Well folks, after 60 agonizing days of dealing with car salespeople, test-driving far too many vehicles, visiting two auto mechanics to diagnose and fix my current car, and wasting an unhealthy amount of time on online research, I have decided not to buy a new car.
I know this may disappoint everyone who generously shared advice and recommendations. Believe me, I listened. At the top of my list were the Lexus GX 550, Toyota Land Cruiser, Toyota Highlander, Rivian R1S and R2, Range Rover Sport, and Tesla Model Y Performance with FSD.
I am sure I would enjoy every one of these vehicles, all conveniently priced between $50,000 and $115,000 out the door. That is also precisely the problem.
A Silver Lining After Returning From Hawaii
Despite returning from 10 days in Honolulu to a completely dead battery, two roadside assistance calls, and two system shutdowns while driving, I am still keeping my car.
In a twist of fate, the January 1, 2026 rain-soaked car fiasco turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
The full battery discharge while I was away appears to have reset the rogue modules causing a parasitic drain. Before I left for my trip, the Low Battery Warning showed up 13 out of 15 cold starts, despite replacing the battery and driving for at least 45 minutes the day before. Since returning, the car has behaved flawlessly. No Low Battery Warning. No ominous “System Will Shut Down in One Minute” message. Twenty clean days and counting.
With the issue seemingly resolved, I am sticking with my 10-year-old car for at least another year, but hopefully three and a half more years. It has just 67,500 miles on it, and I drive only about 6,300 miles a year.
So yes, despite recent mechanical drama, a roaring bull market since 2023, and a recent article on decumulating wealth, I am passing on a new car. I can't bear to give it up after spending all this time and money fixing it. Sunk cost fallacy perhaps? But after finally winning a two-month battle, it's time to enjoy the spoils!
Below are the main reasons why I am unwilling to light tens of thousands of dollars on fire just to enjoy that new-car smell.
Reason #1: I'm Becoming an Old Dog Who Doesn’t Want To Learn Tricks
With a new car, I’d have to learn a whole new interface – how it drives, how the touchscreen works, how to turn on the A/C, and so on. Eventually I’d figure it out, sure. But I’m also the guy who didn’t realize until year five of ownership that my current car has a button to automatically open the trunk and another button to heat the steering wheel. What luxury!
I’m officially turning into my father when it comes to technology. He refuses to upgrade his 1998 Toyota Avalon and I don't want to upgrade my 2015 Range Rover Sport that still has nice-smelling leather seats. It also has Bluetooth, parking sensors, a backup camera, all-wheel-drive, 22” rims, and everything I could ask for.
Reason #2: I Don’t Want the Stress of Driving a Pricey New Car
Spending $60,000 for a Tesla Model Y Performance or $115,000 for a new Range Rover Sport would make me constantly stressed about dings, scratches, and keeping the thing pristine. It’s like wearing a brand-new pair of white sneakers, multiplied by 1,000.
Right now, I can park my 10-year-old car anywhere without a second thought. If it gets dinged or bumped, I shrug. But if a new car gets keyed in a supermarket lot? I’d be pissed. And my happiness is worth way more than that. I've been in my car three times when the neighbor opening their door dinged mine and they couldn’t give two farts. I no longer want to fight these nuances any more.
As dual unemployed parents (DUPS), I already feel pressure to provide. The last thing I need is new-car-stress layered on top of everything else. In fact, the biggest benefit of driving an old car is better mental health! New cars also come with higher insurance rates, which drags down our cash flow.
The Main Reason: Opportunity Cost Of Not Investing Is Too Great
Being comfortable with my old car is nice. Avoiding stress is even nicer. But the number one reason I didn’t replace it is this: Buying a new car now would sabotage a major financial goal.
I’m currently about $20,000 a year in passive income short of my ideal financial independence target. At a 4% withdrawal rate, that means I need at least $500,000 more in invested capital.
Ever since I bought my house on a large lot in 2023, I’ve been working to earn more, save more, and invest better to replace the $150,000 in passive income I lost. I’ve made great progress, in part thanks to a bull market in stocks. Further, two tenant turnovers in 2025 enabled me to reset rents to market rates and meaningfully increase rental income.
