Depressing Depreciation

CKNSLS wrote:

Bionic Man wrote:

Lessmore wrote:
I buy new. I buy what I want and if possible try to factory order, so I get what I want, not just what's there. I pay cash, unless there's a good deal, like 0 % interest over a good number of years.

I think carefully what exactly I want, in a vehicle....as I plan to have them for a long time.

No impulse buying.

I buy extended warranties. I rust proof with Ziebart. I maintain by the book.

I drive my vehicles for years. One vehicle for 21 years, another for 14, another for 10 years. I usually have anywhere from 2-3 vehicles in my parking lot / garage at any one time.

When I'm finished with them, I feel I've got my money out of them.

I don't worry about depreciation as the way I do things, it's not much of a factor.

Sounds similar to the Dave Ramsey school of thought. I will not say that is the wrong school, but I will say that VERY few people follow that.

If I followed Dave Ramsey's advice I wouldn't have been able to retire at 56........

If anybody wants an explanation you can PM me.

I actually can't see there being a whole lot of difference in cost of ownership one way vs another. Even if you bought 3 new vehicles every year vs keeping them for 20 years I'll bet the difference in the amount of money you have in the bank, at the end of 30 years would be less than $150,000.

FishOnOne wrote:

Lessmore wrote:
I buy new. I buy what I want and if possible try to factory order, so I get what I want, not just what's there. I pay cash, unless there's a good deal, like 0 % interest over a good number of years.

I think carefully what exactly I want, in a vehicle....as I plan to have them for a long time.

No impulse buying.

I buy extended warranties. I rust proof with Ziebart. I maintain by the book.

I drive my vehicles for years. One vehicle for 21 years, another for 14, another for 10 years. I usually have anywhere from 2-3 vehicles in my parking lot / garage at any one time.

When I'm finished with them, I feel I've got my money out of them.

I don't worry about depreciation as the way I do things, it's not much of a factor.

Spoken like a wise man... Heck we retired an old 89 Ford diesel two years ago. Looked like a pile of cr@p so we decided the image of this old truck wasn't in our best interest so it was finally retired to back up duty since it wasn't worth anything so we kept it.

Sometimes driving a heap vs new might not be saving you anything. Consider a guy driving an old heap who spends $300 per month on fuel and $200/month on repairs, He is worse off then the guy driving new who spends $300/month on lease payments and $200/month on fuel.

Bionic Man wrote:

Lessmore wrote:
I buy new. I buy what I want and if possible try to factory order, so I get what I want, not just what's there. I pay cash, unless there's a good deal, like 0 % interest over a good number of years.

I think carefully what exactly I want, in a vehicle....as I plan to have them for a long time.

No impulse buying.

I buy extended warranties. I rust proof with Ziebart. I maintain by the book.

I drive my vehicles for years. One vehicle for 21 years, another for 14, another for 10 years. I usually have anywhere from 2-3 vehicles in my parking lot / garage at any one time.

When I'm finished with them, I feel I've got my money out of them.

I don't worry about depreciation as the way I do things, it's not much of a factor.

Sounds similar to the Dave Ramsey school of thought. I will not say that is the wrong school, but I will say that VERY few people follow that.

If I followed Dave Ramsey's advice I wouldn't have been able to retire at 56........

If anybody wants an explanation you can PM me.

I have had four vehicles in my 46 years. A 79 omni my brother gave me. Traded up in 1990 for an 86 Honda civic. Drove until 2000 and bought a new forester. In August 2013 traded that for a 2010 forester with 20K on it and plan to drive it ten years. Dh has had three cars in our 20 year marriage. A 92 mazda truck he traded in 2003 for a 2001 ford150 with 10K on it due to our sons arrival. Bought a 2008 dodge one ton with 89k in July. Selling the ford tomorrow. We finance but have many years between with no car payments. Repairs and maintenance have never come close to a car payment. We don't worry about depreciation. As we keep cars a long time.

Lessmore wrote:
I buy new. I buy what I want and if possible try to factory order, so I get what I want, not just what's there. I pay cash, unless there's a good deal, like 0 % interest over a good number of years.

I think carefully what exactly I want, in a vehicle....as I plan to have them for a long time.

No impulse buying.

I buy extended warranties. I rust proof with Ziebart. I maintain by the book.

I drive my vehicles for years. One vehicle for 21 years, another for 14, another for 10 years. I usually have anywhere from 2-3 vehicles in my parking lot / garage at any one time.

When I'm finished with them, I feel I've got my money out of them.

I don't worry about depreciation as the way I do things, it's not much of a factor.

Spoken like a wise man... Heck we retired an old 89 Ford diesel two years ago. Looked like a pile of cr@p so we decided the image of this old truck wasn't in our best interest so it was finally retired to back up duty since it wasn't worth anything so we kept it.

