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> 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 ye
by 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 agoNot 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 agoWhat 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 agoState 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.