TLDR: Totalling roughly $144 billion for about 4 million borrows.

Article is from March 29th, 2024

  • Deceptichum@sh.itjust.works
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    7 months ago

    Or you could keep the car you have, and spend the money on something useful?

    If you car still works, damn right you should be driving it for a while. Pointless consumerism for the sake of having something new is fucking idiotic.

    • lennybird@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      You really have no idea what you’re talking about, for this is spoken like someone still of college age. Forget shortsighted. Sure it may be one thing if you’re adept with auto mechanics, but most people frankly are not.

      You do realize there is an inflection-point in both cost and reliability (forgetting newer safety and fuel standards) when owning used vehicles…riiiighhht?

      • cm0002@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        You do realize there is an inflection-point in both cost and reliability (forgetting newer safety and fuel standards) when owning used vehicles

        I don’t think these “Just get a 19XX/200X clunker!” Guys actually do lol im convinced they’re all just old mechanics mad that the thing they know best has now been tainted by “computers”

      • Deceptichum@sh.itjust.works
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        7 months ago

        You literally spoke about getting a second car, if the first car was so far gone that repairing it was too costly, why the fuck would you humour getting a second car?

        I’ve driven many cars until they broke down, you don’t need to get some shiny new thing just because your current car is a bit old and the world would be far better off for it.

        • lennybird@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          That wasn’t me but on reflection I apologize for coming off so harshly.

          I don’t know their situation but sharing a single vehicle can really suck especially if both work and you want to divide and conquer on getting shit done.

    • qwertyqwertyqwerty@lemmy.one
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      7 months ago

      The car we have is fine at the moment, but it we expect it will eventually need some costly repairs in the next ~3 years (exhaust? suspension?, etc.) as it gets older. The second car would be because We’re a large family and support another family. We recently hit a deer and it was very inconvenient while we waited for a repair. A second car would go a long way.

      • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        ^ This. Having a second or more car really helps in a lot of things, up to and including having the luxury of trying to fix something yourself. If you only have one car, it can be a scary proposition to mess with it as a noob (which I very much am; but I know how to do things like brakes, for example, and for other things, I’ll look up and read about/watch videos to see if it’s something I could attempt).

    • surewhynotlem@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      Driving a car into the ground is rarely the best financial move or the best approach from a risk perspective.

      As cars age, the likelihood of unexpected failure goes up and the cost of repairs goes up. Unless you like missing work, or having unexpected $5,000 bills on a $3,000 car, it’s good to replace your car before it becomes a high risk.

      This is the same thing as Terry Pratchett’s boots theory. Poor people are forced to spend more to cycle through shitty cars while people with some money can buy decent cars which will cost them less in the long run.

      I personally sell my cars before they hit the 10-year mark. At that point resale prices plummet. And I buy used ones around the 5-year mark, as that’s another price sweet spot. But of course, ymmv.