A new car, is it worth it?

[4g63ownedu]

I've been thinking lately about my car and what to do with it. It's 15 years old with 130k miles on it and it's age is really showing through. I've wondered it it's worth it to purchase a new or at least newer car.
With a new car you get just that, a new car. Nobody else has ever driven before. Everything works on it, and if it breaks you have your warranty. Now you have a payment to make. A $30k car on a purchase will likely run $400-$500 a month unless you make a large down payment. But who has $5k to $10k sitting in their bank account? I know I don't. Don't forget your about $5k in the hole as soon as you drive off the lot with it. Trying to get out of a car your upside down in is only going to make things worde unless the new car is considerably cheaper than the last.
Then there's insurance. Depending on the type of car and several other factors, these could add up to a payment near the amount of your car payment.
With an older car you don't have a warranty to cover problems and as the car ages it will only require more maintenance. This is my situation. My Laser is 15 years old now and approaching 131k miles. So far this winter alone I've had to replace an oil pressure switch, 3 different coolant lines, the brakes on the entire passenger side, the parking brake cables, radiator, blower motor, and the power steering pump is on it's way out. With the exception of this winter the maintenance on my car has been average. I have no payment to make and the insurance is relatively cheap. For me the costs of maintenance are nowhere near enough to justify replacing it. I've probably spent less on my car in almost 2 years than most do in payments for 3 months. This doesn't include costs for modifications though.
Though some would say just having the satisfaction and comfort of owning a new car is worth the cost of one. So I pose this question: Is it worth it to you to own a new car?

[Töuge-MR]

Very good article, and i agree 100%.

[toophatspitfire]

i agree too, i buy used cars with low mileage...like my 98 accord has 66K on it, and i got it for 8500, well my insurance company paid for it cause of the accident with the acura...but still, i am out of warranty, but with that low of miles, im not really worried about major problems occuring...i laid down half the check from insuance, and am making the rest in payments of 210 a month to build up some credit...then i will pay it off...then i have a reliable car, when shit starts breaking, i will go to the auction and buy a new one, and let the ass that buys my car deal with the shit i didnt want to....i have bought a total of 19 cars/trucks now...i drive each a couple months and sell for more than i pay...i have only kept 4 cars longer than 3 months...i know it seems stupid, but i go to the auctions in obetz, buy a car for cheap, fix it up a bit, throw the ricer add on's and sell it to a 16 yr old kid for moe than i pay, for example, i bought a 1993 civic hatchback for 1100 bucks up there, i brought it home, cleaned it really good, febreezed it, threw a passen sticker and an el cheapo intake on it and sold it for 4500, this is ow i make my money...i took that 4500 bought a 1995 integra for 2000, threw on wheels and exhaust and intake with the 2500 i had left over and sold the car for 7000...and i kept doing this, i bought my CL for 2750, threw the intake exhaust wheels tint ect... and totaled the car and got 8000, now i have this accord i bought for 8500 and its able to be sold as is right not for about 14000, if i sell it i move up another class of car, (new/less miles/bigger brand) next, i might buy a wrx or somthing for around 14000 and fix it and sell it, in a couple of years i could be driving a bad ass car thats worth 50,000 with no out of pocket expense from me...all i have ever had into a car of my personal money was the 2500 i started with for a shitty car with shitty mods....think about it...it wont be that hard to do, all you need to do is find good deals and sell high, my dad has always told me sell it for a higher price, if it does not sell in the first couple people, "remember...there is an ass for every seat" those words work well, i have found some ass nearly every time i sell a car, and usually take his money to buy a newer more valuable car. sorry if i was rambling on and on...but i thought you guys should know how i roll... B

[4g63ownedu]

So basically your selling cars without a dealer permit?!? I'm told you can only buy and sell up to 4 cars a year, after that you have to obtain a dealers license. Anybody know for sure?

[toophatspitfire]

its actually 9

[v8fieroman2003]

i only buy stuff that is cheap well used and have a lot of there counter parts in the junk yard for easy cheap parts. havent had much of a problem but, i would like a new car at some point. most of the time though the cheap stuff is for transportation not modifcation, cause thay dont hold up well. the 1979 and older rwd domestic stuff is were my mod money goes, and all my cars have never left me any were, you just have to be picky on what you buy if its used and your all right. but even with that said a new car would still be nice. and the about how many you can sell before you need a licence for it is 5, i now this cause i got in to some shit over the 6th one i tried to sell and the bmv wouldnt let it out of my name untill i filled out the paper work and payed for the licence,fucking bastereds!