So to spend $50,000–$115,000 on a depreciating asset feels like an unforced error. I know the amazing feeling of having 100% of your desired living expenses covered by passive income. That feeling lasted from 2012, when I left work, until 2023. I desperately want to return to that situation.
If I grind for another 1–2 years and the market cooperates, I should reach my passive income goal of $380,000 a year no problem. But slicing off $50k – $115k of capital today would cost me at least: $2,000–$4,600/year in lost passive income, forever.
That puts even more pressure on the stock market to do the heavy lifting, which I'm not bullish on due to valuations. Managing my family’s finances already feels like a full-time job sometimes with 10 investment accounts. I don’t want to drag this out any longer than necessary because I’m already tired.
The Even Bigger Opportunity Cost: My Kids' Finances
It’s hard enough to justify buying a car I don’t absolutely need when I’m trying to hit a big financial goal. This is why I rolled the dice and spent $1,750 to fix the car from cash flow. But when I think about my kids' future, it becomes almost impossible to splurge.
At ages 6 and 8, they have the longest time horizon of all, and therefore the highest compounding potential. Every dollar invested for them today is dramatically more valuable than a dollar invested for me.
And let’s be clear: they’re technically poor. They have no great skills, no jobs, and no ability to generate income, yet they’ll be entering a labor market disrupted by AI. They may very well be underemployed after college and still living at home with us.
The main way I'm hedging is by investing heavily in AI on their behalf.
I’ve already funded a new $200,000 Fundrise Venture account earmarked for them in August 2025. Ideally, I’d like to double the funding, so it has a greater chance to grow into millions by the time they graduate as an insurance policy. Of course I'm not going to tell them they have this insurance policy out of fear of spoiling them.
In addition, I believe there's going to be a 10 percent pullback in the stock market this year. If and when it happens, I want to invest as much as possible for my children's custodial investment accounts. The current gift limit per person is $19,000 or $38,000 if a couple, and we have two children.
This Is Where the Math Gets Serious
If I invest the money I would have spent on a new car instead:
Scenario 1:
Invest $50,000 (Tesla Model Y non-performance model money) for my daughter for 13 years at 8%: -> $50,000 -> ~$136,000. I think she would appreciate $136,000 extra in her custodial investment account after college to launch than sitting in a new Tesla starting from age 6. She's perfectly happy kicking the back of my car's front seats as is.
Scenario 2:
Invest $115,000 (Range Rover Sport money) for 10 years at 8%: -> $115,000 -> $248,000. I think he would appreciate having $248,000 to pursue his career dreams, instead of just go into an industry society considers prestigious.
That’s life-changing money for a kid starting adulthood. It’s not life-changing for me to be driving a nicer vehicle to the supermarket, school, or Lake Tahoe. Honestly, I just want a reliable car that gets me from point A to point B safely.
An 8% rate of return is reasonable. However, if we experience strong runs like we’ve seen since 2023, the absolute dollar gains over 10 years will be even greater. The Innovation fund, for example, returned 43.5% in 2025. The momentum seems there for another great year, although, no guarantees of course.
Once I saw the numbers, it became obvious: It's better to invest for their future than drive a new car that I don't absolutely need.
So instead of selling Treasuries to buy a depreciating asset, I’m rolling expiring Treasuries into traditional venture capital funds investing in AI, plus an open-ended venture fund. I'm also using the money to buy any significant dip of 3% or greater in the stock market.
I'm in the camp that the bigger risk isn't the AI bubble popping, it's missing out on a generational life-changing opportunity near the beginning.
Paying for Repairs Through Cash Flow
So there you have it. The personal finance nerd in me just can’t justify splurging on a new car. I honestly feel stupid doing so when I simply don't value new cars anymore. More than anything else, I value freedom and ensuring our children will be OK
I hope to survive the next year with minimal car problems. If I can just spend just $1,000 – $2,000 a year fixing the car in the future outside of tires, brakes, and oil changes, I will consider it a win. Perhaps if I ever get some type of huge windfall, I'll buy a new car.
But today is the day to continue investing for a brighter future. In the meantime, I'm just going to wash and vacuum my car to make it feel new once more. And you know what? Washing the car worked! Check out the picture below. I feel like I'm driving a new car for free once more.