Bionic Man wrote:

wintersun wrote:
The problem I found when looking for a used diesel pickup was that most of the people buying them new spent way too much for them and were more focused on the monthly payment than the total purchase price. As a result a 3 year old pickup with 60,000 miles was sell for $35,000 or more. I gave up on finding a used truck at a reasonable price and bought a new diesel truck that was fully loaded and paid $41,700 for it.

But I am unusual in that I care more about getting a great deal than getting exactly what I want with a special order truck. My neighbor bought his gas 3/4 ton truck a month before I bought my diesel version of the same truck. He got a 2012 and I got a 2011 and 99.9% of the trucks are the same except mine had the diesel engine and Allison transmission. He paid more for his truck than I did for mine.

Canadians pay more in various taxes but then you get what you pay for up there with better living conditions, better transportation systems, better healthcare, better education, and your government does not involve itself in an endless stream of wars for oil that creates hundreds of thousands of permanently disabled veterans. I would be happy to pay more for a truck if that was the price of true freedom and opportunity.

Wow. A LOT to discuss on this one. I will leave out your last paragraph, despite the fact that I feel 180* away from just about everything you put in there.

What I will say is that the market is proving you wrong in your thoughts of value of a used vehicle. If a 3 year old pick up is selling for $35,000 + with 60,000 miles on it, the market obviously values them at that price. While you may not agree with the market, as we are a relatively free market economic system, that is where the price is set, even if you do not agree with that set value.

Agreed... And try finding a decent used pre DPF diesel and the stakes are even higher. I won't publicly admit what I paid for 2 pre DPF diesel trucks. :E

Lessmore wrote:
I buy new. I buy what I want and if possible try to factory order, so I get what I want, not just what's there. I pay cash, unless there's a good deal, like 0 % interest over a good number of years.

I think carefully what exactly I want, in a vehicle....as I plan to have them for a long time.

No impulse buying.

I buy extended warranties. I rust proof with Ziebart. I maintain by the book.

I drive my vehicles for years. One vehicle for 21 years, another for 14, another for 10 years. I usually have anywhere from 2-3 vehicles in my parking lot / garage at any one time.

When I'm finished with them, I feel I've got my money out of them.

I don't worry about depreciation as the way I do things, it's not much of a factor.

It has not really been something that I think about but I just realized that in my life I have purchased about 14 personal vehicles and none of them have been new. My pick up trucks have been purchased through my business and I have owned about 14 of them as well with only 2 that were purchased new. I do, however, pay cash for most stuff.

wintersun wrote:
The problem I found when looking for a used diesel pickup was that most of the people buying them new spent way too much for them and were more focused on the monthly payment than the total purchase price. As a result a 3 year old pickup with 60,000 miles was sell for $35,000 or more. I gave up on finding a used truck at a reasonable price and bought a new diesel truck that was fully loaded and paid $41,700 for it.

But I am unusual in that I care more about getting a great deal than getting exactly what I want with a special order truck. My neighbor bought his gas 3/4 ton truck a month before I bought my diesel version of the same truck. He got a 2012 and I got a 2011 and 99.9% of the trucks are the same except mine had the diesel engine and Allison transmission. He paid more for his truck than I did for mine.

Canadians pay more in various taxes but then you get what you pay for up there with better living conditions, better transportation systems, better healthcare, better education, and your government does not involve itself in an endless stream of wars for oil that creates hundreds of thousands of permanently disabled veterans. I would be happy to pay more for a truck if that was the price of true freedom and opportunity.

Wow. A LOT to discuss on this one. I will leave out your last paragraph, despite the fact that I feel 180* away from just about everything you put in there.

What I will say is that the market is proving you wrong in your thoughts of value of a used vehicle. If a 3 year old pick up is selling for $35,000 + with 60,000 miles on it, the market obviously values them at that price. While you may not agree with the market, as we are a relatively free market economic system, that is where the price is set, even if you do not agree with that set value.

Lessmore wrote:
I buy new. I buy what I want and if possible try to factory order, so I get what I want, not just what's there. I pay cash, unless there's a good deal, like 0 % interest over a good number of years.

I think carefully what exactly I want, in a vehicle....as I plan to have them for a long time.

No impulse buying.

I buy extended warranties. I rust proof with Ziebart. I maintain by the book.

I drive my vehicles for years. One vehicle for 21 years, another for 14, another for 10 years. I usually have anywhere from 2-3 vehicles in my parking lot / garage at any one time.

When I'm finished with them, I feel I've got my money out of them.

I don't worry about depreciation as the way I do things, it's not much of a factor.

Sounds similar to the Dave Ramsey school of thought. I will not say that is the wrong school, but I will say that VERY few people follow that.

bought my 2011 f150 used for 24,500, put 12k miles on it and sold it private party for 25,000 a year later. Bought new twice in my life, never again. Found my 2013 with 6k miles on it, 1st owner only had it 7 months. Saved me $15k off sticker.