Prev | Next | Contents

7.0 LONG TERM COST COMPARISON OF NEW VS. USED; AUTOMOBILE DISCOUNTS - BUYING, LEASING, REPAIRING

Over your lifetime, you will spend a small fortune on cars. I estimate that each owner will spend from about $130,000 ($217/month) to almost $300,000 ($500/month) over fifty years of driving. The cost of buying, financing, repairing, and maintaining an automobile is one of your major regular expenses. If you bought an older used car instead of new, you could save as much as $33,000 in ten years, $67,000 in twenty years, and $168,000 in fifty years! If that money were saved and invested over that same period of time, the nest egg would be enough for a very comfortable retirement.

Most experts agree that buying used will save a substantial amount of money. They include: Charles Givens, author of Financial Self-Defense, Jack Gillis author of The Used Car Book, and Tom & Ray Magliozzi authors of Car Talk.

Many people are scared of used cars. They are afraid they'll get stuck with $1000s of repair bills and a car that spends weeks in the shop. This is exactly what new car dealers want you to think. However, if you follow the steps outlined in this newsletter, you can be reasonably sure of buying a quality car, even if you are not mechanical. My father, who wasn't the least bit mechanical, always bought a two - three year old car. He was an excellent bargainer so he got a good price. His cars rarely needed repairs. Many experts now recommend doing exactly what he did.

Prev | Next | Contents