Cars in MA (condo, buy, floor)

[newenglandgal123]

Originally Posted by massnative71

Bought my first brand new vehicle for $10K back in 2002 (probably a few thousand off MSRP). Totaled by a drunk driver in 2005, insurance gave me over $9K. Not bad for back then lol. Ended up buying a brand new '06 (same make and model) for around $13K, drove it almost 15 years/300K till it was worth nearly nothing (but still got $500 in trade). That's under $1K/year in depreciation costs. Or when you're talking both vehicles combined, say $14K for 18 years. I'm all for buy brand new and "hold" (till the wheels fall off).

Aside from the $ they gave you to replace your car, hope you got even much more in damages and sued the pants off the drunk who hit you!

[newenglandgal123]

Originally Posted by NewfieMama

The X5 has been fine. So far. It's our other vehicle--a newer GMC--that has been a headache for the past few months. It just feels like at some point an issue is always popping up, especially as the vehicles get closer to the end of their life.

ETA: When I said "I just bought a used vehicle last month, which I hate" I didn't mean I hate the car. I meant I hate the process of buying a car. Sorry, should have clarified

ok, gotcha! I thought it was buyer's regret with the X5 and was curious why.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by newenglandgal123

Aside from the $ they gave you to replace your car, hope you got even much more in damages and sued the pants off the drunk who hit you!

Not as much as I had hoped. Dude was broke, put out of work due to the incident, and had his now ex-wife going after him as well (her injuries were much worse than mine, he basically left her on the side of the road to die). So I was kind of lucky to get anything...

[matrix5k]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

So you somehow think that the supply chain disruption with COVID-19 is going to last forever? It's fools gold to think a car bought in 2023 and driven a normal 12k to 20k miles per year is an "investment". Cars depreciate.



You also are failing to consider the other costs. If you sell a car rather than trade it, you pay full sales tax on the next one. That's 6.25% right off the top. It's a new car so you're paying full excise tax on it. Another ~ 2%. Titling cost. Dealership fees. If you owned the car for less than a year, you have to pay short term capital gains on it and the 5% Massachusetts income tax. If you're buying $80k cars, you're in a high tax bracket. If you're not paying those taxes, that's tax evasion.



The guy at the bar boasting about his financial wizardry isn't going to mention any of that.

No, I dont think that. I have no idea what you're talking about. This forum likes to make wrong assumptions. I simply stated the guy drove a nice car for two years essentially for free and y'all are hating on it. Can't do that with an Audi.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by BostonMike7

Now they used car prices are dropping off and vehicles are sitting. I've walked out on a couple cars (because they weren't what I wanted for color or options) and have dealers calling me trying to get me back in to deal. Some of these cars i discovered have been sitting there for months. I still have not bought anything, and might not until end of summer/fall.

Inventory is terrible for what is out there. i am picky, so it makes it hard to just go out and find a car i like same day. Needs to be a specific trim level, with specific options and specific colors. I tend to keep my vehicles for around 10 years, so in order for me to make it that long it needs to be something I like and fun (for me) to drive. I drove my last vehicle into the ground up to about 200K miles and was stuck renting a car and rushing to make a good deal on a car that didn't quite check off all the boxes, but was acceptable.

My current car has 150K miles on it and climbing. The car runs great and while i'd like to make it to 200K, id rather bail out before I'm forced to buy something rushed in today's market. Fortunately, my ongoing vehicle repair/maintance costs are low because i can DIY vast majority of things.

I've actually NEVER purchased a brand new car. It's always been 1-2 years old.

Yeah, I was surprised by the amount of leverage I had when I bought. I actually went in expecting to pay the price listed online and they began moving downwards before I could even say that I'd take it. Volvo in particular has been notorious (in my experience) for not budging on list price even in a good market. But cars are starting to sit and they want to clear room for more inventory. The car was listed at $39k and I paid $34 with minimal effort on my part. Inventory is still pretty limited, but I was flexible on the color and some of the options. I got all of the options I wanted, but not a color I'd normally pick.

I realize this isn't the financially savvy move, but I don't drive a car over 100k. I'm not the best with DIY (though not terrible) and I do have a friend who owns a garage where I can get most things done for the cost of parts, but it becomes a confidence issue for me. I'd rather pay more to drive a newer vehicle (especially with a factory warranty) than less to drive an older car with a higher risk of breaking down and higher likelihood of out of pocket expenses.

Like you've I've never purchased brand new. 1-3 years old and CPO is what I go for. However, if I had to buy in August 2022, I may have ended up with my first brand new new car.

[CALGUY]

New or used, i guess it all boils down to each person, and each vehicle.
Some people just feel they need a new vehicle every two years, while others like me hold on to them for many years.
My current corvette is 19 years old, looks and runs just as good as the day it was new.
The same can be said of my 21 year old dakota pickup.
As long as they are maintained over the years I see no reason to part with them.
Thye cost of repair over the years is miniscule compared to what monthly payments on a new one would be.

