Automobiles

While visiting my parents in Honolulu this past winter, I ended up driving my dad’s 28-year-old beater for eight days. He bought that Toyota Avalon new in 1997—back when I was a college sophomore and he was stationed in Guangzhou, China for the U.S. Foreign Service. I’ve known this car nearly as long as he […]

Let’s look at the cheapest to most expensive car brands to maintain long term. A car is both a necessity and a luxury. With ongoing maintenance costs, ideally, we own the cheapest car brand to maintain that’s also a joy to drive. Amidst a recent whirlwind of car maintenance expenses with my trusty nine-year-old Range

New luxury car prices are way too high

In December 2016, I purchased a 2015 Range Rover Sport with 10,800 miles. At the time, I had been driving a Honda Fit but sought a larger vehicle as my wife was expecting in early 2017. Today the car has 52,500 miles. During the purchase, the option to acquire an extended car warranty was presented,

I used to think that owning a 10-year-old vehicle was a wonderful financial accomplishment. It signaled frugality, discipline, and appreciation for what you have. However, the latest average age of U.S. vehicles from an S&P 500 Global Mobility report shows Americans are keeping their vehicles much longer than ten years or buying older vehicles on

As someone who wants to buy a new car this year, given my car is 10 years old, I’m having second thoughts. With the average new car price at almost $50,000, it seems like only the rich can buy new cars today! Think about it. If you follow my 1/10th rule for car buying, you

A recent experience made me realize the best time to own the nicest car you can afford is when you have children. The nicer the car, the safer the car usually is. Although there’s a nice mental health benefit to driving an old beater, I’m willing to spend up as a father in my 40s

If you’re thinking about driving a cheap old car, I think you should. The benefits of driving one far outweigh the joy of driving an expensive new car. Something disappointing happened on the last day of our Lake Tahoe vacation. After loading up the car I swung around to the driver’s side. There, I saw

Before I was addicted to real estate, I was addicted to cars. At one point, I had owned eight cars over a 10-year period. And out of those eight cars, one was considered a luxury automobile: the Mercedes G500. Buying a G-Wagon in 2002 was one of my biggest financial regrets. Thankfully, once I became