4 ms·
I dont know the situation of everyone. I know what we've always done that works for us. We each have a 45 min commute. We buy the base version of a reliable car
by quaffapint 7y ago
I dont know the situation of everyone. I know what we've always done that works for us. We each have a 45 min commute. We buy the base version of a reliable car (A mazda 3 for example for $18k) with a 5 year loan. Then we drive each car for 10 years. This makes sure we never have more than 1 car loan at a time and the monthly bills are affordable.
- lotsofpulp 7y agoIf you value money, then the optimal strategy is to always buy a new reputable car, and drive the ones you own into the ground. As long as you have at least 1 person in the household who doesn’t NEED a car every single day, then if the old one breaks down and needs to be trashed, you have time to shop for a new one. Works out well if you have kids and a set of grandparents living with or near you, as the in laws are retired and they can serve as a redundancy for vehicles, babysitting, and if they have a separate home nearby, a spare home for emergencies.
- imtringued 7y agoI get the appeal of buying new but compared to buying a 1-2 year old car with 20k miles you're still leaving money on the table.