When and why did you decide to be done with beater cars?

[KCJeep]

We drove 2 to 5k used cars for decades it's all we could afford and most of them were decent for what they were. That'd probably be 10 to 15k in this market, still a crap shoot.

Once finances allowed we started buying nearly new or new cars and the amount of money and time we don't spend on repairs anymore is staggering. If I can continue to afford new I'll keep doing it.

 

[wings&wheels]

The mistaken idea that a cheap purchase price saves money is just that. Cars have a specific lifespan, and purchase price is only about 1/3 of the total cost of ownership. Add in that old cars don't have a long expected lifespan and the price reflects the expected service life.

A well purchased new car is only about 10% more expensive "per mile" than a used car.

I would assume that is just the basic monetary expense and not including the value of inconvenience, time, etc.

 

[Malo83]

If you can afford it buy new.

 

[FordMan59]

I'm still driving beaters for my everyday cars. I try to keep them maintained and safe for road use. My current everyday beater is a '94 Ford Escort with 217K miles that my dad owned prior to his death in 2010. I do lots of my own work and have a good mechanic that doesn't charge an arm and leg for repairs when it's something I can't do or don't feel like doing. I've also bought new cars and lower mileage used cars that were only a few years old. My last car purchase was in Feb. 2019. I bought a 2016 Nissan Versa with 10K miles and a rebuilt title for $5300. It now has 35K miles and so far all it's needed is regular maintenance such as oil changes, transmission fluid/filter change, 2 tires and wiper blades. I bought an '88 Ford Escort in 1993 with 146K miles on it and drove it till about 2011 or 2012 and retired it with 518K miles.

 

[Nick1994]

I'm starting to get sick of these older cars.

The Grand Cherokee needs work, which is to be expected after 8-9 years and 134k miles. But it's kind of annoying, and it's expensive. Am I really saving much over buying new? Not so sure.

But the car market is too wild right now, and I just need to slow down, gone through too many cars this past year.

 

[supton]

Gone from beaters in college to a couple of new ones back to beaters. Some were "hope for the best" but last 15 or so years I have tried to start out with a goal as to what I wanted for the vehicle and then worked on meeting that goal. Usually its 10yr/200k but the current beater was "until something really bad happens". Right now the market is wonky and getting any car seems like a bad idea--but you never know when a good deal will fall into your lap, so being prepared is never a bad idea.

I've been doing lots of driving for a long time so 10yr/200k is my metric in this rustbelt of a state. While I can eek out more it tends to be much more of a roll of the dice--and I'm left thinking that I *must* have a spare car in case of breakage. Especially now since garages can be backed up just as well parts not be available. Of course brand new cars can have the same problem so IMO the sweet spot is two (or more!) well used but well taken care of vehicles, in terms of lowest cost/mile. Even getting a new car seems like a gamble now, just never know when some part is going to go on backorder.

 

[Bob5150]

I would assume that is just the basic monetary expense and not including the value of inconvenience, time, etc.

That is another part of it- yes, it is very likely going to cost more money to buy a new vehicle vs running older cars.

But I am starting to wonder if buying a car new and getting possibly 15-20 years out of it is worth more than the inconvenience and time cost of seeking out the beater cars, the expense and time spent fixing them or having them fixed, the walking/ubers/asking for rides to and from the repair shop, etc.

Another thing I think about is that I don't think I've ever gotten the full "value" of maintenance and repairs that I've put into my cars. All the new spark plugs, brake pads, tires, etc. were all junked with the cars when rust or a major (transmission, etc.) repair that didn't make sense to put into the car came up. It sucks to never get the full lifespan of a set of brake pads or tires or spark plugs, or send cars to the junkyard with newer belts/hoses/bulbs and stuff, both for the money and effort put out.

I feel like with a new vehicle, I would actually go through a few sets of tires and brakes and all and get my money's worth out of them.

 

[Bob5150]

double post

 

[javacontour]

The mistaken idea that a cheap purchase price saves money is just that. Cars have a specific lifespan, and purchase price is only about 1/3 of the total cost of ownership. Add in that old cars don't have a long expected lifespan and the price reflects the expected service life.

A well purchased new car is only about 10% more expensive "per mile" than a used car.

