“I need a new car because” blah blah blah thread

I should clarify that my original statement meant most of the people that use those excuses are folks I know that always complain how broke they are. I have no issues with buying a new car as often as someone wants to if you can afford it.
 
I should clarify that my original statement meant most of the people that use those excuses are folks I know that always complain how broke they are. I have no issues with buying a new car as often as someone wants to if you can afford it.
 
Buying a new car because your existing car needs regular maintenance is a foolish choice. If you can afford it then sure, go ahead. It seems too many end up stretching themselves thin because they have to have the latest and greatest. I worked with a guy like that.

We had to make this decision recently with our 2014 Jetta. The heater core ($$$) had just been replaced then A/C started going. Not only that but I had concern over potential timing chain issues. We were quoted over $2000 for the A/C issue, and even if that was fixed the timing chain was a $3000+ job looming over my head.

In our case it was time to move on, financially it seemed to be a good time and we have a bit more peace of mind. Not to mention more safety features on the new car for the wife and little one in the back seat!
 
I had a 2006 Nissan Sentra.
Great car,but
Had 206K miles
Needed front brakes and rotors
Needed struts all around.
And the drivers door stuck shut,couldnt open it.
I drive 21 miles each way to work on the NASCAR track called I70 in Denver.
All I worried about was breaking down in mad rush hour traffic.
Decided not to pour money into this car.
It still ran great and everything worked including the A/C.
So 2 years ago I got a 2018 Elantra GT.
Now all that concerns me is the boy racers slamming into me because they are so desperate to save 10 minutes on their commute.
And 10 miles of that drive east and west is under construction on a massive $1.3 billion remodel.
The speed limit is 55 MPH but most ignore it.
 
I had a 2006 Nissan Sentra.
Great car,but
Had 206K miles
Needed front brakes and rotors
Needed struts all around.
And the drivers door stuck shut,couldnt open it.
I drive 21 miles each way to work on the NASCAR track called I70 in Denver.
All I worried about was breaking down in mad rush hour traffic.
Decided not to pour money into this car.
It still ran great and everything worked including the A/C.
So 2 years ago I got a 2018 Elantra GT.
Now all that concerns me is the boy racers slamming into me because they are so desperate to save 10 minutes on their commute.
And 10 miles of that drive east and west is under construction on a massive $1.3 billion remodel.
The speed limit is 55 MPH but most ignore it.
on the bright side, you could have gotten out of the driver’s side like a NASCAR driver if you had broken down on 70 ...
 
To each, their own. I got no problem dumping money on old cars that are long paid for for the heck of it; none of them are giving me problems, but nothing wrong with modifications either if "entertainment" is ultimately the motive. Even then, rarely does it exceed $10,000.

There aren't that many new cars that appeal to me, and the one vehicle that does comes up to $82,000 when I price it how I want it. When everything's said and done, I think $50,000 in cash is a rather generous budget for a new car if I needed one; another $32,000 on top of it, I feel, is excessive for something that's going to be driven around daily. It doesn't take much for some buffoon to "accidently" push a shopping cart into it at your local Walmart when you're out running errands. Of your stupid coworker to fling their door open and scratch and dent your fender. No matter how well you baby it, those circumstances are ultimately out of your control. I'm not going to take out financing for a car that's going to depreciate the moment I drive it off the showroom floor; I'm better off putting that money towards a house and lowering the mortgage rate.

Unless driving a brand new vehicle off the lot is of utmost significance in line, you're probably better off buying one with a couple thousand clicks on it so someone else eats the depreciation while you still get a newish vehicle. YMMV.
 
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Everybody’s mechanical skill, financials, family situation, comfort level, discipline, frugality, etc is different. How many people here buy a new dishwasher when the seals break or the control board goes out? To many cars are just appliances - especially to the folks who don’t maintain them and when they bring them in have a laundry list of $4000 in needed work (deferred maintenance).
 
No new vehicles for me. The simple truth is that a new car is of little significance to me and I realize it doesn't make me happy.

