Every time I start looking at cars I am just amazed at how expensive new cars are...

[JulesMaximus]

And then I look at my 6 year old Maxima with 83,000 miles on it and no car payment and all thoughts of buying a new car go flying right out the window.

 

[ElFenix]

there are only two real virtues in a car: it's paid for and it's never left me stranded. everything else is a luxury.

 

[jpeyton]

I bet your 6 year old Maxima is a relatively expensive proposition for someone who bikes/walks/rides public transportation.

 

[skyking]

I was getting my wife's car serviced today and stopped by the ford dealer next door to look at their wares. The hybrid Fusion did not plug in, even though it would go up to 47 MPH on electric alone. I was dissapoint.

 

[Fenixgoon]

I was getting my wife's car serviced today and stopped by the ford dealer next door to look at their wares. The hybrid Fusion did not plug in, even though it would go up to 47 MPH on electric alone. I was dissapoint.

the fusion hybrid is pretty impressive when you consider it is sized like a normal fusion (which is to say roomy) and doesn't have the standard egg shape and super narrow tires of a traditional hybrid.

 

[skyking]

the fusion hybrid is pretty impressive when you consider it is sized like a normal fusion (which is to say roomy) and doesn't have the standard egg shape and super narrow tires of a traditional hybrid.

I'm disappointed that they have the thing up to that level of performance, and yet it will be 2012 before they will get it out as a PHEV. They are getting 30~40 miles on cars with battery alone, and our commutes are way under that.

 

[BarneyFife]

And then I look at my 6 year old Maxima with 83,000 miles on it and no car payment and all thoughts of buying a new car go flying right out the window.

Amen. Cars are overpriced by at least 30%.

 

[boomerang]

Cars aren't going to get any cheaper. Government mandates alone guarantee that.

The longer you sit on the sidelines, the bigger the shock is going to be.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Cars aren't going to get any cheaper. Government mandates alone guarantee that.

The longer you sit on the sidelines, the bigger the shock is going to be.

Honestly, I just put new tires on my car so I'm going to wait at least 12 more months before I start thinking about buying a new car.

 

[Demo24]

eh, you pay to play. I doubt today's Maxima is a whole lot more than what yours was whenever you bought it, or at least when it was new. Today's also gets you a safer car, a much bigger car, more power, and perhaps more efficiency. I'd say many of the cars out there are fairly priced for what they offer these days. The one thing the US market does lack is super cheap small new cars.

 

[HannibalX]

And then I look at my 6 year old Maxima with 83,000 miles on it and no car payment and all thoughts of buying a new car go flying right out the window.

I agree. It seems like cars are becoming prohibitively expensive. I refuse to borrow money so for me to go drop 30k on new car would mean missing out on other more important things, like sending my son to a really great school.

Another thing I find surprising is how poorly people treat their cars. For instance, my daily driver is a 1996. Granted, in 1996 it was considered a premium car but I have kept it up and frankly it's a very nice used car right now, much nicer than many people's cars I know that are five-seven years old. People treat their cars like dirt and then complain when they break and have to fork over the cash for a new one, when if they just took a little better care of the one they had it would have served them for years to come.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I agree. It seems like cars are becoming prohibitively expensive. I refuse to borrow money so for me to go drop 30k on new car would mean missing out on other more important things, like sending my son to a really great school.

Another thing I find surprising is how poorly people treat their cars. For instance, my daily driver is a 1996. Granted, in 1996 it was considered a premium car but I have kept it up and frankly it's a very nice used car right now, much nicer than many people's cars I know that are five-seven years old. People treat their cars like dirt and then complain when they break and have to fork over the cash for a new one, when if they just took a little better care of the one they had it would have served them for years to come.

Funny you say that because my wife bitches every time I take my car in for service or spend ANY money on it. Then she complains when she takes her Lexus in and they say she needs $200-500 worth of preventative maintenance...Um, if you want your car to last and be reliable, you need to take care of it.

 

[JulesMaximus]

eh, you pay to play. I doubt today's Maxima is a whole lot more than what yours was whenever you bought it, or at least when it was new. Today's also gets you a safer car, a much bigger car, more power, and perhaps more efficiency. I'd say many of the cars out there are fairly priced for what they offer these days. The one thing the US market does lack is super cheap small new cars.

Actually, I think my car is faster than the latest Maxima.

 

[amdhunter]

Heh, I can't wait to pay more for a new car. As soon as the weather shows no more signs of Winter during the beginning of next year -- I will be in a brand new overpriced vehicle.

 

[HannibalX]

Funny you say that because my wife bitches every time I take my car in for service or spend ANY money on it. Then she complains when she takes her Lexus in and they say she needs $200-500 worth of preventative maintenance...Um, if you want your car to last and be reliable, you need to take care of it.

Yup, that's how it goes. Last winter I did all new shocks, bushing and links on my car as well as a new pitman arm (steering was getting a little lose). A friend at work laughed at me for dropping $500 on the car - but he has a $750/month car payment on his new Merc. My car, despite it's age is "tight" and drives like it's new. People don't get it, you have to spend money to keep them going.

 

[HannibalX]

Heh, I can't wait to pay more for a new car. As soon as the weather shows no more signs of Winter during the beginning of next year -- I will be in a brand new overpriced vehicle.

I'd rather spend the money on something fun like taking a vacation or doing something to my bike.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I'd rather spend the money on something fun like taking a vacation or doing something to my bike.

Same here...

Ducati, here I come!

 

[exdeath]

I need new Bilsteins and new tires. That's like $2000 there, for non-fun parts On top of if, as long as I'm there, I want to go a notch up in firmness too, which means new matching springs... blah blah blah... we all know how it goes.