If you are going to put the caveat of well purchased, you have to be willing to apply it to used cars as well.

Reference my comment on the very same a few days ago regarding my 2012 Mazda3.

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/metric-for-when-its-time-to-move-on.353948/post-6118370

Not quite 5 years in and I'm about 37% fuel, 50.2% the purchase and the remainder is M&R and tags.

One can buy well used and it still takes quite a while for fuel to exceed the purchase price of the vehicle.

Numbers updated from the other post as I think I've purchased two tanks of fuel and driven another 600 or so miles since the quoted post.

 

[Duffyjr]

I must be the luckiest SOB alive buying used vehicles, I've never had one cost me $500 a month for 5 or 6 years in repairs/maintenance.

 

[2strokeNorthstar]

Every summer I say it’s the last for my 98 BMW. 203k miles. It’s dark blue and hot inside. A/c works but the great visibility also is a lot of sun inside and sun bearing on you even with cool air isn’t a match. You get cold fast in the shade. It’s a weird problem. I only work 4 miles from home so it’s hard to justify a new car. I also have a old truck that is mostly for hauling/towing and an s2000 that is fun but not a great daily. So I’m still deep in the beater pool.

Maybe if I win the lottery or some casino jackpot?

 

[javacontour]

Every summer I say it’s the last for my 98 BMW. 203k miles. It’s dark blue and hot inside. A/c works but the great visibility also is a lot of sun inside and sun bearing on you even with cool air isn’t a match. You get cold fast in the shade. It’s a weird problem. I only work 4 miles from home so it’s hard to justify a new car. I also have a old truck that is mostly for hauling/towing and an s2000 that is fun but not a great daily. So I’m still deep in the beater pool.

Maybe if I win the lottery or some casino jackpot?

Compared to Hoovie, you are a rookie.

 

[Wolf359]

Well, my beaters have gotten nicer.

Started at $100 many many years ago. I'm up to $10k beaters today

I'm up to about 15k for a Mercedes beater.

Anyway, as for the OP, probably a used car in the 3-5 year range is probably the ideal spot for a used car. Usually at that point, anywhere from 1/3 to 2/3 of the list price is gone in depreciation, but the car has more than 3/4 of it's life left and you can buy parts like brake pads, struts, alternators, etc and make use of the lifetime warranty. I previously had a car for 12 years, bought it when it was less than 3 years old at half price of list with about 30k on it and it lasted me over 200k and I ended up putting in 3 alternators, 3 sets of struts and probably more than 4 sets of brake pads on the car. And those were lifetime warranty at the local auto parts store so just brought the old parts back for a refund.

As for the Mercedes, bought that 5 years ago at about 1/4 of list, but it had a tad under 100k on it. Nothing crazy on the repairs yet, but have yet to cash in on 2nd set of shocks/struts brakes as I've only done one set so far, but probably in the next few more years.

 

[IndyIan]

I must be the luckiest SOB alive buying used vehicles, I've never had one cost me $500 a month for 5 or 6 years in repairs/maintenance.

Yep, compared to leasing a vehicle or trading cars in just as you pay them off, used car ownership is pretty cheap!

 

[javacontour]

I'm up to about 15k for a Mercedes beater.

Anyway, as for the OP, probably a used car in the 3-5 year range is probably the ideal spot for a used car. Usually at that point, anywhere from 1/3 to 2/3 of the list price is gone in depreciation, but the car has more than 3/4 of it's life left and you can buy parts like brake pads, struts, alternators, etc and make use of the lifetime warranty. I previously had a car for 12 years, bought it when it was less than 3 years old at half price of list with about 30k on it and it lasted me over 200k and I ended up putting in 3 alternators, 3 sets of struts and probably more than 4 sets of brake pads on the car. And those were lifetime warranty at the local auto parts store so just brought the old parts back for a refund.

As for the Mercedes, bought that 5 years ago at about 1/4 of list, but it had a tad under 100k on it. Nothing crazy on the repairs yet, but have yet to cash in on 2nd set of shocks/struts brakes as I've only done one set so far, but probably in the next few more years.

That's kinda where I was/am on my 2012 Mazda3. I bought it just under 5 years ago with ~67500 miles in September 2017. Ten thousand OTD with title taxes and tag transfer. Probably about 1/3rd of that same total had I purchased it new 5 years earlier. Mazda3 S, every option but the automatic and auto lights.

