for the last couple months ive been joining my GF in her search for a newish car.

She has been flip flopping around in type, and finally decided on some sort of Subaru.

Last night she almost bought a 60k 2009 outback limited for 16.5 grand. Because of her remaining student loan stuff and it being about 7pm, she didn't have instant approval for credit, and she decided she would wait and come in the morning to put down a deposit on the car, which I drove too, it was extremely nice, and an unusual color combo for the outback, charcoal gray over light silver.

She went home and ran the numbers and decided against it after a sleepless night.

So the offer they had for her was about 300 a month in payments for 72 months or so. Add full coverage insurance for approximately another 150, then maintaining a spare 150 for maintenance like oil changes and whatever just in case, and if she elects to extend the warranties, which were about to run out making her monthly payment higher, and shes looking at about 600 a month for 72 months for this 3 year old car.

We then started calculating yearly taxes, and it would probably be about 1500 a year for that car locally, so another 125 a month in property tax.

The end result is that she is realistically looking at about 725 a month donated to this car, for a period of 6 years.

She decided to go with putting the money she had in down payment into her 98 volvo V70 and just keep it. That car needs a pair of new tires, power steering repair, exhaust repair, a timing belt, and some basic stuff like the odometer actually fixed, ect. Even still, she is looking at dumping about 1500 into repair on that car, or about 2 months of payment on the newish car.

I was completely shocked by all this. I have never searched for a new car, preferring to go with shady 500 dollar cars bought behind KFC's in the middle of the night, but after adding up all this, I just can't believe that people sign up for such long and continuous payments for the dubious pleasure of a warranty at the dealership.

I have 4 registered old cars, none newer than 89, and I spend 45 bucks a year on taxes for them all, and honestly I drive only one at any one time, so basic maintenance is generally under 200 a month. (Im not counting voluntary project stuff, which would make things a lot higher )

it seems as if your budget is 5 grand, you can get an excellent car from the last 10 years with no payments and great reliability these days.

The subaru was extremely nice and was a good car, but the only benefits she really got over her current car was a newness factor, and all wheel drive. For that, she was paying big money for a long time.

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Yup, they sure do, and eventually they completely use it all up and have to do it all over again. Some people cycle them every five years, some ten years. I quit that habit. Most of my rides cost less than the sales tax on a new car....

I suppose if you are constantly going to be driving out of towing range, or if your time is so valuable that the car positively has to run, it may be necessary. For my family right now, that's not the case. A few years from now , when our daughter goes off to college and I retire, then I could see one myself.

Most people simply do not have the skill, tools or time to work on modern vehicles. I am comfortable with the old stuff I have, but as I told my wife a couple of years ago, if you buy a new car, don't count on me to fix it. So we bought a 380SL for relative peanuts and have basically paid for it out of the depreciation savings etc that would have been wasted on a plasticmobile.

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80 300SD (129k mi) 82 240D stick (193k mi)77 240D auto - stick to be (153k mi) 85 380SL (145k mi) 89 BMW 535i 82 Diesel Rabbit Pickup (374k mi) 91 Jetta IDI Diesel (155k mi) 81 VW Rabbit Convertible Diesel 70 Triumph Spitfire Mk III (63kmi)66 Triumph TR4a IRS (90k mi)67 Ford F-100 (??)

That seems like high mileage to me for a three-year-old car.

Wait, what? You guys have to pay property tax on your cars?!

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Lots of diesel W126s in the past
Current: 1991 Toyota 4Runner with an OM603

So how much does it cost to maintain/tax/plate all ten of your vehicles?

Something doesnt sound right with the OP. I bought a brand new fiesta, and it all totalled (tax,title,etc) just about $20k. I put like $200 down and financed the rest for 4 years @ about $420 ish a month.

How do you figure $150 a month in maintenence on a 09 car?

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Eugene

10 E63 AMG
93 300te 4matic
07 BMW X3
14 Ford F-150 Fx2

yeah, its a quarterly payment thing. I pay 14.75 a quarter for (actually 5 cars valued at 500 or less) I currently only own 4, a work van, a vw, a volvo and my mercedes.

My friend (who just flipped out about this) has a 2005 jeep valued at 10 grand, has 4 quarterly payments, 1 of 800 dollars, and 3 of 175 or some such.

