It's way cheaper to restore your car than to buy a new one.

[Thogey]

My wife is driving a 2002 Honda oddessy. It's running good but it's time to stat thinking about a new vehicle.

But wait, A similar vehicle is over 40K!

To buy a $40K vehicle it costs $4,000 in sales tax $600 in reg fees $2500 dealer's profit/immediate driveoff depreciation.

That's over $7000, not to mention financing and insurance increases!

I could almost buy a new engine, reupholster and paint for that.

To top it off insurance and yearly title fees would stay much lower.

She likes her car anyway. Where is my argument flawed?

[barrytrot]

I don't think anyone would argue against that.

New vehicles are for the joy of owning a new car. Some like this, others don't

If that doesn't equal $7,000 then don't do it. Plain and simple.

[Lemon Thrower]

I think OP's figures are a bit off.

also, there are other things to consider - its not always black and white.

first, what is your sales tax rate - 10%?

registration fees - these are generally the same, whether you buy new or re-register the old car.

dealer profit - you probably underestimate this, but you could avoid by buying a 1-3 year old car. of course, those are harder to find and depending on how narrow your wants are $2500 is a reasonable cost for buying new, especially considering the warranty, the fact that it was no abused, etc.

older cars - my wife's SUV hit 150,000 and we sold it and got a new one. it was starting to have quirks with the ignition system, always killing batteries. we replaced the battery, alternator, cables, starter, etc. you end up replacing a lot of stuff - shocks, timing belt, AC compressor, etc. and there is both a financial and mental cost to this. there are also little things you endure, such as our AC in the rear not working, etc.

a car today might be able to go 150, 200, maybe more. it all depends, and even if you take care of it well there are no guarantees.

when we bought new a year ago, there were no good deals on vehicles that were 1-3 years old. if you could find one, it was high mileage or overpriced. Also, i'm worried about hyperinflation eventually making imports rise. I locked in 0.9 financing and didn't have to shorten my stack to get the car.

[rsk1963]

It's also all about when you purchase

2 years ago I bought a gas sipper with 14, 1-4 miles on it for 42% off of what they wanted to sell it for, simply by waiting till end of season, when new models were coming out, then calling around to the local dealerships that had similar models (packages), we started in the "sticker range" but after 40 minutes & three rounds of phone calls to all the dealerships that had what I wanted (6 of them), I had knocked them down to a much more reasonable price range, they were only knocking off a 100 or so at a time by the time I was done.

Blue book on it is still above what I paid, with 25,000 miles on it.

[68Camaro]

There are too many variables to have a pat answer, but Honda's will usually run many hundreds of thousands of miles with standard maintenance and repair and still be relatively dependable. My daughter has my 2002 Acura with nearly 200k on it and it's still strong. I wouldn't want her driving it otherwise and I've already told her that she's better off replacing the engine (if it came to that) than looking for another car.

[Thogey]

I think OP's figures are a bit off.

also, there are other things to consider - its not always black and white.

first, what is your sales tax rate - 10%?

registration fees - these are generally the same, whether you buy new or re-register the old car.

dealer profit - you probably underestimate this, but you could avoid by buying a 1-3 year old car. of course, those are harder to find and depending on how narrow your wants are $2500 is a reasonable cost for buying new, especially considering the warranty, the fact that it was no abused, etc.

older cars - my wife's SUV hit 150,000 and we sold it and got a new one. it was starting to have quirks with the ignition system, always killing batteries. we replaced the battery, alternator, cables, starter, etc. you end up replacing a lot of stuff - shocks, timing belt, AC compressor, etc. and there is both a financial and mental cost to this. there are also little things you endure, such as our AC in the rear not working, etc.


a car today might be able to go 150, 200, maybe more. it all depends, and even if you take care of it well there are no guarantees.

when we bought new a year ago, there were no good deals on vehicles that were 1-3 years old. if you could find one, it was high mileage or overpriced. Also, i'm worried about hyperinflation eventually making imports rise. I locked in 0.9 financing and didn't have to shorten my stack to get the car.

Sales tax in Prescott 9.68%

Registration fees are based on the vehicles value it costs $600 to register a $40,000 car.

Dealer profit is not underestimated, a 2 pounder for this kind of car is not uncommon.

[fasteddy]

Hey thogey, if you still have the original transmission filter in that Odessy and are close or over 200k start looking for anudder vehicle....those Odessy transmission dont last much longer than that without a filter and fluid change.

[Thogey]

Hey thogey, if you still have the original transmission filter in that Odessy and are close or over 200k start looking for anudder vehicle....those Odessy transmission dont last much longer than that without a filter and fluid change.

We changed all that at 100K the vehicle has about 140K on it.