Way, WAY more fun to be had elsewhere with that much money than there's had to be on my daily commute in a new car. A new vehicle won't improve my quality of life in the least bit.
 
There are a few car related websites on Reddit. A common question there is from people that can just barely afford a payment on a car they don't enjoy driving and want to change that has negative equity. Many of these folks have the attitude that they might as well continue with another less than smart financial decisions to drive a car they think they will like better rather than suffering the agony of driving a car they don't enjoy.

These are the folks that keeps car manufacturers churning on with new models, new features, longer financing plans and ever higher prices. Its good work if you can get it.
 
A common question there is from people that can just barely afford a payment on a car they don't enjoy driving and want to change that has negative equity. Many of these folks have the attitude that they might as well continue with another less than smart financial decisions to drive a car they think they will like better rather than suffering the agony of driving a car they don't enjoy.
I have worked with a few of these people. I consider it a failure of education that awards High School diplomas without teaching personal finance.
Of course there will be those who spend regardless, but let's give people a fighting chance.

Just my 2 cents...
 
I have worked with a few of these people. I consider it a failure of education that awards High School diplomas without teaching personal finance.
Of course there will be those who spend regardless, but let's give people a fighting chance.

Just my 2 cents...
Yes I agree. Personal Finance is a required class here in Virginia now to graduate even with a standard diploma. It was a class I actually enjoyed pretty well and it taught me to save for retirement early too.
 
If someone gets rid of a car they like just because it needs brakes or tires, that's dumb, but if the real reason is they want a different car and the one they have now will need money spent on brakes and tires, that makes sense. I'm generally not going to spend a lot of money on something I would like to just replace anyway.
I think the point is that those people are lying to themselves and others about their excuse/ reasoning for trading in.

These people exist to take the depreciation hit for the savvy 2nd hand buyers, but will do poorly at accumulating wealth. Buying habits like these probably aren't just for cars.
 
It is harder to keep a vehicle long term than some people think. I'm talking over 200,000 miles and keeping it as your daily driver with a decent commute. But I love high mileage stories and always intend on keeping my cars long term, but it is some work.

I kept a Honda Accord all the way till 289,000 miles once - bought it new - and just kept it going. Not easy though - had to replace the steering rack, almost every piece of the suspension (three times front and back), rack and pinion, Charcoal canister (twice), gas tank, exhaust (twice), brake and fuel lines (twice), multiple sensors multiple times, subframe (actually rotted out), countless tires and brakes, axles, batteries, engine mounts (twice), radiator, radio, half the knobs and buttons on the interior were broken, paint was faded, steering wheel shimmied, engine would stall at idle.
Wanted to get it to 300,000 but it was just too much and not something I trusted anymore as a daily. Once (or twice) the calipers stuck on the highway...darn thing smoked all the way home. Probably should have mentioned that I replaced that calipers (three times). Lol.
 
Funny you mention that. Just today, I had a coworker telling me she's looking to replace her '16 Edge SEL with 31,000 miles on the odometer, because she's had it "long enough" (she's the original owner).

I thought she was going to replace it with something new, but no...she's looking at 2016-2018 Land Rover Discoveries and Mercedes-Benz CLK 250s with higher mileage than her Edge. I'll never understand it.
 
I think the point is that those people are lying to themselves and others about their excuse/ reasoning for trading in.

These people exist to take the depreciation hit for the savvy 2nd hand buyers, but will do poorly at accumulating wealth. Buying habits like these probably aren't just for cars.

I think we have to be careful in making too many generalizations. There are a lot of people that lease, and that's just dumping money into a black hole in the minds of many. I've had quite a few vehicles recently, lost money on some, made money on one of them (Charger).

I know somebody who used to trade-out their Sea-doos and ski boats every couple of years, I assume lost money on them every time. Their net worth is in the billions. My boss upgrades his and his wife's vehicles every few years, trades them, buys new. We have a member that just traded his Ferrari in on a new one, I don't think he's done poorly at accumulating wealth.... 🤷‍♂️

I know quite a few guys that have done extremely well in real estate and trade-out their vehicles regularly, likely taking a bath but have accumulated massive amounts of wealth.
 
