Ah, car purchases: the land of endless advice. So let me share my method, requested by nobody:
1) I limit my purchases roughly around to one month's net salary. This keeps me aligned with the idea that I invest in the kind of transportation I enjoy rather than something that's newer and shinier than my neighbours'. My cars are never just boring transportation vehicles: the style and feel of the car is of most importance. However, I'm perfectly happy to drive cars that is ten years old.
2) I intend to keep a car for 5-7 years. I get to pay for routine maintenance and any worn parts for so many times for the $10,000-$20,000 that I could've put into a newer car (and still pay for maintenance and replace parts, just little less of it). I'm not afraid of big rehauls if the car is otherwise sound. There's one exception to the longevity rule two years ago: I changed makes.
3) When I'm changing, I don't particularly shop for cars. I'm rather in the constant "nah, I don't need a new car right now" mode and gradually spend some time browsing used car sites on the internet. When I get interested in one I get this feeling inside. I check a few facts, go check it out, and most of the time just buy it if my hunch keeps going. I think I've never test-driven more than one car, the one I bought. Some I've discarded without a test drive. Contrary to what you might think, I've always had good, reliable cars. And I certainly don't drive the boring Toyota/Honda kind.
4) Facts include such as the ownership records and tax/MOT records, and average mileage. For example, the previous owner of my current car kept it for a steady seven years with full maintenance == good. He kept it as an investment to his transportation needs instead of a cost sink that only gets half the minimum maintenance. Also, if there are several cars of that model that have clocked hundreds of thousands kilometres, I know the engine is capable of doing it without problems.
5) I buy my cars around at 200,000km. If the car is in proper order at that point I know it's not a lemon and has been maintained. Most regularly worn parts have been changed once, maybe twice by the time. The worst cars are those that are being sold around 100,000km or slightly below: you can probably make 100,000km without ever changing oils, not to mention anything else. If so, the car is bust and it won't make it to +200tkm. Anyone who spends the effort to make the car into those figures has had it for some useful purpose.
6) I'm fully aware that I might bump into a bad car eventually. This is where 1) comes into play. The amount of money I spend is over the lifetime of the vehicle instead of up front, so that I can afford to hit an occasional bad one. None encountered so far.
I still haven't spent as much in cars in total and in my whole lifetime than my dad just spent on his latest new car. I've been driving and owning for about 15 years now.
"I limit my purchases roughly around to one month's net salary"
Wow. Talk about differences. A car here in Uruguay is a YEAR's net salary (the difference is mostly that they're taxed to hell here and there's a ban on used car imports, so used cars don't depreciate).
1) I limit my purchases roughly around to one month's net salary. This keeps me aligned with the idea that I invest in the kind of transportation I enjoy rather than something that's newer and shinier than my neighbours'. My cars are never just boring transportation vehicles: the style and feel of the car is of most importance. However, I'm perfectly happy to drive cars that is ten years old.
2) I intend to keep a car for 5-7 years. I get to pay for routine maintenance and any worn parts for so many times for the $10,000-$20,000 that I could've put into a newer car (and still pay for maintenance and replace parts, just little less of it). I'm not afraid of big rehauls if the car is otherwise sound. There's one exception to the longevity rule two years ago: I changed makes.
3) When I'm changing, I don't particularly shop for cars. I'm rather in the constant "nah, I don't need a new car right now" mode and gradually spend some time browsing used car sites on the internet. When I get interested in one I get this feeling inside. I check a few facts, go check it out, and most of the time just buy it if my hunch keeps going. I think I've never test-driven more than one car, the one I bought. Some I've discarded without a test drive. Contrary to what you might think, I've always had good, reliable cars. And I certainly don't drive the boring Toyota/Honda kind.
4) Facts include such as the ownership records and tax/MOT records, and average mileage. For example, the previous owner of my current car kept it for a steady seven years with full maintenance == good. He kept it as an investment to his transportation needs instead of a cost sink that only gets half the minimum maintenance. Also, if there are several cars of that model that have clocked hundreds of thousands kilometres, I know the engine is capable of doing it without problems.
5) I buy my cars around at 200,000km. If the car is in proper order at that point I know it's not a lemon and has been maintained. Most regularly worn parts have been changed once, maybe twice by the time. The worst cars are those that are being sold around 100,000km or slightly below: you can probably make 100,000km without ever changing oils, not to mention anything else. If so, the car is bust and it won't make it to +200tkm. Anyone who spends the effort to make the car into those figures has had it for some useful purpose.
6) I'm fully aware that I might bump into a bad car eventually. This is where 1) comes into play. The amount of money I spend is over the lifetime of the vehicle instead of up front, so that I can afford to hit an occasional bad one. None encountered so far.
I still haven't spent as much in cars in total and in my whole lifetime than my dad just spent on his latest new car. I've been driving and owning for about 15 years now.