Yep. That's me. I cut up the credit cards in'06, just before I got divorced. From that point on I saved for whatever I wanted. When the money is there I buy. When it's not I wait.
I'm a new vehicle person. Warranty and reliability are the most important now. The wife's vehicle is 9 years old with 127k. My truck I just traded last week had 142k. When repairs start costing more than a years worth of payments to 2 years then for me it's time to go get another.
I have found the opposite to be true. Yeah, there's depreciation but I've been driving a 2006 model that has cost me all of ~$300 worth of repairs since new other than maintenance items. I drove it paid off for 4 years before it needed it's first replacement parts that were out of my pocket. At the time, my finances allowed for a new vehicle and I figured it would be my one and only shot, so I went for it. Worst part was that I had done this in late 2006. Just before the auto industry crash. 6 months after I bought, the 0% interest thing started. Oh well, no regrets. It has been an absolutely fantastic vehicle and I have been well taken care of by the dealer. Almost 130k on the odo now, and am planning to see 200+ before I'm done with it. Every scratch, dent, stain, etc has been of my own doing. I know exactly how it's been used and serviced.
For newer trucks, I just dont see the value in used these days. I couldnt justify paying over 20K for a truck that has 100,000 miles on it! In my younger days I bought 3 new cars, two of them within 18 months of each other. Now, I have a company car, and old crappy Bronco that I use for truck duties. My wife gets the new cars these days. Her current car is 5 years old, and will probably be replaced in 1.5-2 years when the drive train warranty runs out. I realize that new cars are a terrible investment, but if it carts my family around safely and reliably, its money well spent IMO. At the end of the day, her current car will have cost me $3k a year, less trade in value.
I guess it just depends. To me vehicles are just a necessary evil expense at this point in my life, so I try to keep it as low as possible without driving junk. I decide what I want, then shop until I find the right deal...which sometimes it takes years of keeping an eye open. Example my 2001 Mecury Sable I bought in 2009...if I amortize it out, purchase price + maintenance and repair costs / months owned = maybe $20 month (I actually came up with $16 per mo, but rounded up just in case I forgot some repair...which I DIY BTW) And it is still in nice condition and reliable...should get quite a few more years out of it yet...try and hit those numbers with a new car! Get to thinking about it...I don't think we have $20k wrapped up in all our vehicles combined...including any/all maintenance and repairs! 2009 Honda Odyssey LX, 150k miles, nice rust free van (bought in 2014) 2003 Ford F250 SC 4x4 Lariat, 5.4 V8, 178k miles, a nice rust free truck (bought in 2015) 2001 Mercury Sable, 205K miles, very little rust and (bought in 2009) 1990 Honda Goldwing 1500, 129K miles, still a very nice smooth running bike. (bought in 2005)
And that's a key component. If I was one to take my car to the garage for every little thing it needed, I might look at things differently. I'll change brakes, struts, starter, alt, belts, exhaust system, battery, etc, etc. Those things, which I find relatively easy, (Thanks Dad) add up in a big hurry when you pay someone else to do them. I paid $500 for a '96 Camry some time back. It needed a knock sensor (which I had never heard of) for inspection and the owner didn't want to sink $500 +/- into it. The local parts house wanted $140 for it and the garage was looking at around $300 to install it. A little research and I found the sensor on Ebay for $18 and a YouTube video showing me where it was located. Since the car was a V6 it had a sensor on each bank. I bought 2 sensors and the small wiring harness that ran between them; $48 total. It took me several hours to do it because they are under the intake. I drove it for 2.5 years, put 45,000 miles on it and sold it for $800. Except for oil changes I never put another dime into it.
Doing repairs yourself for cheap also helps justify keeping a vehicle longer. As a rig gets up in age and miles, most people weigh the repair cost vs value of the vehicle when deciding if the fix is even worth doing. I did pads, rotors, ball joints, and wheel bearings on the front of my 4runner two months ago and it was $500 in parts and machine shop fees. Not cheap, but a whole lot cheaper than having it done at a shop. It hit 240k this week, so I'm only willing to spend so much.
