Would You Sell a Car You Only Drove 600+ Miles?

I almost changed my mind. I think the three things I really like are the Apple CarPlay with large screen, the fuel economy and the stereo system. Add one more, the carpool lane! Also, I feel I'm being wasteful by paying the sales tax and DMV fees and using the car so little.

In my life, I've bought/leased only eight brand new cars for myself - we've owned more new cars in our family, but these cars were bought/leased for me to use. Note that there have been A LOT of used cars, but so few new ones. Of the eight, I've only owned one for more than a year - a GMC Sierra 1500, which I kept 12 years and drove 47K miles. Of the seven, six were leases and one purchase. I purchased the Prius, because I thought I'd keep it for a few years (until the carpool sticker expired), then I'd get a new one. Well, that didn't work out as planned!

One more thing about the Prius, the stereo doesn't have a volume knob! This is super important to me - I want to be able to turn the volume down very quickly - it's too slow using the steering wheel buttons or the slider on the dash.

It may sound crazy, but if the car didn't look so bad, I'd probably keep it. The pearl white looks good, silver also looks good. Darker colors like red, gray and black look good too - even better than light colors.

I didn't include this, but on the first day I drove the car to my office, a van pulled into my lane and almost sideswiped me. I had just pulled on the freeway and was doing about 65 or so. I swerved onto the shoulder, then back into the lane - the car almost lost control. I think there's just too much weight for the chassis. The car wasn't designed to make emergency maneuvers like that at highway speed.

When I'm on my hike tomorrow, I'm going to think about what I will do for a commuter car.

And yes, life is too short to drive a car that I don't like.

"It may sound crazy, but if the car didn't look so bad, I'd probably keep it. The pearl white looks good, silver also looks good. Darker colors like red, gray and black look good too - even better than light colors."

Could you have had it painted?

Could you have had it painted?

Or vinyl wrapped, cheaper & reversible.

Hah, beat me to it!

A repaint kills the value of the car. When I sell it to a wholesaler, he'll be able to tell and the value drops.

It sounds odd, but the best thing was to sell it. In the next few weeks, I'll know if I miss the economy and features. If I do, I'll wait until prices come back down and I'll buy another, but in a color that works for me.

The other option would be to have the car wrapped in a color I like. When I sell it, I just remove the wrap and the original color is there - and it's also protected too!

Interesting, I think a lot of people feel that way.

Thanks for your response.

I did give this a lot of thought before buying the car. I own an older Prius, a 2008 Touring model. Why they call it a Touring is something I don't know - it doesn't drive any better than a non-Touring model, but it does have better looking wheels and the tires may be a little wider. I'm not sure about the tire size, but they look a little more low profile.

The main reason I bought the Prius Prime is for the carpool sticker. In the month and a half I've owned the car, I've found that the carpool sticker has value, but in many cases I could use a Fast Track and pay a few dollars to drive in a carpool lane (not in all carpool lanes in LA).

The biggest reason I sold the car is the small window of opportunity to get out at a good price. With the current new car shortage, I was able to bail out.

I still need a commuter car and I'd like a carpool sticker, but it's not necessary. This is the first time I've had one and as nice as it is to use, I don't think it's worth the cost of driving a car I don't like.

I don't think car names necessarily describe the car. I suspect they hire people with psychology degrees to come up with names that sell the best.

It sounds like LA has come up with a way to profit from traffic congestion...

If you want to sell, selling now is a good choice with the current shortage. You can't change the past, so sunk costs should not factor in your decision going forward. I think that you made the right decision.

Then they also need to control the bs p.r. such as the meaning Chevrolet Nova meant ‘don't run’ in Spanish, which was false. For it to be true... one would really have to butcher the name.

The Nova actually sold good. Btw, that ‘75 nova shown, was like the the second Nova I owned... I hated that body styling...

Dad brought home a 1976 (I think it was a 1976) Nova in Metallic Red. I think GM forgot the clear coat, because the paint would get this chalky haze only a week after waxing it. He used it for his commuter car for a couple years. It had a straight six, which he wasn't too happy with.