Today I'm at 155,100 or just under 88k into the ownership experience.

I'm pretty sure I could easily take it to 200k if not more. But not sure I want another 5 years in it. Projection to 200k is close winter 2024/2025 give or take at 18-20k/year.

The underside looked good when I did a tire rotation this weekend. Brakes still have a lot of meat on them. I probably need struts and I'll see about having that done at the end of the month while oilBabe is staying with her mom while my MIL gets a hip replacement.

We are hoping once car production ramps up, we'll get oilBabe a new car and her 2017 RAV4 will be mine. Or not as it's up to 115k miles.

So it might be where the Mazda3 is today.

 

[nomas]

I must be the luckiest SOB alive buying used vehicles, I've never had one cost me $500 a month for 5 or 6 years in repairs/maintenance.

Absolutely not . Anything that costs me 500 a month is gone .

 

[Quantico]

I have been going through a rough patch with repairs on my vehicles, and have been considering buying a new vehicle.

I have always driven well-used beater type of cars and trucks, and when adding up all the expenses of this, I feel like it would be better (even if not strictly from a $ sense) to go with something new that can have a good maintenance history and last a good long time.

I am thinking about stuff like:

- purchase price
- tax/title/tags/fees, etc
- initial tune-up/oil change, repairs needed, tires needed, etc to have the car roadworthy
- often these cars are dirty so the big initial cleanup
- these cars end up needing repairs, some of which I can't do due to lack of time/tools/skill/confidence
- not always having ac/heat

I am 34 years old, and since I started driving at 17, I've gone through the following:

1992 Taurus
1991 Firebird (admittedly a dumb 17-year old purchase)
1995 Sable
2001 Dodge Ram
1996 Dodge Ram
1996 Cavalier
2004 Cavalier
2008 Dodge Ram
2009 Chevy Cobalt

Some of these were owned concurrently, I've usually had a truck and a gas-sipper at the same time. the 2008 Ram and the 2009 Cobalt are the current fleet, with 140k and 150k miles respectively.

When I think of all the purchase price/tune ups/repairs/tax, etc. paid on these vehicles, plus all the time and effort spent to keep them roadworthy, I feel like I am at the point that I would rather have something bought new that I can just maintain and drive.

I spoke to my neighbor a few weeks ago, she is 49 years old, and since she started driving, has had a 1994 Jeep Wrangler, and a 2008 H3 Hummer, both bought new. 24 years of service from 2 vehicles, both well-maintained and hardly any problems according to her. A stark contrast to the effort of finding these used cars, getting them home, and the time/money/effort put into keeping them going.

I'm wondering if anyone else has gone from driving beaters to buying something new and have you enjoyed/regretted that decision?

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Your problem is not buying well used cars. Its buying terrible cars that were crap new.

Dodge , chrysler and cheap chevy and ford are all nightmares.
If you bought honda and toyota used cars and trucks and had an inspection before purchase you would have dramatically different results.
Used honda and toyota cars cost more due to demand and reliability. So you think they are not as good a deal. But your logic is completely backwards.

 

[Quantico]

Find a camry or corolla .. no accidents with lots of maintainance history. Have it inspected for tires , rust , brakes , exhaust. 100 to 150 k miles is fine as long as you have a good oil change history ...and they are not rusty underneath. Dont care if the hood has scratches.. its under the car that counts.
Make sure the car does not have oil leaks. And buy it and keep it serviced. You can get many years from a 7 to 14 year old used car if you start with a good one.

 

[Quantico]

I found my sister a toyota highlander 4 years ago. Ten years old w 150 k miles. Great AC.. new tires.. new brakes.. timing belt done. All maint done at a toyota dealer. She paid about 7500 dollars four years ago.
The car has had routine service and one 400 dollar oil leak in the last 4 years.
She can likely sell it for what she paid for it.

Car drives great. Told her to do the second trans and diff and axle fluid changes. So about 500 dollars in maint coming this year.

Exhaust is still good... battery is still good so far.

 

[Andrew1972]

I buy used only cash which started at $1000 first car and now $15000/ 5 year old vehicles.