My philosophy exactly, why pay £20k for a machine that loses £5k in value as soon as you drive it away. The most I have ever paid for a car is £500. My last Mondeo served me well for 3 years & was still going strong when I gave it to my son. My current Vectra cost me £100 with a broken timing chain so a bit of a gamble but £400 later it was on the road. For that price I get a 2.2 litre injection engine, electric windows all round, electric sun roof & mirrors, alloy wheels, air con., multi-function computer and 6 disc CD player with steering wheel controls. What I mainly get is the knowledge that, if I somehow destroy the car, I am only out of pocket by £500.

Vectra in the foreground, old Mondeo behind.

Apologies in advance to anyone in the Auto Biz - and yes, I do realize that "someone" has to buy new stuff....BUT

Give me my busted knuckles, small headaches when things go wrong, but I truly enjoy not having to make any payments on any vehicle - just fix 'em & keep going....you can have some pretty nice rides this way

There are many that look at an automobile as a status symbol then there are others of us that look at it as a means of transportation. We should thank the guys with the big egos as with out them we would not have so many used vehicles to choose from.

Buying a car used is definitely the way to go, but I don't agree so much with the "beater" philosophy. I like some "luxuries" such as power windows, locks and abs. I think those "luxuries" should be standard on all vehicles. I also can't stand the sight of a rust bucket, but millage isn't so much of an issue to me as long as the car still has some cyunes.

A properly maintained used car need not be a "beater". Years ago, when I was still driving cars back in the US, I bought a used MG Midget. I drove that car for 13 years. No rust. Upholstery, perhaps not new, but not torn and ragged (including the top, but I rarely put that up, anyway). I finally had to abandon it because I could no longer find parts for it...Still my favorite ride, not counting the first car I ever owned, which was a true beater- a ten year old Studebaker Champion falling apart at the curb. That one, too, I drove until I could no longer find the parts...

Get a 4 cylinder Toyota pickup. With a little care it will last forever and you'll always be able to get parts for it. The worse it looks the less you'll have to worry about where you park it.

Get Mama a nice sedan or minivan with all the comforts and accessories, preferably new or near new so you never have to fix it. Pay for it with the money you save driving your old Toyota pickup.

This strategy pays all kinds of dividends.

Ed Weldon

Hello Ed,

My wife drives a "silver bullet", at least that is what her co-workers call it. It is actually a loaded Toyota Camrey Solara, gets great gas mileage. I on the other hand am pleased to drive my 1989 Jeep 4X4 Cherokee. I am always pulling my friends out of the sand at my little farm. They drive pick-ups of every 4X4 persuasion. The old girl really looks tired, and my wife wants to get me something much newer, "but" I keep thinking about all that sand and wondering just how I would get out if I got stuck.

By the way the old girl has 271,598 miles on her, engine and chassi, I think I can get her up to 300,000 miles before I just retire her to the farm, and keep her around in case I need a little tow. Nothing wrong with getting old, just as long as you don't need a good push just to get going. Besides, the dogs would get confused and quite upset if I didn,t have the old box on wheels to cart them around in.

TooMuchFun

I bought a 1970 Datsun 510 in 1990 for $800. I drove that car for almost 15 years. Rebuilt darn near most of it at one time or another. Once, when spending $30 dollars on a part, the wife made mention of the car "Nickel and Diming us to death"". I calmly sat down and explained that compared to her nice, new Minivan, it was just that, nickels and dimes. And if she felt we were spending to much on cars, I would be happy to get rid of her car and get her a 25 year old Datsun. Funny, she never complained again about me buying parts!

I think wifes hate for us to spend time working on the old cars. They want us dressed in golf shirts chasing a ball around some holes.

Naw, mine doesn't mind, as long as "her" car works when she needs it! I guess as long as I'm working on a car, she knows right where I am!

It is a matter of cost vs benefit vs risk. My wife made it very clear to me early in our marriage that reliable transport was a key to her feeling secure. She did not want to be broken down on the highway in a bad neighborhood. So I have driven beaters, but have always bought brand new cars for her and then replaced them as they got around four or five years old.

When we moved to Malaysia we were astounded that the import tax on any imported vehicle is 100%, so a new Toyota Camrey that would cost about $30,000 in the US would be $60,000 plus here. So I instead bought Malaysian cars.

Everyone told me not to buy a Malaysian car, but we purchased two cars brand new for about half the price of an import. So far they have been fine and they have a decent warranty. We'll see how it goes in a couple years.