For those in the mid-west, Osco drug store was part of the Jewel chain. When I moved to CA, they had just opened an Osco down the street from me. Actually, it was the same drug store, but with a new name. A gal at my work got a kick out of the name - she told me it means to throw up in Spanish.

No Va = no go - slang Spanish, which is used in CA.

Quema Coco = Sunroof in CA Spanish. Burn your coconut (head).

I apologize for taking this somewhat off topic... I myself isn’t a car guru... I work on them mainly due how I was raised, and that’s being frugal by doing it yourself when ever possible.

fact is, the best what is enjoy working on a car... is when I’m finish working on it.

When I look under the hood of my 1971 1779 CI twin cam motor, I see simplicity. A distributor cap with rotor. Four plug wires and a coil wire. Starter, alternator, two carbs, intake manifold, exhaust manifold, radiator, fan (run off a fan belt), battery, etc. When I open the hood of our 2017 Lexus CT200h (46 years newer), I see a big engine cover. When I pull the cover, I see four ignition coils, directly connected to four spark plugs, a starter, alternator, fuel injectors, lines, intake manifold, exhaust manifold, a number of sensors, hybrid components, orange cables, more sensors, etc.

Between the two, which is the easiest to work on? I'd say the Lexus. Why? Because most things will never need to be touched, so the few maintenance items have such a long maintenance schedule, very little has to be done. However, when something needs work, that's a different story!

That brings back memories… my first car, 1970 Nova, been in an accident before I bought it…, it had obvious Bondo repairs,… , when following the car the tires did not quite track…

but having problems on the road in the dead of night and no tools… fan belt breaking…. Exhaust disconnecting… looking back what one had to do for how a McGyver’ing fix happen was unbelievable to get where you’re going again (back home).

That’s problem with today… my step daughter’s boyfriend bragged how mechanically inclined he was… yet I had to replaced his brakes pads, when not only he failed but his brother did also. The reason, both couldn’t loosen the (2) bolts to take off the calipers…

and I, never thought of myself as mechanically inclined.

I think that our generation became what it is by having experiences like your Nova. I think it's sad that the younger generation didn't have the opportunity to "fiddle" with things. When I tell people I was under my Alfa 15-20 times changing/fixing the fuel filter/pump, they look at me like I'm a wounded puppy. When I tell them that it was one of the best trips I've taken, they look at me like I'm crazy!

Accomplishments:

1. Drove a 46 year old Italian car across country in the month of July!

2. Met some awesome people along the way and learned a lot about their lifestyle!

3. Got to know some great folks at auto parts stores.

4. I can fix a bad fuel filter (Alfa Spider) in 15 minutes or less now.

5. Tools I had: flat head and phillips, needle nose vice grips, small slip joint pliers, small crescent wrench, set of end wrenches, box cutter.

6. It gave me confidence in Alfa's. They're fabulous cars and there's something really special about them ... as long as they're running well!

Prior to the trip, the longest I had driven and Alfa is 45 miles or so. It was a big leap to 4,088 (that's what the odo said, but I think it's very optimistic). I may have too much confidence, so I need to be careful!

The other thing to mention on a modern car is that you can plug a code reader in & ask the car what is wrong, no more guessing.

You're so right. OBD II has transformed auto repair. I am, by no means, a mechanic, but when I hook up my OBD II reader, the codes give me a clue to what could be wrong. I should stress the word COULD, because sometimes I am just guessing.

I do believe that there's a lot of common sense related to repairing a car. The most important it to know when the job is too far above your ability!

A little bit of trivia here. Touring is a car manufacturer. Think of them as a high end builder of cars. Back in the 30's to 70's, there were quite a few builders. Some would take a basic frame/chassis and build a beautiful body around it - coachbuilders. Touring, Pininfarina, Bertone, Scaglietti, Zagato and even one we're familiar with here in the US, Ghia. Remember the Cadillac Alante. Chassis was from GM and the body was Pininfarina. Chrysler TC was a Chrysler K car chassis with a Maserati body.

