I've had this car for years. It's a Toyota. I bought it for 4k.

I'll try to remember all the repairs. Numbers are dollars.

New radiator 140

Tie rods about 100

Rear struts 165

Coil packs 150

I had some oil seals replaced for less than 300.

Both catalytic converters done under 500


Other than that normal maintenance belts, water pump, timing belt. Fluid changes plugs and wires.



That comes out to way less than car payments over the 6 to 9 years I've owned it.


People always talk about repairs as if it's some big boogeyman. But a pretty messed up Japanese car the repairs would rarely be 2 grand. That's a major issue like whole transmission or engine rebuild.

There are general thumb rules but I dont care about those. Thumb rules are good for dumb people that need some kind of structure to keep them out of debt.

I say it varies based on:
net worth
earnings
debt
job stability
interest rate


I was a never car loan guy but interest rates were 1% a few years ago. Really 1% no gimmicks. I took out a 28k loan, paid like 800 a month over 3 years and only paid like 400 in interest. 400 in interest is nothing. If i stretched it out for a 5 year loan then its like 1500 or something in interest and i didnt want to do that. but even then at 1% if i threw that in the market i would be way ahead. But thats an assumption that it all went into the market and didnt sit idle in a checking account or that i wouldve blew it on useless chit ect.

so really it depends OP. The more impulse control you have and better at saving the more you make your own rules. The more impulsive you are with your money then the more you look for thumb rules from guys like dave ramseys.

yeah that is just general expected repairs for the age of a car. Only really big things like a transmission or engine would really fuk you over and that is the whole point of the toyota is that the 2 big items are rock solid.

Only broke bois have car payments op. Read some books, listen to dave ramsey, and educate yourself before tying yourself down with debt in a depreciating asset. Your absolute best bet for a daily driver is a mid 2000's toyota camry with under 150k miles. They will be more reliable than most new cars, and can be obtained for less than 10k. Ask any mechanic about toyota reliability...most will tell you a used toyota is more reliable than a new Chevrolet, and much cheaper to operate.

BRB by that logic I can afford a 700/month car payment.

BRB going to go get an Audi a6 or BMW 6 series.

also, 700/a month invested for the next 30 years @8% is a one million dollars


f that, I'm being the cheapest car with cash that is reliable

0%. Buy it outright. If you can't buy it outright, then you can't afford it.

I'm a fan of Dave Ramsey's ideology. Whatever the take home salary is, ensure the value of your vehicles is below 50% of that number. IE gross annual income of $100k, but after taxes and 401(k) it'll be closer to $70k take home, therefore $35k should be the maximum value of your vehicle(s) at any given time.

That said I got a modern Toyota Camry, 4 cylinder automatic diesel engine, no special packages or "editions", valued at ~$16k. Paid it off early in like 6 months (throwing ~$3k at it each month). Now I just make sure to get proper maintenance at typical intervals and have $0 payments impacting any potential ratio compared to my monthly take home.

Goal is to drive this car until it gives me problems, to a point where repairs reportedly cost more than the value of the vehicle (or until I can't be arsed anymore). When the time comes for an upgrade, gonna sell it for cash, and couple it with cash to buy something more modern for the time, likely 2-3 years old as of whatever the current year, and likely under $20k.

Where you at? Diesel engine in the Camry does not exist in the USA

Sorry I'm just dumb. I assumed diesel implied gasoline. I meant petrol I suppose. Goal was to convey standard gas, non-electric.

You must be fun at parties

those people either take their car to firecuckstone or midas or some chit where they get a $2900 repair quote everytime they walk in, or they never do basic maintenance like transmission fluid changes which is rare for people to do for some reason, therefore causing premature transmission failure

I went to toyota dealer to buy a transmission drain plug, and the parts counter brah told me that he's never sold one lol


I am fortunate to have a mechanic who retired and decided to build a small shop next door to his house, charges $60/hr labor and is actually a bit TOO honest...example, last time i took in rear brake shoes, and he called and told me that i don't really need them just yet because he can just adjust the rear brakes. i told him to slap them on anyway since they were cheap lol

I was always told end of the month because the dealers used to have to make a payment on the car again if it stayed on the lot past the end of the month. No idea if that's still true. I doubt it.

I bought my kids current year Volvo XC60's when they got their learners permits. One had 4200 miles on it, one was closer to 2500. Dealer demo/loaners, so they were about 28 and 25% off the new cost. Cost was pretty high for first cars because in 2016 you had to get the fully loaded XC60 to get the upgraded automatic braking, but I was paying for a little peace of mind, not cars.

My wife bought a fairly nice coupe style SUV a year ago because she likes cars and wanted it. We joke that my birthday gift to her was the radio upgrade because that was the only option I thought she should get that she wasn't sure of and wasn't included in the upgrade package. I on the other hand drive my wife's hand-me-down dodge citadel. 6 ish years old, ~100K miles on it. It's not an embarrassment when I have to drive my colleagues around from time to time, and I mostly work from home, so why pay for anything else right now. I like buying stocks and tools for my shop more than buying cars which don't last as long as stocks and tools.

There's no definite rule on how much someone should spend. Buyers should be aware of the costs, including the opportunity costs. Without knowing a person's values, financial situation, driving style, life style, needs, and personality, how could one of us tell them how much to spend. We can only tell them what we'd spend.

No less than 80%

also lol @ driving a ****ty ass car in your prime years just to save for retirement when your old ass cant even get it up anymore.

Nah thanks, brah.

You can buy a "luxury" used car (2-3 years old) that is already depreciated but still looks nice af.

You dont need to be driving a 2006 subaru to be smart about buying a car.

Thread motivated me to just write a check and pay my car off this morning, theres $600 more every month

I did that when the pandemic hit, threw $15k at the rest of my car loan. And then stocks hit 20-year lows, could've doubled that money by now instead of saving fukn 4%

Never again

£0...

$0.00

Yup, the Dave Ramsey 40k millionaires dont understand incentives and haggling can get you a new car cheaper than anything lightly used on cargurus, plus a full warranty and no jacked up paint, abuse or annoying little dings.

Minus taxes I sold my bmw for about 2k less than I bought it after nearly 18 months, so that was a pretty reasonable "lease".

2000 dollar shtbox? We got bill gates over here. My car is worth 1000 tops

Consumer debt is essentially indentured servitude/ modern day slavery. Once you accept that fact I say sign on to as much of it as you'd like, for as long as you'd like.

Pay it in cash or don't do it.

10% or less.

Are you into cars? If so then the misc it the last place you should be asking about cars and payments. You're going to get a lot of buy a lemon and invest for the next 80 years. Have a million dollars so you can pay for your funeral arrangements since you'll be to old to enjoy the money.
There's some truth though. If you have responsibilities then it should only be so much of your take home pay. If not then spend what you want. My rule of thumb is if something was to break down and you cant afford to repair it, then you cant afford the car. If I was single with no kids making the money I make now you'd be damn sure I would be in a sports car I really enjoy.

Go lease a Honda Fit. There ya go, low ass payments and you never have to worry about repairs.

0 . Don't be a payment cuck and buy what you can afford in cash.

If you can't do that , well then you probably can't afford the car anyway .

hindsight is fooling you into believing that you would have timed the bottom perfectly. in reality, when it was time to buy you were too afraid to. remember - when you try to time the market you have to be right twice - when to buy and when to sell. hinsight is 20/20. you did the right thing by paying off the car. now start investing that money every month in VFIAX and VWLUX/VBTLX.