The joys of good beaters
- Thread starter fdcg27
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Originally Posted By: fdcg27
I get .52/mile, although I haven't gotten much of this lately.
It is like free money, especially given current fuel prices.
I used to travel a fair bit for a gov't contract. I would borrow my wife's 150K mile beater car (best fuel economy in our fleet at the time) and laugh at the young engineers driving shiny new lifted big wheel 4x4's. I was banking money on a car that simply couldn't depreciate any more (as long as it functioned), even at over .50/mile they were losing money in depreciation, gas, tires and oil with every mile.
I get .52/mile, although I haven't gotten much of this lately.
It is like free money, especially given current fuel prices.
I used to travel a fair bit for a gov't contract. I would borrow my wife's 150K mile beater car (best fuel economy in our fleet at the time) and laugh at the young engineers driving shiny new lifted big wheel 4x4's. I was banking money on a car that simply couldn't depreciate any more (as long as it functioned), even at over .50/mile they were losing money in depreciation, gas, tires and oil with every mile.
I have been traveling more for work, and try to take the beater--40mpg driven hard vs 19 driven lightly? Hard decision. But I take the nicer vehicle when I have to give a cowrker a ride. Or if I have to be somewhere important, on time. I do not have much faith in my beater any more.
I think I get 56c/m for work miles.
I think I get 56c/m for work miles.
Originally Posted By: armos
Old cars can be made reliable. Typically, after purchasing a used car they go through a period of needing issues figured out and fixed. Ultimately they become reliable cars, and cheap to keep that way.
It's valuable to have alternate cars available. I think that's true no matter what you drive, really.
I sometimes hear relatives rationalize whether to repair their cars based upon how much the car is worth. It seems to be a popular form of reasoning, but I don't agree with it. You don't fix a car to profit on resale, you fix it to drive it and avoid spending 10x as much on another car.
Any car that you own and are familiar with is worth more to you than what it's worth to a prospective buyer. The buyer doesn't have the experience with the car that you do, and the mere fact that you are selling it points to it having something wrong with it. They have to factor in their doubts and this depresses the value.
Market value of my car is probably around $1000-$1500. I would not be able to replace the car for that money. I'd end up with somebody else's unknown problems.
If an old car can be made reliable with a $1000 repair, it's cheaper than paying $10,000 for something newer and more complicated. The fact that the old car might have a market value of half the repair cost is irrelevant. Cars are not investments, they are expenditures. Economically speaking, the path which costs less money, costs less money.
Of course there's nothing wrong with somebody wanting a new car, I just don't agree with the way it gets rationalized sometimes.
That is SO true!
Old cars can be made reliable. Typically, after purchasing a used car they go through a period of needing issues figured out and fixed. Ultimately they become reliable cars, and cheap to keep that way.
It's valuable to have alternate cars available. I think that's true no matter what you drive, really.
I sometimes hear relatives rationalize whether to repair their cars based upon how much the car is worth. It seems to be a popular form of reasoning, but I don't agree with it. You don't fix a car to profit on resale, you fix it to drive it and avoid spending 10x as much on another car.
Any car that you own and are familiar with is worth more to you than what it's worth to a prospective buyer. The buyer doesn't have the experience with the car that you do, and the mere fact that you are selling it points to it having something wrong with it. They have to factor in their doubts and this depresses the value.
Market value of my car is probably around $1000-$1500. I would not be able to replace the car for that money. I'd end up with somebody else's unknown problems.
If an old car can be made reliable with a $1000 repair, it's cheaper than paying $10,000 for something newer and more complicated. The fact that the old car might have a market value of half the repair cost is irrelevant. Cars are not investments, they are expenditures. Economically speaking, the path which costs less money, costs less money.
Of course there's nothing wrong with somebody wanting a new car, I just don't agree with the way it gets rationalized sometimes.
That is SO true!
If you drive a lot and get paid mileage beaters are amazing things to own. I recall getting paid $0.40/mile driving a 220k+ 95 Civic coupe getting 38MPG! I drove approx 15k/year for work at that rate consulting when fuel was $2.00/gallon.
Clearly it did not cost me the $6000/year(mileage expense check total) to operate that paid for since new car.
Clearly it did not cost me the $6000/year(mileage expense check total) to operate that paid for since new car.
Originally Posted By: supton
I have been traveling more for work, and try to take the beater--40mpg driven hard vs 19 driven lightly? Hard decision. But I take the nicer vehicle when I have to give a cowrker a ride. Or if I have to be somewhere important, on time. I do not have much faith in my beater any more.
I think I get 56c/m for work miles.
My friends who are in your situation rent new cars(at company rates) that achieve close to 40MPG. They play games and sometimes do rental by week even though needed for three days as weekly rate overall is cheaper. They are still making money and not using their own car.
I have been traveling more for work, and try to take the beater--40mpg driven hard vs 19 driven lightly? Hard decision. But I take the nicer vehicle when I have to give a cowrker a ride. Or if I have to be somewhere important, on time. I do not have much faith in my beater any more.
I think I get 56c/m for work miles.
My friends who are in your situation rent new cars(at company rates) that achieve close to 40MPG. They play games and sometimes do rental by week even though needed for three days as weekly rate overall is cheaper. They are still making money and not using their own car.
Originally Posted By: 19jacobob93
I bought my 2000 falcon 3 years ago for $4k with only 100k on the clock. It was my first decent car that wasn't a true $500 beater. It's service history suggested nothing has ever gone wrong with it, just disposables so I hoped that would continue.
In the past 3 years I've put another 100k on it and it hasn't once let me down! Now that I am earning ok money and have a permanent job Inwas thinking about getting a new car on finance but then I thought why when it has been so faithful and is running and almost looking like new still bar a few dings. I can't fault the thing and now it's only worth about $1,000-1,500 is see no reason not to keep it until something major fails, which would surprise me if that happened in the next 200k
Reliable beaters all the way!
The best beaters are the ones you buy new and hang on to. When I was young I had a car that was like two cars. The money I saved became the down payment on my first house, allowed my bride to stay home with the baby, and subtly provided financial benefits that are present today.
I bought my 2000 falcon 3 years ago for $4k with only 100k on the clock. It was my first decent car that wasn't a true $500 beater. It's service history suggested nothing has ever gone wrong with it, just disposables so I hoped that would continue.
In the past 3 years I've put another 100k on it and it hasn't once let me down! Now that I am earning ok money and have a permanent job Inwas thinking about getting a new car on finance but then I thought why when it has been so faithful and is running and almost looking like new still bar a few dings. I can't fault the thing and now it's only worth about $1,000-1,500 is see no reason not to keep it until something major fails, which would surprise me if that happened in the next 200k
Reliable beaters all the way!
The best beaters are the ones you buy new and hang on to. When I was young I had a car that was like two cars. The money I saved became the down payment on my first house, allowed my bride to stay home with the baby, and subtly provided financial benefits that are present today.
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