Reaching financial and household goals.

[UrbanHunter]

Absolutely! Last fairly new vehicle I bought when we were still in Florida I paid around $10000 for a 2 year old Yukon XL with about 30k miles on it , but I did have a decent trade in also ( a fairly new pickup I just didn't like driving )

Transportation is the biggest item of expense over a lifetime in the US. I calculated it out once. Even if you buy used, you still have to replace them , plus gas, taxes, insurance and maintenance. A house you can buy once, and live in it your whole life. We bought our house in Florida for 70k, put in another 40k of remodel and sold it for almost $300k
A vehicle only looses value always

Problem now is there ARE No decent used vehicles because of Covid and inflation

I try to maintain my vehicles so they stay in working order for a good long time, my 20 year old truck has got another 10 in her (I rebuilt the engine in 2018). Our car is only 7 years old, but I am more concerned about it, because of the electronics.. mechanical stuff is easy, computers are not...

I don't drive as much as I used to, that helps to... But you need to drive a vehicle on a regular basis (weekly) if you want to keep them running...

 

[FarmOR]

When I was a teen, my mom would buy me a hotrod magazine every now and again. I divulged the pages and consequently became a motor head. My first car was a 67 mustang fastback. Gorgeous car, but it needed work. I loved it!

It wasn't too long before I realized all the dreams and ambitions of pimping out that car cost money. I worked for a rancher for one summer after turning 16 but jumped at the job opening at the local auto parts. They ran a machine shop in the back and that was my passion. Anyway, somewhere along the line, I bought a money magazine instead of the hotrod usual.

I remember thumbing through it. Trying to read it. But not really getting the gist about it. But my frugal habits were part born into me and kinda a fun game with some of my peers. My early idea of frequent exposure and continuous learning was i would absorb the money information almost naturally. Plausible? It seemed to work.

Didn't really pay off with my first mustang (economically), but it's paid big time in the long term. I've always bought used cars that needed help. I used to buy cars at auction, fix em, doll them up and flip them. That for me was better than fixing peoples cars and wondering when and if they'd pay me.

My advice here is buy your next car at auction. Especially now. Prices have crashed here locally. If you don't have the experience to judge a cherry from a lemon, ask an enthusiastic friend or hire a mobile mechanic. It's worth it. And read another book about financial?

My current car was one I bought at auction four years ago. Intended to flip it but fell in love with it on the drive home. To this day, I still wonder why it was taken to auction. Nothing wrong with it. Bought near wholesale price.

 

[Weedygarden]

I try to maintain my vehicles so they stay in working order for a good long time, my 20 year old truck has got another 10 in her (I rebuilt the engine in 2018). Our car is only 7 years old, but I am more concerned about it, because of the electronics.. mechanical stuff is easy, computers are not...

I don't drive as much as I used to, that helps to... But you need to drive a vehicle on a regular basis (weekly) if you want to keep them running...

I bought a 1998 Toyota Camry with 117,000 miles on it; have had it for 18 years and it now has 314,000 miles on it. It has developed a leak in the crankshaft. $10,000 repair. Not doing it, time for a different car. I am a bit of a legend to my mechanics. Cars are an investment and need to be maintained. My Camry was well maintained and a luxury edition, so very comfortable.
I was looking at another Camry, newer and with low miles. I found one, told the owner I would pay to have my mechanics evaluate it for me. They charge $50 for that, which is a real deal. Owner agreed and met me at the shop. When they were done with the evaluations, they said it was a Pennsylvania car with lots of rust underneath and there were things that they could never work on underneath because of the amount of rust. And then, they told me it was not a 300,000 mile car. It is kind of a joke. Love these guys. They are so honest, but not necessarily inexpensive. They run whatever they are working on, through a computerized program. One time they told me what they looked at and did, and said they were not 100% sure about something and wanted to let me know and when I brought the car in, they would keep an eye on the concern.

 

[Bacpacker]

I bought a 1998 Toyota Camry with 117,000 miles on it; have had it for 18 years and it now has 314,000 miles on it. It has developed a leak in the crankshaft. $10,000 repair. Not doing it, time for a different car. I am a bit of a legend to my mechanics. Cars are an investment and need to be maintained. My Camry was well maintained and a luxury edition, so very comfortable.
I was looking at another Camry, newer and with low miles. I found one, told the owner I would pay to have my mechanics evaluate it for me. They charge $50 for that, which is a real deal. Owner agreed and met me at the shop. When they were done with the evaluations, they said it was a Pennsylvania car with lots of rust underneath and there were things that they could never work on underneath because of the amount of rust. And then, they told me it was not a 300,000 mile car. It is kind of a joke. Love these guys. They are so honest, but not necessarily inexpensive. They run whatever they are working on, through a computerized program. One time they told me what they looked at and did, and said they were not 100% sure about something and wanted to let me know and when I brought the car in, they would keep an eye on the concern.

Good mechanics are worth what they charge. Espically when evaluating a new to you vehicle

 

[Weedygarden]

Good mechanics are worth what they charge. Especially when evaluating a new to you vehicle

I so agree. I know that not all mechanics can run a shop and not all of them are honest. I feel so lucky to have this shop about half a mile from home. My bigger problem with them is that they are so busy that it can take a couple weeks to get an appointment. They will sometimes do emergency work when they have the time, but that can still take a couple of days.
I do know that they could charge much more than they do.