|
I've been tracking my fuel receipts since I got a smartphone, and I should really start tracking maintenance costs as well. I pretty much plan on just getting a disposable car for a few hundred dollars and running it for a year or so (unless I suffer some sort of failure that costs more than the car). This should give me more than enough time to test various configurations of aeromods (not in any scientific way, but well enough for my satisfaction) which I can then apply to the next one.
I don't need an aluminum tail or anything like that; over the course of a year, it's still cheaper to build it out of Coroplast and replace damaged parts. I'm still taking lifetime costs into account, but my specified service life is short enough to have pretty low standards for many things.
In summary, I currently value having something that won't depreciate over having a "good" car, although I have some basic standards so that I don't end up stranded or with economy impaired by engine condition. When I'm a proper adult with regular hours to work, I'll probably have to make some compromises for reliability and coworkers' opinions, but for now I can be pretty aggressive in terms of cost-cutting and shortsightedness.
|