I just moved back here a little over a year ago, I don't remember this quarterly arrangement, might be something new based on the state out of money. Im not sure though, ill ask around.

Last time I lived here, I paid a single payment of 9 bucks for the single car i had registered

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Wow. That seems really onerous. What do you guys get for those taxes? And how does the state justify charging you continuing-basis taxes on non-real property? Surely they tax you when the vehicle changes hands, as well.

Then again, I bet you guys have public transportation that's actually worth a damn.

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Lots of diesel W126s in the past
Current: 1991 Toyota 4Runner with an OM603

Its her figuring, shes calculating brakes, oil changes, and potentially tires. She drives about 80 miles a day. Not sure where she arrived at that number, but it may be based on the maintenance package they were offering, where you pay a year in maintenance ahead of time. Might work out to 150 extra on the car payments. Im not sure, ill ask her.

The real problem is that neither of us know if this is a good deal or not since both of us have never bought anything off a dealer before (except me, who walked into a used car lot once and said "I have 500 cash, I need something that runs and stops" and ended up with a 94 T-bird.

Other than that, this world of dealerships and monthly payments is totally foreign to both of us. compared to the fiesta, sounds like she's being ripped off.

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This post brought to you by Carl's Jr.

The public transit is pretty good locally. It doesn't seem unusual to me, I paid continuing property taxes on vehicles in NY, CT, and RI. The 44 a year for 4 cars is about the same as the 9 bucks a year for one car I paid 5 or 6 years ago, so im assuming its been a gradual tax rate increase and the same as it was. None of my cars have ever been worth anything anywhere though.
You also pay sales tax at the time of the sale, and property tax on the vehicles since you own them as property.

Not paying property tax on a car seems completely unusual actually. Must be nice.

Then again I live in a small state with a high population that needs lots of public services, same as a lot of the New England states.

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works out to about 60 miles a day for 3 years. Makes sense and in line with what the guy was saying about the PO, a single owner driving from the north west corner of the state down to the coast daily for work.

The GF would be doing about the same, a little more. She liked the car since in her opinion, its the last outback wagon design where the manufacturer cared about rear visibility, and its only slightly larger than her current car with similar rear view. She was gung ho about the impreza until she test drove one and couldn't see behind her very well, let alone the overgrown behemoth that is the new outback.

Too bad this is the latest trend in car design, cross over SUVs and large wagon types where you have no rear quarter view, and minimal rear mirror view.

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This post brought to you by Carl's Jr.

It's an interesting idea. Out here we pay very minimal taxes, but public services are likewise minimal; we have a commuter train, but 75% of the population regards it as a boondoggle pushed by the previous Governor, and the current Governor always seems to be looking for a way to kill it because it "doesn't pay for itself." Well, duh.

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Lots of diesel W126s in the past
Current: 1991 Toyota 4Runner with an OM603

One Reason Why I Would Consider a New Car

This One is Funnier

Not that particular car, but the concept applies.

I was completely amazed at the total lack of public transport options when I lived in MO. There isn't even a passenger train in the southwest part of the state.

Locally I can jump on numerous trains or buses to the nearest cities, or anywhere around town. It just seems weird to not have a bus every 15-20 minutes to everywhere.

Then again, the whole concept of distance is on a different scale, and a limited bus or train service would still be inconvenient for people when we are talking still 10-20 miles of travel from what would be the nearest train station. Its one thing when 15 minutes of walking will take you from your stop to your destination, another when you have to take a cab or walk for hours.

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true, (EDIT in regards to MTI) but taking in the last 10 years of available cars, how much more safe is a 2013 over a 2002? How much are you paying for the latest in safety, when the latest in safety from 8 years ago is still excellent, and comparable?

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This post brought to you by Carl's Jr.

Safety, both in passive and active systems, has improved in new cars, but perhaps not as much compared to pre airbag or ABS equipped cars. However, added safety is a good thing, as is better fuel economy and other features.

Sounds like me....

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-Justin

91 560 SEC AMG - other dogs dd
01 Honda S2000 - dogs dd
07 MB ML320 CDI - dd
16 Lexus IS250 - wifes dd

it's automatic.