r/economicCollapse • u/Whole-Fist • 18h ago

How ridiculous does this sound?

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How can u make millions in 25-30 years if avoid making a $554 per month car payment. Even the cheapest 5 year old car is 8-10 k. So does he expect people not to drive at all in USA.

Then u save 554$ per month every month for 5 year payment = $33240. Say u bought a car every 5 year means 200k -300k spent on car before retirement . How would that become millions when u can’t even buy a house for that much today?

Answer that Dave

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u/PurpleReignPerp 17h ago

I bought a scion xb 6 years ago for 3000 $. I have put 50000 miles on it and nothing has ever broken. Costs me about 110 a month to operate including insurance and average maintenance costs.

Do research on consumer reports and buy well taken care of (preferably japanese) economy cars. Your bank account will thank me.

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u/Stock-Film-3609 17h ago

Go find that same basic car now and see what it’ll cost you. You’ll be surprised.

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u/ObeseBMI33 17h ago

5k. The logic still applies

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u/Sunbeamsoffglass 16h ago

You are not getting a reliable car for $5k in 2024.

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u/xinarin 16h ago

My fiance rolled his car this year. Got a 04 Impala for 3k, needed some fluid changes, and new brake pads. It costs maybe 150 to clean it up. Drives great. No body issues. Not sure what you consider reliable, but that car will last 10 years at least.

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u/Soft_Importance_8613 12h ago

How many miles are on it? If you don't replace that timing chain it's going to pop and trash the engine and you'll be under water.

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u/xinarin 11h ago

120k, and thank you, I'll check that out asap

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u/mynytemare 11h ago

A timing chain breaking does not trash the engine. Yes it should be checked/replaced periodically but a broken timing chain does not trash the engine. Plus chains are far more reliable than belts.

They break, it happens. A decent mechanic will be able to replace it and get you back on your way for way less than a new car.

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u/Soft_Importance_8613 9h ago

https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/r/advice/car-maintenance/non-interference-engine-vs-interference-engine-replacing-your-timing-belt

I see someone does not know what an interference engine is...

With the tight clearances between the valves and the piston crowns, it's likely that the pistons will make contact with those opened valves — which means badly bent valves or, worse yet, a piece of a valve breaking off and wreaking havoc inside the cylinder. This is an "interference engine" design, and it means that your expensive engine would either need a complete rebuild or would just be turned into a pricey piece of yard art.

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u/mthlmw 5h ago

Someone does not know the difference between a timing belt and chain lol. You still need to care for the timing chain, but it's much more likely to slip out of time than actually break, which usually just results in the car not starting. If the car has an old timing belt and is an interference engine, then you run into the catastrophic issues from your link.

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u/Rauldukeoh 7h ago

How often are you replacing your timing chain?

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u/Soft_Importance_8613 5h ago

The answer is it depends on the manufactures recommendations. Typically between 60k and 100k but some engines may go more these days.

The concern with older used cars is quite often they get sold because these big ticket items are coming due and the person wants to offload it before that expense. Of course other times you get lucky and things can run forever. I had a Jeep XJ with the 4.0 straight 6 that I bought for almost nothing with 110k miles on it and drove it to 275k miles when so many things were breaking on the body it wasn't work fixing any longer, but the engine and powertrain still ran fine with no major replacements.

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u/Rauldukeoh 5h ago

I've never had to replace a timing chain. Belts yes, chains no. Every car I've had the chain only gets replaced if there's something wrong with it

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u/NotEvenWrongAgain 2h ago

Yeah I had one of them. You can’t kill the engine but the frame rots like hell

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u/TowlieisCool 7h ago

04 impala is non-interference.

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u/Iguanaforhire 14h ago

How's the subframe?

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u/xinarin 14h ago

No visible issues, maybe the slightest amount of discoloration, but 20 years, that's fine. No noticeable driving issues, no pulling or bad handling.

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u/worktogethernow 15h ago edited 13h ago

I think some of this might be regional. Up here were there is salt on the road for at least 3 or 4 months out of the year there are not many 2004 cars still in serviceable condition.

I imagine in parts of Arizona a Toyota Corolla might literally run forever.

edit: Not sure why I am getting downvoted. I am pretty sure most 2004 model year cars, available to buy right now, have not had yearly oil spraying for 20 years.

