Idle curiosity - How many here are debt free?

fredintoon said:
One of my co-workers used to buy a new car and trade it in on another new car just before the warranty expired.
He reckoned that always having the latest safety features and never having to pay a mechanic more than balanced the depreciation.
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That's a reasonable argument if you're paying cash. It's a terrible one if you go deeper in debt with each new car.

I drive old cars. First, because I can. The annual tax is nothing. They're usually depreciated when I buy them, so I don't suffer any.
 
Debt free here and now..wasnt always the case and hindsight is 20/20.... Inherited our home in NJ...sold it for a huge capital gain even in 2009 when the realestae market was in a dive... That money enabled us to leave NJ and relocate here to NC..We bought our home and paid cash..No mortgage and debt free.
Been here debt free for the past 10 yrs ..Only exception was when i bought my XS650;).
My car is a 23 yr old million mile Volvo..and it barely has 110000 miles on her...So I like buying and driving Volvo's former flagship for 1997..This car will outlast me..so long as we dont have a wreck..this is my retirement car...
 
Volvo for life..The last of the Rear Wheel Drives...:(
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We bought my wife a new fiesta about 3 years ago. It's paid off and has 18k miles on it. It'll get used till little things start going bad, because that is when it gets spendy. My truck is an 07, has 170k on it and other than general maintenance it's needed nothing. Hasn't even had a light go out.
 
Ratranger said:
We bought my wife a new fiesta about 3 years ago. It's paid off and has 18k miles on it. It'll get used till little things start going bad, because that is when it gets spendy. My truck is an 07, has 170k on it and other than general maintenance it's needed nothing. Hasn't even had a light go out.
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I always advise my friends that as long as a car is sufficiently safe, reliable and presentable for your purposes, it can "hundred-dollar-you" for a loooonng time before the costs would equal the payments on a new one. Not that I don't like a snazz new car as much as the next guy...

Besides, putting a rad, a starter, an alternator, a water pump in a car is likely a lifetime repair - for that component - and there are only so many of those jobs that any car would ever need.
 
It's more when electrical things start acting up that I fix it and dump it. My old ranger had the alternator go out and the starter fail, then 6 months later the alternaror went again and the ignition started acting up. Because those add up fast I got rid of it.

The wifes old car started having trans problems and ended up with the tip of an axle floating around in it. The car was worth maybe 1k if it had no problems, but it also burned 8 quarts of oil on a trip. It was time for it to go before she was stranded somewhere.

It's a fine line between simple fixes, and costing more than its worth to keep.
 
Ratranger said:
It's more when electrical things start acting up that I fix it and dump it. My old ranger had the alternator go out and the starter fail, then 6 months later the alternaror went again and the ignition started acting up. Because those add up fast I got rid of it.

The wifes old car started having trans problems and ended up with the tip of an axle floating around in it. The car was worth maybe 1k if it had no problems, but it also burned 8 quarts of oil on a trip. It was time for it to go before she was stranded somewhere.

It's a fine line between simple fixes, and costing more than its worth to keep.
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Well, as I said....reliable enough...

...and that Ranger obviously wasn't.
 
Sometimes it can be hard to know when you hit the limit of worth fixing. The wife's old car only used oil on the highway, so since she rarely does highway I might have been able to use a weekend to open the trans and get the piece out. But at the same time the car has to be worth the labor. And I honestly think that car was much higher milage than the 120k it said.
 
MaxPete said:
I always advise my friends that as long as a car is sufficiently safe, reliable and presentable for your purposes, it can "hundred-dollar-you" for a loooonng time before the costs would equal the payments on a new one. Not that I don't like a snazz new car as much as the next guy...

Besides, putting a rad, a starter, an alternator, a water pump in a car is likely a lifetime repair - for that component - and there are only so many of those jobs that any car would ever need.
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Some of the newer cars are turning what were minor issues into major ones. A V6 powered F150 has the water pump in the block, driven by the timing chain. Chain tensioner getting sloppy can take out your engine. Same deal with Subaru six and some others. Chevy V8 has PTFE rear main seal. (GARBAGE) Buyer beware! If your CVT fails, good luck finding someone who can properly rebuild it. Rebuild or replacement will likely cost more than the car is worth.

If I could buy a new '63 Ford Falcon with a three speed manual, I would!
 
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We had a 04 Chevy Classic. Had the water pump replaced. HOLY smokes! The mechanic had to order a special tool overnighted from Phoenix. The water pump was inside the engine driven by the cam chain and the tool was to hold it up so the timing wouldn't get out or sync with the cam/crankshafts. Was told it was a Saturn engine. Other than getting old, it was a good car.
 

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