dude, thats my car

[glatt]

Originally Posted by Flint

I've been driving shitty used cars my whole life... eventually, inevitably starting down the road of throwing countless dollars down an endless pit (how long do you keep getting it fixed, how soon before you roll it off a cliff and get another?), periodically at the mercy of some unknown, untrusted mechanic, periodically wondering whether the former owner knew full well about the mechanical issues and that's why he sold it (and simultaneously pondering the ethics of doing the same thing to the next guy). I've had quite enough of that. I have other things to worry about.

My latest purchase is a brand-new Honda, fresh from the factory. I will have every service done at the dealership where it was purchased, thus removing all complexity from the equation. I will drive this vehicle for many, many, many years to come. I will get every last use out of this vehicle. My kids will drive it. When it stops moving, I will scavenge it for parts. Then I will scavenge it for scrap metal.

The way I see it you have two choices in life, with all purchases: buy a series of cheap, shitty, ten dollar items which last a month, so that you spend $120 a year, or buy ONE good $50 item which lasts ten years. In this example, you save $1150 over ten years by spending "more" for a good product.

Flint, I hope you vanity search this. How's your '08 or '09 Honda treating you these days? I just stumbled across this old thread searching for something.

I've since changed my views, and think used cars are the way to go. New cars are just too expensive, and if you are careful, you can find a decent used car.

Have you kept up with the Honda maintenance? Do you still love it, or have you moved on?

[Gravdigr]

Originally Posted by glatt

...and if you are careful, you can find a decent used car.

I'd modify that to "...if you are patient...".

Popdigr looked for another car for over a year:

2003 Park Avenue, one owner, 32,000 miles, literally every fucking button you ever heard of. Dude bought it new, got fatally sick less than a year later, and never drove it again. Popdigr got it so cheap, it was a sin.

[Gravdigr]

By the way, estate sales are where it's at for good low mileage used cars.

[Gravdigr]

Hey, what do ya know, Baby's in my driveway!!

Sky rockets in flight!!

[xoxoxoBruce]

I worked with a guy that bought a new top of the line Buick ('cause his wife wouldn't let him buy a Caddy), and traded it in every 2 years with less than 10k miles.

[Lamplighter]

That was the "American Way" for lots of people just a few years ago.

(But back then Ford was building crappy cars, and the foreign
manufacturer's began gettting more market share due to quality control.)

[xoxoxoBruce]

My fore-bearers would buy new, run the wheels off them, then stick it out behind the barn because a lot of the parts were the same on a 10 year newer car of the same make. Then Detroit got clever and nothing was interchangeable.

I remember guys coming into the speed shop wanting to price a ring and pinion for a Mopar. I'd tell they to crawl under it and find out what rear it had, because for several years no matter which model or engine or trans, it might be any of three different rears. Fords, you needed the serial number because they'd change parts in the middle of the year.

[footfootfoot]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

My fore-bearers would buy new, run the wheels off them, then stick it out behind the barn because a lot of the parts were the same on a 10 year newer car of the same make. Then Detroit got clever and nothing was interchangeable.

I remember guys coming into the speed shop wanting to price a ring and pinion for a Mopar. I'd tell they to crawl under it and find out what rear it had, because for several years no matter which model or engine or trans, it might be any of three different rears. Fords, you needed the serial number because they'd change parts in the middle of the year.

I hate that kind of crap. Thank MBAs. It's about making money, not making you happy or making your life easier and by extension, building customer loyalty.

[/get off my damn lawn, you kids!]

[Flint]

Originally Posted by glatt

Flint, I hope you vanity search this. How's your '08 or '09 Honda treating you these days? I just stumbled across this old thread searching for something.

I've since changed my views, and think used cars are the way to go. New cars are just too expensive, and if you are careful, you can find a decent used car.

Have you kept up with the Honda maintenance? Do you still love it, or have you moved on?

My 08 Honda drives like a dream, and my 02 Honda still gets the job done.

My next car puchase will probably be another new Honda.

Although...I was given pause to think about this when a guy who worked for me bought a pre-owned Lexus. Here's the deal: a 10-year old Lexus has enough Consumer Reports reviews for you to know that it will go X number of miles with only standard maintenance--if there were any systems that were going to break down within X number of miles, it would have already happened (to the people who put more miles on in a shorter time) and you'd be able to get that information. So I can see that, given a certain model of car, with enough years under its belt (since production) to form historical data; and given that you can find a low mileage car of that model, you can reasonably predict what the next X number of miles is going to look like.

[glatt]

Yeah. When we bought our used Camry, I was also including Lexuses in our search results for used cars, but my wife nixed them. Apparently, we are not the kind of people who will drive a Lexus. It was fine with me. They all get poor gas mileage since the engines are all huge.

[Clodfobble]

Your wife is right. Everyone secretly thinks Lexus drivers are douchebags. I won't let Mr. Clod get one either.

[glatt]

The thing that attracted me to them is that they are just Toyotas, but they have leather seats. And in my looking at used cars, I saw that leather seats were generally stain free, while upholstered seats usually had stains. We were fortunate that we found a stain free upholstered car.

But the douchebag factor is real, and it's silly to have a huge engine when a moderately sized one will move the car just fine with less gas.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Go to your room.

[footfootfoot]

I've never been happier than when I first drove my 6. I might be even happier with a V8. Passing around here requires a tumescent engine.

[glatt]

lol @ tumescent engine