California has this strange way of building/repairing freeways. The state doesn't want to pony up the money, so they go into a community and tell the residents that they can have a new freeway or carpool lanes, but the users must pay for part of the cost. Oh, it'll be a 10 year bond, which is paid off by the tolls collected. 10 years later and it's still a toll road. To make it easier for commuters to use, they sell a Fast Track transponder - you stick it on your dash or windshield and it reads your car and charges a toll to your account. The state wants to wash it's hands of the mess, so the toll road is built by a contractor, who profits from the tolls collected - they "manage" the toll road for the state. I'm pretty sure the state and feds kick in some money during the entire process. The residents vote on it (usually as a proposition) and since they're the ones who approved it, all the complaints (10 year toll road is now a 20 + year toll road) fall on deaf ears.

Sunk cost! That's how I try to look at my purchases. The money is gone, so taking that out of the equation, what's the best way for me to proceed. Since businesses think of it this way, I think we should also.

Education doesn’t come cheap, but in this case,... anything that either a wash or better isn’t too bad.

When I bought the Prius, I knew that a Toyota shortage was coming. I was pretty sure I could get out in good shape, in case I didn't like the car. I know, it sounds crazy to buy a car with the thought I could get out as long as a shortage continues.

This is one of the benefits of being in the middle of the auto business. Kinda like how everyone here has insight into their industry.

Buyer's Remorse!

Let's look at a "cost/benefit" analysis: The cost is somewhere between $27,000 and $32,000. When you bought the car, it lost up to 50% of its value. In other words, even though you only drove the car around 600 miles. it IS a "used car" and will only fetch around $16,000, at best.

How bad would the car have to be, before you sold it? Remember, under the "Lemon Law," you have to disclose defects to your potential customer. If you sell a "defective car," you can be held liable for reprocurement costs. This MUST be considered. The mere fact that you have published, in an OPEN Forum that the car is defective puts you at risk.

You said that the purchase price was "very reasonable!" All that scintillates is not of necessity auriferous.

Back when gas hit $4.00 gallon, in mid America, people where trading in their new gas guzzling SUV’s for more economical run cars.

it was figured that they were losing money, when taking into effect the 10, of thousand of a lose they took in depreciation on a trade in, to what they’d save in gas mileage.

For the people that did that, gas price would need to go to at least 4-5 times that price.

but fear not, gas prices and its shortages shall return, soon enough.

I remember that time very well. People with V8's were panicky. I remember not being able to get an offer on SRT8 Dodge products. Nobody would touch them, because there were no buyers and dead inventory is horrible for a car dealer.

I told my clients to buy/lease a Corolla, Civic, Prius, etc - something that would run about $200-250/mo, which was the savings from the cost of fuel. They could keep their Expeditions, Tahoes and Yukons - use them as weekend cars and then use the economy car as a commuter.

It sure was better than losing five figures on their trade in.

Normally, I'd say you're 100% correct. Since I'm in the auto industry, I get cars wholesale cost. After subtracting the manufacturer's rebate and the state rebate, the cost is quite a bit less than you would expect. If I were a retail buyer, the out the door price would've been close to $30K after a $3K down payment, so yes, your cost is accurate.

Also, since there's a shortage of new Toyota vehicles, the value is quite a bit higher than you would expect. Again, normally it would be a lot less than it is now, but your estimate is very far off - this is why people buy Toyota's; resale values are very high and your $16,000 estimate is below the three year residual on a lease. Taking into account I have sources to get more for a used car, the financial analysis comes out much different. The only thing that I can't do anything about is the sales tax and DMV fees. That's money down the drain. Toyota has a three year residual set at $17.7K, so a 600 mile car would be worth $24K on trade in - in a normal world.

An average person would lose $9K ish, which isn't a ton of money, but it's enough. The trade off is that he/she would be stuck driving a car he didn't like. Life is short, so if $9K is reasonable for a person to lose, then it would be in his best interest to get a different car.

