I don’t necessarily agree. If you have a car that’s breaking down all the time because it’s 20 or 30 years old, even though it’s certainly cheaper up front to fix the car when it breaks rather than replacing it, it could end up costing you a lot more.
If you have a $60,000 a year job, and you get fired because you’re constantly late or a no-show because your car keeps breaking down on the commute and you keep fixing it, then spending $500 instead of buying a good new/used car saved you somewhere between 10 and 30 grand up front, but cost you $60,000 plus whatever your benefits are worth. In other words, you probably just sacrificed 100 grand in order to save 20, because getting health insurance on your own or paying for COBRA is insanely pricey.
There are definitely times when even though the immediate repair is cheaper, it’s a wiser economic decision to ditch the car and get something that doesn’t need to be fixed all the time.
I get rid of mine when rust or some idiot on a cell phone does them in. As far as a car being unreliable and not getting me to work, I might have had a car fail to start 3 times in 60 years. That might have been a dozen times if I was clueless about cars. I drove Chrysler products so always kept a ballast resistor in the glove box. I have a battery charger that will start my car and I am always up on maintenance
In the 50s and 60s I always replaced plugs,points and condenser every fall, inspected cap and wires, set dwell and timing.
I had friends that bragged, they never tuned their car. They were te ones who called me in January when their car wouldn’t start. Then they would blame the car for being unreliable.
My present Toyota Camry just had its first repair at 7 1/2 years. I had to put in a washer pump.
Never thought I would have a car this long. 03 trailblazer 198k miles. left it up at the cabins for 6 weeks, 535 mile road trip home 2 days ago, Do not know what is next, but seeing a new gms truck list out at 83k leaves me a little wiggle room.
Given the number of posts we get here about seemingly un-fixable problems with cars under warranty, it seems some cars should be traded at 18 months or sooner.
Nothing ticks me off more than a new car that strands me, drips all over my driveway or has endless lists of warranty work.
We’ve talked about this before, and I’ll try to recall the specifics . . .
One of my relatives is a realtor, and she sold her Benz when it was 12yrs old, even though she always kept it looking immaculate, in and out. It always looked like it just rolled off the showroom floor.
She sold it because she felt it wasn’t appropriate to have your clients see you showing up to open house and what have you in a 12yr old car
I tended to agree with her, but several of the regulars did not
And I mentioned that I had a keen eye for detail, as many of you do, as well. I tend to notice what kinds of cars people are driving. My co-workers, friends, relatives, etc. When I went house hunting, whether it was for myself or somebody else, I always payed attention to what the realtors were driving. Most of them were driving new or nearly new models, and they always looked immaculate
It depends on how important reliability is to the owner. If you’re the CEO of a company and need to be present at the board of director’s meeting with nearly 100% certainty, it would be a bad call to drive there in a 30 year car. Even if in immaculate condition, still most all the parts are 30 years old. As an example I had a problem on my nearly 30 year old car a couple months ago. A car that is well maintained and overall in excellent condition. The clutch MC failed. From the first symptom of a problem to when the car was not drive-able, less than 1/2 day. I’m not a CEO so it was no problem for me, but it would have been for a lot of Silicon Valley business professionals here.
That is true of the realtors I know as well. They all have fairly new ( not older than 5 years old) vehicles that are kept up nicely. Most have nice-but-not-too-nice models. Lexus RX’s, Volvo V70, Acura MDX, etc. Basically cars that are high end enough to suggest that they’re pretty successful at their job, but not ostentatious to the point that would suggest that they are making too much money off of their clients.
A word about car reliability and age. I had a 66Valiant in 1992 when I was working for my last, very large trucking company. When I returned from a 3 day trip, it was -16F and the parking lot was packed with wind driven snow. % or 6 road driver finished their trips in a 1/2 hour period. None of the other cars or trucks were even half as old as my Valiant, but mine was the only one that started. Truckers don’t like to leave each other stranded so I gave them all a jump even though they had previously said disparaging things about my Valiant. If it wasn’t for rust, I would have it still.
