the old "don't buy a new car" thinking

[thebomb]

I LOVE CARS!! However, I love classic cars. In my dreams I will one day own a 69 Camara, or a Cuda or a Nova.... My Husband cant wait for that day.... Otherwise right now I too am driving an Acura. Its ok, but my problem is I am still driving it like my Infiniti G35.... I had to sell the manual for an automatic for my daily Hamilton to Toronto commute.

[Jon_Snow]

I'm sure you are right. But once he retires and if things work out well who knows. i guess it depemds on his utility function. Furthermore, I doubt he could get 5 years of extra retirement for the price of a gently used BMW.

Yeah, I suspect I will eventually "reward" myself with a nice car. But being the cautious man that I am, my first 5 years of very early retirement are going to be quite conservative, with as little drawdown of the nest egg as feasibly possible.

[kcowan]

Yeah, I suspect I will eventually "reward" myself with a nice car. But being the cautious man that I am, my first 5 years of very early retirement are going to be quite conservative, with as little drawdown of the nest egg as feasibly possible.

I kept the BMW convertible for the first few years in retirement but found that I was using it just to go for a drive with the top down. The other car was a more practical SUV. So I reluctantly sold the bimmer. Never regreted it (except for sunny warm days).

[Square Root]

I kept the BMW convertible for the first few years in retirement but found that I was using it just to go for a drive with the top down. The other car was a more practical SUV. So I reluctantly sold the bimmer. Never regreted it (except for sunny warm days).

Convertibles are not too practical in Canada. Had one in Canmore but hardly ever got the top down. Moved it down to Arizona and now the top is never up unless it's too hot.

[Guigz]

I had to sell the manual for an automatic for my daily Hamilton to Toronto commute.

Why did you have to sell it? Driven smartly, a manual can be more fuel efficient than an auto in heavy traffic...

I would love to see a detailed case study outlaying the true cost of ownership of a new car over several years and used cars at different stages of their life. An impartial analysis with no cherry picking would be even better...

[Barwelle]

Driven smartly, a manual can be more fuel efficient than an auto in heavy traffic...

Can be a pain though. I like my manual, but after a while I'd get annoyed with shifting so much, and riding the clutch in really slow traffic. Fortunately most of my driving is highway.

One midle aged woman I know loved her standard, but traded for an automatic recently because of knee problems.

[Square Root]

i think the new dual clutch manual transmissions in some of the German cars are very good. Almost as sporty and engaging as a pure manual but easier on the left leg especially in traffic.

[Guigz]

Can be a pain though. I like my manual, but after a while I'd get annoyed with shifting so much, and riding the clutch in really slow traffic. Fortunately most of my driving is highway.

One midle aged woman I know loved her standard, but traded for an automatic recently because of knee problems.

C'mon, in full on traffic, you don't ride the clutch, you push the car in neutral!!!!

More seriously, if you don't get into the ride the bumping thing and stay calm, you don't have to shift nearly as often. That being said, my commute is <20 minutes when traffic is intense. Maybe I would murder my clutch too if I were stuck for 45-60 minutes.

DSG is fun to drive but the fluid flush at every 24K and 400$ a piece is completely absurd.

[m3s]

Why did you have to sell it? Driven smartly, a manual can be more fuel efficient than an auto in heavy traffic...

And if everyone drove manual it would save even more fuel/brake pads in congested traffic. The biggest waste of fuel is using your brakes, and the worst is stop and go traffic. Autos create this really annoying/dangerous "slinky effect" because they set their brake lights on even to slow down a bit rather than engine braking which induces the whole stop and go in the first place. The best is to follow a trucker, as he will most likely try to maintain a constant speed while watching the foolish slinky effect from up above


Is there really any doubt a used car is cheaper? The recurring argument I see here for new cars is that "the depreciation doesn't really matter that much if I drive it for 10+ years". So all the bad things you argue against old cars but then you have to drive a new one for 10+ years anyways to recoup the cost? The sweet spot for value vs reliability is somewhere in the middle I think. Keeping a car much longer you have to cherry pick a good one and be able to do repairs yourself etc, but in general the repairs and maint start to go up, and the resale value certainly drops faster as well. The depreciation, hence the operating cost, is much lower in the middle.

[Guigz]

Is there really any doubt a used car is cheaper? The recurring argument I see here for new cars is that "the depreciation doesn't really matter that much if I drive it for 10+ years". So all the bad things you argue against old cars but then you have to drive a new one for 10+ years anyways to recoup the cost? The sweet spot for value vs reliability is somewhere in the middle I think. Keeping a car much longer you have to cherry pick a good one and be able to do repairs yourself etc, but in general the repairs and maint start to go up, and the resale value certainly drops faster as well. The depreciation, hence the operating cost, is much lower in the middle.

I would still like data demonstrating how much cheaper driving a used car really is. I am mainly interested in quantifying the difference.

Personally of the 3 used cars that I have had, one cost me about 3,000$ per year, the second about 1,500$ and the last about 2,500$ per year in depreciation and repair. I have had a Toyota Echo, a VW Golf and a Honda Civic. I will let you try to guess which is which.