The "it's not worth it" mentality

[Norm Olt]

Originally Posted By: HerrStig
They are easier to work on, and the taxman here doesn't whack you for owning one. $70.00 per thousand, PER YEAR property tax in one North East City. I'm not interested in owning a rolling box of electronics, just a car. You'd be amazed at the number of folks who have to park their 'Imimpressedomobile because the miles allowance is up but the lease has three months to run. Looks good in the driveway, though, and the salesman will "roll it all in" for you on the next one. I'm more proud of the fact than my kid is out of college not owing a DIME.


What? A "yearly 7%" CITY personal property tax?

What is it on? Just motor vehicles? TV's and lawn mowers?

"Let me tell you how it will be:
There's one for you, nineteen for me!"

Cheers (NOT!!!!!)

p.s. Check out the comparo test in the latest R&T between an Audi A7 & a Lexus GS350F Sport that they LOADED UP with almost $13K worth of what I call "u$ele$$ junk" so there was only a 1.8 point differential in the "PRICE-SENSITIVE STANDINGS"...

 

[demarpaint]

I feel the same way as the OP, but in every vehicles life there comes a point where "it's just not worth it". That can be for any number of reasons, in the case of my Aerostar NY roads and salt took their toll. A busted windshield, beat suspension from pot holes, parking lot damage have me thinking "its just not worth it". Anything more than $200 in repairs will send it to the junkyard. I still maintain it, and keep it safe, but in about 10,000 miles it will need tires and it will be time to say goodbye.

Having said that I'm hoping I feel confident enough in the Pentastar engine and buy the 2013 Rubicon I want. At that point the Aerostar will be out of my fleet. If not used tires might be in the cards. lol

 

[TFB1]

Originally Posted By: IndyIan
It's funny, I look at most new cars and think "it's not worth it"

Same here...

In 45+ years of vehicle ownership I've never bought new and only had payment books on four... Two of those are out in the garage with one still having a years worth of payments, the second was paid off in 1975... The others(137 at last count)were one payment models that probably needed work cause the previous owner said it wasn't worth it, many of those I resold at a profit...

 

[VicVinegar]

My 12 year old Civic has 186k on it. I'm slowly building up to trying to DIY more things on it. For the last 10 years (since I've owned it), it hasn't needed much of anything besides fluids, brakes, and tires. This year it needed some things replaced, but at this age, some things will begin to go. I drive a lot for my commute, the roads in this area are punishing, and most days I am amazed I don't get hit (if you've driven the DC Beltway recently, you'd know why). Plus Virginia has personal property tax, which for me, takes the allure away of having a shiny, new vehicle worth $35k on the garage. I'd probably get rid of it once it starts stranding me places.

Plus, as some others pointed out, I am pretty disappointed that just about every vehicle these days has a high beltline and is relatively "huge" looking compared to a decade ago. I had a new Ford Taurus parked next to me in the parking garage the other day, and looking out my window at it, it looked like I was parked next to an SUV from 1999. Plus I don't want to pay for 18" tires on a mid-size commuter car, which it seems every car has now.

I'd love to get something nicer, but that could just be an E46 or E39 BMW. Maybe once I am bit more savvy with my own wrench.

 

[Jarlaxle]

One major reason I dumped my Hemi Magnum was the property tax. It cost me almost $1000 in tax for ONE year! Not registration (that's $250 for 2 years), not inspections, just the property taxes! It was more than four times as much as the tax on every other vehicle Liz and I own COMBINED. (For the record, that is seven vehicles!)

 

[hattaresguy]

Cars are nothing but a depreciating tool, well unless its a toy.

I'll keep my truck until its about done, and like any other tool I'll replace it. I won't waste time rebuilding it because its cheaper in the long run to just buy a new one when its at the end of its useful life.

For me that will be around 200k, at that point its pretty tired, banged up, and rusty.

 

[Lyman]

Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
Cars are nothing but a depreciating tool, well unless its a toy.

I'll keep my truck until its about done, and like any other tool I'll replace it. I won't waste time rebuilding it because its cheaper in the long run to just buy a new one when its at the end of its useful life.

For me that will be around 200k, at that point its pretty tired, banged up, and rusty.

You can call them what you want but all my car/trucks have been toys. Even the ones that have to get me to work and back. My tools are in my tool box.

 

[morris]

i wish i had a place to keep older cars/trucks. a friend drives a 60s ford truck as a daily driver. and a 53 ford car keeper. his hair and close looks like he steeped out of the 50s, one time my dad had a 1963 chrysler 300J with a 500 in max wedge. it came out of 2nd gear at 125 mph.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: morris
i wish i had a place to keep older cars/trucks. a friend drives a 60s ford truck as a daily driver. and a 53 ford car keeper. his hair and close looks like he steeped out of the 50s, one time my dad had a 1963 chrysler 300J with a 500 in max wedge. it came out of 2nd gear at 125 mph.


Me too, in fact I asked about a place to park one yesterday, but the guy wanted to much money.

 

[saberz]

See the funny thing is that the old school mentality in the Middle East used to be "lat hat halak tuht il dain" Not put yourself in debt/under a rock. Now they are essentially doing just that.

Your sticking to your guns and doing what works for you. Some people can't understand that preserving/maintaining a vehicle is often times far cheaper than buying/leasing a new one. They pay x dollars a month for 5 years while you pay x amount a few times a year. Big difference.

Keep up the work and tune them out

 

[hattaresguy]

Originally Posted By: Blkstanger
Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
Cars are nothing but a depreciating tool, well unless its a toy.

I'll keep my truck until its about done, and like any other tool I'll replace it. I won't waste time rebuilding it because its cheaper in the long run to just buy a new one when its at the end of its useful life.

For me that will be around 200k, at that point its pretty tired, banged up, and rusty.

You can call them what you want but all my car/trucks have been toys. Even the ones that have to get me to work and back. My tools are in my tool box.

Meh I'm not a truck fan, I buy them because I have to, to run my business. I buy trucks based on capability IE if it costs more it better be able to carry more, or tow more. Looks or options don't really interest me, running costs do, because fixing it is a waste of my money. For me a truck is no different than a drill or calculator, just a tool to make money.

Now cars, well that's very different...

 

[Y_K]

Falcon, my cabbie friend has his 2004 MGM with 486k as of yesterday going very strong. Keep yours.

 

[daves87rs]

I plan running mine until thy rot away.(not hard to do here in MI) I don't "baby" them, but I do take very good care of them. This all comes down to keeping things simple. The less bills you have every month, the more money you have in the bank...even a good reason to have an affordable house as well.

I'll be running mine for quite a while. They'll all cost me a few bucks this year, but I like to keep my cars updated inside and out.

Thank goodness my wife is not the status kind of person out there. She would much rather have a good vacation than a new car...I think at some point I'll grab a new car, with a good sized down payment....