[Rodebaugh]

Here is how I look at it Eric.....Comes down to 2 things:

-Dependability
Is it dependable? Can you drive it 8hrs in a day if need be with minimal to no concern? (this is a yes or no answer) If no, then you need a new ride. If yes, then roll on.

-Cost
Is it cheaper to maintain my current vehicle (parts, payment, insurance)? Or is it costing more and more as time goes on? I look at a 6month average and evaluate vs new vehicle.

[IdahoCopper]

I buy late 80s Mercedes diesels with less than 200k on them. Then I drive them to 300k - 350k and sell them to buy another. Those MB diesels last forever on normal maintenance and the 300 series are solid as a tank. I did get a turbodiesel 190D for its better mileage, but its not as solid.

[Lemon Thrower]

I think OP's figures are a bit off.

also, there are other things to consider - its not always black and white.

first, what is your sales tax rate - 10%?

registration fees - these are generally the same, whether you buy new or re-register the old car.

dealer profit - you probably underestimate this, but you could avoid by buying a 1-3 year old car. of course, those are harder to find and depending on how narrow your wants are $2500 is a reasonable cost for buying new, especially considering the warranty, the fact that it was no abused, etc.

older cars - my wife's SUV hit 150,000 and we sold it and got a new one. it was starting to have quirks with the ignition system, always killing batteries. we replaced the battery, alternator, cables, starter, etc. you end up replacing a lot of stuff - shocks, timing belt, AC compressor, etc. and there is both a financial and mental cost to this. there are also little things you endure, such as our AC in the rear not working, etc.


a car today might be able to go 150, 200, maybe more. it all depends, and even if you take care of it well there are no guarantees.

when we bought new a year ago, there were no good deals on vehicles that were 1-3 years old. if you could find one, it was high mileage or overpriced. Also, i'm worried about hyperinflation eventually making imports rise. I locked in 0.9 financing and didn't have to shorten my stack to get the car.

Sales tax in Prescott 9.68%

Registration fees are based on the vehicles value it costs $600 to register a $40,000 car.

Dealer profit is not underestimated, a 2 pounder for this kind of car is not uncommon.

well you pay sales tax on used cars too, as well as registration fees.

it boils down to whether you value a car that is expensive or not. i mean, tuna fish is cheaper than caviar, so that would be a short thread.

sure you'll save money by driving a 30-year old car. and if you live in Prescott you need to avoid new because apparrently the taxes are ridiculously high.

the average person puts 15,000 miles on a car. So set a goal of keeping a car for 10 years. If you buy a 40,000 car, keep it for 10 years, and sell it for 10,000, that is 30/10 - 3000 a year cost. a high quality japanese SUV will need modest maintenance costs over those first 10 years. Or you could buy a beater with 200K on it for 6000, have it last 2 years, and put 2000 a year into it.

a better way would be to buy it 2 years old for 30, and keep it for 8 years, which is 2500/year.

[Engineer]

Cars take a big drop in value at 15 years when banks don't want to lend on them any more. I'm ok with 15 year old cars, and look for lower mileage ones in good shape. The last one I bought was $2500, and the only thing wrong with it was a cracked leather interior. I bought a non-running junker with a nice interior for $300, swapped the seats and trim out, got a pile of replacement parts plus a set of winter rims, then sold the junker to the scrap yard for $200. Total investment $2600 for a car I expect to last another 100K.

It's not as nice as a brand new one, but it's not bad, either.

[Morsecode]

Like most of us, I've had New and I've had Junks. In a junk phase presently. Fits my current use, which is maybe 5000 miles/year. When it eventually blows up I'll enter the new car phase again (or late model used)

[shinnosuke]

I vowed to never buy new again and I don't trust dealers. Mrs. shinnosuke agrees. Long ago someone told me: New cars are for stupid people to buy so smart people will have used cars to buy. So we buy used, usually at CarMax.

My plan to get a new car is wait until the grocery stores are suddenly empty and trade a can of wet-pack beans for a brand new Escalade...just kidding...I would get a Viper.

[barrytrot]

Like most of us, I've had New and I've had Junks. In a junk phase presently. Fits my current use, which is maybe 5000 miles/year. When it eventually blows up I'll enter the new car phase again (or late model used)

At 5k per year your time to blow-up is probably longer than gas will be available

[Morsecode]

One of the benefits of having a 200 yard commute to work

I'd walk it, of course...but I have to bring a cooler filled with ice.

[rickygee]

On those higher mileage vehicles don't neglect that front suspension. Can get a might expensive, but safety demands worn parts be replaced. Brake lines, metal and rubber, also need a close inspection/replacement. Had a line rust thru on an old Plymouth Fury back in the day, exciting to say the least.

[Engineer]

My arch-nemesis is heater cores. I don't even want to count how many I've replaced over the years.