I have always enjoyed long life in the vehicles I drive. I am of the firm conviction that it is cheaper to keep a car in good repair and drive it till the wheels fall off than buy one every year or two. I just hate that showroom depreciation. You know what that is. Drive a brand new car off the lot and it's worth 5 grand less than the minute before you bought it.
Consumer reports has a pretty good take on the idea of driving a car to 200,000 miles. The moon is 240,000 miles from the earth. I always try to drive a car to the moon before I discard it.
The only argument I have with the whole concept is the "when to get rid of the car". I don't agree with the recommendation they make that if it costs more to fix the car than the car is worth to throw it away.
The flaw in that argument is this, when you fix a car you buy miles. If the are will run safely and efficiently with a thousand dollar repair even if it's only worth five hundred bucks is a good investment IF you drive it until it breaks again.
You are buying miles.
If you are in fact thinking about buying new or fixing up you must read this article.
I like the idea that a car doesn't "owe me anything". I also like the idea of having a good quality reliable ride. I keep my outfits in good repair and drive them to the moon.
3 comments:
Gene, please pray for me. My Honda is at 296,000 and I'm trying to make it to 300,000! Should be only a few months away. Oh, I bought it new.
My '80 Honda Civic wagon had 450k (bought new too) on it when the front struts came through the hood-literally. Praise God I was in the driveway when that happened, because I had just come off the road from 180 miles away....btw, it had a decent funeral service (we even sang)because there wasn't a frame to afix it to.
You think it's a God's timing thing...?
(btw Im with you - I love NOT having those auto payments)
I figure if I spend $1000 and I can get 10,000 miles it's a good move...be it either buying a used Toyota Carolla or putting in a repair. I've spent $3000 on a Carolla with 93,000 miles...I figure if I get 30,000 miles, I've made it....this car will easily go 180,000
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