[Rich]

I’ve had 12 cars and never had a payment. I just save some cash and buy cars for cash. I’d hate to have to make a car payment every month.

Cars I’ve had :
1. 1979 Buick Regal (Dark Blue)
2. 1978 Chevy Nova (Green)

3. 1990 Honda Accord (Silver)
4. 2002 Toyota Camry (Silver)

5. 1990 Ford Taurus (Silver)
6. 1992 Honda Accord (Silver)

7. 1990 Honda Accord (White)
8. 2005 Honda Civic (Grey)

9. 2008 Honda Accord (Grey)
10. 2003 Toyota Camry (Gold)

11. 2008 Honda Accord (Silver)
12. 2015 Toyota Camry (Dark Blue)

[Jodi]

1. How many miles on one
when you buy it?

2. And how many miles does a vehicle have on it when you sell?
3. Do you buy from dealer or individual?
4. Do you buy with rebuilt title?

5. How many miles do you
put on in a year?
6. Do you have a reasonable and dependable mechanic?

[Vicki]

I lucked out on a 05 Ford focus for 3000 at an estate sale. It only had 28 thousand miles on it.

It has 62 thousand now.

[Myrla]

I’ve only made payments on one car that I bought for a second car when I was young married with my first baby.

It was an Impala I think that an older lady had and she came home one day to find her grandson had tried to spray paint it silver so she traded it to a local dealership.

The paint job ruined the value of the car so I paid less than $100 a month for a year.

All my other cars I bought from my parents when they traded for new. Right now I’m still driving the last car my mom bought, a 2011 Malibu and it has $67k miles.

No way I would trade for a newer car although sometimes I dream about it, but the payments bring me back to reality.

[Lisa]

We drive older cars, mine is a 2010 Malibu, recently had it painted and plan on keeping it at least 10 more years.

His is a 2005 Deville that is rarely driven.

[Suzanne]

This is great, we normally buy a 5yo vehicle with cash and drive it for another 10 years, usually Honda, Toyota or Subaru.

I’m sure we have spent quite a bit less than buying new and paying loans.

It works well for us

[Chelsea]

Sounds like alot of paperwork lol. I’ve had 2 used cars and 1 new car since 2011.

My very first car was paid in cash for $1000 and drove it until scrap.

2nd car used and financed. Sold that second car during the used car shortage and used that profit towards a new car.

3rd car first time ever buying brand new. Paid off in 4 years. Very proud.

[Michele]

My car is 19 years old with 167k miles on it. My mechanic said because I took good care of it I still won’t need to think about a new car for years!

Engine and transmission are great.

[Christy]

In the past 30 yrs I have only had 4 vehicles. Paid cash for all of them except for 1 which was stupid since I got caught up with having my first great paying job, it took me 8 months to pay it off.

[Jenny]

We’ve never had a car payment too! We always buy with cash & trade in…we buy brand new & trade in (we can’t lease cuz we drive too much).

We find if we flip them quickly they don’t depreciate too much…and during Covid, we were offered MORE money for our hybrid than we had paid brand new (totally wanted to take up the offer from the dealership but there were no hybrids available to trade up to).

[Jodi]

I’m just curious how long you kept each of these vehicles. My husband has had 4 vehicles in his nearly 30 years of driving.

None of them were new but 3 were financed.

[Jodi]

I got my 2004 chevy suburban in 2019 for $3,500. It currently has over 230,000 miles and going strong. I put maybe $1,200 a year into maintenance and repairs.

So much cheaper than a car payment!!!

Even renting a car for our week long vacation is worth not having a $350 or more monthly car payment.

[William]

Smart. The money people throw at cars is ridiculous. I watched a reel the other day asking people what they drove and what their payment was, and some were over a thousand dollars!

One guy said he didn’t have a car payment.

[Jody]

We do the same.
Our first car was a 1967 Camaro sure wish we still had it. We drove it for 12 yrs.

We had a 2000 4 Runner we gave our son a few years ago. It has over 300,000 miles on it and going strong.

Maintenance is a must.

[Barbara]

excellent! I’ve seldom had a payment except my very first car (to build credit AND I was only 18 with a decent job. Payment was $103 a month).

I’m 70. I’m driving a 2010 VW BUG that I purchased with only 1500 miles on it in 2012, for $12k, cash that I had saved.

I can NOT imagine the vehicle payments folks have today!

Cars are NOT houses! They depreciate, so quickly! AND… when I was younger and couldn’t save enough for a really GREAT, low maintenance AND reliable car, I chose a mostly “reliable” one (for daily commutes) and just RENTED one if I was going on a trip or vacay.

So much less expensive than a MONTHLY payment. Congratulations!

[Abbey]

I’ve been in the same car I bought in 2019 cash and still plan to drive it til it dies lol

[Amanda]

I used to do that a pay a lot in repairs in them, than I bought a new car and the the payment is $322 a month.

The piece of mind with knowing that the warranty will pay for problems and the dealer including oil changes is worth it.

[Jillian]

Did you keep record of how much you purchased them for? I’d be curious to see if 3 to 4 new cars is cheaper than 12 used cars (that potentially require more maintenance) over the long term.

[Melissa]

We figute there will always be the need for car so we save every month to pay cash on a new to us vehicle.

We keep them well maintained and unless itwas totaled in an accident theyhave last 10-13 years

[Author]

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