[Christ]

Originally Posted by jkp1187

Hmm.

Cars are an expense, not an investment. It doesn't matter that it's only worth $900 (or less) now, instead consider that for the price of maybe $300, you could have a car that keeps going all through next year - far cheaper than a down payment + payments on a new vehicle.

I'm not saying don't buy a new car - by all means, if you think you'll be ready to do so and won't need to rely on the GP in the intervening months (b/c you can take public transportation or drive another car,) then go for it!

I'm just saying, there's a tendency among Americans to assume that cars are an investment and it isn't "worth" fixing a car that has a low Blue Book value. I think that's a fallacy. If you're just looking strictly at finances, it's almost always better (cheaper) to fix an old car than buy a new one.

Which is why I'm so happy to buy a "junker" for $250, fix it up, drive it for a year, and then sell it for 2-3x what I paid for it.