It is harder to keep a vehicle long term than some people think. I'm talking over 200,000 miles and keeping it as your daily driver with a decent commute. But I love high mileage stories and always intend on keeping my cars long term, but it is some work.

I kept a Honda Accord all the way till 289,000 miles once - bought it new - and just kept it going. Not easy though - had to replace the steering rack, almost every piece of the suspension (three times front and back), rack and pinion, Charcoal canister (twice), gas tank, exhaust (twice), brake and fuel lines (twice), multiple sensors multiple times, subframe (actually rotted out), countless tires and brakes, axles, batteries, engine mounts (twice), radiator, radio, half the knobs and buttons on the interior were broken, paint was faded, steering wheel shimmied, engine would stall at idle.
Wanted to get it to 300,000 but it was just too much and not something I trusted anymore as a daily. Once (or twice) the calipers stuck on the highway...darn thing smoked all the way home. Probably should have mentioned that I replaced that calipers (three times). Lol.
That's why I keep records on things, in Excel, at least I can calculate the running costs. If were to find myself hitting enough repairs to equal a payment, then it might be a good argument to just buy new--not that I've hit that (well once when I had my VW!) but you get the idea, without quantification one is just waving hands about.

I should add the amount of time spent doing repairs, or looking up things. If I had to cost out my time, that might alter things.
 
I wanted to keep my Sorento, I really did, despite the fact that it needed probably $2k in "it's got about 150k miles, it needs things replaced" work.

Life circumstances forced me into buying a new vehicle, it's a long story and not one I want to tell publicly. Otherwise I'd still happily be driving my Sorento and enjoying my lack of car payment. Oh well. Hopefully circumstances are better when the CX-5 is paid off.
 
People have their own reasons for getting rid of their vehicles even though it may not make sense to others but that’s their business. Many people don’t look after their vehicles ( I talk to people about their cars ) and it’s no surprise to me they lose confidence ( and interest ....car is dirty, not in great mechanical shape due to neglect ) in the reliability or feel they are wasting money on them versus buying another vehicle. Many people have issues with “higher milage“ vehicles too.

I live in a condo and you would be surprised how many times I hear really loud squeaky noises when people open their car doors because they never lubricate them ( and drive on bald tires ).

I have always been a super high milage ( over 50K per year ) driver and keep my cars well past 300K and so far it’s been a lot cheaper owning cars this way and they have been exceptionally reliable ( would get rid of any car that is unreliable or unsafe ....severe rust ).

The car enthusiast part of me always wants a new car ( another brand ) but the older I get the less I have to fight that urge.

Debt free means more to me ( or wasting money paying cash for those who have $ under their mattresses ) at this stage.
 
I see people mention car payments...
Someone once suggested making payments to yourself while driving what you have.
Then go get the car you want (need?) with a killer down or even cash.

One way or other you gotta pay the man...
Perhaps ask yourself, who is the man?
Good luck!
 
I see people mention car payments...
Someone once suggested making payments to yourself while driving what you have.
Then go get the car you want (need?) with a killer down or even cash.

One way or other you gotta pay the man...
Perhaps ask yourself, who is the man?
Good luck!

There is a time when a CAR DOES NEED TO BE REPLACED. And saving money towards a new or "new to you|" car is a great idea-sinking money in to an old money pit one isn't. And old cars never break down when it's convenient....do they?
If you buy new-drive 12,000 miles a year-finance for 5 years=60,000 miles at completion of loan. Then-save again for another 5 years=120,000 miles.

That's the ideal situation for replacement. Then you can drive the one you bought new until it gives you enough of a headache to where you wish to replace it.

I'm going to trade in my Silverado once I hit $30,000 in equity. Then I'm buying a new F150-the payments will be the same. This is a WANT not a NEED.
 
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