Drive Car to Ground or "Trade it in While You Can"

[nature boy]

i'm not advocating changing cars often, i'm just saying that i'd rather preemptively get rid of a car that's on it's way out while i can. that's why i got rid of the blue golf, i was sure that the tranny was going, and i was spending like 4-5 hundred a month it seemed like on all these maintenance issues. made sense to get rid of it and spend that 4-5 hundred a month on a new car, which didn't have headache or worry about being stranded unexpectedly.

my current golf, however, will have to go back in a year and a half. after that, who knows? i'll probably get a good used vehicle.

[nature boy]

[Duncan]

i suppose crap out means it'd cost more to fix than what the car's worth. If a car is worth $500, and the engine craps out and you'd have to spend 1k to fix it, then might as well buy something else. If you take care of your car, then it should last you a while. heck, even if you don't, it should last you a while (unless you're dave). we don't give a rats about the jetta, and we put the crappiest oil in there, and it's still going 11 yrs and i can't see it crapping out for another 2-3 yrs at least.

i think some people just use the trade in while you can excuse to get a new car because they want a new car. but hey, if you can afford to blow money, then by all means. Or if your needs change and you need a bigger car for a family, then go ahead cuz the needs justify it. but just don't say trade it in to get money while you can unless you know your car's on its last legs (or wheels haha) like nathan's blue golf

[nature boy]

you know, sometimes i wonder why you talk crap about your jetta so much. it sounds pretty reliable to me lol. a "hunka junk" as you put it, to me, wouldn't be reliable and would need more maintenance than you're giving it. but the way you describe it, it sounds like a pretty solid piece of fine german engineering, you know, like all vw's lol.

[Duncan]

lol... hunka junk and reliable don't have to be mutually exclusive... just like someone could be a d-bag but still be a reliable person... haha...

That being said, i've had to do a few things on the jetta, and there's always some kinda noise coming outta it...

it's a reliable hunka junk.. like how i can rely on the fact that i'll have to top up the oil before each oil change because it burns that stuff like a pothead on weed... or how i can rely on it squealing super loud 3/4 times when you start it up...

[nature boy]

sounds to me like you're not appreciating your solid piece of german engineering.

[Duncan]

i appreciate that it's a reliable hunka junk haha

[nature boy]

hey, you spelled "solid piece of german engineering" wrong.

[geForce]

Lol, I guess there was lots to discuss after all.

[geForce]

[Duncan]

true, but 13 yrs for a car is already pretty good... i think a lot of people who "trade it in while you can" do it at year 7-9 of the car. I find most people who have that mentality never own a car for close to 10 yrs... alicia's cousin's like that... i think they've gone through 4 cars in the past 12-14 years? but that's having 2 cars at a time... so essentially had each car for an ave of 6-7 yrs?

[nature boy]

I read that 80% of the corrollas built since 1990 are still on the road today. That is a true testament of build quality, reliability and solid engineering. Too bad they're ugly as sin, though.

[nature boy]

[Duncan]

just to be clear, not attacking your handling of cars or what not. just trying to explain what i've observed from people i've know.

And in regards to your vr6, i consider buying used cars and trading them in or selling them in less than 10 yrs very different from buying a new car because you've already saved your money by buying the used vehicle and not eating the initial depreciation. So if you held onto your vr6 for only 4 years that's good that you got 4 years of worth outta an older car at less cost to your bottom line. i imagine you only lost 2-4k tops for driving the car for 4 yrs.

I think the best thing to do is buy cars that have only been driven 1-2 yrs. They're almost new, and the initial depreciation has already been eaten by the original owner. Although i always wonder why people try to sell their cars after owning it for only such a short period of time. Is it a lemon? or does the owner just not like it or is a spoiled mainlander and likes to trade in cars every 12 months because he can?

[nature boy]