While my parents’ visit to Honolulu last winter, I ended up leading my 28 -year -old father’s racket for eight days. This bought the new Toyota Avalon in 1997 – when I was a university student and was stationed in Guangzhou, China for US Foreign Service.
I knew this car as long as he had, and for more than half of my life, I fell it during my visits to the house. Certainly, he pays like a boat and shakes when I hit the brakes on the highway, but it reliably gets my family throughout the island.
Not getting a new car after 10 years after all
I once planned for the summer of 2025 to be the year in which I was finally upgraded my trip. I always believed that the perfect time to replace your car is when it is about 10 years old – enough to improve safety and technology to start, which is very important when transporting your family.
However, after spending some time behind the old Toyota wheel in Hawaii, I went back to my private car in San Francisco I was feeling a completely new luxury car!
My current car – Range Rover Sport HSE for the year 2015 that I bought in December 2016, immediately before the birth of my son – on a comparison. He deals smoothly, guidance is narrow, and there is no annoying vibration when brakes.
The range contains Bluetooth for Tunes, a backup camera when there is something very close, and even the weakness of my previous trip. The paint is still shiny, and the frames are about 80 % remaining. There are even leather seats, which started with an amazing smell again given its age.
If my father’s car is able to continue 27 years, I am sure that my range will easily last for at least five years, for 15 years.
New cars are very expensive
I looked at many new luxury compounds similar to My Range Rover, and each costs between $ 115,000 and $ 170,000. I may be a little nostalgia, but the prices of new luxury cars today seem completely silly compared to $ 60,000 that I paid after the tax. Although I was saving and investing hard in a new car box for nine years, thinking about bombing six numbers after taxes on a new car feels completely.
Therefore, the logical alternative is to stick to what I have. I also thought about more budget options, such as the entire Honda CIVIC for about 28,000 dollars, but it is very small for our family road trips and lacks features such as four-wheel drive-in the sense that I had to deal with chains in snow conditions on our way to Lake Tahoe. No, thank you.
The next option that I looked at was the new Honda CR-V, which runs about $ 42,000 fully uploaded (about $ 4,6500 after the tax). Although this may be acceptable for a person without a car, I already have a completely great family car. To be honest, it seems to be a sharp reduction, when I want to enjoy more beautiful things in my older life.
The prices of the new used cars should continue to decrease
Another factor I am thinking is the gradual decrease in the average price of used cars, especially with the possibility of recession in the future. Luxury car prices are likely to get greater successes as more owners sell unnecessary vehicles. At the same time, the prices of new cars may witness more discounts as inventory continues to rise.
Below is a wonderful scheme of the Federal Reserve in Saint -Louis, which shows how the prices of new cars and cars reached their climax in 2022 and have been going down since then, while steadily increasing the stock. Therefore, I expect consumers to be able to get better car offers between 2026 – 2027.
He recently spent a package in car maintenance
Over the past two years, it has invested approximately $ 5400 to keep Range Rover, which has about 61,000 miles. Here is the fast, fast:
- New battery: $ 500 (2024)
- New tires 22 inches: $ 825 (2024)
- Water pump: $ 1,250 (2024)
- Pcv vacuum pump: $ 1,050 (2024)
- Oil Change Service: ($ 199, January 2025)
- Brakes and circles ($ 1600, January 2025)
- Sakhan’s swarms: $ 1025 (potential cost perhaps in April 2025, but the coolant is no longer leaking anymore)
Fortunately, my mechanic is just a mile distance from my house, so the projection of the car for maintenance is never a trouble. After $ 5400 in reforms and maintenance so far, the idea of selling my car to buy a completely new one is meaningless.
If you get rid of my car, I should do it before reaching 50,000 miles and before these expenses start in accumulation. Now after these repairs are made, I expect it to be in good condition for another 5-10 years or 60,000 miles.
The joy of driving a cold car
Nine years after driving my 10-year-old car, I used to dodge-just like my father’s constant in Toyota Avalon. Every time I go to the supermarket, I don’t feel any pressure on the door strikes. In fact, when a new lottery appears, I see it as another personal sign on a car that was a reliable part of my life.
I also love it as the car passes, it attracts less attention. I bought my group because I liked her outlook and performance-at all since I was a child in middle schools in Malaysia, I was a fan of Range Rovers. Attention is not my goal, that is why I appreciate the colored windows.
Finally, if my old car can continue for another seven years, it will be perfect for my son to drive how to drive. We hope that he will not collide with it – but if he does that, its larger size should provide some additional protection. In addition, by that time, it will not be a significant financial loss as well.
Well, after we talked about safety, the upgrade to a car may not be safer sooner than a bad idea. At least, I must wait for a period of one to three years for the prices used while slowing the economy. When the time comes, I may be proud of the best car I can carry while my children still live with us.
Final reflection: Keep your old car longer
He made me leadership of my old father, I realize that the best decision is sometimes adhering to what he succeeds. Instead of spending a mocked amount on a completely new car you may not drive anything better, I will save my money and invest them. RR Sport has served me well and there is still a lot of life, and this reliability deserves more than chasing the last model.
In a world where new cars are expensive, ongoing promotions around the situation may be more than the job, adhering to a vehicle that is well -maintained is a smart and financial step. Let the value of the car decrease by getting your home percentage to a car as higher as possible, if you want to achieve financial independence sooner.
Although I will say, shopping in cars is one of the most enjoyable things that I enjoyed as a child and adult, mainly due to the driving of the test. This father can be an enjoyable son, the daughter of the father, the experience of interconnection in the future. However, I hope for the time when my children can drive, they will not be because of the safest cars and self -driving cars.
Subscribe to the financial samurai
If you want to become a millionaire, get a copy of my new book, Millionaire Simple Milestones: Simple steps for seven numbers. I have distilled everything you have learned over the past thirty years of work and writing for financing to help you build a wealth of more than 90 % of the population. The more money you have, the more freedom that you will have to live in life with your conditions. You can buy a copy on Amazon Or wherever you buy books.
Listen and subscribe to the financial samurai podcast apple or Spotify. I meet experts in their fields and discuss some of the most interesting topics on this site. You have your shares, classifications and reviews.
To accelerate your journey to financial freedom, join more than 60,000 others and subscribe to Free samuraian financial newsletter. The Financial Samurai is among the largest independent -owned personal financing sites, which was established in 2009. Everything is written on the basis of direct experience and experience.