McQueen77
Banned
'Value' for the Enthusiast: Buying New & Holding vs. Buying Cheap & Used vs. Leasing
Just for shits, here's a question for the value minded car buyers on the forum. Those who's parents bought them a new GTI need not respond. Those who lease, it'd still be interested in your take.
Coworker of mine buys cars at auction a lot. I know nothing about that world but my uncle does the same thing with pretty good luck thus far. Coworker bought some old '99 Volvo turbo something or other wagon. 150k miles but generally pretty clean, runs well etc. etc. $900. Nine hundred dollars for a car. And it doesn't look like a piece of shit.
My uncle bought his current mazda3 at auction too for like 5k and has had it for 4 years with no problems. Bought cars for his kids that way. My coworker started doing this again after he paid off his new Mini S. Mini was always in the shop, he had high payments and after it was out of warranty it really started going south a la "German Engineering" style i.e. expensive as hell so he fixed it, sold it for $15k and started buying auction cars. His words were "fuck having a car payment bro. What is the point? Waste of money". This guy does well for himself too and he's not buying at auction because he's poor, far from it. But he does love cars, won't drive an econobox and likes driving. He's bought a 325i, a C Class and an A4 1.8T this way as well, all for way cheaper than the average citizen.
I started thinking about it and wondering, what is the best option, really? For those who simply MUST have the new car, the new gadgets etc. then obviously, you probably lease, pay through the nose on payments for the rest of your life and forget about it. But for the enthusiast who refuses to buy a Camry or something and is looking to get the most 'value' out of a vehicle that is still sporty and fund to drive, what do YOU think are the best options?
Auction to me has always seemed sketch. You are buying a high mileage car that is probably kind of gross thats been driven and driven. If you are lucky, you get a cheap cheap car that runs for 3 years and, if you are remotely mechanically inclined costs you very little. Worst case, you get something that constantly breaks down etc. that is outdated, depressing..
Im more of a buy newish (a year old or so) and keep for 10 years and then sell privately to get another one. This seems like the cheapest most dependable option to me. I KNOW how the car has been driven and treated, that Ive been anal about maintenance etc. and once its paid off, I can look forward to 5 years of no car payments. The basic basic math breaks down like this for me:
Since my car payment on a 5 year loan is $360 a month, that is 22 grand I'm paying (not counting insurance, interest on loan etc.) over 5 years. If I keep the car another 5 years vs. leasing or buying somethign new, I could hypothetically 'save' that much money, barring any major mechanical failures etc. Thats best case scenario. But if the GTI encounters major problems in that 5 years that say, run me $5000 in repairs, thats still more than $15000 cheaper than having another car payment on a similar car etc. This is why I don't lease. I don't want payments every year of my life, simple as that. I also want a car that I own that is paid off that, if need be, I can sell. Its a depreciating asset, but its an asset nonetheless. Some pay all the cash outright, pay cash for the car and have no payment. This isn't good financial sense in my opinion. I prefer not to dump so much liquid at once into a depreciating asset when I could make my money work for me in the meantime while having a payment for a while..
That brings us to the auction thing or just buying cheaper, used cars. Rhetorically speaking, why do we spend this kind of money just to drive? Seriously. I could buy a fun Mk5 with some miles on it with the FSI engine for like $12k, half what I paid for mine and it will probably treat me alright for a while and still be a blast to drive. But no, I had to have the newer model. I could buy a cheap beater for 5 grand at auction, spend a few grand on mods and drive the shit out of that too for 5 years and not be half as worried about scratching my car or whatever, just drive it like I stole it, save a grip of cash and get another one.
Theres a certain freedom in the cheaper option, no? Is nav or bluetooth or whatever that important? Why do we spend the money we do on these things when we could get decent beaters and possibly drive them care free? I mean we are paying premium prices for cars with average reliability at best, lets face it. Whats the best 'value' option in the long run when driving a Camry or Accord is NOT an option?
Just for shits, here's a question for the value minded car buyers on the forum. Those who's parents bought them a new GTI need not respond. Those who lease, it'd still be interested in your take.
Coworker of mine buys cars at auction a lot. I know nothing about that world but my uncle does the same thing with pretty good luck thus far. Coworker bought some old '99 Volvo turbo something or other wagon. 150k miles but generally pretty clean, runs well etc. etc. $900. Nine hundred dollars for a car. And it doesn't look like a piece of shit.
My uncle bought his current mazda3 at auction too for like 5k and has had it for 4 years with no problems. Bought cars for his kids that way. My coworker started doing this again after he paid off his new Mini S. Mini was always in the shop, he had high payments and after it was out of warranty it really started going south a la "German Engineering" style i.e. expensive as hell so he fixed it, sold it for $15k and started buying auction cars. His words were "fuck having a car payment bro. What is the point? Waste of money". This guy does well for himself too and he's not buying at auction because he's poor, far from it. But he does love cars, won't drive an econobox and likes driving. He's bought a 325i, a C Class and an A4 1.8T this way as well, all for way cheaper than the average citizen.
I started thinking about it and wondering, what is the best option, really? For those who simply MUST have the new car, the new gadgets etc. then obviously, you probably lease, pay through the nose on payments for the rest of your life and forget about it. But for the enthusiast who refuses to buy a Camry or something and is looking to get the most 'value' out of a vehicle that is still sporty and fund to drive, what do YOU think are the best options?
Auction to me has always seemed sketch. You are buying a high mileage car that is probably kind of gross thats been driven and driven. If you are lucky, you get a cheap cheap car that runs for 3 years and, if you are remotely mechanically inclined costs you very little. Worst case, you get something that constantly breaks down etc. that is outdated, depressing..
Im more of a buy newish (a year old or so) and keep for 10 years and then sell privately to get another one. This seems like the cheapest most dependable option to me. I KNOW how the car has been driven and treated, that Ive been anal about maintenance etc. and once its paid off, I can look forward to 5 years of no car payments. The basic basic math breaks down like this for me:
Since my car payment on a 5 year loan is $360 a month, that is 22 grand I'm paying (not counting insurance, interest on loan etc.) over 5 years. If I keep the car another 5 years vs. leasing or buying somethign new, I could hypothetically 'save' that much money, barring any major mechanical failures etc. Thats best case scenario. But if the GTI encounters major problems in that 5 years that say, run me $5000 in repairs, thats still more than $15000 cheaper than having another car payment on a similar car etc. This is why I don't lease. I don't want payments every year of my life, simple as that. I also want a car that I own that is paid off that, if need be, I can sell. Its a depreciating asset, but its an asset nonetheless. Some pay all the cash outright, pay cash for the car and have no payment. This isn't good financial sense in my opinion. I prefer not to dump so much liquid at once into a depreciating asset when I could make my money work for me in the meantime while having a payment for a while..
That brings us to the auction thing or just buying cheaper, used cars. Rhetorically speaking, why do we spend this kind of money just to drive? Seriously. I could buy a fun Mk5 with some miles on it with the FSI engine for like $12k, half what I paid for mine and it will probably treat me alright for a while and still be a blast to drive. But no, I had to have the newer model. I could buy a cheap beater for 5 grand at auction, spend a few grand on mods and drive the shit out of that too for 5 years and not be half as worried about scratching my car or whatever, just drive it like I stole it, save a grip of cash and get another one.
Theres a certain freedom in the cheaper option, no? Is nav or bluetooth or whatever that important? Why do we spend the money we do on these things when we could get decent beaters and possibly drive them care free? I mean we are paying premium prices for cars with average reliability at best, lets face it. Whats the best 'value' option in the long run when driving a Camry or Accord is NOT an option?
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