Dang, so you should be making $500k to buy a M3

[dasherHampton]

lol - that is classic.

 

[snoopy7548]

I didn't read the article but in a way it makes sense. We're conditioned to upgrade our cars every few years while putting down as little as possible, and that it's OK to roll your negative equity into the next loan. Before you know it, you're paying $500/month for 72 months for a two year old Honda Civic, but you need a new car in two years because you're having a baby or getting a dog.

Rather than limit what car you can buy by salary (you have to make $200k to buy a Honda Civic?), you should limit what car you can buy by how much money you have saved up. If you have $15k sitting in a savings account, you can buy a $15k car.

But the average person certainly does not have $15k just sitting around.

 

[dasherHampton]

I agree in principle.

My thought is slightly different: You should only buy a car that you can afford to finance $10,000 on. If you have $15,000 to spend on a car you can get a $25,000 vehicle. If you have $2000 to spend your can get a $12,000 car, and so on.

This allows a person to get a vehicle that is generally much nicer and frequently more reliable. Certainly one with less miles that will last longer.

But I would never finance more that $10,000.

 

[Scarpozzi]

It totally depends on how often you buy cars. I like to depreciate cars out 8-10 years....so I basically expect to use them that long before they "wear out". When I calculate the actual cost of financing a car, I look at the number of use years...then divide the cost of the car by that number to figure out annual cost before maintenance. I do this for both new and used cars because my usage is what matters, not the age or mileage of the vehicle. This helps me justify a nicer car by simply adding another year or two of mandatory use on it....or a cheaper car by simply not putting miles on it and knowing it will last 15 years. I have a 10 year old truck with 35k miles on it and an 8 year old SUV with 70k miles on it....I probably have 15 years of usage left on both of those realistically because both are in great shape.

I never worry about how much a car will sell for when I buy it. I don't factor that in because I'm buying cars to drive....not sell.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I always go used. Can't justify the cost of a new car even if I could technically afford it. Interestingly I do fall in the "3-5 year old economy car" category. Cars depreciate too fast, not only financially, but functionally. They rust, they break down etc. If I'm going to spend 30k+ on something it needs to be something that will last practically my life time. I rather pay 5k for used and keep it for 5-10 years... though I kinda made an exception to that recently, paid around 14k for a used truck. Hopefully it last's me at least 10 years. That has utility value in addition to transportation though so I was willing to pay the premium for that. I always have stuff to haul around etc.

I really want an EV and wish they would start to become standard instead of niche. An EV truck would be awesome. But they just arn't producing them and when they do they are a niche thing so not really any on the used market at least not in my area.

 

[nakedfrog]

First, a $6200 car is going to be something with 150K+ miles and 15 years old, so you're going to spend $1000+ a year to keep the thing running.

Having bought quite a few cars under $6200 in the last 20 years, this definitely does not align with my experience.
Maybe it applies if one has bad luck or doesn't believe in vehicle maintenance.

 

[EliteRetard]

*snip*

These have never failed me. Right now my wife is driving a $63K Audi A6 TDI that we picked up with 28K miles for $17900. We traded in a POS van we've had forever and knocked $2K off of that, then were offered a 1.9% loan. We're making 2.9% in our saving account, so instead of paying cash we took a 2 year loan on it. I'm in a BMW right now and did something similar. Great cars for less than the price of a new Kia

Not quite, you can get a brand new Hyundai Accent under $15k out the door (tax/title etc).
Compared to the absolute garbage used cars in the $10-15k range here, why not get brand new fully loaded w/ 10yr warranty.
Even if it was thrown away the second the warranty was up, that's only $125/month (almost exactly 10% of my income).
It's reliable (up to a million miles on original powertrain), fuel efficient, and very low cost to maintain (ex: $20 for a transmission drain/fill).
It's actually better than much more expensive Honda and Toyota equivalents, which have had severe issues with engines/transmissions/electronics.
Certainly they do cut some corners, and they look budget, but my 20yrs experience with Hyundai only issues were the vanity items like paint/carpet.
Honestly I think the reason Hyundai has a bad rap is that people treat them like shit because they're cheap, abuse and poor maintenance will ruin any car.

 

[Fritzo]

Having bought quite a few cars under $6200 in the last 20 years, this definitely does not align with my experience.
Maybe it applies if one has bad luck or doesn't believe in vehicle maintenance.

At that milage, you're going to need tires, brakes, timing chain, belts, alternator, master cylinder, water pump, and possibly hoses at some point. If you can't do your own work or don't have room, you're going to get screwed at a garage to do that stuff.

 

[nakedfrog]

At that milage, you're going to need tires, brakes, timing chain, belts, alternator, master cylinder, water pump, and possibly hoses at some point. If you can't do your own work or don't have room, you're going to get screwed at a garage to do that stuff.

I'm aware of what vehicle maintenance entails, and I stand firm based on owning many vehicles that fit that profile. Heck, my older kid needed a car on short notice a couple years ago and I found her a '97 Toyota Avalon with 274k on it for $800 (at a dealership no less), and in two years all she did was replace a couple tires before she bought something nicer.

 

[rstrohkirch]

At that milage, you're going to need tires, brakes, timing chain, belts, alternator, master cylinder, water pump, and possibly hoses at some point. If you can't do your own work or don't have room, you're going to get screwed at a garage to do that stuff.

