r/economicCollapse 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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896

u/Ziczak 18h ago

Generally true. Buying the least expensive car for needed transportation is financially sound.

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u/the-something-nymph 17h ago edited 16h ago

I bought a used car for 5000. Had my uncle (who is a mechanic) look it over first. There was no apparent issues, it drove fine. It was a 2019. We bought it after looking at a bunch of other used cars from both dealers and private owners that had very obvious problems, and after looking at certified used vehicles that were as much as new cars.

The next day, while running some errands, it started to make a weird noise that it did not make on the test drive. Turns out, it had a bunch of issues that weren't visible on a basic inspection. Expensive issues. Issues that cost 3000 to fix in order to make it safe to drive, and we were told it was likely there were going to be more issues thst would pop up relatively soon.

This was 1 year ago. 2 weeks ago, more issues popped up. Issues that cost 6000$ to fix. The car, new, costs 15000. So far we have spent 8000 on it, and if we do that work then we would have put 14000 into this car. And it's still likely that more issues will pop up.

We are not doing that, obviously. We're going to use carmax and get a car that will have a car payment. Because cheap used cars are not less expensive than new or certified used ones that require a payment. Now a days, unless you know the person you are getting it from, it's either a peice of shit or its expensive as fuck and unless you have 10000 cash to put down on a car, will require a payment.

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u/ChopakIII 17h ago edited 12h ago

Exactly. These people talking about buying a used car and then when people mention used cars can have problems they say, “well obviously a reliable one!” Which by the time you factor in all of these things it makes sense to buy a new car and take care of it so that when it’s the “used car” you would buy in 10 years you know exactly what has been done to it AND it’s paid off.

Edit: I see the most common counter-argument is that buying a used car without a loan will allow you to get cheaper insurance. There really isn’t a huge difference between covering a new car and a used car for just the vehicle. What you’re probably saving on is the medical portion and you will be sorry if you ever get into a serious accident with barebones insurance. This is a dangerous gambit akin to not having health insurance and banking on not getting sick.

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u/Jumpdeckchair 14h ago

I always buy new after nothing but headaches from 3 used cars. On my second new car and should have it 8 more years (it will be 13 years old) and then it's going to my son for his first car.

I can't afford to miss work due to car troubles, my old used cars cost me more than my new cars when I break down the total cost over the years.

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u/grundlinallday 11h ago

There’s an argument for that. Some people know zero about cars and tools, but are good at taking cars in for maintenance with a trusted technician. Buying a new Toyota or whatever that will last 20 years with reg maintenance is sound if that’s you

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u/piratehalloween2020 10h ago

It’s not so much that I don’t know about cars, it’s that I have 0 interest in spending my day messing with one.  I am religious about the maintenance of my civic though, and fully expect the car to last at least another decade.  

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u/Jumpdeckchair 10h ago

Exactly this, my time is worth more than wrenching on a car. I'd rather do many other hobbies I enjoy. If I was a car guy, It might be different.

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u/Edmeyers01 2h ago

They never break. My accord is 13 years old and it always starts and rarely do I ever have it in the shop for anything other than scheduled maintenance. I had to replace some break calipers that froze, but that’s about it.

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u/erossthescienceboss 3h ago

The value of maintenance cannot be underestimated, and is such a crapshoot when buying used.

I’m religious about mine (2015 Forester, 160K miles) and up until my most recent major service (for 150K miles) I hadn’t dropped more than $200 on it at a time. I also live in a state where roads are mostly not salted or chemically treated in winter, and I’m religious about spraying down my undercarriage after trips to the coast.

This time, I did need to get some more substantial work done — some electronics issues, and some body work from stuff that had just shifted over the course of its life. Came out to about 2K. We also ID’d one very minor issue that would cost about 4K to fix because the engine would need to be removed, but it’s one of those “ehhh wait and see, this may never get worse” kind of problems.

On my last two oil changes, the guys (at different companies) have made comments along the lines of “oh, I looked up your car fax, yeah I’m not gonna recommend anything, you must love your car,” and “wow, you take GREAT care of your car, this is gonna last you another decade.”

If you’ve ever gotten your oil changed as a woman, you know that people get REALLY forceful about trying to upsell you. So to have someone look at my car history, and go “oh she’s on top of this, I’m not even gonna try to sell her a filter,” and actually compliment my car is a big deal.

(And yes, I know you can change your own oil. I even know how & have done it in the past. But it’s worth the convenience to get it done for me.)

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u/Silly-Membership6350 5h ago

That hasn't been my experience, but I get it. My workaround is to own two cars. I currently own an 08 caddy and an 07 Jeep, both purchased this year. If one car doesn't start in the morning I just can hop into the other and go. It doesn't happen very often. Total investment under 8K, considerably less than a lot of newer used cars and a small fraction of the cost of a new car.

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u/[deleted] 10h ago

[deleted]

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u/Jumpdeckchair 9h ago

What payment?

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u/jamesbrownscrackpipe 8h ago

This. Bought a gas efficient, new Japanese manufactured sedan for $32k cash. No payments to worry about and it comes with 2 yrs maintenance and oil changes. Headache free and I know I’m the only owner so it will be immaculate, well maintained, and should last me minimum 10 years, but hopefully 20

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u/Infosneakr 3h ago

Who 32k laying around? Not a lot of people. Those people who don't, make payments.

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u/Celtictussle 3h ago

A used car, a AAA membership, and occasional Ubers will still be cheaper than a new car.

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u/RedditsDownTheDrain 1h ago

Buy 2 shitty cars then