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Comment by davidgh | Hacker News Reader

It seems to me people spend a whole lot more on cars when they are allowed to shop based on “monthly price” rather than “purchase price”. When the dealer is offering that comfort, convenience or sport package, it’s sure a lot easier to say yes to $20 a month than $2,000 today. Stretching the loan term makes it that much easier to overspend.

At least in the United States, one of the best things that the average middle class person could do to improve their long term financial situation would be to buy cars with a lower purchase price and keep them longer.

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That's why I'm still driving my '04 Expedition. Parents bought it in 2008 and I've been taking good care of it since I bought it off them. Still runs great even though it's now a 17 year old vehicle with 250k miles.

Can I afford to drive a nice new car? sure, but why would I (other than getting way better gas mileage...)? Practically worthless for trade-in, so might as well keep driving it until something really expensive breaks.

It's not like SUV design has changed much. Modern ones just have silver front-ends versus body color.

> so might as well keep driving it until something really expensive breaks.

Drove my 04 Sebring until 2017 - 236k miles - would liked to have fixed the last problem, but... mechanic wasn't quite sure that even if I fixed it, it would pass inspection without even more work. it was basically non-running and would have taken up close to $2k with no guarantee of how much longer it would have gone. As much as I hated to do it, I moved to a 2016 (1 year old at the time) focus. Sebring was... 25mpg - focus is getting me around 35-36 - 40+ on longer trips, but haven't had any since covid.

> why would I

Safety?

I'm sure the car manufacturers would like you to think that.

I thought new cars are just new versions of the same old thing, but after extensive shopping around I bought a (very new to me) 2017 Toyota Highlander Limited. Somehow it seats more, fits more, pulls more, drives so much nicer, has heaps of safety features I actually use, and uses less fuel than my previous vehicle. It does everything I want better than anything I’ve had could.

It’s very much a ‘have your cake and eat it’ thing for me. I had no idea cars could be this nice. I’ve limped older vehicles along for nearly 20 years now, and... I feel weird saying it, but I love this thing, and I would buy new(ish) again. Cars have changed.

and... they keep changing, somewhat. it's incremental year to year - most 2015-2016 changes weren't noticeable. But comparing a 2000 to a 2014, for example, you'll notice a lot of differences. most of my used car purchases have been 'newish' (like... 3-4 years old), and I had them for a few years. I got 2004 (new) and had it for 13 years - a lot changed in that time period! As you say, safety, fuel economy, gadgets (rear camera, etc).

I felt like a monkey in a spaceship driving the Highlander for the first time. The 3d view of your surroundings, rear camera you mentioned, cruise with following distances and adjustable speed, blind spot sensors, automated throttle to improve fuel economy, etc. I know a lot of people reading this will think "Yeah but your 'spaceship' has nothing on a tesla and sounds like any car I've been driving for years", but... Like I said, I was limping cars along. My last two vehicles were a '98 and an '03.

I was such a "point a to point b, what else could you need?" person, haha. Unknown unknowns and all that, I guess.

You're right though, I probably won't be wowed by a new car for another 10 or 15 years. I'm perfectly alright with that!

I bought an '04 Corolla off the lot and still drive it to this day. It looks ugly as sin due to the various people who have insisted on running into my vehicle, but it still runs great. Literally the only things I've had to replace on that vehicle is the battery, some fuses, and the starter (and the starter going out was my fault) 2 months ago.

I really don't understand why people feel the need to buy a new car every 4-5 years as they pay off the old. That money would be way more useful going to something else.

Yep. I've got a 2002 Corolla. One of the rear inside door handle is gone and it's just a wire, all the plastic hub caps are gone, the drivers side exterior handle is broken so I've gotta pull it in a special way for it to open. It burns oil so I need to top it up maybe once every two months or so It's got about 280k km on it and runs like a beaute. Bought it for $2k two years ago. Gas is still cheap, insurance is the cheapest I can get at my age group and I'll probably sell it for $1k in the future. If I bought new I'd be spending at least 10x more on price, 20% more on insurance as well.

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