My assignment here is four years, if they make it that long I am happy.

I have to say I have been on both sides of the beater fence. I loved my 82 Jeep CJ7, but when the body was so far gone the roll bar fell out it was time for another vehicle. My intelligent wife pointed out that our business was suffering because I was working on the Jeep all of the time, so we bought a new car. I have to say that we are doing 5X the business since then, and that not having to tinker with cars each weekend has been nice. I won't buy another new car, but I think a well maintained slightly used vehicle is the way to go. Save the big $ and the dealer markups, etc., just get something that holds up for some time.If you are like me and want to tinker from time to time, do like I did, pick up an old Mustang ( currently a 1964 1/2) and just for fun a 1967 Datsun roadster. Both need the love and attention I can give them when I have the time, and since they aren't daily drivers it doesn't matter if you don't get to them right away.......come to think of it, maybe I should use that philosophy with marraige!

You can by a fairly inexpensive new or used vehicle nowadays due to the economy. I usually buy used, but I just recently sold my 1999 F250 with 320,000 miles on it. I bought it new and drove every mile on it.

So I think the economic way to look at it is try to get the best the $1.00/mile ratio.

By the way if you are truly trying to saving money, you might try car pooling, ride share or public transportation. You also might try walking or biking to places less than 1 mile or 2 km away. It's good for you health too.

From one Grey Haired old Goat to another,

Well sometimes it must be determined weather or not walking is really all that good for your health. Ex: Here in Sunny Florida where we get almost daily Frog strangling down pours during the rainy season that lasts from June through September, walking dose not have much appeal. And as for the safety factor one must consider that as we have many elderly folks driving who are in their 80's and 90's, and are regularly running red lights because their reflexes are not fast enough to get a foot on the brake during the caution light exposure time period, and they often panic and press the wrong peddle. Almost daily we read about another 80 something or 90 something crashing into another 80 something or 90 something with said crashes taking the lives of some or all of them involved. Given the slowness of reflexes and lack of rapid comprehension of these elderly drivers, bicycling or motor cycle riding, is an extremely dangerous past time. Most of us locals are considerate of the faults of our elderly drivers, but when the snowbirds come back for the winter, many of them elderly, local travel can be hazardous to ones health.

TooMuchFun

Here everyone drives like that... The motorcycles are the worst. They have decided that traffic rules do not apply to them so they race between cars on the center strip, go against traffic, weave in and out, run red lights, drive on the sidewalk, over the median, and other stuff.

At the same time the car drivers weave between lanes, and if it is a jam are inclined to try to fit three cars side by side into a lane meant for one.

I have driven in Florida, you guys have it nice. It is crazy here....

A process of natural selection?

So now I have ridden in Mumbai and Jamnagar India. You all in India take the prize for driving challanges.

The question OP question does not even make sense here. It would be crazy to run around in a brand new car.

To get the joys of having a near new car and not the maintenance for a few years, you can buy a buy back and not lose the value of $5000 as soon as the car rolls off the lot.

Buy Backs are cars that Rental agencies put up for auction after one year of service. Rental Agencies often replace their fleet of cars annually.

The result is you be purchasing a car with about 20,000 miles on it,that has been maintained and it has to be sold as a used car but it still has the original warrantee on it.

Hi Janissaries - while I don't disagree with the thoughts, I would never buy a motor vehicle from a rental fleet....

The usually "normal" person when placed into a rental vehicle, typically goes insane when driving....over-revving...pedal to the floor..."what's behind me, is no concern".....see that speed-bump? NO PROBLEM.....it's a RENTAL

These things have been run hard & put away wet....scary stuff there

Although, you can get good construction rental equipment, at a good price, with due-diligence

True.

Dealerships usually have several on their lot so you can check them over and test drive them.

There still used cars and with any used car you're inheriting what ever problems the previous owners may have had with them and the salesmen aren't going to tell you anything bad about them if they can help it.

I have bought only one new vehicle for myself, I a 51. When I was 31, single, no kids with lots of uncommitted cash I bought a new 1988 K1500 Chevy Pickup. It was great. I drove it until 1992 and put about 140 K miles on it. (It is still in the back yard and will someday be a project vehicle. I parked the car after my status changed to married with children. I started driving my dad's 1981 Toyota Tercel after my mom could not drive anymore. It had great mileage and was considerably cheaper to run than the truck. When dad passed on I started driving his 1985 Chevy (Toyota) Nova. And gave the Tercel to my stepson. (He killed it). I then bought a 1999 Saab 9.3 that was off of a three year lease. I am driving it today. I do my own maintenance whenever possible, I actually have never brought the Saab in to a garage for service.

