Help me decide if a car makes sence to us. Budget question

[Donut417]

Let me put things in to perspective for you. 

 

1. Car registration $100/yr
2. Insurance $1060/yr (full coverage)
3. oil changes $50/yr
4. tire rotation and balancing $50-70 (each oil change)
5. License renewal $40 every 4 years
6. Fuel $100/month depends on many factors
7. Road Rage (25 years to life, depending on if it gets that far)

 

Thats approximately what I pay. Of course I’m leasing a car so it’s like 1 year old. Used cars are likely to need repairs. My dad spent $400 on front struts, which was a deal. He spent $60 on air conditioning recharge. Not sure how much the deductible was for when the tree fell on the Toyota. Also if you live in the city, parking could be an issue. In some areas you have to pay a fee. Some states require yearly inspections of you car to make sure it’s safe and follows environmental requirements. So if your exhaust system is on the Fritz’s then your required to fix it before you can drive your car. Michigan doesn’t have those requirements, which is why we have too many pieces of shit on the road that should be labeled unsafe. 

[dalekphalm]

1 hour ago, Donut417 said:

Let me put things in to perspective for you. 

 

1. Car registration $100/yr
2. Insurance $1060/yr (full coverage)
3. oil changes $50/yr
4. tire rotation and balancing $50-70 (each oil change)
5. License renewal $40 every 4 years
6. Fuel $100/month depends on many factors
7. Road Rage (25 years to life, depending on if it gets that far)

 

Thats approximately what I pay. Of course I’m leasing a car so it’s like 1 year old. Used cars are likely to need repairs. My dad spent $400 on front struts, which was a deal. He spent $60 on air conditioning recharge. Not sure how much the deductible was for when the tree fell on the Toyota. Also if you live in the city, parking could be an issue. In some areas you have to pay a fee. Some states require yearly inspections of you car to make sure it’s safe and follows environmental requirements. So if your exhaust system is on the Fritz’s then your required to fix it before you can drive your car. Michigan doesn’t have those requirements, which is why we have too many pieces of shit on the road that should be labeled unsafe. 

Keep in mind that Insurance prices vary so wildly between regions (plus driver history) - The OP is only like 21, and comes from overseas, so his Insurance History is likely to be limited (or non-existent) - meaning he's likely going to be paying at the extreme high end of the insurance spectrum, outside of people with driving convictions.

 

In Ontario, he would likely expect to pay $2000-$3000/yr easily. Will he pay that where he lives? No idea - but I think people need to stop giving estimates for insurance, and simply tell the OP to pick a car he might consider buying (Eg: 2005 Camry), and go get an insurance quote on it.

 

Otherwise, I like your break down of regular items - though I must admit, unless you're doing it yourself, it's unlikely you'd pay $50/yr for an oil change here in Ontario. A really cheap oil change might be $20 or $30 for the shittiest oil change with no inspection. And you definitely want the car inspected on a somewhat regular basis (every time you change the oil is a good opportunity).

 

Preventative maintenance is the best way to keep a car from becoming a massive money sink. You could - perhaps, do a single yearly inspection instead, if you're tight on money or trying to operate on a low budget.

 

Granted, my car is pretty new (2014, bought brand new, only owner), but I easily pay $200+ every oil change because it includes a full inspection, tire rotation (or change-over to Winter tires), etc. On the flip side, my car only needs an oil change every 15,000 km (~9,300 miles) - as it's synthetic oil. For example, my fiancee's 2006 Camry needs oil change every 8,000 km - but it's non-synthetic, so it's also cheaper.

 

Anyway, I still think the OP doesn't need a car, and they would be far better off just renting when they do need one.

[Donut417]

1 hour ago, dalekphalm said:

inspection

We don’t do inspections here. Also Synthetic oil costs a bit more. Doing it yourself it costs about the same as taking it in. It’s like $23 for the oil at the store + filter. 

[Yoinkerman]

Didn't read comments but it sounds like you guys would want a gently used 2-4 year old Kia or Hyundai or Toyota for like $6000.  Only maintenance should be oil and tires and maybe brakes

[dalekphalm]

24 minutes ago, Donut417 said:

We don’t do inspections here. Also Synthetic oil costs a bit more. Doing it yourself it costs about the same as taking it in. It’s like $23 for the oil at the store + filter. 

Why don't you do inspections? How do you know if there are any issues with your car? Simply wait until something has a catastrophic failure?

[Donut417]

2 hours ago, dalekphalm said:

Why don't you do inspections? How do you know if there are any issues with your car? Simply wait until something has a catastrophic failure?

Because poor people can’t afford them so the state don’t require them. Most people put Jesus in the drivers seat. Hell people will be on the left lane of the interstate doing 90 and decide to exit, but just cutting across the entire expressway. Some times they cut it close. 