I think you're a bit high on your mileage estimate. Auto Trader is showing 675 used sedans/hatches in a 50mi radius and a $6k price point shows 75 of those at 100k or less miles. Manual search shows a good many at 100-110k mi. So I would say in my area 6k will get you a car with 40-50k less miles than you mentioned earlier in the thread. 150k miles seems to be vehicles at the $2.5k to $3k price point.

 

[Fritzo]

Not quite, you can get a brand new Hyundai Accent under $15k out the door (tax/title etc).
Compared to the absolute garbage used cars in the $10-15k range here, why not get brand new fully loaded w/ 10yr warranty.
Even if it was thrown away the second the warranty was up, that's only $125/month (almost exactly 10% of my income).
It's reliable (up to a million miles on original powertrain), fuel efficient, and very low cost to maintain (ex: $20 for a transmission drain/fill).
It's actually better than much more expensive Honda and Toyota equivalents, which have had severe issues with engines/transmissions/electronics.
Certainly they do cut some corners, and they look budget, but my 20yrs experience with Hyundai only issues were the vanity items like paint/carpet.
Honestly I think the reason Hyundai has a bad rap is that people treat them like shit because they're cheap, abuse and poor maintenance will ruin any car.

Hyundai's have come a long way (Kia as well) in making decent vehicles now, but they have brand damage and therefore are selling their products for below market value. There's a stigma to the brands that I'm not sure will ever go away, but I'll never fault anyone for driving a 2013+ Hyundai or Kia.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Even if you did end up putting 1k per year into a used car it's still cheaper in the long run than if you bought new. After 10 years, the new car is going to start needing all that stuff done to it too. My two last cars I paid around 5k for, and I put around 1k into them maybe every 2-3 years in average. Unfortunately my last car died like a week after I put like $700 into it so that was a bummer, but even so, that car served me well and cost me next to nothing compared to if I bought new. By the time all the taxes, options (lot of stuff you NEED but is not there by default, like block heater etc... it adds up) and other fees get tacked on you're usually looking at a good 30k for a brand new car. Trucks are even worse, you're looking at like 60-80k. You can almost buy a small house for that.

 

[pete6032]

Having bought quite a few cars under $6200 in the last 20 years, this definitely does not align with my experience.
Maybe it applies if one has bad luck or doesn't believe in vehicle maintenance.

agree

 

[brianmanahan]

When I graduated school and got my first job making $48k/yr, I wanted an M3 SSSOOOOOO bad

because you were jealous of alky?

i know i was

 

[highland145]

because you were jealous of alky?

i know i was

Damned tutu is way cheaper than alky or a high maintenance auto.

 

[brianmanahan]

i did drive a $4000 civic for almost a decade before getting a nicer car

 

[highland145]

i did drive a $4000 civic for almost a decade before getting a nicer car

WTH is wrong with a functioning civic?

other that being a super model magnet.

 

[brianmanahan]

WTH is wrong with a functioning civic?

other that being a super model magnet.

started getting too hard to get the engine lights to stay off

at almost 300k miles things start to get a little creaky

 

[highland145]

started getting too hard to get the engine lights to stay off

at almost 300k miles things start to get a little creaky

Just broke in, imo.

 

[brianmanahan]

Just broke in, imo.

LOL i do see the occasional article about guys who ran theirs to 500k or more

not for me, i'm fine with buying something new-ish every 10 years

 

[highland145]

LOL i do see the occasional article about guys who ran theirs to 500k or more

not for me, i'm fine with buying something new-ish every 10 years

Driving it until problems. The last, 1990 Prelude, 200k miles. AC quit....for the 3rd time Current, 2010 Tacoma, 87K miles, could be the last I ever buy. That's old people speak.

 

[Red Squirrel]

A stock M3 is meh. A Tesla is where it's at now. What I want is to buy an M3 and a Tesla. Strip the M3 and the Tesla, and put the guts of the Tesla in the M3 and put in a big turbo just for show, it has to like stick right out of the hood. Basically end up with a really expensive M3 that has insane acceleration, does not rely on gas, and has no turn signals. Visibility would be crap because the turbo would block most of my view but worth it if you're a baller like me. That would be my bush car. I'd get a higher end model Tesla for in town. The acceleration of an EV is important for when I'm driving between all of your mom's houses at night.

 

[theeedude]

Apparently I am driving way too cheap of a car for my income. I just like not giving a shit about it. Just change oil, brakes, and tires. Park it on the street if someone scratches it or whatever, I don't really care, just touch it up.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

This is a phenomenally stupid rule. If for no other reason than if people followed it, there would be no used cars to buy. Also, it's so absurd on its face that whoever came up with it obviously doesn't understand how people use cars or why. Dorkus probably doesn't even drive.

Personally I'm a fan of the "rule of sixths" for monthly expenditures. 1/6th on transportation, 2/6th on housing, 1/6th on food, 1/6th on other monthly bills (phone bill, utilities, etc.) and 1/6th on recreation. You can tweak the numbers a bit to suit your situation, (i.e. spending more on rent to get into a place that has certain amenities or that is closer to work, which could save you money elsewhere) but it's a good starting point.

Even if your income is fairly modest, you can still probably work a car payment on something not-too-crappy into the budget.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Making M4 money while driving a 3cyl Ford Focus - such is life.........