I actually sold a newer 'nicer' honda cr-v to get my mazda. It's ad way more miles and needed wotk, but by the time i replaced everything i still came out ahead, had no payments, and being a common chassis shared by lots of models, parts are cheap. For me three payments=new engine. If I couldn't work on stuff myself, then that changes the tables.
Closest new for me was my 06 E350. Purchased in 06 with 26,500 for $14K. Now has 298K on it and some stupid rust. Front end parts, brakes, intake gasket was it until the tranny gave out at 207K, that was $3,100 but it still runs a good as when I purchased it. Love driving it but don't use it much so it has "for sale" on it.
So while I don't buy myself new vehicles anymore, at least my work does. I just picked up an 18 Ford Fusion two days ago. I hate it compared to the 15 Malibu that it replaced though. Wish the Malibu was an option like it was last time.
Some of you guys can keep a vehicle a lot longer that those of us up here in the salt & rust belt. I bought my 2004 Ram 1500 used in 2009. It had 50k miles and was immaculate because it was a garage queen and lived in Virginia. Now it's a big rusty pig with 151k miles. I put a couple thousand a year into it but it's a lot cheaper than a payment on a new one. We lease Hondas exclusively for the wife, she drives one for three years and we get a new one, nothing but a bunch of oil changes and some tire rotations. Currently a 2016 CR-V. I don't think I'll ever buy a new truck again. I beat my vehicles up so badly that I would be afraid to toss firewood in the back. 2-3 years old, less than 50k miles, a few battle scars, that'll do.
I bought plenty of used vehicles in my younger days and then I bought 3 brand new vehicles; '87 Toyota 4-runner, 2004 Nissan Xterra and 2010 Jeep Patriot. Only one worth it was the Toyota (13 years, 307,000 miles and still sold for 10% of what I paid for it and saw it on the road for at least a couple of years). The Nissan and Jeep were POS's and didn't even last 5 years or over 110,000 miles even thoguh I used dealer to perform all reccommended maintenances ($$$!!). Xterra needed 6k of work, not including the ef'd 4WD after 4.5 years; Jeep blew the manual transmission 11/2015 (not quite 5 years old) so needed 6-8k of work. Since the Jeep blew, I bought high mileage Ford Explorer (2004, 135k miles) and a 2007 Ford Focus (198k miles for $1,300) and have put very little money into them (a couple of bearings and tires). Heck, the first year I had the car I put $35 into it - to replace the missing antenna. They are now at 151k and 209k respectively. People give me chit for having 3 vehicles (truck, car, motorcycle) and say "no wonder you need 2 jobs." All are paid off though and between the three I paid just around 20k - less than most new vehicles today and if one breaks down I have a back up.
My 2000 4runner is the best vehicle I've owned. Currently at 240k. I had a 99 Tacoma that would rank near the top, but it got traded in early after a back injury made it painful to sit in.
I've been thinking about a Toyota to replace my Dodge. The body is falling apart after 20 years of commercial plowing with it and I'm going to need to get another truck; that will NOT be used to plow.
Yeah, I'm sold on Toyota and if I could have afforded one, that is what I would have gotten to replace the Jeep. Unfortunately everyone knows those are super reliable so want a premium price for the used ones and there is no way I could buy a new one.
The used Tacomas and Tundras are crazy expensive. I'd have to get an automatic, because after paying an arm and a leg, I wouldn't be able to shift!
My calculation break down as follows: $.1178 cost per mile driven. Barring major repairs, that number should continue to drop slowly. Purchase price - current value - repair costs = cost per mile driven (excluding gasoline & insurance) Also, those who do your own repairs (yes, I do mine too if they are needed), is your time worth anything to you? Don't sell yourself short and forget that in your calculations. My time is worth $X while at work, my personal time is worth more than that (but not as much as standard shop rates). I love to work on a vehicle to make it my own. Hate working on them to keep them running.