[JoeJunior]

I've had over 100 new cars--mostly working for an automotive manufacturer. In recent years, we've been driving a Lexus IS250 and an Explorer.

But in 2018, I bought a new generation Toyota Camry hybrid. 49.5 mpg in town or on the highway. 59K miles w/o seeing a mechanic.

Traded that in for a new 2021 Toyota Venza hybrid AWD. 40.5 mpg on our 1000 mile round trip last weekend to the Gulf. It has 55K miles and has never seen the shop. I also have a 2020 F150 Supercrew 2.7 Ecoboost.

With the average car costing $45-46K presently, I'm going down in cost. Both my vehicles cost $32K and some change. I'm not missing a thing driving a vehicles lower than average in cost.

As far as EV's go, our out of town drives are farther than an EV's range. And in the Blue Ridge Mountains, charging stations just don't exist much. I don't want the frustrations--or anything the government(s) mandate on the public.

[BostonMike7]

Originally Posted by lrfox

I realize this isn't the financially savvy move, but I don't drive a car over 100k. I'm not the best with DIY (though not terrible) and I do have a friend who owns a garage where I can get most things done for the cost of parts, but it becomes a confidence issue for me. I'd rather pay more to drive a newer vehicle (especially with a factory warranty) than less to drive an older car with a higher risk of breaking down and higher likelihood of out of pocket expenses.

I think that's why i hold onto cars too long. Its just hard to let go when repairs are costing me maybe $100-200 and a hour or two on the weekend, otherwise i feel 100-125K miles is the sweet spot of where you can get decent trade-in for a vehicle, and before repairs start to really pile on. Most modern cars should be able to go 100K with nothing more than oil changes...some exceptions of course.

Problem is i keep complaining to myself that I'd rather be out enjoying one of my other hobbies during that time and rather have a repair shop deal with it. But then i gotta deal with the hassle of dropping the car off and trying to figure out how to get around and i circle back to just doing it myself. I'll admit, i've taken advantage of WFH and done a quick repair in the AM while i have my laptop open fielding a call if needed.

But you are right about the risk. My last 200K mile car failed while on the highway. Front driveshaft (awd car) universal joint failed at 80MPH and it took out the front differential case and the transmission. oops. Then i had no choice but to find something fast. I don't want to do that again.

The financially saavy part of me wants to just milk the car out now again as far as i can take it. The side of me that is older and wants to reap the benefits of years of good financial practices and investments would prefer to find myself with a factory warranty again, and the assumed reliability benefits of a near-new car.

SO needless to say, i've been tire-kicking for a year and likely will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. I also despise dealing with dealers and that also keeps me away until necessary.

While i consider myself a car enthusiast, my wife thinks of them as appliances. Makes it easy when it comes time for a new car for her. Her criteria is "radio, A/C, not black".

[newenglandgal123]

Originally Posted by BostonMike7

I think that's why i hold onto cars too long. Its just hard to let go when repairs are costing me maybe $100-200 and a hour or two on the weekend, otherwise i feel 100-125K miles is the sweet spot of where you can get decent trade-in for a vehicle, and before repairs start to really pile on. Most modern cars should be able to go 100K with nothing more than oil changes...some exceptions of course.

Problem is i keep complaining to myself that I'd rather be out enjoying one of my other hobbies during that time and rather have a repair shop deal with it. But then i gotta deal with the hassle of dropping the car off and trying to figure out how to get around and i circle back to just doing it myself. I'll admit, i've taken advantage of WFH and done a quick repair in the AM while i have my laptop open fielding a call if needed.

But you are right about the risk. My last 200K mile car failed while on the highway. Front driveshaft (awd car) universal joint failed at 80MPH and it took out the front differential case and the transmission. oops. Then i had no choice but to find something fast. I don't want to do that again.

The financially saavy part of me wants to just milk the car out now again as far as i can take it. The side of me that is older and wants to reap the benefits of years of good financial practices and investments would prefer to find myself with a factory warranty again, and the assumed reliability benefits of a near-new car.

SO needless to say, i've been tire-kicking for a year and likely will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. I also despise dealing with dealers and that also keeps me away until necessary.

While i consider myself a car enthusiast, my wife thinks of them as appliances. Makes it easy when it comes time for a new car for her. Her criteria is "radio, A/C, not black".

I think black cars always look the sharpest as compared to other colors when they are clean. However, the big problem is keeping them clean and they easily show every little scratch! Also, I think they are statistically more prone to being involved in an accident (just like blue cars) so I try to stick with white or gray.

[BostonMike7]

Originally Posted by newenglandgal123

I think black cars always look the sharpest as compared to other colors when they are clean. However, the big problem is keeping them clean and they easily show every little scratch! Also, I think they are statistically more prone to being involved in an accident (just like blue cars) so I try to stick with white or gray.

Hard to do now with pollen season here. My car is black, and i don't even bother right now. I wash it and then it looks neon green in an hour. I feel like we haven't even gotten into the heavy pollen here in MA just yet.

But i do like black. Looks sharp when clean and new and added benefit of melting snow off it easily in the winter