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What kind of gas mileage do you get?

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paigeoliver:
Yes, but a 30 year old car will drive straight through a new car!!! And most gas guzzlers will drive through economy cars regardless of the eras they are from.

German cars get roadside assistance called a lot more often because Mercedes Benz has an 800 number in the doorjam of all their cars and they provide free roadside assistance for many problems. Run out of gas, need a jump start, or have a flat tire, they do all of that free, regardless of the age of the car. That severely jacks up the amount of calls on German cars.

My Mercedes Benz also doesn't stand up to what I am talking about, it is a semi-exotic and thus is just as pricey to drive as a brand new car due to repair and maintenance costs. It just isn't the same thing as a 98 Ford Taurus. I also only plan on keeping that Benz for about 2 years, maybe only 1 (mileage is still low enough where it isn't particularly likely to complete eat me alive yet). I love it, but there are a LOT of cars I have always wanted to own, and I like rotating through old cars. I still want to own a Ford Fairmont Futura with a white vinyl top, I still want to own an early 70s Datsun pickup, a Corvair convertible and about a dozen other oddball cars.

Of course a 5 year old car is 20 to 30 times more likely to break down than a new one. However it still isn't all that likely to break down, and even if it does, so what? How many thousands of dollars do you want to spend to ATTEMPT to insure that you won't be mildly, inconvenienced. The broken down on the side of the road scenario is fairly rare simply for the fact that most automotive failures present at start up and not while cruising down the highway.

In just about any given year my total car purchase, repair, maintenance and insurance costs total up to far less money than just the premium I would pay in taxes, insurance, interest and comp/collision on a new car. That 30 percent total just doesn't hold water when the extra operating costs alone are higher than my whole vehicle budget.

Also, newer model used cars combine the worst of both worlds. They still drop in value like a rock (just like new cars) AND they generally get just as many repairs done to them as a clunker (except the parts cost more).

Granted, I will completely and totally agree with your 30 percent total if you are into pre-emptive repairs, and take that Ford Escort to the body shop for every ding it gets. When I say pre-emptive repairs I mean things like replacing the transmission because it shifts a little hard into 3rd, when that car might take that problem to its grave without actually failing.

Also, if you have the room you can SEVERELY cut down on your repair costs on old cars if you buy a second running example, stick it under a tarp, and pull the parts off as needed. Doing that even allows non-mechanics to actually figure out some repairs, since you now have the ability to diagnose by parts swapping. In fact if I just had a place to put it then I could buy a Mercedes sedan with the same 3.8 engine my car has (the sedans are dirt cheap), and watch my repair costs drop to almost nothing, as I could pull almost any part I needed from the other car.

danny_galaga:


paige is right, 'fess up and admit you want a new car just because. it's not because it's CHEAPER than an old car. there's no shame in admitting it. we all like to have new things. I myself have owned a new car (for a business, paid in cash). for me it's transport. when im a millionaire i might buy something fancier. but then again im a little eccentric, ill probably just fully restore my current car, as a thank you for helping become a millioniare (because theres no way id become one blowing dough on new cars).

the maths just doesnt add up. if you have a reasonable condition old car (and not too exotic), and it's well maintained it can't possibly be costing you more than a brand new car...

patrickl:
I said driving a new car is 30% more expensive.

For this 30% extra I get a huge leap in reliability, driving experience and safety. Easily worth it.

Jouster:

--- Quote from: shardian on April 24, 2008, 02:40:10 pm ---You must have the world's lightest foot, because getting 32mpg in that car is close to impossible.
--- End quote ---

Hell no, I do about 90% of my driving on the interstate...so at least warp 8 or 9 most of the time.

Jouster

AtomSmasher:

--- Quote from: paigeoliver on April 26, 2008, 06:05:37 am ---Of course a 5 year old car is 20 to 30 times more likely to break down than a new one. However it still isn't all that likely to break down, and even if it does, so what? How many thousands of dollars do you want to spend to ATTEMPT to insure that you won't be mildly, inconvenienced. The broken down on the side of the road scenario is fairly rare simply for the fact that most automotive failures present at start up and not while cruising down the highway.

--- End quote ---
So you admit that older cars are less reliable then newer ones.  For me this is the biggest factor because any breakdowns, even not being able to start up is much more then a minor inconvenience.  I am self employed and am constantly meeting people at specific times.  Quite often those people take time off work so that they can meet me, meet at their lunch break, or its the only day off that they have, so rescheduling for a different day or time isn't an option.  If my car doesn't start, then I lose money, period.  I've owned used cars in the past and I've had them break down on me.  My past few cars have all been new cars and while I've never put more then 60,000 miles on any one of them, none of them have ever broken down on me, not once.  The worst I've had is a flat tire, which made me an hour late, but luckily the person I was meeting was able to leave the key under the mat, which is something people normally won't do.

Also, I often literally spend 8-hour days in my car driving around, so I prefer a car that is clean and quiet.  A cheap used car will likely have plenty of stains, scratches, or dents in the interior or exterior, and have plenty of sqeaks and rattles in the interior.  When I buy a new car, I know the interior is nice and clean and I don't buy a car if the interior has squeeks or rattles because it just bugs me.  Yes I'm anal and these are minor issues I could learn to live with in a used car, but I'd prefer not to.  Not to mention I like newer features like a built in MP3 player which you don't see too often on old cars.

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