Many people don't know what the Lemon Law really means. It's a law to protect the purchaser against buying a car that has defects that can't be repaired by the manufacturer (or it's franchisees) in a reasonable amount of time or that has too many defects. Each state has a specific number of failed repairs, safety extent and number of days in the shop. If a person doesn't like a car for aesthetic reasons or personal preferences, it doesn't mean the car is a lemon. For instance, if you like a plush, cushy ride and you buy a Toyota Corolla Apex, you can't lemon it based on the harsh ride. You simply bought the wrong car. However, if the car shuts off on the freeway, you bring it to the dealer who fixes it - repeat two more times and the car is a lemon and Toyota must buy it back from you.

In this forum, nowhere did I say the car is defective and to be clear, it isn't. I don't like the way it's engineered and I think the weight is too high for the chassis, but that's a personal preference. Synthetic leather seats that don't breathe - a person preference as well.

If a person could lemon a car for personal preferences, we'd have far too many lemon buybacks - that's not fair for the manufacturer.

I can see there is a big diff between your cars and mine. Still no ice, I hear it is used by the local kids though, or snow or salted roads, around here we use the potholes for traction.

I usually run up 300,000Km on the cars, though sometimes we hand them down to the kids though now with the wife buying a farm they will just go there to die or become dozer or excavator fodder, amazing how small they can be made.

Currently Nissan Patrol 240,000km, Corolla 280,000, ford xr6 50,000km, just a baby.

My previous car, was a 2007 Buick Lucerne.

I had around 200,000 miles on it, great shape, no rust, I put over $2,500 replacements... tires, brakes engine work... it was more then the KBB (Kelley Blue Blue) value... but, I there was a possibility of it making 300,0000 miles on it (miles not km). Where I figured I would need new exhaust by 250,000ish mile mark... unfortunately,...

then my wife totaled it... btw,... it was totaled out by the insurance company because of its ACV, (Actual Cash Value)

now my previous car to that, was an 2001 Oldsmobile Intrique, that lasted about 225,000, and that one did rust from the inside out... i believe it was the paint holding it together, I had to sent that to the scrap yard,... because it was so structurally weaken.

like Rixter said... car becomes part of the family.

My 2002 Volvo V70 XC just went to the junk yard. It had 252K miles, still ran great, but the front crank seal blew and it wasn't worth the money or time to fix it.

Many repairable cars are total losses, due to low ACV. My insurance company totalled one of my favorite cars - it was a 1996 Jaguar XJ Van Den Plas (long wheelbase with the Grey Poupon trays). It barely had over 100K miles and the cost to repair was too high (parts were outrageous), so they totalled it. I bought it from the insurance company for $600. It needed a brake and light inspection - I left it outside in the sun for a while and the clear coat went bad. I did get the brake and light inspection and a salvage title. The car still drove great, but I didn't want to spend the time to repaint it or the money, so I gave it to my sister. I remember her telling me that it's the nicest driving car she every drove and she now understands why I loved the car so much.

To this day, I keep looking for one of those straight six Jaguar XJ's.

A Buick Lucerne has me beat for the only Lucerne we get here is legume we feed to horses, still I suppose if you put your foot down in the Buick it would go like horses on Lucerne.

The Buick Lucerne was front heavy...

bon apetit to the horses.

My personal record is a 1978 Volvo 242 DL. I bought it with 141K miles. Drove it for 9 - 10 years and put 200K miles one it. When I got rid of it, I'm estimating the miles around 350K. The odometer broke twice! The motor was never apart! Amazing car!!! I recall seeing it around over 5 years later.

I remember rust hole so big that stuff would fall out the trunk on a fast corner. Or making sure you don't bang your feet on the floor, because the next one could be your foot on the ground, Fred Flintstone style!

Way back when they had leaf springs... you’d open a trunk and the leaf spring bracket is staring back at you...

