Honda Car Forum

Im curious what everyone thinks on this issue.

Is it more frugal to buy a new car..... and drive it
till its wheels fall off..... get 300k miles on it.

Or is it actually better to trade up every few years
and keep up on the new-ness "curve"?

Opinions? Advice?

All the financial advice I've ever heard on this says buy a reliable car and
drive it until its wheels fall off.

If this does become your plan, I understand that buying new (as opposed to used)
is fine, financially speaking.

<me6@privacy.net> wrote
> Im curious what everyone thinks on this issue.
>
> Is it more frugal to buy a new car..... and drive it
> till its wheels fall off..... get 300k miles on it.
>
> Or is it actually better to trade up every few years
> and keep up on the new-ness "curve"?
>
> Opinions? Advice?

YMMV.

The best pattern IMO is to buy a well reputed car in its 5th year with
normal mileage and sell it after 3 yrs. Resale value is still potentially
good. After that, the issues are never ending and get worse.



<me6@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:38tld0100bpabsirtf8a6cqlfkot67ubf5@4ax.com...
> Im curious what everyone thinks on this issue.
>
> Is it more frugal to buy a new car..... and drive it
> till its wheels fall off..... get 300k miles on it.
>
> Or is it actually better to trade up every few years
> and keep up on the new-ness "curve"?
>
> Opinions? Advice?

"Caroline" <caroline10027remove@earthlink.net> wrote:

>All the financial advice I've ever heard on this says buy a reliable car and
>drive it until its wheels fall off.

I agree that this is the best option.

>If this does become your plan, I understand that buying new (as opposed to used)
>is fine, financially speaking.

Isn't it still better to buy a slightly used vehicle. Say one that has
only been owned for a year or less since you will get a great break on
the price and the car will still be like new. the only thing you need
to watch for is the possibility that the car was abused or that the
car is back on the lot because it was a lemon. Taking the car by a
trustworthy mechanic for a quick inspection should help spot the bad
cars.

I would add that you need to keep in mind the use of the vehicle. From my
experience in needing to driving from OKC to Dallas every couple weeks, we
keep one car new and one older vehicle. Works nice only having one car
payment.

Scott
<me6@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:38tld0100bpabsirtf8a6cqlfkot67ubf5@4ax.com...
> Im curious what everyone thinks on this issue.
>
> Is it more frugal to buy a new car..... and drive it
> till its wheels fall off..... get 300k miles on it.
>
> Or is it actually better to trade up every few years
> and keep up on the new-ness "curve"?
>
> Opinions? Advice?

>The best pattern IMO is to buy a well reputed car in its 5th year with
>normal mileage and sell it after 3 yrs. Resale value is still potentially
>good. After that, the issues are never ending and get worse.

So using your method above.....if a [person bought a
new car..... do you recommend selling it in the 8th
year then?

I arrived at 8 years by adding 5+3 as per above

In my humble opinion, in the case of Hondas that keep their value so well,
it is hard for me to justify buying a 1 year old one - the savings isn't
that great over buying a brand new one. If you were talking about a Chevy
or something, that would probably be a good plan - except for the part about
buying a Chevy ;-)


"shawn" <shawn@spamcop.net> wrote in message
news:5g2md0tgb1hf2lpr6i9pgt3l3198280ng7@4ax.com...
> "Caroline" <caroline10027remove@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
> >All the financial advice I've ever heard on this says buy a reliable car
and
> >drive it until its wheels fall off.
>
> I agree that this is the best option.
>
> >If this does become your plan, I understand that buying new (as opposed
to used)
> >is fine, financially speaking.
>
> Isn't it still better to buy a slightly used vehicle. Say one that has
> only been owned for a year or less since you will get a great break on
> the price and the car will still be like new. the only thing you need
> to watch for is the possibility that the car was abused or that the
> car is back on the lot because it was a lemon. Taking the car by a
> trustworthy mechanic for a quick inspection should help spot the bad
> cars.

On Thu, 24 Jun 2004 15:39:37 GMT, "Caroline" <caroline10027remove@earthlink.net>
wrote:

||All the financial advice I've ever heard on this says buy a reliable car and
||drive it until its wheels fall off.
||
||If this does become your plan, I understand that buying new (as opposed to
used)
||is fine, financially speaking.

Make it a highly desirable vehicle, drive it until repairs are too frequent,
then sell it as/to a private party. If it's a popular model when new, the
residual value will be much higher.

||<me6@privacy.net> wrote
||> Im curious what everyone thinks on this issue.
||>
||> Is it more frugal to buy a new car..... and drive it
||> till its wheels fall off..... get 300k miles on it.
||>
||> Or is it actually better to trade up every few years
||> and keep up on the new-ness "curve"?
||>
||> Opinions? Advice?
||
||

Texas Parts Guy

>Make it a highly desirable vehicle, drive it until repairs are too frequent,
>then sell it as/to a private party. If it's a popular model when new, the
>residual value will be much higher.

Hmmm..... not a bad idea on getting a "desirable"
vehicle!

There is no unique answer to this. But generally, yes. This is what I am
doing. My car is in its 6th year at 80000 miles. I bought it new.

I bought my car at 27500$ (all in Canadian $$$)
After 4 years, the residual 14820$
After 5 year on the market, it worths around 11500$
After 8 years, at projected mileage, probably 7500$. After that, you will
think about redoing the paint, or the tranny. Less confidence in the
traffic, too.

Note the big drop between 4th and 5th year. But only 4000$ over the last 36
months - with no interest - is very pleasant. 1000-1500$ of repairs each
year. No car payment. )

But there are other scenarios as attractive. there are plenty of incredible
deals on the used market. As an example, Ford Focus, a fairly good car, are
almost given away. A 2-yrs old 25000 miles can be had for 8500$CAD
(7000$US).

I prefer something more sophisticated, thus the first scenario.

<me6@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:df3md01insftk7vu2uadah8b5or45cvjkd@4ax.com...
> >The best pattern IMO is to buy a well reputed car in its 5th year with
> >normal mileage and sell it after 3 yrs. Resale value is still
potentially
> >good. After that, the issues are never ending and get worse.
>
> So using your method above.....if a [person bought a
> new car..... do you recommend selling it in the 8th
> year then?
>
> I arrived at 8 years by adding 5+3 as per above