5 ms·

$100/month is a pretty low transportation expense. If you buy a car, you're going to spend more than that for the next few years, but if it was a used car, you

$100/month is a pretty low transportation expense. If you buy a car, you're going to spend more than that for the next few years, but if it was a used car, you might pay ~$250/month for 3 years and come out ahead in 8-10 years. If you go for a new car, you could easily pay $600/month - at that point it would take > 18 years to break even. Of course, there are other things to take into account: convenience on the one hand, maintenance, parking, & insurance on the other. But, my gut instinct is that you'd be better off to keep taking uber and invest the difference in an index fund. Keep that up for long enough and you can buy a new car in cash (or retire early). [edit]: Don't forget that you can bicycle also. A $400 bicycle has an incredibly high ROI if you replace a few regular car trips with bicycling. It's a net gain for your health too! (You may already be doing this, but it's worth pointing out anyways ;)

wsxcde 9y ago
> If you buy a car, you're going to spend more than that for the next few years, but if it was a fairly inexpensive used car, you might pay ~$250/month for 3 years and come out ahead in 8-10 years. Do those numbers include maintenance and insurance? IME just routine maintenance on an oldish (60-100k) Toyota runs into the hundreds of dollars. Insurance again something like ~$800-1000. I got rid of my car after I did the math and realized I was spending $1500-2000 a year on just insurance and maintenance.
- nfriedly 9y ago
  Not explicitly. Although in my case (2001 civic until about a month ago) car insurance was less than $300/yr, and repairs & maintenance was probably a bit less also, probably under $1000 most years.
  - wsxcde 9y ago
    What insurance were you using? I've looked into some of these cheaper insurance companies, but I worry about whether they would really stand up for me if something did go wrong. One scary story I heard from a friend of friend was related to this cut rate insurance company in NJ. They assigned 20% of the blame to the friend even though it was clear cut case where the other guy didn't yield on a left turn.
    - nfriedly 9y ago
      State Farm. Been with them for a long time and never had any complaints. My wife and I have never had any significant trouble (tickets/accidents/etc.) though, and it was collision insurance only. We also don't drive much. (I bike into work or else work from home.) (Collision = cover other people's bills when you cause an accident. Comprehensive also fixes/replaces your car if it's wrecked, but that doesn't really make sense on a 10+ year old car.) We also have home and life insurance through State Farm, so there may be some bundle discount going on.

wsxcde 9y ago

> If you buy a car, you're going to spend more than that for the next few years, but if it was a fairly inexpensive used car, you might pay ~$250/month for 3 years and come out ahead in 8-10 years. Do those numbers include maintenance and insurance? IME just routine maintenance on an oldish (60-100k) Toyota runs into the hundreds of dollars. Insurance again something like ~$800-1000. I got rid of my car after I did the math and realized I was spending $1500-2000 a year on just insurance and maintenance.

nfriedly 9y ago
Not explicitly. Although in my case (2001 civic until about a month ago) car insurance was less than $300/yr, and repairs & maintenance was probably a bit less also, probably under $1000 most years.
- wsxcde 9y ago
  What insurance were you using? I've looked into some of these cheaper insurance companies, but I worry about whether they would really stand up for me if something did go wrong. One scary story I heard from a friend of friend was related to this cut rate insurance company in NJ. They assigned 20% of the blame to the friend even though it was clear cut case where the other guy didn't yield on a left turn.
  - nfriedly 9y ago
    State Farm. Been with them for a long time and never had any complaints. My wife and I have never had any significant trouble (tickets/accidents/etc.) though, and it was collision insurance only. We also don't drive much. (I bike into work or else work from home.) (Collision = cover other people's bills when you cause an accident. Comprehensive also fixes/replaces your car if it's wrecked, but that doesn't really make sense on a 10+ year old car.) We also have home and life insurance through State Farm, so there may be some bundle discount going on.