A new car, if well maintained, cost less than the best used car you can buy.
I seriously doubt this.
I've owned exclusively used cars throughout my life. I keep up the maintenance on them, pay attention when the check engine light comes on, and maybe have to do a minor repair ($100-500) once every 2-3 years.
I've been left "stranded" exactly two times in my life; once when a timing element sensor in my '95 Mustang died, so the engine didn't know when to fire. Once when the alternator on a '98 Grand Am crapped out, so the battery died. In both cases, the cars were up and running again before the end of the day, and I was able to get myself to my destination via alternate means.
A subscription to AAA is absolutely worth it though, just for the peace of mind. Being able to call a single number for help anywhere in the US is extremely handy.
Just do your homework on the vehicle before you buy; there are car forums all over the place that will tell you everything you need to know about older cars and whether they're likely to have problems.
I don't care if you doubt it, I lived it. I got real sick and tired of going into the garage to repair one of our cars once a month. I was genuinely happy when I realized that I'd been driving 6 months in a new car and hadn't once needed to actually fix anything. I was even more ecstatic when that turned into a year... then into 2, then 3. If my car finally goes, I will cry because it has been the most loyal and enduring partner in my life. I've been able to depend on it more than my friends.
Thanks to cash for clunkers, I've only spend a grand total of maybe $8,000 - $9,000 on my car including all repairs and maintenance. First moderate problem was at 80,000 miles (tie-rod went bad). I've never had a used car do that. NEVER. If I buy a used car in January, it need repaired by June.
Hell, one of my friends bought a vehicle with no issues at all around 80,000 miles. The car literally started falling to pieces. Alternator, power steering, ignition coil, cluch, all of them seemed to die between 85k-90k miles. Then his door fell off.
From now on, I'm only buying new cars, or I'm buying two identical used cars. Never one.
I've owned exclusively used cars throughout my life. I keep up the maintenance on them, pay attention when the check engine light comes on, and maybe have to do a minor repair ($100-500) once every 2-3 years.
I'd spend $100-$500 every 3-6 months on every car. Nobody ever took good care of their cars, and worse, the cars were basically designed to fail.
This was during the popularity of the 2-3 year lease, so we'd have cars that were already shitting the bed at 40k-50k miles.
A subscription to AAA is absolutely worth it though, just for the peace of mind. Being able to call a single number for help anywhere in the US is extremely handy.
I've had it for years. I actually still have it now, but when I was living out of my new car, I sometimes lost charge on the battery by accident. (Might fall asleep with something running inside the car). So I just went out and bought one of $300 those handy-dandy portable battery jumpers & air compressors. It's totally worth it for yourself, if not for others.
I seriously doubt this.
I've owned exclusively used cars throughout my life. I keep up the maintenance on them, pay attention when the check engine light comes on, and maybe have to do a minor repair ($100-500) once every 2-3 years.
I've been left "stranded" exactly two times in my life; once when a timing element sensor in my '95 Mustang died, so the engine didn't know when to fire. Once when the alternator on a '98 Grand Am crapped out, so the battery died. In both cases, the cars were up and running again before the end of the day, and I was able to get myself to my destination via alternate means.
A subscription to AAA is absolutely worth it though, just for the peace of mind. Being able to call a single number for help anywhere in the US is extremely handy.
Just do your homework on the vehicle before you buy; there are car forums all over the place that will tell you everything you need to know about older cars and whether they're likely to have problems.
I don't care if you doubt it, I lived it. I got real sick and tired of going into the garage to repair one of our cars once a month. I was genuinely happy when I realized that I'd been driving 6 months in a new car and hadn't once needed to actually fix anything. I was even more ecstatic when that turned into a year... then into 2, then 3. If my car finally goes, I will cry because it has been the most loyal and enduring partner in my life. I've been able to depend on it more than my friends.
Thanks to cash for clunkers, I've only spend a grand total of maybe $8,000 - $9,000 on my car including all repairs and maintenance. First moderate problem was at 80,000 miles (tie-rod went bad). I've never had a used car do that. NEVER. If I buy a used car in January, it need repaired by June.
Hell, one of my friends bought a vehicle with no issues at all around 80,000 miles. The car literally started falling to pieces. Alternator, power steering, ignition coil, cluch, all of them seemed to die between 85k-90k miles. Then his door fell off.
From now on, I'm only buying new cars, or I'm buying two identical used cars. Never one.
I'd spend $100-$500 every 3-6 months on every car. Nobody ever took good care of their cars, and worse, the cars were basically designed to fail.
This was during the popularity of the 2-3 year lease, so we'd have cars that were already shitting the bed at 40k-50k miles.
I've had it for years. I actually still have it now, but when I was living out of my new car, I sometimes lost charge on the battery by accident. (Might fall asleep with something running inside the car). So I just went out and bought one of $300 those handy-dandy portable battery jumpers & air compressors. It's totally worth it for yourself, if not for others.