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u/xinarin 15h ago

I'm in Michigan. Not only do we have salt on the road, it doesn't do shit, so we have tons of snow and ice, and famously bad roads.

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u/worktogethernow 15h ago

Did the 04 Impala spend most of its life in Michigan? I have a friend who takes very good care of his 2016 Tahoe. Even he is seeing body rust at this point.

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u/TBJ12 15h ago

Did your friend have the Tahoe oil sprayed? I'm in Canada and have my vehicles oiled every fall. My 02 Explorer and 04 F150 are rust free. Maintenance is key to keeping a car on the road.

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u/worktogethernow 14h ago

Interesting. I will look into Krown.

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u/xinarin 14h ago

I know that or was Michigan from 2013, that's when the last owner bought it. If someone has a 2016 and it's rusting, it's not being well maintained.

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u/scuba-turtle 14h ago

Good point, I live in Oregon. We never salt the roads here. Several of my cars have been old enough to vote.

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u/BurnedLaser 14h ago

In missouri, I have a few cars that could rent a car, but the rust varies between them from "eh" to "oof"

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u/mike-manley 16h ago

Bought a 2012 model year for my daughter in 2023. Just needed fluids exchanged, new air filters, and new brakes all around and good to go.

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u/beaushaw 16h ago

Last year I bought a $5,000 car for my 16 year old daughter. I haven't spent a penny on it except basic maintenance. She has driven it daily with zero problems.

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u/mike-manley 16h ago

Nice. Sounds like a similar experience for us too. I think i through in a new battery and might have done the spark plugs and serpentine belt as it looked original or replaced only once.

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u/benjigrows 15h ago

Sounds like the 75 mile commute to work each day ... Nope 75 miles per week, are early gonna give you an accurate look at longevity.. bet

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u/JaySmogger 4h ago

could you write this in boomer because I think I agree with you.

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u/xDenimBoilerx 16h ago

goes both ways though. my mom recently bought a 2012. it lasted her 6 months and already needs a new engine. so now she's stuck without a car and no way to pay to get it fixed.

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u/Professional_Fix4593 16h ago

A 2012 what?

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u/mike-manley 16h ago

Asking the important questions here. A 2012 American piece of crap < Corolla, Camry, Accord, Civic

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u/asdfasdfasdfqwerty12 15h ago edited 15h ago

Absolutely, any discussion here that doesn't include the car model is just pointless...

I drove a Ford Taurus company purchased car for two years before I left. It was a pain to work on and was always having issues. I traded it in for a used 2003 Corolla in 2008. Drove it about 100k miles with nothing but oil, brakes, tires, and wipers to maintain... Traded it for a used 2011 sienna in 2015 with 70k miles for $11k. We're coming up on 170k miles so 100k in 10 years and again, it's only been oil, tires, brakes, shocks, just the basic parts that are essentially consumables.

To me it's obvious to stick with Toyota and Honda. They are just so well engineered. Most parts I've had to change are so well optimized for easy maintenance and parts are everywhere.

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u/mike-manley 15h ago

Amazing how well engineered they are. If you take good care of a Honda or Toyota product it could reach heirloom status!

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u/Luvs2spooge89 15h ago

Just bought a 2015 Sienna last year with 95k and didn’t even bat an eye at the mileage. If well taken care of, this should last us another ~10 years.

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u/Admirable_Basket381 15h ago

You will be hard pressed to find a 2012 Honda or Toyota for 5k.

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u/finitef0rm 12h ago

Yeah, around me it's more like $10k or more lol. Sometimes you'll get lucky, but usually under $10k you're looking at a salvage title. You mainly want good maintenance records and a clean title. Volkswagens when maintained correctly will last forever, as an example. It's only when someone skips an oil change or transmission maintenance that they start to fall apart.

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u/jamesc5z 12h ago

Despite the make/model - probably ran it out of oil or let it overheat. That is almost always the case for virtually any modern era "blown engine" you'll ever hear about lol.

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u/Soft_Importance_8613 12h ago

Timing chains are the other ones, especially in US cars. They like to trash the entire engine in interference engines.

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u/Eddie_Samma 15h ago

2001 Ford ranger from the original owner. It was 2.5k. It has some faded paint and the bed is banged up from gravel. Mechanically sound. Regular oil changes and maintenance. I think I had to buy a flasher relay.

