Photo from the commute home the other day...

antique engine:

not to keep this going as I'm not for or against the fuckus, I was just putting dollar figures out there. BUT, your logic is flawed. with your 72 you ARE paying more to drive it. Your payment just goes to a different place. you pay exxon and mobil. that 5 year old focus would be done in 5 years. what kind of maintenance would it need in that time? probably one brake job and a timing belt by the time the dealer get's it the clutch will probably be pretty wasted but good enough to trade in.

after 150k miles your 72 will need at least one altenator, crate motor two brake jobs a clutch for a stick or a complete rebuild on an auto. complete front end rebuild and rear seals. if it's 4wd the costs go up. your looking at much higher cost of ownership.

don't let your PREFERENCE for the 72 get in the way of the hard truth that it costs more to own. they don't call them econoboxes for nothing.

in the end your debt free lifestyle will cost you more when you add up the receipts.

johnny's right. it costs more to look cool.

 

You're nuts! In 5 years the focus has turned to dust, and homey's truck's doubled in value. My friend bought his wife a 2001 Jag last week with 35K miles, looks like it never left the garage for $10,250.00!! Sticker was $79,000.00!!!!!! Whoever bought that piece of shit new, sure sucked the big wahoon when selling it! Don't forget taxes and insurance on the $79K for 6 years

 

Are we really assuming that the average person drives that far every day?

Am i super lucky that my office is 3 miles from my house? Even my wife who drives across town is only 15 miles away...

 

nah, just talking one guy who liked to drive his antique xyz that got 12 mpg 100 miles a day.

 

This is an interesting discussion for sure.

I don't follow your logic that my 72 will need said list a of parts in 150k miles but the econobox won't. A turbo 350 lasts as long as a econo trans. A front end lasts as long on a 72 as it does a newer vehicle. I've put plenty of water pumps and front hubs (sealed bearings on a FWD) and alternators on new cars well before 150k miles. I'd certainly rather have to buy a Delco SI alternator than a fill in the blank late model import alt.

Don't think I'm some kind of backwards cave dweller. I was a dealership mechanic for years (GMC and Pontiac). After working on that stuff, I have a real bad taste in my mouth for newer stuff. A check engine light on a new car requires diagnostic equipment, a diagnostic on a 30 year old vehicle requires a flashilght. I like that much better.

 

My old car MAY need a repair, but month after month go by and it doesn't. A new car payment ALWAYS comes EVERY month. Plus new cars are uncool.

I can't believe a board made up of hotrodders would even argue this subject!

 

most "civilians" would consider my daily driver to be an old car. it's a 1994 ford escort wagon with 180,000 on the clock. i got it for free 20,000 miles ago and have since had to replace the clutch and front brakes. there's a clicking noise coming from the driverside front that i suspect is a cv joint and will need to be replaced soon. it delivers somewhere in the ballpark of 30 mpg in mixed driving, which i found out by religiously charting the mileage for the first few thousand miles. i put about 300 miles on the car weekly and sometimes more if i'm travelling for work.

my point is that nothing mentioned above is cheaper to operate and maintain than my escort. i do not go to work to able to afford the vehicle i drive to work.

oh, and i really don't care if you think i'm cool while i'm commuting to work.


ed

 

I consider anything that doesn't have a carburetor "new".

 

Cheaper shmeaper. Ya look like a fucking DORK all tatooed up, greased hair, in a new car. Everytime i see it, i almost crap myself. Hey, wasn't that the guy preaching how "old school" he was last weekend? How "hardcore"? My buddy Skratch used to pull up to my shop in his Suzuki Samarai, and it'd bring me to tears! Hell, i'm drizzling right now thinking about it. Sorry Skratch

 

then i don't consider you a civilian

 

richardD, so a 57 vette would be new then??

groucho, although I'm not of the tattooed and greased variety I'm not shallow enough to allow the car I drive (whether it be hotrod or other) define who I am.

 

I did pay cash for my house. It never had wheels. I inherited nothing.

