Poll:What is your Car Value to Home Value ratio

[kombat]

Currently 0.2%. Car is an '05 Mazda 3 with 185,000 miles on it, basically worthless but I figure it would probably sell for $1,000. Last house appraisal was $500,000.

That said, we're in the market to replace our faithful car with ... another Mazda 3. This time newer, but still used. Our budget is $14,000. So if we keep the current one, plus the new one, our car/house ratio "jumps" to 3%.

Who are these people with ratios over 15% Every car is eventually worth zero dollars, so why waste any more money than absolutely necessary?

 

[jollystomper]

Around 7% with two cars valued around 28K (bought newly used) and a conservative home value of 400K. Will jump since we may buy 1 and possibly 2 more vehicles within the next year, but worst case should not jump to more than 11% for 4 vehicles.

 

[38Chevy454]

Who are these people with ratios over 15% Every car is eventually worth zero dollars, so why waste any more money than absolutely necessary?

Old classic cars, like I own several of, actually increase in value. If you hold onto a car long enough and keep it maintained, it will start to reverse the depreciation and go back up. Even a four door sedan or something without any special features to make it even more collectible will eventually go up some extent. Obviously some models and styles have a lot more potential to go up in value.

If you view a car as just an appliance to get from point A to point B, then your statement is approximately true as a car is used up. Preventative maintenance is concept that pays off and will enable your older vehicle to keep going, thus saving you more vs buying a new(er) vehicle.

BTW, I make money on my old cars, plus get the enjoyment of driving them and working on them. It is whatever makes you happy. True my labor rate may be very low, but any hobby is typically that way. New cars may be safer, be more quiet, and get better mileage; but IMHO they also do not have any soul or excitement. Drive a classic car and there is no such thing as a quick gas and go. You always will have someone wanting to inquire and talk preventing the quick stop. Which is not a bad thing, it makes life interesting.

 

[wmc1000]

I plugged in at 6.9% but only figured 1 house and not my rental which would bring down the % to 4.5%

 

[supernova72]

I'm pretty high but a car ethusiest of sorts

2004 E46 M3- $17K and falling
1985 GMC S-15 PU (my dads old truck)- $3K holding steady
1972 Chevy Nova "restoration in process"- $16K and rising

Home is ~ $415 so I'm at 8.7%!

 

[chris66]

Who are these people with ratios over 15% Every car is eventually worth zero dollars, so why waste any more money than absolutely necessary?

Being one of those folks, I'll respond for my particular case (although it's totally unusual for us to have this high of a ratio). We live in rural Missouri, so our housing costs are low for what we get. Add to that we just moved here and decided to get another 4WD truck. Went with new V6 Ram, for fuel efficiency. Also, since we had our last 4WD truck for over 300,000 miles, we figure we get our money's worth out of them (as long as we don't get into an accident). We decided it was better to know how it was cared for from the start, and also, kinda fun to have that new car smell for a while (until the dog smell takes over, anyway).

 

[LazyErik]

My car is roughly 2.5% of my house value, depending on how cool people think 15 year old landcruisers are on that particular day.

 

[just walk away]

0.7% for my car and 2.5% for DH since his is fairly new. We aren't car people, short commute to work and our house is expensive in the outskirts of the SF Bay area.

True story though... once my husband (an engineering manager) was giving a ride back to HR to a prospective newbie college kid engineer who was interviewing for a position at the company. My husband had a 9 year old Honda Civic sedan at the time. The kid was shocked and exclaimed "Is this all you can afford based on the pay here"? My husband replied " No, this is all that I CHOOSE to afford". Kid got it, but clearly had never thought that way before.

 

[splitwdw]

Who are these people with ratios over 15% Every car is eventually worth zero dollars, so why waste any more money than absolutely necessary?

We have a hobby, we collect, restore and drive/show old cars. Some of our cars are worth quite a bit of money. For us a vehicle isn't just to get from point A to point B. We enjoy driving them and restoring the older ones. I'm sure the OP was thinking of people's every day driver not someone that has a car hobby. Even if I used our daily drivers, 2 trucks, the 1 is a 2014 F250 Platinum series and cost $58,000 would put us in a higher ratio. It's not a waste of money if you enjoy cars. Just like the equipment for photography, radio equipment, bicycles. You would probably have a heart attack if you knew what some of my forging hammers run. lol

Old classic cars, like I own several of, actually increase in value. If you hold onto a car long enough and keep it maintained, it will start to reverse the depreciation and go back up. Even a four door sedan or something without any special features to make it even more collectible will eventually go up some extent. Obviously some models and styles have a lot more potential to go up in value.

If you view a car as just an appliance to get from point A to point B, then your statement is approximately true as a car is used up. Preventative maintenance is concept that pays off and will enable your older vehicle to keep going, thus saving you more vs buying a new(er) vehicle.

BTW, I make money on my old cars, plus get the enjoyment of driving them and working on them. It is whatever makes you happy. True my labor rate may be very low, but any hobby is typically that way. New cars may be safer, be more quiet, and get better mileage; but IMHO they also do not have any soul or excitement. Drive a classic car and there is no such thing as a quick gas and go. You always will have someone wanting to inquire and talk preventing the quick stop. Which is not a bad thing, it makes life interesting.

Yeah, what you said, though I don't make money on the cars. We do take care of our new and older cars.

 

[seraphim]

About 42%. Several classics, our daily driver, and the c3500 DRW diesel for hauling the TC.

"Who are these people with ratios over 15% Every car is eventually worth zero dollars, so why waste any more money than absolutely necessary?"

My classics are worth more than I put into them, so your inference is faulty. The daily driver is a base subcompact with manual windows and door locks. A stick shift, of course. The truck is a basic work model, but it will pull practically anything, and low mileage diesels hold their value well - it's relatively new, and since we practically live in it six months out the year ... Lol

 

[aim-high]

Three cars (4 drivers) - Blue Book = $45K
One house (4 people) - Zillow = $645K

Approximately 7%.

The problem with this poll is that it all depends on timing of where people are in the lifecycle of their cars and the real estate cycle. Most cars depreciate while homes appreciate.

 

[RetireAge50]

About 6% now hoping for Divide by Zero Error at retirement (rent places as we travel globe).

 

[robbridg]

We are about 50%. But I like my vehicles and we have a fairly inexpensive house. I have a Corvette and 2 Jeeps. And the wife has a Ford Fusion. I afford my automotive desires by buying used and keeping them for quite awhile. Some great deals out there. I wish I didn't like cars so much.