Current Events > Every time I go to buy a car I just think...man what a waste of money

(+) Yeah! (+)

Like there's just no way around it. Say you want something decent.

You can buy it outright and lose the least amount of money over time, if you happen to have I dunno, $20k sitting around that you don't want to spend on anything that will actually grow your wealth.

Or you can get a loan and lose thousands of dollars over years for an "asset" that is just a money pit that is losing value all the time.

That's the best case scenario. Another scenario with a pretty high probability is that your car develops some major fault that requires scrapping or a major overhaul and now it's tens of thousands down the drain.

The less risky option is you get a car lease, and also the most expensive option. And I hope you don't actually like driving or using your car much.

So then if you're fiscally conscious you decide to go with an absolute banger. You buy it outright. You deal with having a shitty driving experience every day, you absorb the frequent mechanics bills knowing that it's technically less money than you would be paying on a loan. Every day sucks this way, but at least you saved some money.

Whatever option you choose you're going to be paying it off for years, and the excitement over your new car might last 3-6 months. After that you're just putting $300 dollars into the ether every month for this thing you've grown bitter about.

God damn I hate buying new cars. Hate hate hate

You speak the truth.

AND THEN

Say you do want the car, and you've made peace with the money you're going to be spending. Well now you have a choice: do you go private and take all that risk into your hands, or do you deal with the hell that is a car dealership?

Is there any more wretched a hive of scum and villainy than a car dealership? No, no there is not. I used to work at one, the people there are actually worse than you know.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/7/70eac886.jpg

can't say I disagree, driving has a lot of downsides, even if driving itself is easy.

I'm just spoiled.

Pre-pandemic I found a listing for a VW passat estate for $1500. There was literally nothing wrong with it. It was basically perfect. Turns out the lady was getting a divorce and that was his car. I didn't ask too many questions. I got a dream car for fuck all, and I drove that thing into the ground over the next 6 years. Loved that car. Cost me nothing. Super comfortable. Nothing will compare.

...how often do you buy cars?

Foppe posted...

...how often do you buy cars?

Hopefully as infrequently as possible. I never got into the 3-year turnaround perma car loan life so it's just been buy a banger, run it into the ground, buy the next banger.

Last car purchase was 2018.

pinky0926 posted...

Is there any more wretched a hive of scum and villainy than a car dealership?

The used car dealership

Why do you run them into the ground?
Take care of your cars!

Hyena_Of_Ice posted...

The used car dealership

You're not wrong. I used to work at a Mercedes dealership. The new car guys were all pretty slick and smarmy, but the used guys were all grotty liars.

Have you considered not buying a car?

Buy a brand you know you can rely on. Can't go wrong with Honda and Toyota.

Glob posted...

Have you considered not buying a car?

Believe me, if I could walk/cycle to work and everything I wanted to do was near enough, I would not own a car at all.

Cars are even more expensive then you're making it out to be.