Remember those first gen Mustangs. I remember seeing the back end sagging, because the leaf spring shackles broke through the frame (and into the trunk).

When I was in college, I had a 1964 Chrysler New Yorker. Many of the leaves were cracked and on one side there was a chunk missing. My buddies and I didn't want to change them - too much rust and we were afraid the shackle would break from the frame. So we left it and I drove the car for almost 3 years.

I believe the Mustang was a partial Uni-body’s construction. Some of the automotive genius here should be able answer that, or correct me.

my first car was a Chevrolet Nova... As a 16 year old I was told, you’d normally would find a leaf spring cracked. When my friends were behind me in their car... they did mentioned, the wheels didn’t track right and goes down the road a little sideways. Lol

I had a few that was cracked that I had to replace. I couldn't afford to have them replaced, my dad pointed to me in the direction of, call up a salvage yard, see what they got and do it your self. And that was it.

I think he wanted see what I was made of, because that was the end of the help.

I got the leaf springs, and fortunately we had a sawmill, I got a 4x4 x 10’ rail, chain, and cable pull and was able to do it in about 4-5 hours the first time... a lot of time was spent, looking for something I might need. The 4x4 was to stress the leaf spring into place to install.

I had to do it 2 more times, because the first thing I learned before you install something used, was to check the replacement spring for cracks before installing.

after I replace it again a few months later, I eventually had to do the other side. I was able to change out in under an hour. I think mostly because I knew wnd had what I needed for jigs and fixtures.

I love stories like this. It was a different time, when we were happy to just have a car. A few broken leafs - as long as it kept driving, we were okay.

At least your car had good shackle mounts. Imagine the poor guy who bought a spring, removed the old one and the shackle broke as the rust crumbled before his eyes! A lot of welding would be needed to fix the rusted out "frame". And it would need to be straight or the leaf wouldn't mount up.

You're correct about the Mustang being a unibody. My 1964 Chrysler New Yorker was a unibody (1963 was the first year the large Chryslers were unibody).

Nope. I have a rusty 2000 Ford F-150 with 194,000 miles. I have a 2003 Chevy Suburban with 286,000 miles. About half of that towing an 8,000 lb. travel trailer. A 2005 VW Jetta with the 2.SLO with about 200,000 miles on it. My wife drives a brand spanking 'new' 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee that recently clocked over 100,000 miles. Actually, she bought it used with about 27,000 miles on it about five years ago.

Our motto is "Never sell our car before its time", in other words roll or drag it into the junkyard. Apologies to Orson Welles.

We sometimes buy new when the used market doesn't have what we want. But whether we buy new or used, we run them into the ground. Since I do most of my own repairs, I can afford to keep junkers on the road. Once they get past a certain age or mileage, it's almost like the vehicle pays me to drive it.

If I had to pay a shop to keep them running, then the whole calculus changes.

Orson Welles or a Paul Mason Wines...

I love watching Orson Welles movies! That man was a fantastic actor.

I would love to be able to do work on my cars. I do some things, but heavy work I leave to the mechanics (or messy stuff). Oil changes - the price is so low it makes no sense for me to do the work. Tires and alignment - I don't have the tools or the desire. Detailing and wash + wax - I do it a lot of the time. Simple things like changing a hood/trunk shock or electrical stuff - I'll tackle those things. Or even stuff like valve cover gaskets, ignition coils, cap and rotor, spark plugs, starter, radiator, brakes, fuel pumps/lines/filters, mirrors, window regulators, etc. Those are all in my realm.

One thing I have noticed is that new cars don't seem to need as much maintenance and repairs come at longer intervals. Computer issues are a headache - very hard to pinpoint or even recreate. And parts have become very expensive too! And the diagnostic tools may not be available to me. So, there are some expenses that come with a newer car - things I need to pay a shop to do, but it's all part of the cost of having transportation.

I also keep cars a long time - those are the ones I really like. The others are just pieces of transportation. When one of my transportation cars gets too expensive to keep on the road, I get rid of it.

