jamesqf -
Quote:
Originally Posted by jamesqf
It seems a very strange way of getting peace of mind. You spend what, $20-30K or more on a new car, which for most people means several hundred a month in car payments, more on registration & expensive C&C insurance. Then they have to worry about losing jobs, not making the payments, and having the repo man come around to haul away their wheels. (Was an article about it in the local paper the other day - seems the repo business is booming.)
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I used to be in the peace-of-mind crowd. I bought a new 1990(1?) Honda CRX "DX" without AC or radio and a new 1997 Saturn SC2 coupe. I switched from the SC2 to a used Saturn Wagon *only* because I got the wagon at 36K with a full 36K warranty to 72K. That was my "excuse" for buying used. Since then I have spent a lot of time, energy, and money learning about how to keep my car alive and healthy. It may be less money than buying new, but I can understand that the *effort* to keep a used car going can be fraught with as much nightmare as the monthly payment.
My first used car lesson was a $1800 transmission repair estimate at 115K miles for my SW2. I considered getting a new car then. Eventually I found an honest mechanic 26 miles away from where I live and got it knocked down to $1100. Without saturnfans.com and my honest mechanic, I would probably just stick with new cars.
If your not a "car person" (I'm not), then doing all the homework to understand what your car needs is a major energy drain. And, if you or your advice is wrong, the egg is on your face.
CarloSW2