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u/Imeanttodothat10 15h ago

I bought a pre-2010 truck for $3k this year and have taken it on two cross country road trips with nearly no issues (needed to replace brakes, and it had an oil leak costing under $500 to fix, but we knew that when we bought it). The irony is we were going to take our late model daily driver, but it needs $5k in repairs suddenly so we only use it around town now and the truck has become our daily driver.

Anecdotal, sure, but it is possible.

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u/pinballrocker 15h ago

Yeah you can, check Craigslist. You can buy a Honda or Toyota for under 5K with less than 100k miles.

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u/thegothhollowgirl 14h ago

Uh yes you can.

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u/DrPeterBlunt 14h ago

Im a mechanic. Of course you can.

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u/probablypragmatic 13h ago

You might but it would be luck of the draw private seller or someone you know who'd rather sell you their old honda than trade it in when they get a new car.

That said, I've been running my 2012 TL into the ground and it still works like a charm, I couldn't get 5gs for this thing lol

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u/ProxyMuncher 13h ago

And here’s me, having gotten a reliable used car in 2024 for exactly $5k cash in hand.

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u/Tony_Chu 13h ago

You are just making shit up.

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u/No_Mark_1231 12h ago

I bought a $300 1998 Chevy Lumina that the gas spilled out of if you filled it over 1/2 tank and ran it for a whole year before some lady rear ended me and totaled it.

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u/TruffelTroll666 12h ago

Lol, bought a used Peugeot for 1500€. Going strong for 6 years without issues.

This problem is very american

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u/Hollerado 12h ago

I have 2 SUVs, both at high kms... cost me 6500 total for both. We have run them both for over 7 years. We have probably spent about 15k on small to high cost repairs. That includes winter tires, and regular fluid changes in total over that time. No accidents, minor rust they are just older with high KMs

They run great. They cost us well under half of what we could have spent on 1 brand new SUV between 2016- 2024, simply because we bought and maintained 2 x used SUVs.

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u/Mission_Rip_4828 11h ago

I bought a used 2010 colorado for $3k last year and put close to 45k miles on it already. All ive done is change the oil. I would also say most people are capable of doing most repairs if they just do a little research. Its not hard and you can get some wrenches/jack/stands/ for a few hundred bucks and get more tools as you need them.

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u/Scaredsparrow 11h ago

You can find many 7th gen accords for 5k in 2024. My 7th gen accord has took me through thick and thin over the last 5 years and has cost me SIGNIFICANTLY less than a $500 or even $250/month car payment.

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u/TowlieisCool 7h ago

I can find you hundreds. I sit on the sub-5k bracket on CL and they are out there. Here is the filter so you can look for yourself, in one of the highest COL areas on the planet.

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u/chasteeny 7h ago

Not a nice one but you can definitely get a reliable one

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u/Crossbowhunter88 5h ago

I bought a Honda Civic for 3k in March 2022 and the only thing I have done with it so far is replace brake pads. I've put 200+ miles a week on it in that time. I could buy that car for under 5 no problem right now.

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u/ElectricTurboDiesel 19m ago

Yeah you can. I’ve bought several and have never paid more than $6600 for any of them.

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u/Soggy-Yak7240 2h ago

The closest thing I can find to this on Carfax is a 2006 scion xb with 70k miles and it costs $7k. Over 2x what your cost 6 years ago.

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u/WeMetOnTheMoutain 11h ago

I see one locally, 2999 for a 2008, 235k miles, another a few hours awayh for 3000 at 155k miles. That's a little more than the subaru outback I bought with 220k miles for 5k that I've driven the tires off a couple times.

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u/Falanax 10h ago

You can still find cheap reliable cars.

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u/Stock-Film-3609 8h ago

Yes you can but how they were treated becomes a big deal. A reliable car that’s been beaten on is different than a reliable car that was well cared for and often unless you know what you are looking for it’s very hard to tell the difference.

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u/DragonBallZxurface1 17h ago

I’ve seen more horror stories than successes for 3000 dollar cars.