Here in So Cal, we put a lot of miles on our cars. I grew up in Chicago and a high mileage year was 6-7K. Last year was a low mileage year and between the two of us, we put 35K miles on our cars. I take that back, we had a couple long trips and we're closer to 42K miles. No complaints on the miles, because it's part of my work and it puts food on the table. I'm lucky that most of the miles are business related, so there's the taxable expense benefit.

For every new car I've purchased, I've been able to recoup the cost including sales taxes and initial DMV fees. Even on the GMC I owned for 12 years! I don't like wasting money and I take advantage of the perks of the field I'm in, so no, I'm not flush with cash.

Great to hear about your Manx - they're collectors cars here (the real Meyers Manx). VW Beetles were cheap and plentiful.

"Still I have never been in your position to be flushed with cash to be able to chop and change especially with the cost of cars this side of the pond."

Have you noticed his forum name?

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I'm with you and Nigh on this: I can't conceive of a time I will have so much money that I can afford a new car.

If you do not like it sell it and accept the loss. If you got it free then you profit. Reality is, it gets you from A to B as any other vehicle will do. So what price do you put on image?

I often love these people who have fancy vehicles, they pay so much just to impress other who don't actually care. A Smart Car is cool, and does the same job, A to B, a fraction of the cost, and it still does the speed limit.

For me, safety is very important. I drive a lot of miles and every year I have to avoid accidents. Whether it's slamming on the brakes, moving out of the way or accelerating ahead of a potential accident. The Prius is a great city car, but at highway speeds, it doesn't feel very planted. Since I drive on the LA freeways a lot and many times traffic is moving along at 80-85 mph, a safe car is super important.

I love saving money on lower fuel costs, low maintenance or less expensive repairs. I won't trade my safety for savings. I'm no longer a 30 year old, invincible young man and after all these years of work, I want to be able to retire well. That means in good health.

Yes,...safety is #1.

that’s why I sent the Oldsmobile Intrique to the great parking lot in the sky.

land as I get older, safety carries more weight.

Some of those domestic cars were great. My sister's boyfriend had a Pontiac Sunfire that he put over 300K miles on it. I've seen those old Saturn SL cars go well over 250K miles.

For some reason, Buick seems to build a better car than many of the other GM brands. Chevy's are pretty good too, as well as GMC. I do find a lot of electrical problems with Cadillac. Olds didn't seem to be put together as well as Buick. Pontiac was a sportier car, but I had horrible luck with their 301 cubic inch V8. We had a Grand Prix with a 301, a Bonneville and a Firebird. The Firebird was my sister's car. It was the worst of the three - a 1981 (last of the gen 2 F Body cars). The motor blew a rod bearing at 49K miles. At least my Grand Prix made it to 63K.

A Pontiac Sunbird... I have to tell you my experience with a Pontiac sunbird.

our farm was in an area that was being commercialized for vacation spots...

now on the farm, wed get a knock on our door from people whose car slipped in the ditch in the snow, usually in the winter time, asked if we’d pull them out. Now this is risky just on a liability issue of pulling something off.

well, it was on a Sunday in September, I was the only one home, and a lady came into the yard pretty shook up and said she went into the ditch and asked if I could help... I was like 14,... i asked where she told me, I said, sure I’d look at it... I’ll be there in about 15 minutes.

I went there i saw (2) people on the side of the road...and no car... I looked into the woods, (mostly cedars) I did say anything, no ruts or tracks...

now I got the rest of the story, the other one was her husband, he appeared to be a real hot head. He was teaching her how to drive,... she came to a ‘Tee intersection, where she was on the leg...in stead of stopping, she panicked, stepped on the gas crossed the intersection and barreled it into the woods.

the dam car was 100 feet into the woods, it clipped off 6” cedars and was stuck, what I later found to be a stump of one of the cedars she clipped off... I told them I couldn’t pull them out I’d end up wrecking the car...

