Car person
skibum609
Massachusetts
In following up on the brand loyalty thread, my question is what kind of car person are you? Lease? Buy? used? New? New every 2 years? Personally, since July of 1995 I have owned and driven three cars. I plan on 5-10 with my current one. I buy new, maintain them meticulously and keep them running perfectly for 7 -14 years. My current car is my fifth since 1984. Then I start over.
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Buy new, but only if there’s 5 year 0% financing. 4WD so I don’t have to deal w snow chains when heading to mountains.
Drive for 150Kish miles (takes 10 years)
Repeat.
Give old one to friend/relative in need
I always have at least 2 cars not counting my company car, and since I have a company car and my wife has a 3 mile round trip to work, my cars don’t get much mileage. Also if I’m taking long trips solo (over 500 miles round trip) I usually rent a car.
Now back to my cars, buy them 3-5 years old under 45k miles, drive them for 5 and on the 5th year I start looking for a replacement. Can take up to a year to find a replacement. 2020 I was due to get rid of both my cars as they are both 5 years old (to me) but since I’ve driven them so little the past year I decided to keep both for at least another 2 years unless I get an itch. First time I’ve done that and I doubt they will be driven much this year either. Another thing working in my favor cars interiors technology has advanced at a crazy rate within the last 3-4 years so most of what I’d want are 2018-2020 models making what I may buy down the road more affordable if I wait a little longer.
* if your cars are sitting - I highly recommend getting a trickle charger for your battery.
Ever had problems with the mufflers? My mom had a Volvo for years and she only drove about two miles a day. The mufflers kept going bad (covered under warranty) and the dealer said if they don't heat up enough in winter, the condensation causes rust.
Never had a battery problem with a car, but my Harley is always on the trickle charger or it will go bad in a month if I don't ride it.
Maybe the plan will work out with my current car. Or some moron not paying attention will rear end me on Rte. 128 and snap the frame again. Either or.
From my late-teens to late-20s, I bought used and cash – from late-20s to late-40s it was buy-and-hold (bought new w/ a bank-loan, then kept it for 5 or 10 years post having paid off loan) – currently own a used-car again but that was sorta an emergency-buy meant to be kept temporarily (year or so) but it’ll soon be 3-years since I’ve had it (have the $$$ to get into a new-car but it’s more of want than a need and I enjoy not having a car-payment and having a much lower-insurance rate).
From reading an article or two on the web in the past, I got the sense that the leasing-vs-buying breakdown may come down to how long one keeps a car, w/ the longer one keeps-it then owning can often make more (financial) sense.
As I mentioned, I often bought cars based on TOC – now that I’m 51 I may start choosing a car more b/c it’s the type-car I want most vs what most makes sense – if I get something nice (for me) it’ll probably be somewhere in the $40K to $50K range and I can’t see spending that much for a car via buying it b/c w/ tech changing so fast and cars getting more-complicated and costly to fix, I don’t see myself holding on to a car for a long-time and w/o warranty – so if I get into something nice (for me) to treat-myself, vs something economical, I’ll either lease or maybe try to buy “lightly used” (3-years-max and under 45k-miles as @Shailynn described) – buying something lightly-used may mean I’ll be out of warranty but at least I’m not paying whole (new car) price – problem is in the past when I’ve looked, it seemed like 90% of used-cars were from dealers (unless I haven’t been looking at the right sites); and also used-cars have also gotten very-expensive in the last few years to where it seems there is not that much different b/w a “lightly used car” in good-shaped and a new car.
I’m not sure if I’ll actually get into a new car in the near future b/c I really “don’t need one” and I enjoy not having a car-payment and not paying thru the nose on insurance as in the case downhere in Miami – if I bought a new car it would mainly be so I can have some nice(r) but there are other things I can spend/invest my $$$ in that may make more sense for me right now – perhaps I’ll bide-my-time and if there’s an economic-downturn then I may make a move then if I can get a very-good-deal.
Manual transmission,are best anti-theft system in the US
Dealers have used the power of immediate gratification to encourage car sales through leases. The monthly payment is lower than if you purchased because you aren’t building equity.
From a purely financial standpoint, it’s always smarter to purchase a car and keep it for a long period of years. For most people, that’s not fun. They would rather go into debt and get the newest, shiniest piece of metal every 2 or 3 years. Leasing facilitates this.
The most common brand of vehicle owned by millionaires is Ford. That’s not a coincidence.
To answer your questions:
I am a car cash buyer kind of person. I get preowned cars that I like/want and the previous owners have treated them well, upgraded and customized and sell because have/want to, but want to make sure the car will go to a good home.
I of course have the cars inspected and make sure they are safe and sound.
Now I am set, for the time being, with 4 vehicles; mainly toys.
1. a daily driver sports sedan (lexus IS 300)
2. a Van (1975 Dodge Van customized as a vehicle designed to accommodate massive amounts of sex, drug and rock and roll)
3. a pickup truck (2000 Ford F-150 Harley Davidson Edition)
4. a convertible roadster from the Fatherland (Benz SL 550)
I use the truck sometimes to haul my 1949 Harley Davidson Panhead Chopper if my girl doesn’t want us to ride for a long trip, we only ride around at the destination, (Sturgis, Biketoberfest®, Daytona Bike Week)