Cars

[hockeyplayer1015]

Re: Cars

I used to have my Dad's original 2005 Scion xB (yep, the 'Box' as we called it. He put 83k on it between 05 and 08 I think, where I bought it and subsequently put another 42k on it between 08 and this spring. Did have 1 breakdown at about 105k I think on I81 in a winter storm, ended up being a blown water pump and I think a belt. Other than that, a couple sets of tires and a wheel bearing or 2. Its now in retirement driving with my mom keeping it as a winter driver and whatnot, since it was surprisingly very good in the snow.

Now have a 2011 VW Tiguan (small SUV). VW covers all maitenance for 3yr/36k at VW dealerships I believe (kinda inconvenient, but 1 problem and it makes up for it.). It's getting the 90 day courtesy check done now, not a problem with it so far.

My family also owns 3 other Scions 08 xB, 09 tC and 09 xD, none have had any problems other than scheduled maitenance as far as I know.

[walrus]

Re: Cars

Never owned a vehicle with more than 55,000 miles on it. I've always been very opposed, and terrified to own a car with the warranty expired making potential expensive repairs an out of pocket expense. I have purchased service contracts on most vehicles to cover repairs after warranty expiration. I don't put heavy miles on vehicles and service contracts always expire by time before I reach their mileage limits. I'm curious if those with high mileage vehicles bother to purchase some kind of coverage for after factory warranty has expired?

What kind of cars have you owned, if you can't get 150,000 out a decent car today you must either beat the crap out of them or not take care of them. My service truck has 151,000 on it, 2006 3500 gmc freighted with tools and parts,another service truck, 1989 bucket truck with 190,00 miles on it, been repaired many times My kid is driving his moms 96 Honda Odyssey, 160,000 miles,just fixed it after he ran it into a tree in the driveway my wife drives a 2010 Rav 4 20,000 miles, I have my dads old truck 1995 f150 with 25,000 miles and I have 1967 Mustang I'm restoring.Anyone have more junk in their driveway

[SteveP]

Re: Cars

Mrs. P and I both have 2004 Volvos (she has a S80 I've got a V70R). Both are rolling close to 150K. I've had some major repairs since I bought the R, but the S80 has been bullet proof.

They're the latest in a series of Volvos going back to our first 240 bought in Toronto in 1989. Most of them have run over 200K with few problems.

[brookyone]

Re: Cars

What kind of cars have you owned, if you can't get 150,000 out a decent car today you must either beat the crap out of them or not take care of them. My service truck has 151,000 on it, 2006 3500 gmc freighted with tools and parts,another service truck, 1989 bucket truck with 190,00 miles on it, been repaired many times My kid is driving his moms 96 Honda Odyssey, 160,000 miles,just fixed it after he ran it into a tree in the driveway my wife drives a 2010 Rav 4 20,000 miles, I have my dads old truck 1995 f150 with 25,000 miles and I have 1967 Mustang I'm restoring.Anyone have more junk in their driveway

Beat the crap out of them or not take care of them... Um, no. Quite the opposite. I'm a certified car nut and friends think I'm nuts because I wash my cars very nearly daily, polish and wax them nearly every week. detail the interior every week. I NEVER put my car away at night without washing the bug guts off first. I scrub convertible tops weekly without fail or whenever I notice a spot on them. My cars look better than new when they're ten years old...but I don't want to keep them forever. I've collected, bought & sold probably 30 Mustangs in my life. Other than the Fords I've owned strictly Chrysler products due to my family owning a Chrysler store for about 70 years. The Ford fixation didn't sit too well with the family elders, but Mustangs are great cars and the best tuner car out there for those of us who like to customize and modify. Working on a Fox body restoration right now. Nothing to do with beating them or mistreatment. It's a hobby. Like most car nuts...there's always that next hobby car meaning something has to go. Had to sell the Mustang collection (7 cars) to pay large medical bills. Broke my heart. Good luck with the '67. I'm a '65-'66 Fastback guy myself

[The Rube]

Re: Cars

First car was a 1989 Chevy Corsica 4CYL, aka The Deadmobile (named after the Grateful Dead).

That thing never got stuck, caught air once or twice, hydroplaned once during a not-severe rainstorm (although that was not on purpose; still have some flashbacks, since I ended up doing a 180 on the highway and landing in the grass median between each side of the highway, facing the other way), went mudding with it, added a spoiler made out of a truck racerback (sp? terminology?), jacked up the back end. Then drove it down midway in St Paul (where most summer weekends, classic/hotrod cars would cruise).

[duper]

Re: Cars

I definitely prefer the reasonable monthly payment you're prepared for and can tailor to your budget than a repair to a high mileage vehicle...possibly in the thousands of $$$ and more than the vehicles worth. Spending money on repairs, even larger amounts can make sense if you get years of trouble / expense free usage afterwards. Start having to make expensive repairs on a regular / semi regular basis to low value vehicles is not smart IMO. Even frequent less expensive repairs will nickle and dime you to death and either way, before you know it you've spent as much or more in a couple years than you would have spent on new car payments...and you're still driving an old car. Cheaper insurance on the older car is a consideration too.

Replacing a clutch once over 100,000 miles is pretty good service out of that clutch. They're definitely a wear item that will always wear out eventually.

I can understand preferring the predictability of a car payment if you can afford it, but you are definitely not saving money that way, you're just able to budget for it more easily. I've never had a car that I had to spend more than $150 a month maintaining (probably never averaged anywhere near that much) and that would be an awful cheap car payment. That said, I have had two cars that I replaced because they needed a repair that cost more than it was worth to sink into them. So like you said, it is unpredictable, but with the (I'm guessing) $300 - $400 that I'm saving by not making a car payment, I feel like I come out way ahead.

