• nbailey@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    A $2300 Toyota three years ago. It’s probably saved me about 15K in car payments. It’s old and ugly but I’m so much further ahead because of it.

    • charles@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I’d strongly recommend you continuing to make a “car payment” to yourself.

      • you won’t get used to income you might not have in the future
      • you will have a nest egg for repairs that are likely to be needed on a beater
      • if you do this for long enough, you’ll start to get enough returns to pay for your next car in cash and can get a more modern one (if you have kids, at some point you’ll start to prioritize safety features)
    • CaspianXI@lemmy.worldOP
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      1 year ago

      Wow, that’s incredibly cheap for a car! My biggest worry worry used cars was always maintenance. Did you have a lot of problems to fix along the way?

      • nbailey@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        Couple usual small things like suspension, struts, tires, brakes, etc. and some rust repair (salty Ontario roads), but nothing major.

        The key thing is finding a vehicle with only one or two owners, wasn’t used for Uber/delivery, had all the required maintenance, and was generally well cared for. Most cars will easily hit 500K km barring any major design defects these days.