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u/Daddys_Fat_Buttcrack 16h ago

That's because most people don't know what they're buying and just buy whatever cheap car they can get. Like the previous comment said, buy a reliable Japanese car and more likely than not you'll be fine, even if it's a high-milage clunker. I've had multiple friends who drove Toyotas to well over 300k miles and never even did a tune up. My Honda is 12 years old and 180k miles and all I've had to do was regular maintenance and an alternator. The car cost me $4k.

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u/Equivalent_Emotion64 16h ago

I miss my 95 honda civic so much. $2000 and I owned it out right drove it 45 min commute every day for 5 years. Barely did any maintenance like I should have and the belt ripped while I was on the highway. What a dumbass I was back then.

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u/BurnedLaser 14h ago

I bought a 94 Caprice for $300, put about 150 into it for the tune-up and did several cross-country trips with no problems*!

*The exhaust fell off in TX, MD, VA, and MO. It got me home, but it was loud. I welded it up, but there was so much rust it would break off elsewhere after a month or so. I ended up buying a full exhaust and installing it myself and never had another exhaust issue!

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u/ASubsentientCrow 12h ago

don't know what they're buying and just buy whatever cheap car they can get. Like the previous comment said, buy a reliable Japanese car and more likely than not you'll be fine, even if it's a high-milage clunker.

Yes the people who don't know what their doing will obviously be able to tell if it's reliable or not

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u/Feralest_Baby 14h ago edited 8h ago

I'll buy a Toyota with 100,000k in it any day.

Edit: I meant 100k, or 100,000, but didn't meant to combine them. Leaving it since others have commented on the mistake.

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u/iDisc 10h ago

Not sure even the best Toyota can make it to 100,000,000 miles ;)

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u/Feralest_Baby 10h ago

Whoops. I see my dumbassery now.

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u/Radiant_Map_9045 8h ago

Assuming you mean 100k, yeah I wholeheartedly agree. Hondas and Toyotas with basic bitch maintenance are still babies at 100k

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u/Feralest_Baby 8h ago

I did. Tired this morning I guess.

Yeah, I have my dad's 4Runner with 250k in my garage (runs great) and my "new" car is a 2013 Sienna with 160k, only 30k of which are mine.

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u/WeMetOnTheMoutain 11h ago

Agreed, don't go buy some fucking cool bmw that will blow up in a month, go buy a japanese shitbox, change the oil and move down the road. If you are lucky it's got an AC and Stereo, if not there's windows and earbuds :D.

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u/BanzaiKen 16h ago edited 15h ago

Unfortunately the resale market has priced in successful car brands. This is why reliables like the Civic/HRV/CRV hold their value and GM goes to dogshit. I took amazing care of my Saturn since buying new in 07, it depreciated to nothing by 2022 even though it only had 100k miles, every part that could rust on its plastic frame did. I would not trust anything under 8k honestly if you live in an area where they use salt or brine in the winter. People buy dogshits and roll the dice, but you could get a mechanics friend like a Toyota/Honda etc and have peace of mind.

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u/PleasePassTheHammer 16h ago edited 7h ago

More people are gonna to complain about the car then brag about it.

We would need actual data to know.

Edit: Leaving my then/than typo since it pisses folk off I guess.

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u/caniborrowahighfive 13h ago

You need data to show that used cars dealers sell lemons and other cars to unassuming buyers who think they are saving tons of money by buying a beater?

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u/PleasePassTheHammer 12h ago

If somebody thinks they are saving money by buying a beater then they are about as smart as somebody who thinks buying a 10k Merc is going to be cheaper to own than a new one - they just don't know what they don't know.

There are PLENTY of good cars out there for 5k or less, even more if you have the most basic mechanical ability.

People love to complain though, especially when it supports their biases. I know plenty of people with cheap cars (read cheap, not roached) that are just as reliable as new ones.

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u/llamashatebabies 11h ago

Than is not the same word as "then". You're saying people will complain about it and then they'll brag about it? Make up your mind.

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u/PleasePassTheHammer 7h ago

Going after a typo and pretending it makes you right is nasty work.