How do you overcome the guilt of spending on a depreciating asset when you know that money could compound into far more for you and your children in the future? If you’ve found ways to tap principal for a major purchase, rather than relying on cash flow alone, I’d love to hear your strategies.
Suggestions For A More Secure Life
If you care about car safety, you should also care about protecting your family in case something happens to you. Consider an affordable term life insurance policy through Policygenius. My wife and I got matching 20-year term policies at a great rate during the pandemic to protect our two young children, and the peace of mind we feel is priceless.
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I warned the mechanic not to run up a $3000 bill on my Challenger with 192000 miles on it. Well he came back a $1000 and I thought that would be OK. Then he called me back and it went to $2800. I ran the numbers and found that the total cost of ownership was $1000 per month. $400 for maint on used or payment on a new car, $300 for insurance and another $300 on gas. Then I remember seeing 4-5 billboards for liability lawyers coming out of the airport. I can take an average of 40 uber rides per month on that $1000 and use a bike for short trips. Its no longer worth having a car. I went from $12000 a year to $3000 in my first year without a car.
That’s great! It feels so light not having a car.
For us, we need the flexibility of instantly going anywhere as it can be tough always getting ready in time with kids and such. So even though self driving and Ubers are everywhere here in SF, we still want one car for the four of us. We’ve simply got too many activities to go to between all of us, one of which is driving 20 min to go play pickleball or tennis after drop off. That’s a $35-$40 Uber each way.
Don’t buy new cars. 2-3y old with CPO and less than 15k miles. You will be paying ~35% below new price, for a car is effectively new and factory coverage. Best way to minimize cost of ownership.
Having an old car is always cheaper (both in terms of opportunity cost and actual cash flow) and there is no way around it, but you will be missing in things important for your family: safety. Active Cruise Control is a game changer for heavy traffic and a life saver with distractions. Unless you are a maintenance freak and you actually change regularly dampers & suspension bushings, perform alignment regularly, change tires based on age and not only on depth left, brake pads based on compound condition and not only on thickness left, proper brake fluid flushing and replacement every two years… your car is going to perform substantially worse than a new one in an accident avoidance situation.
Performing the maintenance I described (and notice that there is nothing cosmetic about it) costs substantial money and I barely know anyone that is not a car geek that follows it. Something to think about, have you replace your dampers in 10 years?
The longevity of vehicles is starting to astound me, my 2009 Elantra is still going with 270k miles on it. It’s got problems, sure. But it still gets me to work. I’m hoping to get one more year out of it before upgrading to a brand new Elantra. The upgrade will have me feeling like I’m driving a Lexus.
Why buy a more expensive car when you can buy a cheaper car? Your next car will most likely be your kids first car. A manual Fit or hybrid Camry should fit the bill. Insurance will probably drop because they’re cheap and easy to repair. And you’ll have a second car for the 50% of the time your Land Rover is in the shop. I’m sure the LR is amazing the 50% of the time it’s working…
It works 99.9% of the time I’ve owned it since December 2016. It was just one day, January 1, 2026, when it finally went dead and I had to jump start it twice because it died again. My hope is that after fixing crucial parts each year for the past three years, eventually the crucial parts stop needing fixing and it should last another 65,000 miles without a problem. And before then, my son can learn to drive it. Let’s see!
Hi Sam I’m sure you have had this checked but I have a 19 RR sport which has had the low battery pop up on my dash. I drive so little maybe 2.5k miles a year so they may contribute but like you I got a new battery and still had the issue. I take mine in for service every January and I still go to the dealership for the service. I know the service manager from outside the dealership and he said that when NTB or another battery place installs a battery they often don’t know you have to reset the battery setting in computer. Something the dealership does when they install the battery. I have had no messages since.
Like you I have been wanting a brand new Sport model but mine is like new still with only 18k miles on it. Also to some surprise I have had 0 issues outsides oil changes and basic maintenance on mine for 8 years now. So this keeps me from dropping 125k for the V8 as well as not liking the new IPAD screen with no buttons!
I feel you on not wanting on to change when it comes to technology, as my 2 favorite cars have never changed the e46 m3 and the Ferrari 360 CS, I’ve been lucky enough to own both multiple times each so I just kept going back! Almost no technology from a user interface in either of those models.
