$5,000 budget - retired early - now I want to drive a NEW car every year. (insurance, sedan)
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Tax is 3% in my state and some vehicles can’t be leased...like a Raptor.
So, on a 40k vehicle, you are out $1,200 in taxes, plus title and licenses fees, plus any dealer doc fee before you even move the car. $1,500-$2,000 of the $5,000 is already gone even without any depreciation.
Seems like form the other posts in the thread, its becoming clear that $5k per year probably isn't going to happen, but 8-10k probably might not be impossible if you select the right vehicle and are willing to work to get a good private party resale.
So, on a 40k vehicle, you are out $1,200 in taxes, plus title and licenses fees, plus any dealer doc fee before you even move the car. $1,500-$2,000 of the $5,000 is already gone even without any depreciation.
Seems like form the other posts in the thread, its becoming clear that $5k per year probably isn't going to happen, but 8-10k probably might not be impossible if you select the right vehicle and are willing to work to get a good private party resale.
$5k would probably take finding a good deal on a car that stays hot for a while - like the Raptor when they came out or a 2017 Civic Type R.
I’ll say that I’m perfectly fine with this experiment costing anything under $9-10k/year. I’d probably feel good if I could average out to $7500/year.
In ten years I will have spent $75,000 but I would’ve likely been out $25k anyway on some boring crap box I’d drive for 10 years. Net loss = $50k.
Ten years..
ten cool cool cars...
...driven as hard as you want as much as you want...
Talking about buying a car cash for say $40k. Drive it say 1 year or so and resale it for $35k...maybe even $33-$34k. My net loss is $5-7k per year and I get to drive a different car every year.
Another possibility I thought of is the Tacoma...maybe something cool like a Tacoma or 4Runner Pro? Those seem to hold value extremely well.
If you buy a car for $40k, you're paying almost $4k in sales tax (assuming you're in CA or other state with similar car tax), so that's already a chunk of your budget every year.
Edited to add: Looks like this has already been commented on and doesn't apply to your state ... have fun!
If you buy a car for $40k, you're paying almost $4k in sales tax (assuming you're in CA or other state with similar car tax), so that's already a chunk of your budget every year.
Edited to add: Looks like this has already been commented on and doesn't apply to your state ... have fun!
Well I feel I sacrificed a little to retire earlier than anyone I know. I’m still young, but for many years I put my love of cars on the back burner. I been driving a Prius for 11 years now.
On the very bright side - I did this for a reason...now I’m in a position where I could easily spend $5,000-$6,000/year to drive cars I even looked at in over a decade. Retirement is covered. Savings. Travel budget, etc.
Any recommendations on what vehicle I should start with?
I’m thinking a new Civic Type R...I loved import tuner cars when I was teen. It seems like 1-2 year old models are selling for about $3-4K less than new. I’m open to anything though as I’ll be swapping cars often.
Btw - I will keep the Prius and don’t plan on driving whatever car I get more than 7-8k miles per year so that should keep resale value high.
Why not just lay back and take a nap and maybe that extravagant idea will fade away? You may think that you have all your financial bases covered, but spending that much every year, just to have a different car, might impoverish you over time. Why not find just one good car that will last you another 11 years?
Well I feel I sacrificed a little to retire earlier than anyone I know. I’m still young, but for many years I put my love of cars on the back burner. I been driving a Prius for 11 years now.
On the very bright side - I did this for a reason...now I’m in a position where I could easily spend $5,000-$6,000/year to drive cars I even looked at in over a decade. Retirement is covered. Savings. Travel budget, etc.
Any recommendations on what vehicle I should start with?
I’m thinking a new Civic Type R...I loved import tuner cars when I was teen. It seems like 1-2 year old models are selling for about $3-4K less than new. I’m open to anything though as I’ll be swapping cars often.
Btw - I will keep the Prius and don’t plan on driving whatever car I get more than 7-8k miles per year so that should keep resale value high.
Test drive a new Honda Accord Hybrid before you make your decision. I don't need to say more.
So there’s no vehicles I could drive for 1 year losing less than ~$6k net? Keep in mind being retired I could put less than 6,000 miles per year on the vehicles - they would be in prestige condition...1 owner...with the window sticker lol.
I just looked up the 2019 Toyota Tacoma Pro with 5k miles vs 2018 Tacoma Pro with 10k miles and the price difference is like $2-3k (low 40ks). Brand new they cost about $46k I believe. So that seems like 1-1.5 years of use for roughly $5-6k + any fees. Would it be all that bad? Call it $8500 on an average year. A loss of ~$700 per month to drive a cool new car every year?
BTW - I reselling the vehicles listed on autotrader for a hefty discount compared to dealers.
When trading cars often, dealer markup of cars for sale and dealer markdown of trade-in value are really going to kill you.
Why not just lay back and take a nap and maybe that extravagant idea will fade away? You may think that you have all your financial bases covered, but spending that much every year, just to have a different car, might impoverish you over time. Why not find just one good car that will last you another 11 years?
How much money can I spend on a bunch of cars for 10 years?
I see a lot of doubt towards this plan, but I did something similar one summer when I wanted to take a 4 month RV trip around the country between finishing law school and starting my law job.
Everyone told me I was crazy, but I bought an RV sight unseen on ebay for $15,600. Picked it up a couple states away, then drove it 15,000 miles. When I returned, I sold it on ebay. I listed it at $10,000, thinking that if I lost $5,600 all-in, it was still cheaper than renting, but to my amazement, it sold for $15,100. So it cost me $500 + $1k in tax to "rent" this thing for 4 months.
I did spend a few hundred on maintenance and minor repairs along the journey (oil changes, diy brake pad swaps, refrigerator repair, other light fixes), but it matches the theme of this thread- buying and selling can work.
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