what's the truth about trading in your gas guzzler

[jadziasman]

On a tangent to essentially the same subject:

Chrysler LLC announced today that beginning Aug 1 the company will no longer offer leases through their in-house finance company. That's a huge step and potentially a devastating mistake. Like the other clueless Detroit automakers, Chrysler was providing overly generous lease terms on pickups and suvs. One of my co-workers in September 2006 leased a new 2006 Dodge Dakota 4X4 for a one time pay of $3500 for 24 months with 15000 miles per year. This truck was fully loaded and listed at $32K (overpriced - you bet). Now, Chrysler is taking this truck back and its current value is about $10K. So Chrysler Financial took a big hit on this truck and many others as well.

Now they want these lease customers to purchase these same rapidly depreciating vehicles? Who's kidding who? Aren't enough people upside down in their auto loans already? Goodbye, Chrysler.

[Jay2TheRescue]

My mother shot down everything I liked. I loved Cadillacs. Mostly because I'm 6'4" and I like cars with some legroom. I wanted an Eldorado convertible, and mom said it was "An old man's car". Same with the Studebaker I looked at. Georgeous car. I don't exactly remember the model it was though. Anyway it was only $1,000. Then was the time I was looking at a 73 Chevy wagon. Garage kept, $800. Those old GM wagons are expensive collector cars now as well, (Especially since That 70's Show featured the Vista Cruiser). I do regret selling the 74 Chevy pickup. It was definately the most fuel efficient vehicle I've ever owned, and one of the most reliable as well. I did sell the 74 Chevy for $500 more than I paid for it, and I had driven it for 4 years, and put about 40,000 miles on it. I did talk myself out of the 84 Fleetwood though, but only because it had the 4.1 liter engine. The 4100's in the 80's had a habit of blowing head gaskets if not maintained properly, and the car had 90,000 miles on it. I was afraid I'd buy the car and have to get a head gasket within the year. If it had a 350 in it I would probably have bought it.

Originally Posted by theholycow

Jay, we probably all have regrets about car buying choices. I have to say that listening to your parents isn't always the best choice when buying a car; I let them convince me to buy that Grand Am...I hated it for 5 years and I resented it for not being my first choice. I should have bought that Thunderbird I liked instead.

That calculator doesn't cover all the numbers. As I said in my post above, you really have to figure in all the numbers if you want to make your decision mathematically -- anything less and you're either fooling yourself or basing your decision on something other than math.

One way to do it is to figure out your cost per mile. Another is to try to add up your total cost over a given period of time.

Tires for my truck are expensive. $200 wheel bearings need to be replaced on a regular basis. I squeeze up to 19.5mpg out of it but a long-term average including winter would probably be 17...it was 15.5 before I started hanging around here. It needs an expensive front differential. At 175,000 miles it's not getting any younger, and if I keep piling on the miles I'll need to replace it in a couple years. All that adds up to a decent budget for a car, and hence, the VW.

OTOH, if you don't drive a lot of miles it's a lot tougher for the math to work out.

[Jay2TheRescue]

Originally Posted by JoeBob

Sometimes, it takes years to realize that maybe they were right...my dad tried to talk me into buying a Chevy Sprint when they first came out...had I done so, I'd have saved a whole lot of gas, spent a lot less time under cars in the '80s and maybe beyond, and who knows, maybe my entire life would have been different....

I learned how to bench press a TH350 transmission underneath my 74 Chevy. I had bought the tranny, but didn't have help to put it in. I needed to get somewhere that evening so I put the replacement tranny on my chest, slid under the truck, and pushed it up into place. Man that thing was heavy! Now of course I am not afraid to dive in and fix my vehicles if something needs to be done. Dad & I just put a timing chain in Rusty last month.

-Jay

[JESSE69]

I always get used, but the Prius, Civic, and Odyssey hardly depriciate within 4 years so I'd rather get new than a 1 to 4 year old car of these.

[GasSavers_SD26]

Traded my Taurus which, as a high volume car, hasn't really depreciated any in the three years that I owned it, got it used, and put 50k on it. Used diesel Excursion was too cheap to pass up with the market having people struggling with owning them while I need something like that. I'll move the bus down the road next.

From two vehicles to one. And my tow vehicle is 2000# less than my previous, the bus...LOL!

[nlife]

Originally Posted by JESSE69

I always get used, but the Prius, Civic, and Odyssey hardly depriciate within 4 years so I'd rather get new than a 1 to 4 year old car of these.

Especially when manufacturer's are offering 0% financing on a new vehicle and 7ish % on a used. In these cases, a used vehicle at $15K costs the same as a new $20K vehicle when the overall interest payments are included. The new vehicle also comes with a full warranty. Depreciation means little to nothing if you plan on driving the vehicle until either you, or the vehicle dies.


N