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In my experience it is incredibly common for people without much money to have cars that seem impractical, because they are easy to buy but hard to maintain. I

In my experience it is incredibly common for people without much money to have cars that seem impractical, because they are easy to buy but hard to maintain. I think this is pretty common with cars that were very popular when they were first released (the 300 was) so the market is saturated with old ones in rough condition that are cheap to purchase but terrible to maintain. Sample size of 1, but my roommate in college (I was in college, he was not) went through 3 cars in the amount of time I had just 1 because he only ever had enough money to buy a crappy car and had terrible credit. They all broke down pretty quickly so he ended up spending more in the long-run, but in the end he had to get to work, so he did what he had to do.

throwaway0a5e 5y ago
Well cared for FCA products (and several other makes) are rare because they offer permissive financing and tons of incentives and intentionally design to keep low MSRPs. This results in lots of of people of more modest means owning them initially. That is a recipe for hard miles and minimal maintenance. Your average Chrysler 300 is likely to have far more wear on the bump stops and in the back seats and trunk and far fewer scheduled maintenance items done than a 4Runner or some other car that has high class first owners.
- jdsully 5y ago
  I was wondering why my dodge dropped in value so fast. I kept it over 8 years so it averaged out but those first years were tough. I had to repair a thermostat and condenser in those 8 years, but I found it was much easier to work on then my brother in law’s Ford - the thermostat was impossible to get to without destroying your hand on that one.
- tehwebguy 5y ago
  It probably has way more to do with quality & reliability. You could treat a 4Runner like absolute shit for a decade and it would probably have more quality miles & years left in it than most other makes (much less American vehicles, sadly). If you really want to take a gamble though, buy a Porsche Cayenne from 2002-2009, there’s like 3 or more for sale in every medium sized city for $8k max. If you drive it for 2 years and the transmission explodes, hey $333 / month Porsche SUV minus scrap! If it dies in 6 months, not such a great deal.

throwaway0a5e 5y ago

Well cared for FCA products (and several other makes) are rare because they offer permissive financing and tons of incentives and intentionally design to keep low MSRPs. This results in lots of of people of more modest means owning them initially. That is a recipe for hard miles and minimal maintenance. Your average Chrysler 300 is likely to have far more wear on the bump stops and in the back seats and trunk and far fewer scheduled maintenance items done than a 4Runner or some other car that has high class first owners.

jdsully 5y ago
I was wondering why my dodge dropped in value so fast. I kept it over 8 years so it averaged out but those first years were tough. I had to repair a thermostat and condenser in those 8 years, but I found it was much easier to work on then my brother in law’s Ford - the thermostat was impossible to get to without destroying your hand on that one.
tehwebguy 5y ago
It probably has way more to do with quality & reliability. You could treat a 4Runner like absolute shit for a decade and it would probably have more quality miles & years left in it than most other makes (much less American vehicles, sadly). If you really want to take a gamble though, buy a Porsche Cayenne from 2002-2009, there’s like 3 or more for sale in every medium sized city for $8k max. If you drive it for 2 years and the transmission explodes, hey $333 / month Porsche SUV minus scrap! If it dies in 6 months, not such a great deal.