SunflierOct 20

Americans can’t afford their cars any more and Wall Street is worried

https://lemmy.world/post/37630345

Americans can’t afford their cars any more and Wall Street is worried - Lemmy.World

If only we had invented and built some sort of alternative mode of collective transportation. Maybe it could be in tunnels and ride on metallic rails. It would serve many people and make periodic stops to the same locations instead of the highway clusterf- we have today. Sad that we don’t, but a man can dream though. A man can dream though. A man can dream.

Show threadIninewCrowOct 21

Buying a new vehicle hasn’t made sense for about 30 years now.

I’ve been driving for about 30 years and in all that time, I’ve never owned a new vehicle. I kept buying used vehicles for about $2,000 - $3,000 per vehicle. The oldest one I’ve ever had is a 2004 Volvo station wagon and I still maintain it and it’s still running as one of my main vehicles. My other main vehicle is a 2010 GMC Truck which I also maintain. They don’t look new, they show a bit of rust around the edges, but they are still very good vehicles that will last several more years.

Once they break down enough … I’ll buy another used vehicle. In all, over the past 30 years, I’ve spent about $30,000 on multiple vehicles (I think I’ve gone through 8 or 9 in that time).

It has never made sense to me to buy a brand new $40,000 car that will only be used for about five years before you buy the next one.

Show threadhydrashokOct 21

Speak for yourself.

I have purchased multiple new cars over the last 25 years, and, while they’re more expensive than a used car although that difference is shinking all the time), I also run them for years because I can keep up with maintenance. My last new car was bought 14 years ago and is pretty much still new condition. I still even have the plastic film over the climate control screen.

I don’t care about depreciation or resale values.

Show threadIninewCrow
I can say this proudly because I live in northern Ontario which basically salts our vehicles for about six months of the year. We might as well live on an ocean coast, we have so much salt on our highways. I do my own undercoating every year (it’s a real pain) and I put it on thick and in every nook and cranny. The work that I do just delays the rust, it doesn’t prevent it because there is just too much salt up here. Mix into that ice and snow and all that stuff just cakes on, falls off, takes away the coating, exposed metal, more salt and repeat all winter long. I’m lucky if I can hold onto a vehicle longer than ten years up here.
Oct 21 at 1:58amWeb
Show threadhydrashokOct 21
I’m in Minnesota and we use salt also, although in recent years it’s been a lot more brine and pre-treatments before it snows rather than just dumping rock salt out like they used to, which has helped. Used to see rust in wheel wells and such all the time, but it’s much more rare these days.