Kind of reminds me of the guys I worked with who were saying disparaging things about my Corolla . . . on a daily basis. And they even claimed I was essentially a loser for driving such an unworthy vehicle
But a few years later, when gasoline prices literally skyrocketed, many of them asked if I would sell them my Corolla
My first car was a 1960 Morris Minor that I paid $125 for in 1966. I was saving for school and set a strict budget of $250 to fix that thing. When I hit $250 and still needed brakes, engine work, and transmission work, I sold it. So that’s one way to decide to get rid of a car. Later I have driven cars to 300, 400, and 500,000 miles. When they became undependable and the problem could not be found, I dumped them. I buy cars I like and tend to keep them as long as they don’t leave me stranded too many times, but when that point comes, they’re gone.
I hesitated when I added “When your transportation is inappropriate for your career” because it’s so subjective but it’s an important consideration that cuts both ways.
A couple of years ago I went to a dentist who had his top of the line Tesla sports car plugged into an extension cord running from his office. Decided that he already had enough money, he doesn’t need any of mine.
As my Dad said when I went to buy my “first real job” car , “Never too flashy or trashy.”
It appears there’s a bit more to deciding when to replace a car than either the economics or the hassle factors.
And it seems to be highly variable. In some cases, the image one projects is important enough to justify frequent replacement. I experienced this when I called on Ford.
But in real life, I have no pride and am willing to suffer the derision to save a few bucks. My breaking point is when I suffer a large failure late in the life of the car. I’ve tolerated rebuilding a transmission on a car with only 100K miles, but junked one at 160K. Even done a head gasket on a 120K car, but I had another car to use while I did the job.
And it certainly makes a difference if you do your own work as opposed to having to pay someone else to do it.
I have avoided major repairs since getting out of college in 1965. The last internal engine job was on a 1957 Plymouth 6 in 1954 and was rings and valve grind… Never had to do a major transmission job, The last one was on a 1971 Mercury Comet C-4 transmission and replacing the bands cost $179 in 1976.
But I have repainted 4 cars over the years, the last one in 1999. Cost was $1400 at MAACO.
People should drive an appropriate car for their careers?
I couldn’t care less about what people think about my car. My newest car is a 1995 Toyota Avalon. My two favorites are a 1979 Toyota Celica, and 1982 Cressida.
When I closed on my house in New England, I flew my attorney in my decades old Piper Seneca from Long Island to Bradley field in Windsor Locks, CT for the closing. The realtor picked us up at the airport, and I wasn’t ashamed of the poor paint job on the plane. The plane is insured for $95,000 today, and with that money I could by two BMW’s with money to spare.
I don’t fall for the “he must be successful- look at his car!” cliche. People spend their money in ways that they consider wise. Had I bought a BMW or two back in the 1980’s they’d be worthless today. I paid only $40,000 for my plane, which as more than doubled in value over the years, as did the entire general aviation fleet.
You misunderstand. I interpret ‘appropriate for their career’ as ‘what they need to do their job’. The car doesn’t matter for most of us, but for some of us, where contact with clients is frequent and important, it does. A realtor needs a roomy, clean, nice vehicle, not a junker.
Agree. I took a real estate course once when I thought of becoming a realtor. The professor had a session on appearance and vehicles.
He rightly mentioned that clients come in all shapes and sizes and physical condition and a roomy 4 door sedan would be the best choice. He did not say it had to be a luxury car or a new one.
A friend of my wife is a successful realtor and drives a 9 year old immaculate Honda Accord.
When house shopping one of the most annoying salesman I encountered had an Olds convertible which he drove with the top down on a very hot day.
One salesman who was very unsuccessful, smoked a pipe and drove a small green hatchback coupe in the 70s. Although the car was only 2 years old it was a permanent turnoff to any prospective client.
