Many posters seem to be unaware that car ownerhip involves ongoing expenses for maintenance and repairs.
How much should one set aside for this when buying a new car, or when buying a good 4 year old used car, for example?
I would be interested in some feedback on budgeting experience for economy, average and luxury cars.
My opinion on a 4-5year old used car is buy the best you can afford and at the onset $2000 in your “car fund” seperate bank account for repairs and maintenance. At the same time have $50/month added directly.
A high mileage Audi owner told me this work well for him.
I have always been ahead with this advice and ended up with cash in the bank with VW, Honda and Subaru’s when sold.
Much like my owning a house, and the very same savings account, there’s a couple thousand sitting there waiting for the inevitable.
When the 15 year old second layer of shingles leaked all the way through the 30 year old first layer we elected to replace the shingles on the entire roof with a whole new first layer…No , the repair savings didn’t cover the whole bill but it allowed us to tell the contractor ‘just do the whole roof’.
Same for the four trucks in our driveway. We’ll never predict the largest bill to surprize us but we’ll be ready enough to say ‘‘just fix it.’’