Does it pay to keep older cars?

[MaximaGuy]

Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
Most Americans are cash poor and financing vehicles for 7 years.


Many Americans are complete idiooots when coming to buying automobiles - in my world you will see many folks living in 200K homes and possibly making 50K/annum and have one or more trucks parked outside. That is America!!!

 

[Vikas]

Either you need to handle most of the maintenance yourself or have very trustworthy and reasonably priced mechanic who is willing to work with you. For somebody who just want to drive the car and hand the car to dealer (or equivalently priced independent) for all maintenance/repair, it will NOT work out.

That is the answer to the question posed in the original topic. You can dress it up any way you want but that is the bottom line.

 

[harryberry]

It's perfectly fine to keep an old car. No need to worry for monthly payments. You'd still spend a good amount of money, though costs are lessened if you are able to maintain them personally. Buying a newer car is a more practical option if you want to be spared from the hassles from the repairs in the first few years, and if you are willing to pay for it on a monthly basis. Best to think and analyze the costs beforehand.

 

[jeepman3071]

Originally Posted By: supton


Will say, only reason I was willing to get a beater was because I'm at N+1 vehicles. If the beater breaks, I can still drive around. I have to wonder if the general public has such redundancy. Or only has enough money for one. In which case it needs to be a good one.


I think for most it is money as well as space.

For me, I live at home and have access to a garage and all the necessary tools to work on my own vehicle. Many of my friends live in apartments that don't even allow changing your own oil in the parking lot. I know if I lived far away from home in an apartment I'd probably have to have one solid reliable vehicle.

 

[pacem]

Not really. For me, this is a make or break it deal. Is a used car something someone getting rid of due to neglect and it needing tons of repairs? Or have tons of repairs been done and perhaps the owner is leaving the country or the state?

a long list of repairs done and a 3" thick folder is a serious argument. Twice I have gotten cars with new engines, and all the new accessories. Timing belts, water pump, etc.

 

[supton]

I dunno; we can read all about how prior owners did shoddy work. Or their mechanics. Shoddy work or used shoddy parts. If I was car shopping, a thick packet of repair bills wouldn't necessarily say the car was well maintained and thus deserves top dollar. On my last purchase, it had a recent coolant flush. With the wrong coolant (not noted on the work order, of course).

IMO, if one does a bunch of working fixing up a car, they might as well drive it for a bit, get their money's worth out of that repair.

 

[Mr Nice]

Originally Posted By: supton
I go back and forth on if my '99 Camry was a good buy or not. So far it seems to need something every month. So far I've done all the work on it, so my labor has been free. I suspect the last owner was smart to ditch when she did: I had to do tires when I got it, and wound up doing struts, timing belt, oil pump reseal. And now it appears it needs wheel bearings. Would guess she would have paid at least $2k to have that work done? That plus the $1500 I gave her probably put a decent dent in her new car payment (plus she had been driving this '99 for 10 years so who knows if she saved up or not).

But it always seems to need something messed with... I'm at $2700 into this car, and I've only put 9kmiles onto it. Only cracks 30mpg if I set cruise to 65mph. But insurance and registration is cheap.

Will say, only reason I was willing to get a beater was because I'm at N+1 vehicles. If the beater breaks, I can still drive around. I have to wonder if the general public has such redundancy. Or only has enough money for one. In which case it needs to be a good one.


Why not just drive your truck and spend that $2700+ on gas ?

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
Why not just drive your truck and spend that $2700+ on gas ?


What happens when the truck breaks? 30 miles to closest car rental place. Plus there's depreciation on the truck. Plus getting quality work done--I tried to chicken out on the TB for the Camry, only to have the local garage say that they didn't do TB's anymore. Might as well do my own work, but on a time schedule that works best for me.

Plus it's nice having a sedan again. No more dirty rear window! Last car was a station wagon, and the rear window was always dirty. Took it on a trip yesterday, and it was nice having a narrow vehicle going through one town. Finally, it dawned on me to just set cruise at 65 on the highway--looks like I might start getting 500 miles on a tank of fuel.

 

[JHerriot]

I live in an early 20th century row house converted to apartments. With no driveway and parking restrictions this time of year, the car is parked about a five minute walk away in a friend's driveway. If I needed it every day that might be an issue, but I cycle to work and live close enough to shops and amenities that I don't need it. I take it on solid drives to provincial parks/trails, down to Ottawa or to Toronto etc. The driveway allows me to DIY but I've done a number of things just on the street. Nobody says boo.

Last Sunday the original alternator bearings failed at 150k miles (not bad for an early 00s GM car!) and I had a remanufactured one from Napa into it no problem. I don't mind those kinds of repairs and maintenance, but if it was an everyday type deal and I needed the car for work that would change things a bit I think. As for now, it'll serve alongside whatever fun old cheap sports car I really want to drive.