Car Buying Advice That Tells You You Probably Don't Need

Car Buying Advice That Tells You You Probably Don't Need a Car

As far as the relationship with cars that people have is concerned, people go into one of two different groups - those who run their car until it actually completely dies on the road one day, and those who buy the advertising hype and believe that a new model every five years is a spiritual experience not to be sacrificed for mere dollars in savings. The thrifty crowd (not that a handful of people would really make a crowd) does need a big hand for how they are able to pull their cars through to the 200,000 mile mark without putting anyone's life in danger. Would you believe that the best car buying advice you would hear would be to change the engine on your old car before you go about thinking of buying even a used car? And when you do come around to finally buying another car, in many ways, you really owe it to the shopping nirvana group for putting so many of their scarcely used models on the market on the cheap. So either way, those who buy cars like they buy clothes, do fulfill an important social cause.

But seriously, if you are looking for car buying advice for the next new rush that will set you up, here are a few tips for what you need to think through.

You often hear people trying to defend their longing for new car; they say that there have been changes to the way they live, that make the old car completely worthless. Usually, it's something like how they need to drive long distance from time to time and the old car doesn't seem reliable anymore; or that the old Civic isn't big enough when the family comes visiting. Look at it this way; if you had taken up DIY woodworking and then found out that your supplies didn't really fit into your Porsche, would you sell it to get a utilitarian truck?

If you find yourself in a genuine situation where your vehicle doesn't seem useful enough, the thing to do would be to find out how often you find it inadequate. So your family visits once in while; why do you need a $35,000 SUV to pack them in? Even if you rented an SUV for the weekend four times a year, it wouldn't set you back $1000, even if you reckon on ridiculously high rentals. Or you could borrow a friend's car and return the favor by really cleaning it up for them. The best car buying advice you could hear is, don't.

It's easy to fool yourself into believing that an old car is no longer worth the trouble because it keeps breaking down; if you were on call giving car buying advice to a friend who was saying this, what would you say? You would need to look closely. Usually it's nothing more that breaks down from time to time than a couple of little things like a starter motor onemonth or a thermostat the next. Even if there are big-ticket items failing, the transmission, or an engine that needs to be rebuilt, these can never cost as much as a new car would. On a new car, you would spend on average, about $6000 a year. If your old car is running up bills that amount to half that much, you would have a point. Anyone knows though that doesn't go that way. If you have a 1980 Honda that needs a $2000 engine rebuild or transmission overhaul, it would still keep the car running for a good 10 more years. And anyway, anyone who owns an old car needs to put by about $20 a week for repairs. Usually, you'll end up needing no part of it, and it will add up. And here's the car buying advice - soon enough, it'll add up to some large enough that you could blow on a new car with.

So in the final analysis, the best car buying advice is to put it off, and spend whatever you have on maintenance. Preventive maintenance in which you replace the timing belt for $500, is money well spent. If you let it rot and pray, you'll be faced with a much larger bill for collateral damage. You can see the point; it's your car, and it's your money. If you maintain it well and don't need to spend on repairs, you'll be spending it on something that makes you happy, won't you?