3 ms·

You should buy more reliable vehicles, then, if you care about maintenance costs. Ignoring tires, my maintenance budget for my daily is about $200/year, and inc

by jmb99 2y ago

You should buy more reliable vehicles, then, if you care about maintenance costs. Ignoring tires, my maintenance budget for my daily is about $200/year, and including them, averages ~$300/year. With above average mileage per year.

marssaxman 2y ago
Life is full of trade-offs: if I did that, I'd have to carry a loan, which would in turn require a more expensive insurance policy, and then I'd be committed to a greater monthly outlay for the vehicle's financial maintenance than I typically have to expend for its physical maintenance. That kind of leverage probably makes sense for people who have a car at the center of their life, but that's not a way I'd like to live, so I accept the occasional mechanic's bill as the price of greater flexibility in my life as a whole.
- l0t0b0r0s 2y ago
  plenty of 35mpg beaters in the sub 10k range. How about learning to turn a wrench?
  - marssaxman 2y ago
    For sure there are - I currently drive a '96 Toyota T100, which I bought for $5500 a few years back. It is reliable as hell, but the miles take their toll, and one must keep up with the maintenance. Timing belt, water pump, brake calipers, starter motor, etc... they wear out, and it adds up; but it still costs less overall than a newer car would. I've done plenty of wrenching in my time, out of necessity and enjoyment alike (used to do a lot of jeeping, then motorcycling), though these days I usually prefer to employ professionals. That's why I prefer older vehicles I can afford to buy outright: I can trade time against money, depending on which I happen to have more of at the moment, instead of being locked in to the fixed monthly expense I'd have with a low-mileage car.
    - l0t0b0r0s 2y ago
      Timing belt is a 10 year maintenance item. ~1000 dollars mostly labor Waterpump is replaced at the same time as the timing belt, and they rarely fail now a days. ~ 300 bucks for one as added part during the timing belt labor I assume you are talking about brake pads as calipers rarely fail, 5-7 year maintenance interval, easy DIY job ~500 for a set of 4. Starter motors also very rarely fail I've had the same one for 20 years in my rx8 hpde toy. Even still they are ~200 bucks and literally 2 bolts and 30 minutes of time. We havent even hit 2000 dollars yet in critical maintenance over 10 years. If you actually knew anything about wrenching you wouldn't be saying newer cars are easier and cheaper to work on either. I dont know how you are doing 1000/ year on maintenance on an ICE but then again you presumably offroad " jeeping " which would make your experience an outlier on what commuter cars actually experience for yearly maintenance.
      - deleted 2y ago
        [deleted]
      - marssaxman 2y ago
        You just want to nitpick, I see. I'm not interested. Have a nice day!
        l0t0b0r0s 2y ago
        You asserted that ICE maintenance is cost prohibitive, but when I break down the cost its called nitpicking? New car note cheaper than maintenance. Yeah youre a wrenchlet. bye
        marssaxman 2y ago
        You are mistaken; I never said any such thing. Someone quoted a figure for electric car maintenance, as a downside to the technology. I remarked that this actually sounded pretty good, relative to my experience with ICE cars. Someone else observed that I could choose to buy cars with a lower maintenance cost. I agreed that this was true but explained why I prefer to do things the way I do. Then you came along with a chip on your shoulder and started griping, for reasons known only to yourself.

by jmb99 2y ago

marssaxman 2y ago

Life is full of trade-offs: if I did that, I'd have to carry a loan, which would in turn require a more expensive insurance policy, and then I'd be committed to a greater monthly outlay for the vehicle's financial maintenance than I typically have to expend for its physical maintenance. That kind of leverage probably makes sense for people who have a car at the center of their life, but that's not a way I'd like to live, so I accept the occasional mechanic's bill as the price of greater flexibility in my life as a whole.

l0t0b0r0s 2y ago
plenty of 35mpg beaters in the sub 10k range. How about learning to turn a wrench?
- marssaxman 2y ago
  For sure there are - I currently drive a '96 Toyota T100, which I bought for $5500 a few years back. It is reliable as hell, but the miles take their toll, and one must keep up with the maintenance. Timing belt, water pump, brake calipers, starter motor, etc... they wear out, and it adds up; but it still costs less overall than a newer car would. I've done plenty of wrenching in my time, out of necessity and enjoyment alike (used to do a lot of jeeping, then motorcycling), though these days I usually prefer to employ professionals. That's why I prefer older vehicles I can afford to buy outright: I can trade time against money, depending on which I happen to have more of at the moment, instead of being locked in to the fixed monthly expense I'd have with a low-mileage car.
  - l0t0b0r0s 2y ago
    Timing belt is a 10 year maintenance item. ~1000 dollars mostly labor Waterpump is replaced at the same time as the timing belt, and they rarely fail now a days. ~ 300 bucks for one as added part during the timing belt labor I assume you are talking about brake pads as calipers rarely fail, 5-7 year maintenance interval, easy DIY job ~500 for a set of 4. Starter motors also very rarely fail I've had the same one for 20 years in my rx8 hpde toy. Even still they are ~200 bucks and literally 2 bolts and 30 minutes of time. We havent even hit 2000 dollars yet in critical maintenance over 10 years. If you actually knew anything about wrenching you wouldn't be saying newer cars are easier and cheaper to work on either. I dont know how you are doing 1000/ year on maintenance on an ICE but then again you presumably offroad " jeeping " which would make your experience an outlier on what commuter cars actually experience for yearly maintenance.
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
    - marssaxman 2y ago
      You just want to nitpick, I see. I'm not interested. Have a nice day!
      - l0t0b0r0s 2y ago
        You asserted that ICE maintenance is cost prohibitive, but when I break down the cost its called nitpicking? New car note cheaper than maintenance. Yeah youre a wrenchlet. bye
        marssaxman 2y ago
        You are mistaken; I never said any such thing. Someone quoted a figure for electric car maintenance, as a downside to the technology. I remarked that this actually sounded pretty good, relative to my experience with ICE cars. Someone else observed that I could choose to buy cars with a lower maintenance cost. I agreed that this was true but explained why I prefer to do things the way I do. Then you came along with a chip on your shoulder and started griping, for reasons known only to yourself.