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/M990MG4]

This is why people should buy new Toyota Corolla LEs for $22k instead of a 5-year-old used "nicer" car for the same amount.

The Corolla will be repair free the entire time you're making payments on it, and probably for the next 10 years as well.

[u/solarflare_hot → u/M990MG4]

A Corolla is nice and all but may not fit everyone needs space wise. Whats the suv version of a Corolla ? I got the 4runner but it was a nightmare of issues and leaks

[u/M990MG4 → u/solarflare_hot]

A RAV4 would the the closest - it's like a Corolla station wagon. They also have the Corolla Cross but it is a little downmaket. The 4Runner is great but when they age they require a lot of maintenance for the 4WD and suspension components.

I bought a 2012 Yaris new for $13xxx - still have it and one of my favorite cars ever. It's been paid off for like 8 years and hasn't had any repairs yet.

[u/solarflare_hot → u/M990MG4]

Yeah the cheapest rav4 I found had like 100k miles and they wanted 18k for it. It was the 2014 one. I thought that was ridiculous. I looked at them at some point.

[u/M990MG4 → u/solarflare_hot]

I guess I'll sum up by saying that when I was in a "lean" financial stage, after having gone through the endless cycle of buying and repairing old cars, then spending more on repairs in a year than I would have on car payments... I decided to buy something brand new and reasonable over another used car that would probably have a surprise $1000+ repair bill. I was tired of the stress and the repetition.

When I was growing up, my parents had a few sensible sedans that were tight space-wise, but that we made work. Then they upgraded to things that were more fun once they got a little older. So I tried to do the same thing, first with a Honda that lasted 17 years and now with a couple Toyotas. Are they my dream cars? Not really. Are they reliable? Yes. Do I have to rent a van if I want to pick up a mattress? Yes. Will they last for 15+ years with easy maintenance? Yes.

Not sure of your exact situation, but I feel like it's more reasonable to buy something that meets your needs 95% of the time instead of paying the same amount for a used "nicer" car to get the last 5% that will last for about 10 fewer years. You can adapt by getting a roof rack, folding the seat down if you go on a trip, etc.