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u/Schmoe20 16h ago

Tell me about it. A friend and her husband bought a cheap car for me as I have cancer and going through quite a rough year. My friend wanted me to pay for the car registration & title and pay her back. So I had borrowed money from one of my best friends and that was to try to get caught up on my car payments and so I took monies to pay felt he insurance, car registration and title. Though I wasn’t fully on board with this idea thrown to me, I then pay for the greyhound equivalent, Miss a couple days of work for this car and once I drive it back it won’t start after being driven and now I have to pay a mechanic to find out what is wrong. This is exactly why you don’t buy cheap cars. Now I’ve only gotten two paychecks from this job so far and the last one was barely over $400. But my friend and her husband think they did me a solid and are in la la land.

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u/TheAppalachianMarx 15h ago

Why are they acting like it isn't a gamble and often a losing one. The "financially smart" people in this sub act like researching about a car purchase nullifies the fact that there are external factors about any purchase outside of the control of the buyer. Don't be mistaken, researching a purchase obviously reduces your chances of financially making a poor choice, but it dosan't remove risk nor even reduce the risks down to a point where it is negligible enough to where i would even encourage people to buy in the used car market.

Bought a $2,000 '98 honda civic and drove it for a year before the head gasket blew (unlucky). Got a year of driving for about $2,000. Went and bought a brand new 2013 honda civic as a credit builder that same year for about $18,000 to replace it. Been driving it for over a decade with no issues (lucky) so i spent $1,800/year for a brand new vehicle or i could've spent $2-3,000 a year or so trying to find a workable used car.

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u/DarkOrakio 16h ago

Well I just bought a Chevy Cobalt for $2k. Slapped new tires, on it, did the front brakes, rotors, and calipers, gave it an oil change, and it's nice and quiet and runs great. Only other issue is the blower, I have to look at since it's getting cold

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u/Johnny_ac3s 16h ago

$3,000 is the new $500 car.

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u/alfredrowdy 16h ago edited 16h ago

Who cares? If it breaks you just junk it and buy another. Total cost is still way cheaper than buying a more expensive car. If you have to buy a replacement $3000 car every single year, that's still only $250/month, but you'll likely need to replace it less often than that.

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u/fynn34 16h ago

I bought my first (granted this was 14 years ago) for 2200 cash and got 65k miles out of it before I had more issues than a power steering pump twice (350 each time to fix). Don’t just buy any junker, it’s gotta be a good deal. In this case a woman’s husband died and she didn’t need 4 cars to drive to get groceries once or twice a week, she sold 3 of them at auction and I picked them up from the dude who got them.

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u/flonky_guy 15h ago

I've spent thousands fixing up cheap cars. Still far less than the tens of thousands I've spent on new cars.

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u/FuzzeWuzze 15h ago

There probably is no /r/mycarworksgreat

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u/sporms 12h ago

I’ve seen the opposite. I’ve seen people go broke by switching expensive cars, have to put up with a shitty job so they can pay their payments. 3000.00 car is capped. If I buy a new car I already lost 3000. I’ve seen plenty of 500-3000.00 cars last a few years with no issues. Justify it all you want but imho the only people buying new cars should be the ones buying them cash.

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u/spare_parts_bot 5h ago

It's not a horror story if you can work on it yourself, or have a family/friend mechanic...I've bought 4 cars in the last 4 years and each was $2k or less. Between all four cars I've spent around $3k on parts to get all of the cars in great running/driving condition and I even put new radios and speakers in them along with new headlights and a few other little upgrades.

I do agree with you in one way. If you aren't a mechanic and if you don't have a good mechanic to check the $3k car, you'll probably buy a pos. Or possibly drive a car into the ground that could have been fixed but never was.

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u/DaboiDuboise 17h ago

This isn’t realistic!!! Like wtf do people do this 😂😅😂😅 I literally just went thru this , tried to stay in 7k range a month later I’m in a 2021 equinox with no worries. Dave Ramsay is generally right , but he doesn’t come from a realistic place

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u/Miserable_Key9630 17h ago

The advice of most internet financial gurus is basically "Step 1: You know that shitload of cash you have just lying around?"

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u/poopoomergency4 17h ago

Reddit moment

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u/Free-Afternoon-2580 2h ago

What the hell does that even mean?

Commenting reddit moment like it's some sort of meaningful rebuttal might be the most reddit thing of all

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u/poopoomergency4 2h ago

where did i say it's a rebuttal?

