The used car market is pretty bad. To get a relatively decent used car of a middle tier model, 3 years old, typically has 60,000 miles, they are often 12k to 18k (when I was looking a couple years ago). That is the price of a lower end new car.
If you get a used car that cost 3k to 5k, often they need a lot of tlc, and to me they are in the same condition as a $500 car was back when I was a teen (30 years ago). So my choice over the last 3 car purchase cycles has been "might as well buy new", and my last new vehicle lasted 17 years before I got rid of it.
A few years back, I bought a 1998 Toyota Corolla from a mechanic for $1800 and drove it for a few years. No major repairs.
If you get a used car that cost 3k to 5k, often they need a lot of tlc
So long as you maintain a good used car, the thing most likely to cause a major repair bill is the automatic transmission. Most companies don't do a good job making them, and they'll often incur a big repair cost, eventually. So a good way to save money is to drive manual.
Toyota gets their automatic transmissions from Aisen. That's one of the few companies that knows how to make automatics that last.
First car: $2200 purchase price. 98 vw cabrio. 36k miles in 2010. It died in 2016 due to an electrical issue. Sold to scrap, but I also collected an insurancr pay out from it when someone hit me.
$2200 / 72 = $30 per month.
Bought a 2005 ford focus. Needed the extra space and had to buy it quickly and unexpectedly. Paid $3000, with 100k miles.
It's been 1 year already, and I'm expecting 3 total years of life out of it.
$3000 / 36 = $83 a month.
Not bad at all really! Insurance is $55 a month and I don't spend much on tires/oil.
Yeah, that one was an incredible deal, I agree! I loved that car to bits.
There was nothing really wrong with it in terms of like, cosmetic damage or rust or engine noises or crunchy transmission.
Vw Cabrios just have horrible electrical problems and therefore quite bad re-sell value. Coupled with a motivated seller, VW Cabrios and Jaguar X Types are probably some of the cheapest cars to buy used, but will die quite quickly, especially in wetter climates.
Towards the end of its life, my car flat out wouldn't start if it was rained on, and in the last few weeks of its life, when it was humid! Haha. Water droplets in the starter impeded electrical flow to the spark plugs.
I'm not sure what the person above was trying to say about me. Tires are like $70 here to replace, $20 to patch, and if you're like me, "free" because you ride bald tires :p
If you get a used car that cost 3k to 5k, often they need a lot of tlc, and to me they are in the same condition as a $500 car was back when I was a teen (30 years ago). So my choice over the last 3 car purchase cycles has been "might as well buy new", and my last new vehicle lasted 17 years before I got rid of it.