How do you "value" your vehicles?

[TheLawnRanger]

You can afford a new car if you live with a family for free just for taking care of their kids.

 

[doublebase]

For me it’s a mix of emotion and maintenance. I like both the car and maintaining it, but it has to be reliable, because reliable is a huge part of my equation if I’m going to “like” the vehicle.

I track monthly mileage and all maintenance/repairs throughout the year on my notepad in my iPhone. I don’t expect any potential buyer to be interested in it when I sell it, it’s more for me to track how much I drive, how the vehicles handles those miles and to look back on when I did certain maintenance items. I used to own a car where it had a touch screen with little symbols representing oil changes, transmission service, coolant, tires, belts, hoses, etc....you’d enter that you serviced it, and then it would count down the miles on each service (so you could track it and know when to do it again). I loved that feature! Haven’t had a car like that since.

I also like vehicle longevity, I won’t keep a car long if I feel like it can’t go 200,000 plus miles without major issues.

 

[That John dude]

I just keep track of my maintenance logs in Fuelly. About $12k worth of work done to the Genesis in the last 10 months or so.

Thank god for extended warranties

SAME! We're having a new engine put in our 17 CX-9, as soon as it comes in (on back order).. I never bought extended warranty before this vehicle, but its gonna pay itself off for sure.

 

[1uz_4me]

I just keep track of my maintenance logs in Fuelly. About $12k worth of work done to the Genesis in the last 10 months or so.

Thank god for extended warranties

I use that app as well. My car is a 99 with 349k miles. I save receipts if there's a warranty on the part, otherwise the app keeps track of how long something lasts. No plans to get rid of the car so keeping track is almost for my entertainment

 

[Tomioka]

Whether the next issue or problem would be too costly for it's age and mileage of the vehicle.

After having a P0761 code come back for the third time on a 04 Lexus LS430 with 215,000mi we've made the decision to get rid of it. A transmission rebuild would exceed the value of the car as well as other pending issues that needed to be repaired.

 

[avacado11]

"New" does not equal lack of repairs, headaches, and expenses. One big reason that older cars are becoming so sought after is that a % of people reject the overly expensive complexity and LACK of reliability of some ultra modern tech laden vehicles. I've read plenty of angry forums and posts and blogs about new cars with recalls, transmissions that don't work, engine failure, etc.

correct. Guess not all new cars are trouble free. But Atleast you have a warranty.

my main thing regarding headaches is POs who don’t do things correctly. I don’t mind going in replacing a part here or there so long everything is in order. Mainly missing or over torqued bolts. Then comes POs habits that cause unusual wear. Nothing gets me more heated then when I do a repair and half the bolts are incorrect, seized, or stripped. I’m willing to pay a lot more to guarantee that everything is in its intended place. Not easy finding a car that is well kept. Most of these used cars on the market have all had irresponsible owners(knowingly or not). Off lease stuff is the worse.

 

[otis24]

Purchased a 1991 Chevy K1500 6 years ago. 4.3 V6 engine. About a $1500 truck, equal to the van I traded for it. Not counting oil, tires, battery (expendables common to all vehicles), I'm $2000 into it. Daily driver. Uses oil/smokes due to bad valve guides. Reliable as heck. $2000 /6 years= $333 per year (and still going strong). Pretty cheap transportation!

 

[wings&wheels]

I keep spreadsheets on my vehicles to observe costs/value, purchase price, maintenance logs, insurance costs, etc.

Some methods are price per mile, price per year, etc. based on cost versus time/miles used. Others might value a utility vehicle, like a van or truck based on credits per load or job utilized. For instance, a work van that allows one to do a $1000 job might be credited against the cost of the vechile/maintenance in your logs.
Others might just be toys so this isn't really applicable, or are they long-term investments or hobbies cheaper than coke and gambling?

Do you do something like this?

Heck no, I'd never own any of them....

 

[DweezilAZ]

Talk about spreadsheets, I did this on my F-150 when I bought it. Every maintenance item listed along with what I used, what I paid, and mileage when done. Eleven years later when I sold it, no one had any interest in the maintenance I had done. Now I have spasm3's attitude.

I would have and will pay a premium for a vehicle with that sort of documentation, Bud

 

[DweezilAZ]

"New" does not equal lack of repairs, headaches, and expenses. One big reason that older cars are becoming so sought after is that a % of people reject the overly expensive complexity and LACK of reliability of some ultra modern tech laden vehicles. I've read plenty of angry forums and posts and blogs about new cars with recalls, transmissions that don't work, engine failure, etc.

There it is, the truth nugget.
It would cost me $16-21,000 to replace what I have with the equivalent. It's an 05 ION 1. 77,000 miles. Immaculate. A dealer would "give" me $500 as a trade. My Mint accounting program updates real time value of it periodically and claims it's value is $3200 or so. I'll bet reality is $2000. And a quick sale at $1995.

Replacing like for like would never be financially wise, even if I have $1000 repair tomorrow. And again next month.

I used Old Cars Price Guide to ascertain value of the 86 Calais and 63 Valiant Signet for Hagerty insurance purposes.

 

[BrianF]

It depends. On my grand caravan Mormon van or my C1500, the value depends on how full the gas tank is.

 

[Malo83]

I tend to keep my vehicles, my 83 Silverado was bought new while on active duty, still my daily driver, 230K on the clock, I dare not sell or get rid of it or suffer the wrath of my 2 daughters. All my vehicles were bought new, never liked the idea of buying used. 2008 Malibu LTZ and my 2017 Buick Regal GS get all my attention, they are the garage queens while my poor truck sits out in the open. I am attached to all of them and would hate to get rid of any of them. They are all well maintained and cared for. Being retired I spend a lot of time in the garage.

 

[nomas]

" Country of origin of the component installed ..." Oh dear God .