He said I don’t care and started to verbally lace into her... as a 14 year old... i think that was the start of something... I wanted to get the hell out.., I stepped in and said I need to get a chainsaw and do some cutting... they we’ll see. That seemed to calm him down... calm if you want to call it that.

when I came back... I started to look at the car... it was a Pontiac sunbird... and after taking down those cedars... there wasn’t a noticeable dent or anything missing on that car... only scuff marks... I was impressed. The problem was that stump.

as a tall drink of water of a 14 year old... I was able to reach under and cut the stump away... fortunately the stump wasn’t sound and it broke appear unbelievable easy... I was thinking someone else was also watching over her... in the mean time, this guy was just lacing into her... if I was older... I would have said, that’s enough.

then I clear a path out. The guy said you can’t do that, the owner won’t like it. That’s when I had enough and I stood up, walked to him and said. “Well dads not here, and he left me in charge” that shut him up.

I finished clearing and I hook the car up I don’t recall what I latched onto... I had a difficult time finding a hard point... and I told him to get in the car, start it up, a d put it in reverse to help.

I pulled that car unto the road... and then I inspected the car... that wasn’t even trim broke... all there was was scuff marks.

he offered me $100. I ended up refusing it because I was afraid he take it out on his wife, and told him to keep it and take his wife out for dinner... as a 14 year old...

imwalked through the path she took,... and could not believe it.

.

From what I just heard on the news, Americans are keeping their cars longer and prices are up on both new and 2nd hand vehicles. Good time to sell. Good luck.

Try this as a commuter:

https://slingshot.polaris.com/en-us/slingshot-s/

Good time to sell huh,...

that also equates to a bad time to buy.

Currently, housing in the same.

Great time to sell and bad time to buy.

OR

Great time to trade in (you're overpaid for your trade in) and then you get into a new car that you hope isn't too overpriced.

You could sell your car now and get a good price, and just uber until the prices come back down...of course that won't work for everybody...I don't drive much anymore, had my Mustang GT premium since 2009, bought it with just 6,000 miles on it...now it has 24k, and I believe it's worth more now than what I paid...Gave my Astro van away a few years back, it had about 166k miles....I was raised poor and have a hard time justifying the purchase of a new car, even though I can easily afford it, I hate to waste money...You know Autobroker you impress me as somebody that would be a BMW guy, or maybe Porsche, but Prius? Ha nooo...not ever...

I think your Mustang GT is worth quite a bit. Low miles, huge fun factor and if you want to buy a new one, good luck finding one!

I believe we should feel comfortable with our auto buying decisions. For me, my first brand new car was a 2004 Honda Civic LX coupe with a five speed. I leased the car, but after roughly six months, my daughter asked if she could "borrow" it. Here 1992 Celica GTS wasn't running right! So much for my new car! And I liked the little Civic! Fast forward to 2017 - I moved to another office and I have a 90 mile round trip commute. I'm killing my BMW 328i - you can't put so many miles on a car like that. So, I leased a Dodge Journey four banger. It was cheap! $0 drive off and $250ish a month. I didn't like the car, but since I was in it right, I was able to sell it and put a few bucks in my pocket. Next, a 2017 Jeep Patriot - $0 drive off and $170ish per month. Loaded with leather, moonroof, etc. At 181 miles, the CEL turns on! Horrible customer service, incompetent shop techs, horrible loaner cars ... Within a few months, I sold it and put a few more bucks in my pocket. Two 2017 Tacoma 4X4 double cabs ($217/mo leases), a 2018 Camry ($191/mo lease) - all three were launched with a profit. No new car until this year with the Prius Prime - it was purchase for the carpool sticker! Less than two months later, launched with a nice profit.

I'll admit that I really like BMW's (am a happy owner). More than Audi or Merc. The Porsche sits in the garage (2003 with 41K miles - or something like that). It was a favorite, until I found Alfa! Why? The car has soul! Each one has a different feel. For instance, I can jump in any 996 Porsche and it'll feel the same - unless someone has done mods. Jump in an Alfa (pre 1995) and each one will drive different. It'll feel different. Top HP and torque at different rpm. And once you've driven a "perfect" Alfa, you don't forget the sensation! It's like a drug - you're always chasing that unforgettable high (so they say).