I actually meant to respond to your question as well. I have obviously never bought a service contract, since I've never owned a car that was under warranty in the first place, but I'm about 90 percent sure that if you took the price of the service contract and put it away instead of buying the service contract, you would have from that stash plenty of money to handle repairs as they come up. As people have said, just about any car you buy nowadays ought to get you 150 thousand with very little problem.

[duper]

Re: Cars

First car was a 1989 Chevy Corsica 4CYL, aka The Deadmobile (named after the Grateful Dead).

That thing never got stuck, caught air once or twice, hydroplaned once during a not-severe rainstorm (although that was not on purpose; still have some flashbacks, since I ended up doing a 180 on the highway and landing in the grass median between each side of the highway, facing the other way), went mudding with it, added a spoiler made out of a truck racerback (sp? terminology?), jacked up the back end. Then drove it down midway in St Paul (where most summer weekends, classic/hotrod cars would cruise).

I had a '91 Cavalier that I loved. That thing was incredibly heavy for it's size, and could just barrel through any weather. I loved it. Sadly, it was one of the cars mentioned in the previous post that I had to replace when something broke down that it wasn't worth repairing. (I never even had it diagnosed, but it had some serious engine difficulties)

[The Rube]

Re: Cars

I had a '91 Cavalier that I loved. That thing was incredibly heavy for it's size, and could just barrel through any weather. I loved it. Sadly, it was one of the cars mentioned in the previous post that I had to replace when something broke down that it wasn't worth repairing. (I never even had it diagnosed, but it had some serious engine difficulties)

I hear ya. I think the 89 (which I sold to my bro for $100, and it was a good deal for me, and eventually he sold for $50 which was a good deal for him) eventually conked out at about 250K miles, which isn't bad considering the abuse that car took. My second car, a '90 Corsica 6CYL, was due to the fact that the '89 was so reliable. And the '90 was like getting a bonus score, given the engine.

Edit: the 89 made it through the Halloween Blizzard, too: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween_Blizzard
I worked the night of Nov 1, after most of the snow had fallen.

[duper]

Re: Cars

One of the driver's ed cars my high school had was a Corsica. I took driver's ed in 1990, so it was probably either an '89 or a '90. And that poor thing had to be driven by dozens of different 15-year-olds.

[The Rube]

Re: Cars

One of the driver's ed cars my high school had was a Corsica. I took driver's ed in 1990, so it was probably either an '89 or a '90. And that poor thing had to be driven by dozens of different 15-year-olds.

I'm still mad they discontinued that line. I'd probably still have one, as sad as it is to say. We had Ford (cli)Tauruses. Horrible cars.

[JuveGG24]

Re: Cars

Have a 2004 Grand Am that I got in late 2005. It spent the first 30,000 miles as a rental car, and 61,000 with me. Have replaced the brakes twice(once right away, again at 87,000 miles), the ignition coil(I think, whatever you insert the key into), but otherwise no problems.

It has done a lot of highway miles. Saint Paul-Duluth a number of times, Saint Paul-Chicago a couple times, Duluth to San Francisco, San Francisco-Los Angeles, and San Francisco-near Vancouver. I've heard that on average a person puts between 10,000-15,000 miles on their car per year, so I must not drive a lot.

I think once it hits 100k next year, I'll be looking for another car. Not really sure what yet, but something a little nicer.

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Re: Cars

I took driver's ed in a late-'80s Olds 4-Door Cutlass Supreme - in 2003. To my young mind, it handled like a fcking tank.

Let's see, my first 1.5 years of driving solo, there was my 1990 GMC Sierra pickup with 170,000 miles, dubbed "The Beater". It would've easily (and proudly) been the shittiest vehicle in my private high school's parking lot, were it not for a classmate's 1980-something station wagon.

Since then, I've had a 2001 GMC Jimmy, a small SUV that I've put ~57,000 miles on (about to cross 90,000 total) and grown to generally dislike due to it's 14-15 MPG city, sluggish handling, and need for a complete brake replacement nearly every year. No money for a replacement at the moment though - hopefully just a couple years away.

[jerphisch]

Re: Cars

I should hit 100,000 miles on an '02 Mitsubishi Lancer in the next couple of months sometime. I have spent $0 on non-maintenance-type repairs, unless you count a new clutch, but I don't even though it wore out a little quicker than I would have liked.

I have an '04 Lancer with 139k on it. No repairs other than maintenance on mine either (clutch is fine so far). Can't beat not having a car payment, so I don't plan on getting rid of it until it is completely done.

Wife has an '11 Outback, loving it so far.

[The Rube]

Re: Cars

Can't beat not having a car payment, so I don't plan on getting rid of it until it is completely done.

I'm also of the belief: drive until dead.

[walrus]

Re: Cars

. Nothing to do with beating them or mistreatment. It's a hobby. Like most car nuts...there's always that next hobby car meaning something has to go. Had to sell the Mustang collection (7 cars) to pay large medical bills. Broke my heart. Good luck with the '67. I'm a '65-'66 Fastback guy myself

It seems to me you are throwing away money if you're trading a newer car with 50,000 miles on it because you're afraid of a big repair bill. Cosmetics are one thing, when I say take care of a car I mean oil changes, scheduled maintenance etc. My 06 GMC is a pig pen but its been maintained mechanically. Sorry to hear about your Mustangs, that must of sucked but on the other hand they helped you out when you needed it. My 67 is a hardtop, factory 390, 4 speed, 9in locker. It was pretty rough but mechanically its all done, the body has been started but prep and paint are expensive!!!!