Well you take the immediate depreciation hit when you drive it off the lot. My father (who is the source of most of my financial wisdom, such as it is) always told me that new cars are a luxury–nice to have, but since cars are a depreciating asset, you should never “invest” in one and always focus on the use value over other considerations. But yes, I like to be the one to put all the miles on a car. I develop fondness for the cars I have driven. They are my partners in daily life. It’s stupid and sentimental, I know. I have always thought of the cars I’ve had as trusts/wards I need to take care of. I don’t care about the signalling value of cars from a status standpoint–I’ve never driven a “luxury” brand and never will–but I do take pride in looking after my vehicle, keeping it maintained, safe, functional, and clean.
After reading all this about car prices, and seeing it in the news, I’m thinking I’m sitting on a gold mine. I should get out there and sell my completely trashed, heavily used but with fancy options Toyota Tundra. But then I’d be stuck trying to find another work truck.
I had been looking for a weekend car (need to lower my usage of the truck in order to keep it going one more year). When COVID hit last March I actually had time to sit still and do research on what I wanted. I noticed prices were sinking on the car I wanted. I seized the moment in April and so glad I did. That same used fancy dream car is 25% higher in price now.
I thought my work vehicle comes off lease in November and was worrying I’d have to replace it with a lesser vehicle given that my budget will not change but cars have become so expensive and harder to get. I know…the horror of downgrading from an Infiniti to a Nissan equivalent! But then I realized I have a 39 month lease instead of 36, so I actually have until Feb 2022. Whew! Hoping supply catches up with demand by then.
We are jumping into the car market- went looking last week and this weekend- but not on Sunday because they have to be closed on Sundays by law (somehow I missed that before now and thought it was weird). We can’t seem to make the choice between a cheap used car (10k range) or a new car ($27,000). We considered sharing but realized I would then be putting around 50,000 miles a year on my car and that just isn’t good. We also looked at used cars in the $25,000 range but I can’t see paying that close to new and it having 50-60,000 miles on it. We did come across one Honda HRV with only 10,000 miles on it for $20k but they get terrible reviews so hubs balked. Sigh. This is way, way more than we’ve ever considered spending before and the payments will be rough… but inventory is low and over kbb everywhere.
NIce long story here…
We are also in a car quandary. My S19 never liked to drive and never drove anywhere. He managed to to actually walk away from an accident with the Volvo S40 that we got the kids when they got their license. The volvo was safe but was constantly in the shop it seems. It was the only used car we ever bought. (paid 7K with about 100K miles on it).
Once it was gone, i was leasing a Civic and gave it to S19 to drive to HS , as I work full time and he was 1/2 day. D17 was in DC in college. S19 hated driving so when D17 was around she drove the Civic, and now we own it as we bought out of the lease last year. (5 years old). In the meantime in fall of 2018 I got a great deal on a Buick Encore. I paid between 20-25. Oh and my husband has a 2008 Ridgeline with over 120 K miles on it.
so… Now S19 has to drive every day. I mostly work from home, so he takes my 2 1/2 yo Buick (noone likes to drive the truck but DH), and I am stuck at home; sometimes I drive him to work and pick him up. He now wants to drive and have a car at school for grocery shopping /etc. D17 is working full time and using the Civic and doesnt live at home. We thought with 10K we could buy a decent used car (maybe a Suburu) for S19. Nothing out there! Meanwhile I saw some decent lease deals.
So D17 gives S19 the civic.
I give D17 my Buick.
I lease a car for the next 3 years. Lease payments likely ending up around 8K total if I get something on the lower end
BUT I love my Buick. I dont want to lease a car to give to young 20’s.
OR continue to find a used car for S19
OR struggle to work things out this summer and tell S19 he has to wait until he graduates early next spring for a car.
FWIW, my son loves his Honda HRV. Very versatile and should last forever.
My sister bought a new Mazda C30 on Saturday. She believes she got a good deal & decided to finance since the rate was less than 0.9%.
The Hyundai and Kia dealers had literally nothing on their lots.
The big talk in the RV groups centers on availability (or lack thereof) of full-size pickups. There are 2017 F350s at a lower trim level selling for $12-15K more than we paid for a used one 3 years ago.
Another sister got an offer for her 1 yo vehicle that was more than she paid.
The used Porsche H bought mid-2020 can’t be found for anywhere near what he paid.
Crazy times.
We bought a car tonight. It’s a forester that is about five years old and has 20k miles on the odometer. It was $20k and is officially the most money we’ve ever spent on anything besides our educations. My husband had a hard time signing and I’m getting a job as soon as we get back from Pennsylvania to make it a bit more comfortable, but hopefully it lasts a very long time.
Apr’20 we bought a car for our daughter that was a Freshman at the time in college. We knew we were going to need another car for D #2. Also my wife didn’t like our daughter driving an 11 year old car 300 miles to college. So we bought it when covid was just getting started. Got a good deal. I feel like a genius at least for a moment.
btw, it was odd buying a car during lockdown. no one was around the dealer and everything was by appointment.
@milgymfam - i was just talking to several friends who have subarus and they were showing us their badges on the back of their cars ( like what number of subaru they are on, and all sorts of things. Sort of cute) – nice choice and hope you enjoy!