Cold weather + rutted roads does a great job of reminding me about it every morning too. >:

Fortunately there aren't really any new cars that I really want. Both cars that interest me second to mine currently are the Supras and E46 M3s, both of which are out of production and can be had relatively cheaply used. I might have to find a beater truck for my job soon though.

 

[Zap]

I refuse to borrow money

Why? There isn't anything inherently wrong with borrowing money, and if done right can increase your credit rating. What if you had a life-threatening medical situation in the family that you can't afford? What if you want to buy a house - not many people keep a few hundred thousand on-hand. What if your son's "great school" was more expensive than you budgeted for?

The other thing is that you can make your money work for you. When I purchased my current car, I got in on a 0.9% APR deal. I had $10k ready for a down payment. They asked how much I was going to put down, and I replied, "how much is required?" They said that nothing was required at all, so I put nothing down. This did mean that my monthly payments are pretty high, but that's okay since I can budget for it. The next day I went to a bank and put that $10k in a CD for around 5%. I made more in the first year off that CD than what I'll pay in interest on my car loan for the duration of the loan. (of course CD rates plummeted after that )

 

[JulesMaximus]

Why? There isn't anything inherently wrong with borrowing money, and if done right can increase your credit rating. What if you had a life-threatening medical situation in the family that you can't afford? What if you want to buy a house - not many people keep a few hundred thousand on-hand. What if your son's "great school" was more expensive than you budgeted for?

The other thing is that you can make your money work for you. When I purchased my current car, I got in on a 0.9% APR deal. I had $10k ready for a down payment. They asked how much I was going to put down, and I replied, "how much is required?" They said that nothing was required at all, so I put nothing down. This did mean that my monthly payments are pretty high, but that's okay since I can budget for it. The next day I went to a bank and put that $10k in a CD for around 5%. I made more in the first year off that CD than what I'll pay in interest on my car loan for the duration of the loan. (of course CD rates plummeted after that )

I did the same when I bought my Maxima. $5,000 off MSRP on a brand new 2003 Nissan Maxima SE, only option was the power moonroof (it was a loss leader as the next gen Maxima was already in showrooms), plus I got 0.9% financing for 5 years. I put nothing down and my payment was $430/month. Paying cash would have been stupid quite frankly.

 

[StageLeft]

It really does surprise me how much money people are willing to put into cars, and so damn unnecessary. I think this as I drive in my 9 year old maxima with 131k miles

Cars do get nicer but despite being quite old now my maxima is still faster than the average family sedan, still larger, gets decent mileage, too.

Funny you say that because my wife bitches every time I take my car in for service or spend ANY money on it. Then she complains when she takes her Lexus in and they say she needs $200-500 worth of preventative maintenance...Um, if you want your car to last and be reliable, you need to take care of it.

This is not surprising. In her head it is now an old car that is "costing a ton to keep running". I cam within $1500 of replacing our Maxima this past January with an entry level Altima. Fvck me I'm glad that dealer was as stupid as me (not taking what I was asking for, and me being stupid for being there in the first place). 11 months later instead of $3300 in car payments I have spent just the cost of further depreciation on a car not worth even $5k to begin with, so I win. For what many pay each month on a car payment if they had the car paid off they could buy a new camera or laptop every damn month.

 

[rancherlee]

Why? There isn't anything inherently wrong with borrowing money, and if done right can increase your credit rating. What if you had a life-threatening medical situation in the family that you can't afford? What if you want to buy a house - not many people keep a few hundred thousand on-hand. What if your son's "great school" was more expensive than you budgeted for?

The other thing is that you can make your money work for you. When I purchased my current car, I got in on a 0.9% APR deal. I had $10k ready for a down payment. They asked how much I was going to put down, and I replied, "how much is required?" They said that nothing was required at all, so I put nothing down. This did mean that my monthly payments are pretty high, but that's okay since I can budget for it. The next day I went to a bank and put that $10k in a CD for around 5%. I made more in the first year off that CD than what I'll pay in interest on my car loan for the duration of the loan. (of course CD rates plummeted after that )

Exactly, I borrow money when they GIVE me free money. Anything less than ~4%APR is free money IMO. I usually have the cash in savings to pay for my purchases but Its hard to turn down a low APR.

 

[rh71]

Do what you like - if you're satisfied with an old car there's no reason to drop 30k on a new one unless it dies. On the other hand people get tired of the same thing after just 3 years. That's why they lease and have a perpetual car payment. I paid mine off right away and if I can keep it 8 years at least with minimal work, it will be cheaper than lease payments. I keep them a long time because I get attached.

 

[joutlaw]

My wife needs a new car pretty bad. We shuffle between our 2000 Mazda Millenia and 1994 Honda Accord. I drive a 2004 Silverado 4x4 on the weekends. The millenia needs tires, but frankly the car is in worse shape than the Accord that has twice the mileage at around 260K miles. We looked at cars for her CRVs, another Accord, etc... and it's hard to justify the expense.

While I agree that low APRs are nice, typically you can only get them on 36 month or less terms. That's fine, but if you finance 30K @ 36 months you are going to have a hefty note. We've become quite accustomed to being "noteless". My goal is to have 15K down and then buy. Even then it will be hard to essentially throw away 15K on something that will depreciate so rapidly. I'm cheap I suppose.

 

[amdhunter]

I'd rather spend the money on something fun like taking a vacation or doing something to my bike.

I'd rather do both.
I've been thinking of taking a solo trip somewhere.