Good luck on your car journey but like you I’m in my mid 40’s and the irony being these cars are more affordable to me than ever in my life but the desire has waned for them. Glad I experienced them in my late 20’s and early 30’s.
Hi Charles – You’re right about the need to reset the Battery Management System (BMS). So that’s what I asked my local mechanic to do when they installed a new aux battery, which had been dead for like 8 years, hence no auto start stop, which I didn’t know I had either haha.
But the problem of Low Battery kept occurring, so I took it to a Land Rove specialist, who also reset the BMS and fixed a left bank one two warning. But the low battery light still kept coming up, which is why I was at my wits end and getting depressed/frustrated for the month before leaving for Hawaii.
But leaving the car for 10 days undriven and having a full self discharge did wonders! No more parasitic drain or electric gremlins after the rough Jan 1, 2026 outing.
If you haven’t changed your oil in 8 years, you might as well! I’ve got to do my service in 500 miles and get a couple new rear tires ($1,050) today. Ah, the joys of car ownership.
Cool on the Ferrari 360 CS! What do you do?
“the irony being these cars are more affordable to me than ever in my life but the desire has waned for them” this is exactly me. I had a car addiction in my 20s, which I slowly weened off by 34.
See: 8 Cars In 10 Years: I Have A Car Addiction Problem
Awe ok so sounds like your in good hands then with the care of the RR then! Hopefully it treats you well over the next couple years as you can never justify buying a new one from a cost perspective even if you are spending 3-4k a year in service. Simply a want over a need, mental gymnastics that I know too well.
Yeah the 360 CS is a special car I have owned it 2x a Rossa Corsa Red with factory stripe and Giallo Yellow. Hard to believe the car is 22 years old now they look brand new today and have aged so well. I would find it harder to drive today seeing as they are trading for over 500k today! But one of the most analog driving experiences I have experienced in a car that has AC.
I have a ticket brokerage company I started in college back in 99 before the internet got big for retail purchases. Hard to believe its been over 25 years now. I have read your blog for a decade always good quality content like the wall street playboys back in the day. Not all ways for everyone but sometimes the truth hurts.
Cool. It’s actually only been $900 – $1,700 a year in repairs for the past three years, so fingers crossed the cost remains the same.
I wonder what happened to the WSP site. Turned into BowTieBulls or something last time I checked a couple of years ago.
Sounds like a great business you have. So entrepreneurial and awesome to do something outside of the corporate America norm.
A reasonable bargain for maintenance on that for you as that would be 1 month car payment for a new one let alone the depreciation.
Yes, they are the bowtiedbulls now a bit more crypto oriented than I like but the message they deliver is still relevant today.
Right place right time in life and more luck than brains or skill, I was always the 2.75-3GPA student so not showing off and not at the bottom! Turned my love of sports into a business somehow it worked out and I’m forever thankful for the opportunity.
We stopped buying new cars in 2013 (Our 2013 Honda Odyssey that we still own, now with 165K miles), opting instead to purchase used cars with cash.
We bought a 2006 Volvo XC90 for $7K about 5 years ago (just donated that to charity). We bought a 2009 Volvo XC70 for about $6k about 7 years ago now with 180K miles which we still own. And we still have the first new car we bought as a married couple way back in 2003 – a Mazda MPV with 170k miles – still going strong!
When we bought the “new” used cars, I was making $350k to $425K per year, so money wasn’t the issue.
I used to be emotionally attached to vehicles, but not so much anymore. And I don’t care about status, I care about utility.
We’re looking at another purchase in the near future, possibly a 2018 – 2022 Ford Expedition, which will like cost around $25K according to Carvana.
$25,000 sounds like good value. How much are you making now?
A lot of people make buy an expensive new car when their income is high. But when it drops, they still feel they should buy a similar quality or even a more expensive car which causes hardship to their personal finances.
The longer one can own their same car, usually the better for their finances.
Hey Sam! Thank you for sharing. I am in the same boat. Are you still doing consulting calls?
Hi John – Funny you should ask. I just did a consulting call with a couple yesterday and will write up their action plan and send today. I haven’t advertised my services since the winter holidays, but if you’re interested, you can fill out the form at the bottom of my consulting page. I only plan to do two consults a month to provide the best value possible. Cheers