We did a road trip last month to buy yet another Alfa. This was a short trip, so I didn't post it. We flew to Phoenix and bought a 1993 Alfa Spider with 20K original miles! Odo read 8K, but it was changed many, many years ago. Documentation to prove the low miles and everything feels so tight. Little to no wear to be found on the car. Motor is tight, trans is smooth as butter! Has power windows, power mirrors, air cond, am/fm/cd stereo (aftermarket), five star Campagnolo wheels (think Ferrari), 2.0L twin cam with VVT on the intake, Bosch FI (reliable and bulletproof), electric fan cooled radiator, three original keys, manuals, manual folder (like new) and even a matching spare! British Racing Green, tan top, tan seats. And original paint too! Two stage - clear is in great shape. We spent a week in Phoenix, then headed back to LA - five to six hour drive. She drove like a dream!

Prices are up substantially on used cars. The reason is the computer chip shortage has been a disaster for auto production.

If you've been to a dealer lot in the last month, you would notice the lack of new cars and the abundance of used cars. The dealer has fixed costs and they have to move inventory to cover those costs. Since they can't get enough new cars, they're filling their lots with used cars. Supply/Demand - that's why the prices are so high.

Ford Mustang Mach-E 1400....a Mustang with half again as much hp as the Tesla Plaid..

https://twitter.com/i/status/1403719530929606656

I haven't even sat in a Mach E yet. I've seen a few on the road and I think it's a good looking car.

Tesla's are everywhere. Tons of 3's and Y's.

Update on my Prius Prime.

On Saturday, I deposited the check for my car. It sure felt good to put a nice deposit in my account - I think what felt the best is that I knew that I had a tidy profit and ultimately, I made a good decision.

Thanks to everyone here for your comments and support. You guys are absolutely awesome and I'm so glad I found this site!

I’ve been in a similar spot before. I once bought a car, drove it for a short time, and just didn’t click with it. Sometimes you just know it’s not the right fit, and it’s better to move on before it loses value. If you're thinking about switching things up and maybe getting into something like a JDM car, there’s a good resource called jdmbuysell where you can find some great options and info, especially for Japanese imports like the Nissan Silvia.

No JDM's here in CA. Too hard to get them to pass CA emissions testing and this state is very difficult with registration.

If I could bring an import in, I'd get a 1995 era Alfa Romeo Spider or GTV. They're priced right and it's a lot of bang for the buck ... and they look fantastic!

Update

Well, I did it again. I did sell the Prius Prime - I had no idea there would be such a shortage for so long - I could've held it longer and sold it for close to $40K. I'm okay, since I didn't like the car and in 99.99% of the time I did the right thing financially.

I leased a 2022 Ram 2500 Crew Cab 4X4 Laramie with a diesel. Great truck! I took it for a long drive and it was comfortable, quiet (for a diesel), good fuel economy (21 mpg), great stereo (Alpine) and safe!!! ... but I have no idea if the truck is in the lane. It's wide - wider than a 1/2 ton. It's tall - I'd have to add tube steps. There's a big bulge on the hood - for clearance for that huge straight 6 diesel. There were a few times I can swear I was in the other person's lane - but I didn't know, because the truck is too big! I was going to keep it for 20+ years, but I just didn't feel comfortable, so, after 760 miles, I sold it! Two in a row isn't a good track record!

I wound up getting a 2022 Toyota 4Runner TRD Sport, which I love. I've had my 4Runner for almost three years and I haven't hit 3,000 miles yet. This is the vehicle I'm going to keep for the rest of my life!

We also just leased a 2024 Hyundai Ioniq 6. Some good, some not so good and some bad. It was a fantastic lease, so that pushed me over. I also wanted to find out what its like to live with an EV. It's been a little over 2 months. I'll write up something later.