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Old 11-15-2017, 10:29 PM   #11 (permalink)
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People simply don't realize how expensive driving is. Were they to itemize and add up all the expenses they might freak out when they realize how much of their workday is devoted to feeding the vehicles, and how much all those little runs around town really cost.

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Old 11-16-2017, 12:19 AM   #12 (permalink)
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There's some truth to that.

It's why I tend to go for simple and/or classic cars. The less there is to go wrong, the less there is to go wrong.
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Old 11-16-2017, 01:58 AM   #13 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank Lee View Post
People simply don't realize how expensive driving is. Were they to itemize and add up all the expenses they might freak out when they realize how much of their workday is devoted to feeding the vehicles, and how much all those little runs around town really cost.
That's basically why I didn't buy a car yet. Even though I have always liked cars, nowadays I'd rather get a small motorcycle just to handle most of those situations that make me miss having a motor vehicle of my own. Fuel costs are too high where I live, and being able to park a small motorcycle inside my apartment instead of leaving it outside overnight sounds more convenient than taking the risk of it being stolen or just damaged by some random punk.
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Old 11-16-2017, 06:58 AM   #14 (permalink)
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Quote:
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People simply don't realize how expensive driving is. Were they to itemize and add up all the expenses they might freak out when they realize how much of their workday is devoted to feeding the vehicles, and how much all those little runs around town really cost.
They don't want to know. Women & other perennial children. Everyone knows the cost of a car is the monthly finance note and the weekly gas outlay!!

Brought this up (again) on an RV forum. Knuckle-draggers. The best tool with which to start is still the AAA Motor Club .pdf revised annually on their website about ownership cost. A plug-in-the-numbers sheet in order to find the cents-per-mile of operation for a given annual mileage against expected length of ownership.

$6000 annually is nothing. And $12,000 (big pickup) hardly uncommon. This is at only 10k miles/year (over five years) which I believe to be low annual average miles for Americans.

A three year old car with 45k miles could reasonably, economically, be run to 10/12 model years at 15k annually.

Setting a reasonable FE goal above reported average would seal the deal. (Where safety is paramount, and reliability/longevity of components the goal).

The first time through the process the finance charges are a penalty, but offset by reliability/longevity IF the goal with the second vehicle were to pay cash.

The role of fuel is as predictable expense. Consistency.

I agree that eliminating wasteful use is best practice. But, I saved it here, thus I can spend it there! will be present.

As it's now down to 105-million Americans who will at life's end leave a surplus versus the 220-million who will consume more than they contribute, good luck with being persuasive.

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Old 11-18-2017, 12:33 AM   #15 (permalink)
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I'll be damned if I spent $6000 this past year on any of my vehicles, let alone on all of my vehicles combined.

Then again, I own them all outright, so no "depreciation". Insurance is $940 for the year, for all three vehicles. I probably spent a grand total of $2400 for gasoline spread across my Durango, my Dakota, and my Magnum. Maintenance was mercifully light - I only had to replace a 6 year old battery in the Dakota, and repair a flat in one of the Durango's tires due to a broken screw puncturing the tread. Let's call it $150. Might still have to buy tires for the Durango by the end of the year, though.
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Old 11-18-2017, 09:52 AM   #16 (permalink)
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When we add "opportunity cost" to all the other costs, cars become even more expensive. The thousands I save per year through keeping my modded '98 Civic (instead of replacing it with a more "valuable" car) go into three things: college savings for my daughter, house mortgage principle reduction, and retirement savings. Those are interest earning accounts. Depreciation therefore becomes appreciation.
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Old 11-18-2017, 10:48 AM   #17 (permalink)
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So basically all of the subprime loan scumbags moved from houses to cars after rules were put in place to prevent them from continuing to victimize people via mortgages.

23 million subprime car loans, 6 million deliquent car loans (not necessarily all subprime). It would be nice to see another round of consumer protection regs to prevent the scumbags from doing their dirty work with car loans, but I doubt we'll see a blasted thing from the current DC mob.

Maybe it would cost effective in the long run to just take all of the subprime scumbags and shoot them into space. Call it a colonization effort.
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Old 11-18-2017, 02:17 PM   #18 (permalink)
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For me this is an Other People's Problem.

Years ago I carried a loan with OUR Credit Union, and rolled it over as necessary. I could borrow US$2K on my signature and I never missed a payment. I liked them because they didn't report to credit ratings agencies. But then people wanted to assume mortgages so they started.

Then they went under (prolly embezzlement). My current credit union won't loan anything on my signature.

I've paid cash for the last three or four, but I traded a set of wheels for the Dasher.
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Old 11-18-2017, 02:23 PM   #19 (permalink)
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I've paid cash for the last three or four, but I traded a set of wheels for the Dasher.
So you traded a set of wheels for a different set of wheels - with a car attached to them? Not bad :-)
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Old 11-18-2017, 04:59 PM   #20 (permalink)
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The wheels I traded (Rader mags)*


The car wheels I got (Ronal R-8)


The wheels I'm holding that will go on the 1302 before it sells (steel OEM Marathon/Jubilee)


*Those one can be yours: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifi...php?id=2116347

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