Loading ...Equiz autos
Cannot comment on your own current vehicle.
Have owned over time a whole host of Detroit products, Ford, Studebaker, Caddy, Buick, a MB, a Peugot 403 (which was a great cabriolet), Vauxhall (POS), and over time 3 Toyotas………but it all depends where one is living and what’s available.
If you are using an arbitrary 10 yr period……..that’s way down on the depreciation curve with perhaps not much resale value. Again….depends on the vehicle, it’s dep curve, and reliability record.
In a very contrary sense…..if it’s still good, doesn’t need an engine or tranny job, and (using 200K miles here) as a benchmark……..why buy new? Or buy anything?
Before we moved………to CA, we advertised my wife’s 11 yr old ‘94 4 cyl 60k mile Toyota in a local newspaper.
Checked Edmunds, Bluebook etc and ran all their cherry vehicle numbers. Finally came up with a price $500 higher than any of those, and phoned the ad in around 2:20 PM one afternoon.
By 4:30 we had our first phone call.
It wasn’t even in the newspaper and I asked how she knew.
Said she’s been looking for weeks @ just that….via newspaper car net page (whatever that is). Can we come over and look? Right now. And how much reduction will you take?
I said, Honey….
….the damn ad isn’t even in tomorrow’s newspaper and you’re asking me to reduce the SP?
They came over anyway……her husband was a Honda Salesman……and said….this is cherry…….lets take it.
So they made a deposit, I drafted up a sales contract and sold the thing for a premium to the then Cherry Premiums which might have been out there. ………….
Were they ripped off?
Nope. About the only things needing attention were the manual books suggestion of a new timing belt (which was around a 60K thing), perhaps tires, and maybe a battery replacement.
They bought it next Morning.
Unfortunately……..there must be some newspaper bots that search for specific models……
……as we got calls from all over the USA for that now sold low mile Toyota.
It was incredible.
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So Equiz………if there’s nothing wrong with it, why buy something newer or whatever?
Drive it to the point where some real money may become involved.
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You asked
My question has to do with the economically optimal period to own and hold a vehicle, given the variables of: period of warranty coverage; depreciation rates on the vehicle; and increasing maintenance costs as the vehicle ages. I have listened a lot to opinions on this question and have come to the conclusion that the concensus is that 10 years is about the optimal period of vehicle ownership to minimize one’s costs in having to own a vehicle for movement of one’s body around one’s area of interest.
Ororeef, if I got your math right, I gather your went through 7 cars in 11 year - the Cadillac in 1997, the Olds in 1998 and 5 Toyotas since then. In this time of hunkering down, can you offer us any guidelines on the economically optimal period of ownership of a personal vehicle. I am not interested in an explanation of what you have done in the past 11 years. I am interested in your opinion on what is the optimally best period of ownership of a vehicle given the variables of warranty, depreciation, and increasing maintenance costs as a vehicle ages beyond its warranty period.
Your opinion, and the opinion of other Goldtenters, may help determing how much cash I have available to invest in physical silver and gold, as my 2002 Chrysler Neon continues to age. At some point before POG changes dramaticllay from its present level, either down to 650 or up to 1650, I may have to think about a replacement of out 2002 vehicle and to estimate how long I should keep it. Best wishes. Equiz.
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