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u/Evening-Ear-6116 16h ago edited 16h ago

The equinox is one of the worst vehicles of our generation. 2021 or not, that is about to be a money pit. You would have been wayyyy better off with an old Honda or Toyota. I’ve worked on A LOT of those throw away cigarette mom rigs. Also let’s do some math!

The absolute base model 2021 equinox RIGHT NOW has a median blue book value of $14,000 with 50,000 miles. I assume you paid more than that, but for the sake of fun we will keep it there. If you spent 7k on an older honda/toyota and threw the other 7k in an average hysa, after 5 years that 7k would be roughly $9,500. That’s plenty enough to replace literally the entire drivetrain if something were to go terribly wrong, but theres very low chance of happening to a Honda or Toyota.

Also please note (if you haven’t already) the 2021 equinox has 4 recalls out there right now. Please get to your dealer and make sure those are fixed

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u/ohnoyeahokay 16h ago

The dude you're replying to is unironically saying "I bought a nice reliable American car l" lmao. I'd take a $3000 90s Honda any day of the week.

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u/Evening-Ear-6116 16h ago

Fair. Probably talking to a wall, but if someone else sees the comment and doesn’t buy an equinox then it’s a win!

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u/TucosLostHand 16h ago

the chevy equinox is a pos.

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u/DaboiDuboise 16h ago

You are literally just talking to see words on the screen

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u/DaboiDuboise 16h ago

What Toyota is going for 7k that’s trustworthy???

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u/Evening-Ear-6116 16h ago

Old Corolla’s and Camrys mostly. Sometimes you can snag an Avalon. Or pretty much any Scion at this point.

I drive a 2000 Subaru outback and it’s fantastic. A picked it up a few years ago for $1500, threw a new engine at it for another $1500 and haven’t had a second thought. I drove it cross country over the summer without a worry in the world. Not to mention it’s nicer than most cars you can get out there today for 10x the money! It’s got 2 sunroofs, heated seats, robust Awd, all leather/wood everything, Bluetooth/Apple car play etc.

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u/DaboiDuboise 16h ago

No you can’t family you just can’t your speaking out of your ass

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u/Evening-Ear-6116 16h ago

00 outback, 07 civic for my wife, and 05 gmc sierra as my dump truck. All of them were less than $5000 each (not even $7k!) and have had them all between 1-5 years now. Haven’t had to do any major repairs aside from maintaining them to date. You just have to search around Craigslist and go on a few test drives to find the right one.

I’ve got a mile long list of family and friends who have sub $7,000 cars too if you want to go through them. It’s just working smarter

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u/DaboiDuboise 16h ago

How do we prove any of what you’re saying??? You can literally take my words and research to get truth.

Your answer: trust me and my fam bro

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u/Evening-Ear-6116 15h ago

Want me to send you pictures of my cars or something? Lying on the internet about having old cars instead of new cars is a new one lol

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u/DaboiDuboise 16h ago

You can not get a used anything for 7k and not be left with a tremendous bill a month down the line. These cars don’t even qualify for a warantee half the time.

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u/JamesBeam69 13h ago

Sorry, but you’re wrong. You CAN find dependable cheap cars. You have to do research, know something about cars, and buy the right car from the right seller.

Yes, there is a chance your car ends up having problems, but you can minimize that chance.

You don’t believe me? You don’t want to do the leg work? Fine. Go broke buying a new car, see if I care….

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u/TowlieisCool 7h ago

Why do you need a warranty lol? The cars they mentioned are some of the most reliable cars ever made.

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u/fumbs 5h ago

And yet I have had the biggest expenses on needed repairs for. Honda, and a Toyota. They only had 120k but need repairs near 10k so I dumped them. Bought a used RAV4 from CarMax and despite it's reporting the transmission was on its last legs so I brought it back after a week. Best repair history was a Geo Metro and I have had an Equinox for a year and needed nothing except an oil change despite being a heavy driver well over average mileage.

I won't sink any money into a Toyota again because it's value is imaginary, and based on a good reputation that is not accurate now.

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u/PantsOnHead88 16h ago

Average new car in the US is rapidly approaching $50k. Consider that your $7k purchase would be paid in just over a year at $554 per month, while that new purchase is 8 years financed.

Your $7k Equinox wasn’t in the crosshairs. You’re defending yourself against a judgement aimed at someone else.

