Trading in cars

[j730931t]

I agree! A study like that would be sooo interesting!

[catwoman500]

I'm with g28834s ...I love cars. I've always been interested in them; even more than my late husband who worked in the car business. I like Chevys now and drive a 2013 Cruze. When I'm finished with the payments, I'll most likely go and buy another one. No leases for me. My husband said I'd probably always have a car payment because I like new cars. 

I do my homework before I go and get a thrill and feel like I've accomplished something when I go in with my printouts, etc., and drive a new car off the lot. They just don't expect an older woman who comes in alone to know some of the dealership lingo. It's almost like a challenge to me...the thrill of the game.

[retiredtraveler]

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"...FWIW, many millenials (and even some older) are going carless around here. Public transportation, uber, and car shares like Zip Car are everywhere....".  

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Yes. I'm seeing that with nieces and nephews who live and work in larger cities like Chicago and New York. 

[ManicProgressive]

FWIW, many millenials (and even some older) are going carless around here. Public transportation, uber, and car shares like Zip Car are everywhere.    That's even better if you can swing it.   

[retiredtraveler]

"...It would be interesting to compare costs over a 30 year period, between people who've traded cars in often like that .. and people who've kept their cars 8+ years & had the necessary maintenance done .. for the same model cars!...".

We all know the numbers for people who traded in made the continuous trade-in more costly.

   The whole thing about cars, these days, as I would think everyone knows, is that they will last a long time wsith minimal maintenance. Most of us are of 'an age' when cars would badly rust, exhaust systems only lasted a few years before rusting through, tune ups were needed annually, carburetors were finicky, a bad winter would damage transmissions, cooling systems rusted through after five years, etc. I recall, decades ago, the #1 reason for cars breaking down on the road were belts that broke. Now, everything on the car is improved (although some of us don't like all the electronics).    

[Epster]

@g28834s  I like your attitude. Your 66 trip sounds like a blast and I wish you every joy.

[g28834s]

In the past 14 years, I've gone through six cars (I'm on my 7th now). Not because of fear of breaking down, or having broke down...I like cars, and I like to drive. I like small, fast hatchbacks (I had a Mustang convertible a few years ago, and swore I'd never buy another). But my current car, I've decided to keep. I'm 18 months away from retirement; I had grand ideas for maybe getting a motorhome or high-roof van, and traveling the country for a spell. Or maybe touring the country on another motorcycle. Or living in a tent & bebopping around on BLM land, chasing UFOs.

Reality has set in, though. My son & daughter in law both work (and commute out of town), and I volunteered to take care of my three grandsons (ages 8, 11, 14) in exchange for room & board. I've been religiously socking money away and paying extra on my *very manageable* car note. So, I reckon I'll keep this'n until I run it into the ground or vice-versa. But, before I assume duties as major domo, I'll have me one last grand tour...the complete Route 66 from begining to end, and maybe throw in the Pacific Coast Highway.

[ManicProgressive]

Count me as one who got worried about breaking down on the side of the road.      I keep my cars about 8 years.  And it does come, in part, from a history of buying used cars and from breaking down....a lot. Pre-cell phone days, especially.  And I'm super-fastidious about car maintenance.   

The other part is safety and environmental advancements.  I put my kids in as safe a car as I can afford.  Three are grown now, but the last one will get to drive my current car when he turns 16.  So I bought it with that in mind.   Very safe (Subaru with Eyesight), not powerful (4 cylinder engine), and pretty boring.    

FWIW, I did get stranded by the last two Hondas I had owned.  Both had the alternators go bad around 6 years old (vastly different mileage).  And then the Takata air bag recall did it for me, with respect to Hondas.   So far the Subaru has been great.   And while I don't mind getting stranded if it's just me, I have been a kid chauffeur for so many flipping years now, it feels like all I do.   I absolutely don't want to break down with kids (especially those who don't belong to me) in the car. 

Definitely not about appearances.   There seem to be two camps here in the DC area.   The people who buy a Toyota (usually Prius) and run them into the ground.  And the people who buy super high-end Teslas, Maseratis, Porches, and Mercedes SUVs.   I greatly admire the Prius people.  I wish I could be more like them. 

[ASTRAEA]

@retiredtraveler - Maybe those people were buying the wrong cars, if they had such a traumatic experience, leaving them with an inordinate fear of being stranded! I've been driving Toyota Camrys since the early 1990s, and have never been stranded anywhere.

It would be interesting to compare costs over a 30 year period, between people who've traded cars in often like that .. and people who've kept their cars 8+ years & had the necessary maintenance done .. for the same model cars!

[retiredtraveler]

Purely anecdotal, but the handful of people I have known that would only keep a car a few years and trade it wasn't about keeping up appearances. They all just didn't want to deal with car repairs in any way. They were paying (dearly) for the privilege of not having to do anything more than oil changes. A couple of people I recall had some inordinate fear of being stranded on the road and figured new cars had little chance of doing that do them.