[EvoDreams]

I completely agree with your decision. I wish I would have thought it through more when I bought my Evo that I have now. I had a 96 GST fully modded and paid off, then I decided I wanted to step up and I went out and bought an Evo. Now I have my payment and not near as much money to mod. However my Evo will be up for sale at the end of January and I am going back to my roots and getting a 2g gsx to get a t4. So if anyone is intersted just drop a line.

[Jack3KGT]

Either way you go, you lose most of the time, in my experiences...buy smart, when the deal is right...that's the best advice i can give anyone looking for a car. Also people, CARS DO NOT APPRECIATE IN VALUE (this isn't always, just most of the time, they're not all Enzo's ok?) Your Civic isn't worth $25,000 because you put that much into it...It is transportation, not an investment. That however does work with a house, interestingly enough...as long as the house in question is not on wheels anyway...heh

I bought a brand new VR6 Jetta in 2001 when i graduated from high school (and paid for it myself, i'm not from a wealthy background and i work for what i have) and had it for 2 years, total cost of ownership, about $20,000... I got clocked when i sold it because the dealership screwed me when it was in for a routine service, and smashed my car up on a joyride.. then promptly repaired it, schmoozed things over with a spiffy loaner car, then covered up the whole thing and never disclosed the damages...I was left with a car with many problems and no answers to why...and not worth much, I cut my losses at that point and sold it.

Then i decided to buy a car on eBay with cash, and just pay for repairs if and when it needed them, thinking it would be a cheaper alternative to a monthly car payment of $500+ that i had just got rid of. I end up getting a POS Ford Mustang, totally my fault for being blinded by nice pictures of it, non the less, it ends up costing me literally hundreds of hours of my time reworking things and thousands of dollars to make it what i wanted it to be, and it still never really got there, the whole thing was a fucking catastrophe, literally it made me sick to look at it. In the end, not counting 2 years of insurance i paid on it, I had about $13,000 wrapped up in it, and i sold it for a nominal $3500 to be rid of the damn thing. I bought it on eBay in Miami, and the car i saw was not the car i got, long story short, I was a dumbass kid who didn't know what he was doing, i'm a much better educated consumer these days though.

So I buy used cars from my car dealer buddy, he can even get me new cars for used prices or from private owners who sell them for cheap, but i have them all looked over by my personal mechanics before i make anything permanent.

Just be smart and do your homework, know what to lookout for, and if you are suspiscious, have a pro look at it first before making any agreement to purchase it. Always remember that when buying used, you are buying someone else's problem most of the time, be it minor or major...it's the case most of the time.

[tbone]

I've struggle with this question as well. In the last 11 years I have owned just two cars and a total of 4 in 16 years. I generally drive my cars until the motors give out and then rebuild the motor and keep driving it.
I've always wanted a new car but I cannot bring myself to pay over $300 a month for a vehicle and will never ever finance a car for 7 years. I can afford a G35 or EVO, as long as I wanted to keep it stock.....but if I wanted stock, I wouldn't be on this board.
I came really close to buying an SRT-4 in 03 but the crackhead dealership wanted 25K for one because they were "limited." 5K over MSRP for a Neon?? Turbo or not, the car will follow the Neon's resale value and plummet like a rock. The same car now with less than 40K miles on it can be picked up for around 13-14K.
And don't get me started with Onstar and all these GPS systems in the cars. Like GM or the po-po need to know where I am at or how my car is running. Europe is so bad that they have mandated that cars must be able to call emergency services if the car is involved in an accident and provide the emergency services with it's location.
I vote no for new cars......but that just my opinion

[*~Tink*~]

I think the smartest idea is to buy a car that is 2-3 years old because it's most likely a lease vehicle, which means low miles and it shouldn't have any major problems. I bought my 04 Lancer and it was out of warranty because it had 42k miles on it, but it's still a really good car and gets a LOT better gas mileage than my grand prix. I'm not paying out the ass in payments, either. Definitely not anywhere near $400. Just a thought.

[Jack3KGT]

On the GPS and Onstar issue, I completely agree with tbone, I hate them being able to track where i've been and how i've been driving. I don't even want satellite radio, i got it free for 6 months with my lease, but i'm not paying for that garbage either, I already asked onstar to turn my services off..I have a cell phone, I will call for help if i need it... The only cool part is knowing when i need to change my oil, but come on now, how hard is it for me to check my own damn oil? Do we really need all that?

There have been court cases involving onboard computer data as evidence against the owner of the said vehicle, that is total BS, makes me want to buy old cars and fix them the way i want it, without all the extra junk installed. The newer vehicles record the average driving conditions of the vehicle, as well as average speed...it's big brother type of stuff, and it is designed to survive like a black box on an airplane, so you're pretty much screwed if you have a bad day.