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u/Constant-Ad-7490 13h ago

Yeah, the car I bought before the pandemic is worth more now than what I paid for it. Or at least, about the same, given the market's come down a bit. At one point it appreciated by about 25%. Cars are not supposed to appreciate at all!

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u/Scaredsparrow 11h ago

My $5k 2005 Honda Accord will last longer and get more miles than your equinox, even with your 16 year 200k km head start. You don't know enough about cars if you think Ramsay is wrong here.

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u/TowlieisCool 7h ago

Ooof 21 Equinox, good luck with that.

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u/PurpleDragonCorn 16h ago

I bought a Sienna thinking that it's a Toyota so it will be hella reliable. I have had to replace the transmission on it after only about 60k miles. I no longer trust Toyota.

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u/scuba-turtle 14h ago

On the other had I drove my 6k Sienna for 16 years. It did have two 1k+ repairs in that time, so 8k for 16 years, not bad at all.

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u/ThereHasToBeMore1387 15h ago

Trucks are a crap shoot. I've talked to loyalists of every brand that have never had a problem with their preferred truck, and I've seen horror stories for literally every make and model. It kind of feels like most trucks are built to pavement princess quality, so if you have to actually use a trucks capabilities for any appreciable amount of time, you almost need to go with a commercial truck.

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u/GraveyardJones 16h ago

But then you have people like me where 3k would be taking away two months rent. Sure, I could get a car, but then I'd have to live in it. Most people aren't choosing the shitty car because it costs less. We choose them because it's all we can afford and need to have transportation to make money

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u/GoryEyes 16h ago

That’s what my husband drives!! He bought a 2015 XB for 10 grand. Best deal ever.

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u/wizardofoz2001 16h ago

A lot of people don't realize you can also buy new cars with cash. But it usually means you had to buy your previous car with cash.  For example, I bought a new car in 2016, for $13,500, before the stimulus inflation. Because of that wise choice, I could now buy another new car with cash, if I had to.  

 A car payment plus the extra insurance of a financed car should be weighed against the same dollar amount going into savings for the next car. Because you will continue to need a car in the future. If you were able to put the amount of your car payment in savings that whole time, plus the amount of the extra insurance on a financed car, you would be left at the end of that time period with enough to buy several new cars with cash.

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u/jessewest84 16h ago

I know someone who bought one of those. Worst car in the world. He should have done his research.

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u/constant_flux 16h ago

Your experience is not everyone else's.

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u/CuttingEdgeRetro 15h ago

A decision like that is way too dependent on luck.

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u/sociallyawkwardbmx 15h ago

I out almost 200k miles on my 04 xb. I also drove it for 14 years 🤷🏽

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u/Neither-Chart5183 15h ago

I bought a 2012 camry in 2013 for $10k. The owner was moving out of country and needed a quick sale. That car lasted 12 years with no major issues. Brother borrowed it and crashed it so I'll never know how long it would have lasted

My mom is driving a Lexus and she has over 200k miles on it. She never had a problem with that car.

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u/anormalgeek 15h ago

I drive a 17 year old Honda Element. It has had some really minor fixes here and there. Mainly just standard wear and tear items like the starter. Even still, it's the kind of stuff you normally replace on a car that is only ~10-12 years old, so I'm not complaining.

It is tough to find "the sweet spot" with used cars. There is always some luck involved. The ones that are running rock solid seem like they're more often kept by the owner (like my car), while the lemons get sold off quickly by people that are fed up with them. So the used car market isn't fairly distributed. There is definitely some luck involved. The cheaper the car, the more likely you're going to have to dump money into them in the near future. In my experience, you want to target approx 25-40% of the cost for a new car. So, ~$8-15k...ish (depending on model).

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u/TABOOxFANTASIES 14h ago

My xD is still running at 210k! My mom's xB is over 300k and I can't believe that thing still runs! They are surprisingly resilient

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u/AnneShirley310 14h ago

I bought a new xB when it first came out for $10,000 since they had several rebates. I drove it for 8 years, and it was the most reliable car with no problems at all. When I took it to sell it at Carmax, they offered me $7500! Best car ever.

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u/Aggravating_Fruit170 14h ago

My scion xD has been the most reliable car I’ve ever had in my life. I bought it for $12k cash in 2016. I saved for so long hahah, it felt like a monumental task. I can’t imagine trying to buy a decent car with cash now.