My wife is like many other mentioned on the post. I felt it better to let her get a new Minivan while driving the 4 kids around than listen to complaints about whether a use car would hold up…….Well she did drive the car until it was totaled. It was replaced in a hurry with a beater that she drove for 2 years. Last September we agreed to get a new Honda Element. While the car is great I do no think that I would buy a new car for me as I am definitely more comfortable with a simple transportation vehicle.

Bob

My first car was a '69 Chevy Belair. My next one was a '63, '67, '69 Chevy Belalla. (Made from a '63 Impalla body with a '67 chevy truck engine, and parts from the '69 Belair. Belalla sounds better than "Impair", which is what my brother-in-law called it.) I now drive an '89 Jeep Comanche with 210,000 miles on it. I still buy used, but newer, vehicles for my wife to drive. Think of all the energy I saved over the years by not buying new. For a new car, someone has to mine iron ore, ship it, refine it, convert it into steel, roll it, transport it, stamp it, machine it, weld it, paint it, etc., just to make the body. Then there's the engine, transmission, plastic parts, wheels, etc. I may get fewer miles per gallon than a Prius, but where is the break even point when it comes to energy consumed and pollution produced? I know that I can drive my beaters for a long time at lower gas milage before the extra fuel cost could pay for a new car.

Isn't it really just a matter of how much one's time is worth? And a little of how much one values one's time...whether or not its worth much? For some, fixing a cheaply acquired vehicle is a fair trade off against depreciation loss on a new/late model. For others, not (personally) repairing a vehicle pays the owner back many times over the depreciation "loss" on a new/late model vehicle. Looking at it another way:

Most who leave big legacies also leave behind nice cars. Those who leave modest legacies tend to leave so-so cars (and decrepit boats, too, sometimes).

Another viewpoint.........I was chatting with my wife today about the old cars I drove 25 miles to work every day. We raised two boys. In their 30's they have their heads on pretty straight. I won't go into their resumes; but they look pretty good.

My wife was a stay at home mom. To make this happen we lived in a 1200 sf house (still there, now 1400sf with a real dining room). For 45 years I lived with a succession of beaters (5), each of which got past 200K miles with the exception of the 4 banger Mazda GLC 4 banger that blew its second engine at 115K. Except for one clutch job (the last or 5) on the last half primered wreck salvage pickup I did all work on them myself.

The last few years, the boys grown up, the job paid well especially the stock options born of a couple of important patents and Dad was getting sick of pulling engines and transmissions out of everyday drivers. We could finally buy a couple of neat new vehicles, a Toyota pickup for me and a red Lexus for my Love of 45 years. Retired now and the "new" cars are 10 years old. As I write this the Toyota pickup sits out in the driveway on jackstands waiting a new set of brake calipers (another interesting story). The circle comes around while we watch our IRAs sink like everyone else's.

Mom did a wonderful job. We sent our oldest through UC and the youngest followed his own star (which is shining brightly today). If Mom had worked we'd have driven new cars every three years and the house would probably have been bigger. BTW. there was one other beater that never more than a few days made the morning commute. 30 years ago I put $3000 into rebuilding it. It sits in the garage today, worth about $30,000 on today's market (down from $45000 a year ago).

Oh yeah, boats. Hardly what you'd call decrepit. The wooden Cosine Wherry and its sparkling brightwork stops traffic whenever I take it out.

Was my time working on those old wrecks worth it? You better believe it. It meant my sons' mother could be there for the boys every day when they came home from school and a whole lot more. They were the real investment that I get to show off; the real legacy.

Ed Weldon

Congrats to you. What in the garage?

Yeah Ed, what's in the Garage? Inquiring minds want to know.

That was supposed to be our trade secret...assuming you're a dealer as well.

Mine too. I buy old vans and have the transmission rebuilt then replace the valve seals and they run 10 to 15 years. I buy them for $2,000 or less from rental car companys.

I still miss the old 1976 300D Mercedes I bought it with 260,000 miles on it and sold it with over 900,000 miles on it. The guy still drives it today with over a million miles on it.

Never had the head off of it. only replaced 2 alternators, 3 water pumps and tires besides the filters which I did regularly.

That thing was a tank and still ran great when I sold it.

I don't know why I had a wild hair you know where and wanted a 4 wheel drive to pull the fishing boat after getting stuck on a wet ramp and needing to pay someone to pull my boat with their truck.