I grew up as a mechanic's child. That means several things. First, I don't know how to fix cars. Second, I don't care about nice, new, cars because, well, they break too. Third, our family cars were always the last car to get fixed so I am use to driving crappy vehicles and I don't feel like I've been cheated out of any opportunities by driving beaters my entire driving life.
In December 2005, I bought a 1990 Nissan Pickup with a topper for $800. It was ugly, I mean really ugly. As a result, I was entered in a contest at work to win a new car because it was so ugly, but it ran really good. I spent a total of $80 in repairs and never changed the oil once - just added some. A/C didn't work but it had good heat. Nonetheless, we did everything in that truck with out worrying about it getting hurt. People even loved to borrow my truck and we even made money on it because people needed a truck that they didn't have to worry about when it came to hauling stuff. I went 2 consecutive months with out having to put gas in it once, because it was borrowed by people who would put more gas in it when they were finished.Then, in November of 2006, a lady pulls a U-turn right in front of me from the shoulder of the road. It totals my car - every one is fine. Her insurance company settled with me and gave me an offer I could not even begin to refuse or negotiate. I end up getting $2000 for the truck and travel expenses. My wife and I carpooled for 2 weeks, so I didn't have to spend any money on a rental. Fortunately, I took the topper off before the wreck and made another $100 by selling it. Now, do you remember that car contest? I didn't win a car but I did win $500. (I work for the greatest company in the world!)
I spent 2 weeks looking around on Craig's list for a replacement and one day I saw a 1994 Suburban for only $3000. A $1000 under what blue book suggested. Having a child during all this time and maybe plans of having more, I decided this would be a good buy even if it does drink gas. I don't drive that much and I figured it would balance out the amount I spend on gas with our scooters (80 miles per gallon). The family that was selling it were fans of Dave Ramsey and hoped that they would be able to find a Dave Ramsey fan to sell it too. Well, boy did they ever!So, the bottom line: I paid $480 to upgrade my Nissan Pickup to a Chevy Suburban. I did have to pay for title/registration and my insurance went up $1 a month. Oh no!
That's my story. It pays to drive crap!
3 comments:
Oh, totally. I have a 98 Accord with 86K on it, and I've NEVER had to do a thing to it except put gas in it, change the oil, and change the tires when they blow. Great car. We also have a 94 Blazer that still runs like a dream. I've put $3-4K in repairs into it over the last 13 years. That's $25 er month. TAKE THAT leasers. I don't need to impress some guy at a stoplight that I don't know.
I just bought a 2004 Toyota Echo hatchback for C$8200 (about US$7000) from someone who was still paying off his car loan!
I paid $6,129 to his creditors and $2,701 to the seller.
It's not quite the deal as yours, but I'm not as mechanically inclined. That said, I did get a certified mechanic to inspect the car thoroughly before making my offer AND I checked the reviews for that make and model ((Phil Edmonston's Lemon-Aid Used Car Guide, published annually, is a terrific resource) and made sure there were no outstanding liens (which is how I found out he still owed money on the car).
I have no idea why people are so fussed about occasional repairs. As long as you buy a good car and take it in for regular maintenance, the costs are still going to be a LOT less than what people who insist on buying new cars every few years have to shell out on depreciation and interest!
Claudia
Great post.
I drive a 1999 Lexus ES300. The car has 112k for miles, but it runs great and is in very good condition. It is fully paid for and I expect to get another 100k out of the car. I only drive 10k per year, so I will essentially have 10 years with no car payments. I think the average car payment in the US is around $450. So, take $450 x 10 years and I am looking at a savings of $54,000!
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