Car upgrade will set me back 3 years

[Alex P Keaton]

Here is the original message that I accidentally deleted

I need to upgrade my car. I bought it brand new in 1996. It now doesn't feel safe to drive anymore!

Since I started investing I always said that I would never buy new again but if i hang onto the car for a good 15 years like i did my little 96 hyundai excel I reckon it could be an option. The depreciation wouldn't really matter.

-
If I were to buy brand new. It'd cost around $25 K. I want a hyundai sportswagon so I have room to put my bike and other things in the back.

Its gonna put my investing on the back burner for a good 3-4 years whilst i pay it off. I was hoping I would be able have 3 properties before I had to buy another car. That is going to be hard to take. If I did buy brand new I would hang onto it for as long as possible like I did with my current 1996 car.

If I buy a 2 year old car. How can I be sure I'm getting a good car?

I'm not sure what to do!!

Hmmm actually if I go down the route of buying new sometimes you can get a $3000 trade in for your old bomb from the dealer. My car would be lucky to be worth less than $1 K i reckon.

arrrgh I dunno what to do. Hoping for some advice and some stories from others.

 

[Alex P Keaton]

Get a bicycle. Will help with the weight loss goal too.

lol bought a nice bike a few months ago and yes it has helped me to lose weight. I got a lovely Giant cross city.

 

[Alex P Keaton]

dtraeger2k

If your one is reliable isn't the saying 'if its not broke dont fix it' appropiate?

Also, what makes you think the mechanic wouldn't give you a view that suits his pocket?
__________________
Dave

So whom should she ask instead of her mechanic ?

I can trust my mechanic, hes a good guy and family friend. I'm having my car serviced on Thursday so I'll know more then.

 

[jaycee]

My story ...

Purchased a second hand 2000 model BMW 323i in Dec '04 for $37,500 from original owner. He showed me invoice which showed he paid $75k + on road costs. I was thrilled as I had always wanted to drive a Beamer.

I drove this car until Feb 2009. Sold for $17K as I finally decided I had enough of spending my hard earned cash on expensive services & parts. Always a nice suprise each time I had it serviced.

I then purchased a 1.5 year old Corolla hatch for $18K. Damn thing has built in Bluetooth, an Ipod jack an runs on fumes ! Couldn't be happier.

So ... moral of the story ... don't spend your hard earned cash on European cars !!!!

Hehe

2004 mode in 2007 for $26.5k
No ipod jack either, has bluetooth but

 

[Alex P Keaton]

wooohoooo I am soooo happy!! Got my car serviced today and the mechanic said its fine. I got the window fixed and had to get a new hose and that was it. Its 15 years old, done 125,000 Km and its going along very nicely.

Plans to buy ip in 2012 will go ahead. I'm stoked.

 

[burty85]

wooohoooo I am soooo happy!! Got my car serviced today and the mechanic said its fine. I got the window fixed and had to get a new hose and that was it. Its 15 years old, done 125,000 Km and its going along very nicely.

Plans to buy ip in 2012 will go ahead. I'm stoked.

Depending on your tax return, maybe you could take some of that towards a newer car?

 

[HomeBuyAU]

What about buying a lower end collectors car? I have to buy a car soon and I'm thinking of buying something that if I sell it then it will hold most of it's value at least. I would also enjoy driving something with style rather than the latest mass produced modern car anyway. I have not done any research on this yet but just an idea and I would also want something under 10k!

 

[Alex P Keaton]

theres no need to. nothing wrong with it yey

 

[kathryn d]

We bought our main car new. It is a 1998 Toyota Rav 4. We have used and abused that poor car. It now has around 270k kms on the clock and I've just not long ago registered it. It has never really cost us any money other than basic maintenance. While at the mechanic's I had a bit of a chat with him.

It has a few non urgent things that need doing to it and this will come to around $2k. I asked is it worth going to all that trouble, or should I look at thinking about replacing it, especially as it has a lot of mileage and also because we now seem to be doing a lot more interstate travel than we used to (thanks Lil).

He said that so long as we were happy driving it, the car will last for quite some time yet, and that the expensive overhall is more stuff that I had neglected to do, like the spark plugs (or was it shock absorbers?) that should be changed at around 80k, that appear to still be the original ones. He said that it is a study workhorse and the motor has a lot of life left in her, so why upgrade?

So, no new car for us. We will keep on keeping on with the old one.

We also have a Rav 4..1997.
We have put in a new (second hand) motor and a few other stuff.At one point we even took out some newer Ravs for a test drive. We decided to keep fixing her (Ravina) for a while longer.
Very happy with the rav 4.

 

[skater]

wooohoooo I am soooo happy!! Got my car serviced today and the mechanic said its fine. I got the window fixed and had to get a new hose and that was it. Its 15 years old, done 125,000 Km and its going along very nicely.

Why would you think it needs replacing? If it's only done 125000km, it's only a baby. Many 5-6yr old cars have done the same mileage.

 

[buster]

Got me tossed too skater, why would you up grade when it is only just run in? ye 6months old it is still a baby. Age has nothing to do with the price of fish.

 

[Ausprop]

i kept my family car after year 3 and am regretting it a little bit... by the time I spend $1k on new tyres, do a major service, just spent $500 on the A/c, that would have paid for a year of a new car

 

[jaycee]

Got me tossed too skater, why would you up grade when it is only just run in? ye 6months old it is still a baby. Age has nothing to do with the price of fish.

125000 km's on a korean Hyundai = just run in a baby ?

It's not a 70's / 80's model Holden

Not saying it' needs throwing awqay, but I wouldn;t call it just run in.. unless my job was maybe tryingto sell it at a caryard hehehe !

 

[Ausprop]

denial of age is not a new phenomona. there are a lot of aged members in our society as well that live in denial but unfortunately that dam clock never stops ticking

 

[ianvestor]

For comparison, my '95 Honda Accord runs like a dream at just over 220,222 km now (saw that exact figure on the clock today!). They're only worth 5000 or so these days which is a bargain imo.

 

[Ausprop]

For comparison, my '95 Honda Accord runs like a dream at just over 220,222 km now (saw that exact figure on the clock today!). They're only worth 5000 or so these days which is a bargain imo.

turn it up Ian... this car is older than the teenagers getting their licences. It's questionable whether this age of vehicle should even be on the road. An annual MOT system would see this sort of thing as purely a collectors car

 

[Television]

turn it up Ian... this car is older than the teenagers getting their licences. It's questionable whether this age of vehicle should even be on the road. An annual MOT system would see this sort of thing as purely a collectors car

Easy there mate, just because it's old doesn't mean it's broken. The '95 lancer gets me around just fine.

 

[jaycee]

Easy there mate, just because it's old doesn't mean it's broken. The '95 lancer gets me around just fine.

I don't doubt that...

But thayoure noty exacltyl calling it brand new and "just runin " or "a baby"

Alex P Keaton is talking a aobut a Hyuandai. The mechanic confimred it's fine, no point aruging ove rthat....

I just thought the people who said "why would you up grade when it is only just run in? " (125000 k 's on a hyundai is jsut run in ?! Pull the other one) or "it's just a baby", were a bit errr what's the word I'm looking for ?

 

[ianvestor]

I just thought the people who said "why would you up grade when it is only just run in? " (125000 k 's on a hyundai is jsut run in ?! Pull the other one) or "it's just a baby", were a bit errr what's the word I'm looking for ?

Retarded?

Not that I would ever use that word.

 

[jaycee]

I wouldn't go as far as to insult the people for it