New car vs. used car.

[Clevy]

Originally Posted By: asand1
I bought My Maxima for $1,600 cash about 6 years ago. I've put about 100,000 miles on it since then (315,000+ now). I've spent under $200/year in maintenance/repairs. Registration is $67/2 years. It still rides/drives/sounds/runs like new and uses no oil. With Craigslist and mechanical aptitude you can save ALOT over a new purchase.



You've definitely gotten your money's worth out of that one. As long as you don't get some kind transmission problem it shouldn't cost more than nickels and dimes to keep it going.

 

[zzyzzx]

Originally Posted By: dishdude
I either buy new or a beater - I just have a hard time finding value and justifying anything in between. I've tried, but after crunching the numbers it just never made sense to me.



Originally Posted By: dishdude
Originally Posted By: stchman
Isn't knowing that your vehicle's maintenance is known from day one worth something?


YES! And the discount in a 2-5 year old car just isn't enough to make up for that.


+1 for the above comments!


Originally Posted By: dishdude
Originally Posted By: jcwit
Not all used cars are traded in, one of mine that I bought a year ago was for sale because the previous owner was shot in the head.

BTW, I paid cash, and no debt.


I hope he wasn't in the car at the time.


Why not? The car would have sold for less if so.




Originally Posted By: eljefino
It is, mechanically, falling to bits fairly quickly. Both lower control arm bushings conked out; fine. But the captive nuts in the frame busted loose and I had to sawzall my way in, cutting right through those huge bolts, to cobble a solution.


Improper tool for the job. An angle grinder would have worked way better.

 

[stchman]

Originally Posted By: asand1
I bought My Maxima for $1,600 cash about 6 years ago. I've put about 100,000 miles on it since then (315,000+ now). I've spent under $200/year in maintenance/repairs. Registration is $67/2 years. It still rides/drives/sounds/runs like new and uses no oil. With Craigslist and mechanical aptitude you can save ALOT over a new purchase.


Unfortunately this is NOT the norm when buying a used car with over 200K miles on it.

Originally Posted By: itguy08
Originally Posted By: stchman

Slightly lower property taxes from a 1-2 year old car I can see.

As far as lower insurance, a 1-2 year old car isn't going to save you much on insurance. When I bought my 2013 Silverado it costed me ~$30 a year more in mt full coverage insurance, hardly an increase worth talking about.


I am so glad our state has none of these ridiculous property taxes on vehicles nonsense!

The insurance thing - yeah - the rates are not that bad at all on new. Wife just replaced her 03 Escape with a 16 Escape. Our rates jumped $100 a year. Yes, we had full coverage on the old car. Insurance rates are funny - I pay more for full coverage on my F150 than I do for the Taurus SHO .


I love it when people from states that have no property taxes talk about how good they have it. Do people think that a state is going to charge less just out of the goodness of their heart, think again.

I live in Missouri and we have personal property tax on vehicles, Illinois does not. The thing is, Illinois real estate taxes are MUCH higher than Missouri's, so they get you one way or another.