What I did do was get married for 10 years and paid everything I made during that time to various debts that we "had" to have. Finally, it split us up and I walked away from the divorce with enough money to buy this house outright (49k dollars). I did have a new truck payment at the time too, but I sold it and never looked back. My only debt is basic, reoccuring stuff, like electric bill, cell phone, and car insurance. It all totals about 400 bucks a month.

I do post from the library and from work. Seriously...

As a matter of fact, there's the truck in the picture I was talking about next to the house I'm talking about

 

Touche'. Exceptions to every rule. How about anything with a computer, with a few exceptions? And I do realize I am using a computer right now.

 

Werd to your Mom.

 

I NEVER said the car defines you! It would be an invaluable tool for you to learn how to read my words. I just said.....well if you didn't get it the first time, why repeat myself?

 

And then there's the dufuses like me that are stuck in leases. I'll be SO glad when mine's up in August and I can replace the damned moneysuck with something I can afford. $400/mo for three years just to turn it in...never again. I'm never getting a new car ever again. I'd much rather take the money I will have every month and bank it against possible car repairs.

 

Drive what makes it fun, what else matters?
My wife and I live debt-free, so what?
When the gauge reads E I just buy more.

maybe road rage would become extinct if more people drove stuff they enjoyed?

 

Having more than one car does make it easier for me to drive whatever I want. The wife isn't about to drive something old. She thinks a car is beyond it's useful life once the warranty is up.

In all seriousness, I want her to have something new so I am biting the big depreciation all the time. I'm not going to do it twice.

We also have a 10 year old Geo Tracker for when it snows alot or if I'm in the middle of a work week and something goes wrong with my car. Alot of people can't afford to do this (myself not all that long ago).

Back on topic though, if one can afford a new car payment they can afford to drive their old car to work.

In less than two years I'll have the ex paid off and then my picks of what to drive opens up alot also. I'll still never buy a new car.

 

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying the way I live is the greatest or much fun. I'd love to have a lot of nicer amenities. But, it's the best way for ME to live.

 

But knowing antique engine as i do he would buy the alterator and the MOOG problem solver front end components and have lifetime warranties form Oreillys. He would rebuild the engine or transmission himself. SO he would truly come out ahead.

The cost of replacing the brakes twice for a 72 Chevy truck would be Max 200 with a replacement of rotors once time. The price for parts would be double that for a focus.

IF a new crate was bought it would be the same for just basic relay/ timing cover/ fuel injection adjustment/ other maintance that would occur if the vehicle was normal reliability.

Also since math has been mentioned. If you put the same 13,000 in a good money market account and earned some money over the lifetime of the 5 year loan for the focus. You would break even if not be ahead in the long run in investing the money.

Plus you are not putting in the equation the cost of full coverage insurance versus basic liability or collector car insurance.

 

Now if your arguement would have been to buy a two year old vehicle with the depreciation hit already taken by the previous owner then add a transferable warranty then you would come out a lot better off. (If you purchase cash without getting killed by interest payments)

 

ive never had a car or truck that got better than 18 MPG! why not drive your old car every day? i do!

 

2006 Jetta VW with a diesel engine w/6 speed auto..... usually 42 - 44 mpg in daily commute. Wife and I carpool often.

Car is paid for, no payments

or 2004 Goldwing 1800 motorcycle, 36 - 38 mpg. No monthly payment

 

my sister left her 99 corolla with me to take care of while she lives in a different city. i drive it everyday. i get the "you look outta place" shit from a lot of people. it costs me just the same as my 71 falcon to run per week, but it doesnt leak oil and water, the clutch doesnt need adjusting and all that shit. so it gets the nod. but you know that if the falcon was up to scratch it would be no contest. and then if the hudson was running that would beat the falcon. opinions are like arseholes. everyone has one. do what fits you but we all know that if practicality and cost didnt matter a shit we'd all be driving our sleds and rods to work and loving it.

 

Well this has certainly turned into quite a debate. I think in the end I will drive my current "Hot Rod" once a week or more. Fix what breaks and keep on going. Cause let's face it. Not everyone works 10 minutes from home. I happen to live 30 miles from my employer. So for now my driver will be my 35-40mpg small econo-box.

 

Nice