[dalekphalm]

7 hours ago, Donut417 said:

Because poor people can’t afford them so the state don’t require them. Most people put Jesus in the drivers seat. Hell people will be on the left lane of the interstate doing 90 and decide to exit, but just cutting across the entire expressway. Some times they cut it close. 

Oh you’re talking about some kind of mandatory inspection?

 

Only time you are forced to have an inspection in Canada is when you register a car after a sale. 

 

Owners are not required to inspect their cars. 

 

However, it’s stupid not to, and anyone who is thinking about buying a car should factor that cost into it. 

[jake9000]

When I was at that level of income I would ride a bike everywhere I could and occasionally used a zipcar. Cheap hourly car rentals solved a lot of problems for me, might see if anything like that is available in your area. 

[Donut417]

12 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

Only time you are forced to have an inspection in Canada is when you register a car after a sale. 

 

Not even that is required by Michigan. Michigan doesn’t give a fuck about safety. They want the registration fee, they get kick backs from the insurance companies and they have use tax on fuel. So they allow like any piece of shit on the road. As long as the basics work like turn signal, brake lights and head lights your good to go. 

 

Also so people get around the insurance by paying for a month and letting it lapse. They have the card that says they have insurance as it’s sold in 6 month long policy. So if they get stopped by the cops they are good. Because it’s not like the state has direct access to the insurance company’s database. 

[jake9000]

31 minutes ago, Donut417 said:

 Michigan

Nobody in Michigan inspects their cars because they're just going to get eaten by killer potholes anyways. 

[Donut417]

7 hours ago, jake9000 said:

Nobody in Michigan inspects their cars because they're just going to get eaten by killer potholes anyways. 

So true. But she’s going to fix the damn roads........ LOL

[Otto_iii]

On 8/12/2019 at 9:43 PM, Dan Castellaneta said:

If you are a car person, you would be better off buying an older Corolla or an IS200 or whatever the fuck you could name off. If you aren't... maybe the peace of mind of having a warranty there if something does go wrong is worth the cost.

iirc they didn't state they are a "car person" exactly, but they did say they were happy to learn to work on them, so i think the recommendation of a better older car, a dead-on reliable one, has merit over a bottom of the barrel new car

[Donut417]

Just now, jason938 said:

What do you think about Toyota Prius or Aqua? They are economical cars (hybrids) and they use very small amount of gas comparing to normal cars.

You have to think about other things. The parts that make it a hybrid are probably expensive. Eventually they will need to be replaced. Also Chris Fix does a video on replacing the battery in a Prius 

he talks about the cost. Its a video you should check out. 

[kokakolia]

On 8/13/2019 at 1:41 PM, dalekphalm said:

Given everything I’ve read here, my advice: just rent a car when you need one. 

 

Cars have a lot of hidden costs. The obvious ones: regular maintenance (every 8000 or 16000 km or so, depending on the car), gas,

insurance. But despite what people say about buying “x car - it’ll run forever with minimal maintenance!”

 

They can’t promise that. Every car has breakdowns, regardless of how reliable it is. Breakdowns will be unexpected, and sooner or later you’ll have a surprise bill of like $1500 for a repair. 

 

That'll be fine once you’re done school and both you and your wife have jobs. Until then? Stick with the bus, and rent when you need

it. 

 

Look into your school association - they might have an affiliation program where you get discounts on rentals. 

Paying insurance is like getting kicked in the balls every month. "Here's a pile of cash, thanks for nothing! I'll drive my cheap worthless car". When I used to live in Canada, I payed almost $300/month for the most barebones insurance that didn't cover anything (just to say I had insurance). I payed more for insurance than my car. And that didn't take into account the gas which was about $40~$50 every week. And then the maintenance which was costly because the car was 10 years old: $1200 for a timing belt change, $160 tire swaps, $100 oil changes... Basically, cars a huge ball and chain. You trade your life away for money and you spend a huge chunk of that money on your car. 

[dalekphalm]

10 hours ago, kokakolia said:

Paying insurance is like getting kicked in the balls every month. "Here's a pile of cash, thanks for nothing! I'll drive my cheap worthless car". When I used to live in Canada, I payed almost $300/month for the most barebones insurance that didn't cover anything (just to say I had insurance). I payed more for insurance than my car. And that didn't take into account the gas which was about $40~$50 every week. And then the maintenance which was costly because the car was 10 years old: $1200 for a timing belt change, $160 tire swaps, $100 oil changes... Basically, cars a huge ball and chain. You trade your life away for money and you spend a huge chunk of that money on your car. 

Yikes those are some expensive premiums. I pay $150/mo for insurance on a 2014 car that I bought new back in ‘14. And even that’s kind of pricey for my age (I had a ticket knock the insurance premium, and a few cancellations for non-payment when I was a broke college student). 

 

Someone my age that had a clean/insurance and driving history and has had insurance uninterrupted since they were a teenager would be paying $100 or less per month. 

 

But I also know people that pay over $400/month because they have no choice.