Budget

Buy a ~150k mile Tacoma and put another 100k on it. Sell it for minimal losses. Really any Tacoma is a good investment when it comes to personal transportation. At least as far as DD cars as investments go.

Vehicles used for industrial purposes are a safe bet. Old vans and trucks are a nice place to start.

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>>16401629
>>16401635
Thanks for the advice. Larger vehicles make me a little nervous in tight parking garages though.

I have cash in my bank account. When a car purchase is needed I see how much money I have first. I try to have a minimum of $1000 in my account that I don't touch, so if I have like $5000 I'll buy a 3k shitbox of my choosing (probably an old integra gsr or something), that way there is another 1k set aside for any random repairs the car might need.

I make about $2500/mo after taxes and I put about $1000 of that for savings per month. I've saved for a year and I have $12000 now, once I have about $16000 I will be buying a corvette with the same idea ($1000 aside for living, $1000 aside for repairs).

In the time my money has been in savings building, I've earned about $120 in interest.

Having the money on hand gives positive interest instead of negative interest. It's a foreign concept these days but I suggest buying what you have money for. If you don't have money building making $3300/mo you're doing it horribly wrong.

i probably wouldnt spend more on than 4K on a car

prefer cash (but who has that money laying around ) so if i lease then maybe 6-7K

buy local and pay cash, buy a beater, fix it up from the local salvage yard. its the green thing to do,

>>16401479
The most I've so spent on any of the 3 vehicles I've bought was 5k, but I'd be willing to go up to 7 for a decently nice car. Good thing I prefer shitboxes, I guess.

>>16402436
I can appreciate this way of thinking. I really need to step up my investment game but I'm too exhausted on the weekends after working 50+hrs/wk. Salaries should be illegal.

What doesn't feel right to me is buying a high mileage car that will almost immediately need repairs. I was wondering if it would be better just to save for a couple years and buy something relatively new that you could keep for a good decade (assuming you don't put on too many miles per year).

I'm an ultrapoor student so this is how I do
>buy running $200 mr2
>spend $200 doing basic maintenance (oil/oil filter, plugs, coolant, brake pads, battery, etc)
>have fun ugly reliable daily

>>16402798
Because it's still cheaper than buying a new car no matter what.

I've put about 8k of parts into my 99 accord over the last 5 years, the car itself was 5k and I've put 120k mi on it, it had 50k when I bought it. The thing is, most of the core parts now that I've replaced are now new - no longer 17 years old. Half of the car's core components are "new" or not worn.

Out of those 8k parts, about 4k of it was from it being old (transmission, timing belt/water pump, suspension etc), the rest regular maintenance like brakes tires fluids.

I've had my accord for 5 years, it doesn't have much wear at 170k mi, and it has many new parts. It's cost me 9k, and it'll last another 100k likely before it's done.

Compare that to a 16k new base civic, and suddenly it makes zero sense to buy new because that 16k civic will cost at least 20k over 5 years, while the accord is better in every way besides mpg.

It's always cheaper to maintain an older car.

>>16402856
OP-Listen to this man, he knows what he's talking about. Your parents had the right idea. Chances are what you'll spend on repairs on an older car will be less than depreciation, sales tax, interest, and insurance on a comparable new model.

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>>16402856
>>16402986
All right, I never was considering new cars, more like used cars with ~20k miles, but now I feel better about following what I have learned from my parents. Thanks guy.

Pic related is what made me question everything I've known.