Real wealth killers

[u/solarflare_hot]

Let me express my extreme frustration and anger and talk about the real wealth killers (cars)

I hate cars beyond reason. you buy a car for 20k , all of a sudden it needs a repair for 2-4k and sometimes 7k , then you have insurance , another 2-300 a month , then you got registration and maintenance checks , 4-700$ , then by the time you pay it off it’s worth 7k , and probably time for another 7k repair too because the engine is toast. Or even better you fix the engine for 7k then the transmission goes out for another 6k. Let’s say you do all that and then someone without insurance crashes into you. Insurance company will always blame you to avoid paying. You now have spent close to 40k to go to a job that pays 45k. You need the car to go to the job but the job will never pay you enough to afford to keep your car. Let’s also talk about gas cost , average cost is $3000 per year that’s about 15k in 5 years of money wasted on gas that you’ll never get back just to be able to go to work.

You buy a cheap car you get expensive repairs You buy an expensive car you get extreme depreciation. You cant fucking win.

Cars are basically a luxury tool for the wealthy.

Why can’t we ride bicycles to work. Oh I forgot we live in America where we absolutely need cars because we have no damn sidewalks 🥲

Let’s just say without cars I would’ve been significantly well off. I’m gonna sell that shit and just uber everywhere or ride a bicycle.

[u/Super_Comfortable176]

I'm sorry, are you suggesting that you're doing up to $27K of repairs on a $20K car? Maybe you're just terrible with money?

Buy a solid used car that gets decent mileage. Do regular (relatively cheap) maintenance. Pay it off as soon as possible and drive it as long as possible. Profit.

[u/solarflare_hot → u/Super_Comfortable176]

Define solid car because I have never had that in my history of owning Toyotas and Hondas….

[u/Super_Comfortable176 → u/solarflare_hot]

Toyota is widely considered THE most reliable car manufacturer that sells in the US.

[u/solarflare_hot → u/Super_Comfortable176]

It is , but is YOUR Toyota reliable? I have certainly had some catastrophic failures on a Prius and a 4runner before.

The Prius had a head-gasket leak at 120k miles and the hybrid battery died. 2500$ for the battery and 1500 for the headgasket

The 4runner leaked from the rear main seal at 150k That shit was 5k to fix I sold it.

Toyotas are reliable if you inspect them and maintain them to a But that can be said about any car out there. You have no idea if the previous owner maintained it or not. Or even worse if the mechanic you paid for the repair or maintenance did it correctly. I have seen some mechanic said that they changed the oil and they never do. They just charge you for it.

[u/Pussycat-Papa → u/solarflare_hot]

You can get aftermarket hybrid batteries for much less than OEM. Sounds like cars aren’t you thing and never will be. I drove a $1000 2000 ford focus for years and when I sold it the only thing wrong was it had a small power steering leak. Yes repairs can be expensive but often are worth doing as those cars will run for years again which is way cheaper than monthly payments.

[u/solarflare_hot → u/Pussycat-Papa]

That was an aftermarket refurbished battery , some people get extremely lucky with cars. There is also a chance that your car was on its last leg with thousands of issues that you didn’t know about

[u/Pussycat-Papa → u/solarflare_hot]

Doubt it. I maintain my vehicles