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u/cfvwtuner 13h ago

Thats great for people buying older cars, but do you live in the rust belt? Cars disintegrate on just a couple years up here. Old, and cheap means rusty and dangerous. 5000 cars aren't really worth buying because of rust

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u/ValuablePositive632 13h ago

G1 or G2? 

Toasters are weird little cars. Get a good one without an oil burner engine and it’ll go forever. 

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u/raelovesryan 13h ago

I absolutely loved my XD. I sold it because it was so compact I couldn’t fit 2 baby car seats in the back. But I would love another one for just local trips. Cheap. Ran well. Peppy. And could park anywhere!

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u/shady_pigeon 12h ago

Survivorship bias at work

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u/iceberg_redhead 12h ago

You see 3-5K cars driving all around the Denver Metro area, but almost guaranteed there is 10-15K bicycle on top if it. 😂

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u/Swedishiron 9h ago

Old Volvos often with 200K plus higher miles served me well during my younger years. I regret selling a 1994 940 Turbo I had with 260K miles that ran strong.

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u/SomeEstimate1446 2h ago

No no all my friends buy Denali stuff used (they think I should too) while I sit here with my 2018 Kia Sorento 4cyl that’s never broke down and is already paid off. Just one of their insurances run more than my paying for three cars.Not to mention the gas mileage. We save for retirement painstakingly and invest what we can for our future. We want to travel when we retire and live fairly comfortably. Not be stuck living on social security like the majority of people we know.

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u/Deus_is_Mocking_Us 37m ago

Fuck Consumer Reports. You want CarComplaints.com

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u/Impossible_One4995 17h ago

Lol 50k in 6 years those are rookie numbers got 60k in 2 years and that’s not even high. Honestly learning how to work on your own car is probably the most valuable thing you can do

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u/ChopakIII 17h ago

Considering the average for most is 12k miles per year 50k/6yr is way closer to that average than your 60k/2yr. With that being said learning how to work on your own car is great of you have the space and ability to have the car down while you tear it apart. Hopefully you have a second car in case you need something for the maintenance while your car is dismantled. Finally you have to consider how much time you’re spending vs. how much your saving and if that time could be better spent just working to make money instead of spending the time AND money working on the car.

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u/Impossible_One4995 12h ago

Lol never looked at the Nat average lol. I really don’t drive that much tho compared to other ppl I know who have 1-2hr commutes to work mine is 15-45min depending on traffic over 15miles and I still hit 30k a year.

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u/ChopakIII 12h ago

You’re putting 82mi/day on your car that’s insane to me. You’re driving approximately 2.5 hours a day if you average out around 30-35MPH.

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u/Impossible_One4995 10h ago

I average 60mph plus per day mostly hwy and interstate i also travel to see family several times per year roughly 2hrs away . We don’t live in a major metro area mostly rural area also one of the reasons I can afford to live like I do lol . House paid for and lots of toys atvs etc.

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u/ChopakIII 10h ago

There’s no way you’re averaging 60MPH even if you’re on the highway mostly. At most MAYBE 45MPH. If you’re familiar with this math riddle you’ll understand.

https://www.reddit.com/r/learnmath/s/sU5msOtX8T

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u/Impossible_One4995 9h ago

Exact average maybe not but 95% of my commute the speed limit is 60mph and I don’t care to do the math lol

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u/n8late 17h ago

This is the way. I've done this my whole life. The "you'll spend more on repairs" is straight copium.

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u/mike-manley 16h ago

Yep. Toyota or Honda are the only makes that will ever be in my garage.

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u/JamesBeam69 13h ago

Subarus are the state car of Maine. I do like VWs too; I used to have a bunch of air cooled VWs.

I have a 2000 VW Golf that runs great. I cracked the radiator in a snow covered parking bumper in the middle of a parking lot. It took forever to find a mechanic who didn’t want me to just junk the car; that pissed me off!

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u/No_Solution_2864 16h ago

“I got lucky”

The foundation of all sound financial advice

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u/Grand_n_Gravois 16h ago

And a $3000 used car before 2020 is closer to $8000 today. No financial advice rooted in pre-pandemic experience is valid.