realize that's what your viewpoint implies.

 

[OldShooter]

... I hope you realize that's what your viewpoint implies.

Yes. That's what a half-century of statistics and a pantheon of Nobel winners says. But this is not the thread for that discussion.

 

[beowulf]

You can buy a Yugo for $10,000.00?
Sounds like a waste of a perfectly good $10K.

Just trying to be facetious. I did buy my first car in 1970 for $350 - a well used 1963 VW Beatle. Lasted a lot longer than a Yugo would have (and, I have no idea what a Yugo cost back when they were made). My first new car was a Chevy Vega Hatchback - cost $2,500 and lasted 10 years until I sold it. Other than burning a lot of oil, it was a great car and very easy to self maintain without going to a repair shop.

 

[Andre1969]

I've done a wide enough variety of things, that I don't think I have a real pattern. Actually, my most common vehicle acquisition is getting a miled-up, free hand-me-down from a relative.

Anyway, I chose #6, finance a used vehicle, because that's probably going to be what I do the next time I buy a car. Probably buy one slightly used, and as long as the rates are low, finance it out to 5 years. I know they say that's bad advice, but the way I see it, if the rate for a 5-year term is close to what it is for a shorter term, why not just take it out a bit longer, let the money ride in the stock market where it has more earning potential. And, if I get the urge, I can always pay it down quicker.

 

[dixonge]

I answered pay cash for used, as this is indeed our normal procedure. But we bought our RV used on a loan, and our current car is leased...

 

[skyking1]

We just got my wife a new used Tiguan on Sunday. It is our typical move. She got a new Honda Pilot in January 06 as our only new car purchase in 35 years together.

It's a 2019 with 12,000 miles, 65 months and 72,000 miles of warranty remaining.

 

[RetiredAtThirty-eight]

Through the 1980's and into the 1990's I always bought used cars to save money. But once I figured out how to turn the stock market into my own personal cash machine I didn't want to spend the time looking for that hard to find used car at a good price and I was making more money than I knew what to do with (and still am).

I figured my time was more profitably spent researching promising new companies than searching for cars. Half of them were being sold because they had "issues" so there was a lot of wasted time checking out cars that were dead ends. Even when I got a good one there would always be some kind of repairs needed, new tires, brakes, belts, dead batteries, etc.

So I started buying new, mostly out of convenience and to save time fixing cars. I can fix just about anything but it does take time and money. Since the mid-1990's I've only bought new cars and, while it has cost a bit more money overall, it's totally worth it. Whatever money my wife and I don't spend is going to be given away anyway so we might as well try to spend some of it.

 

[skyking1]

I answered cash for used, and posted a pic of the new car we got last Sunday. That post disappeared. Maybe there is a limit I have to reach before posting pictures?

 

[Aerides]

I answered cash for used, and posted a pic of the new car we got last Sunday. That post disappeared. Maybe there is a limit I have to reach before posting pictures?

Not on pictures per se, but links are usually reviewed, give it a few minutes.

 

[skyking1]

Not on pictures per se, but links are usually reviewed, give it a few minutes.

thanks that is what it was, I will be patient from now on

 

[Bamaman]

Note: I didn't take time to read so many postings on this subject. But:

I want a car that is durable and doesn't break down often.
And I want to have a dealer locally that can provide parts and service.
I don't want to have to send my car on a rollback to a manufacturer's service center 100 miles away.
I would like the option of having an independent mechanic service my car. I don't want a vehicle that no one locally knows how to repair them.
I want to know that if I have a collision, the car will not have to be returned to the manufacturer where it's going to take months and months to repair and return it. Rental car coverage on my insurance policy doesn't cover rental cars for very long.
And I don't want to have to plan out my vacations based on finding SuperChargers. We like to get off the beaten path.

I just traded a 3 year old Toyota Camry Hybrid with 69K miles for a 2021 Venza Hybrid AWD SUV. I went from 49 mpg to 39 mpg with the larger vehicle. But I'm in no way suffering by owning a vehicle that has a 500 mile range. We love the smooth, quiet Hybrid/electric power plant. We're protected with a lifetime mechanical warranty, a 36 mile bumper to bumper factory warranty, a 100K hybrid warranty and a 10 year/150K mile battery warranty. And the good thing is I can get repairs done locally.

 

[disneysteve]

Haven't read all of the posts but I paid cash in September for a 2018 Camry. I expect to pay cash for any other purchases in the future and we always go with a used car, typically 2-3 years old. That gets us past the steepest depreciation. Then we keep the car for 10-15 years. I "only" had my last one for 8 but that was an anomaly as it was 6 years old when I bought it. The one before I had for 14.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

The last 6 vehicles I’ve paid cash for. I usually keep them for 3-4 years. I end up trading it in not so much because it still has some value as I’m ready for a new one for one reason or another.

 

[teetee]

Bought a 1996 accord in 2003. Drove it until 2017 before donating it to NPR (gas tank leak and it cost too much to replace it).

Bought a 2010 Mazda 5 in 2017 and totaled it in 2020.

Bought a 2015 Mazda 5 in 2020 and is currently my daily driver.

My car shopping habit is (5): always pay cash for used cars and let others take the depreciation.

 

[Finance Dave]

(1) I buy with cash new and keep them 10 to 15 years

This is pretty much the camp we are in for our "every day" cars.

I do have car hobbies though, so I do have one car that I bought used and paid cash for...and I've kept it now for 38 years.



P.S. And another I financed in 2007 at 0% interest for 4 years, and I still have the car.