Well folks, the time has finally come to buy a new car. After buying eight cars in my first ten years out of college thanks to my former car addition, I now dread the idea. All I want is to drive one car forever to save time, hassle, and money.
However, my 2015 Range Rover Sport, which I bought in December 2016 with only 10,600 miles, is starting to have one problem too many. Yeah, yeah, I know. Land Rovers are notorious for maintenance issues. But at least I had a nice nine-year run so far, right? I think so.
The average monthly cost of owning the car, including all repairs, comes out to about $555. That feels reasonable for what it is and how much I’ve enjoyed driving it. I don’t regret spending $60,000 after tax for the car nine years ago at all. So a part of me wants to buy another luxury car for the next 10 years.
Switching cars every 10 years is my ideal ownership cycle. With constant improvements in safety and technology, a decade feels just about right.
The Latest Problem With My Car
The other day the check engine light came on again. I ended up spending $600 to replace an oxygen sensor and an oil gasket. The oil drips were obvious on my driveway.
At the same time, I started getting a “Battery Low” warning every other day. Huh? I had just spent ~$500 replacing the main battery in 2024, after eight years of usage. It should easily last another five years, at least.
So I drove the car around hoping to recharge it. Then, one morning, right before driving my kids to Daddy Day Camp for tennis and swimming, I got the most ominous message yet:
“Warning, system will shut down in 1 minute.”
WTF?
Instead of pulling out of the driveway and risking a shutdown on the road, I just sat there idling for a couple minutes. Nothing happened. But the warning rattled me. I felt like I was on a rocket ship, ready for it to explode.
Total Cost To Fix So Far This Year: $1,115
When I took the car back to my local mechanic, they found the smaller auxiliary battery was dead. This is the battery that controls the auto start-stop function, door sensors, trunk, and other electrical components.
What annoyed me was that in 2024 I had specifically told them there were two batteries to replace. They said they only found one. Ah, the downside of saving money and not going to a Land Rover specialist. But boy, does the dealership charge a premium. Further, the shop wasn't a walkable distance home.
All in, I spent $1,115 replacing the auxiliary battery and fixing the oxygen sensor and oil gasket. Totally manageable, if these were the only issues for the past 1 year and 10 months since I last visited the ship. Unfortunately, one more potential issue remains: an EVAP air leak.
To Continue Fixing Or Not
The mechanic said they weren’t sure replacing the oil gasket fully solved the leak, since oil was visible at both the top and bottom of the engine. They recommended driving for a month and coming back for a free check. If oil still leaked, I’d need a specialist who might have to remove the transmission or something similar. Labor alone: over $3,000.
And if there was still an oil leak at that point, they advised not spending another $1,000+ to fix the EVAP leak. At that stage I might be facing $5,000 in work for a ten-year-old car worth less than $20,000.
I could easily keep driving the car with a small oil leak and an EVAP air leak for another year, but it’s not ideal. Eventually, I’ll need to pass a smog check in two years, and if the EVAP leak isn’t fixed, the car won’t pass.
Care Less About Luxury or Looks In A Car
As a father now, my number one priority is safety. Reliability is part of safety. I once owned a classic 1989 BMW 635 CSi that did shut down completely as I drove into a Best Buy parking lot. Brakes, electrical, engine – everything died at once. Never again.
Here are the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety safest cars. Rivian RS1, Audi Q7, Infiniti QX80, Tesla Model Y, and Volvo XC 90 are some top SUV safety picks.
Since I value my time more than anything these days, I want the most reliable car possible. My mechanic is close by, so I just walk home after dropping the car off after dropping off the kids at school. But doing this year after year is getting old. It's been three years in a row that there's been something to fix.
After reliability and safety, then I’ll look at performance and looks. I bought the Range Rover Sport in 2016 because it looked great and could drive to Tahoe in winter without putting on chains. But now it may be time to say goodbye.
Want Another Range Rover, But Not For The Price
Although I think the new Range Rover Sports are beautiful and come with a 4-year, 50,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty, spending $110,000 out the door for this model feels egregious as dual unemployed parents. If I lease it for three years, it would cost about $1,133 – $1,587 / month if I put $0 down up to $15,000 down.
If one of us worked in big tech making $1+ million a year or at a hot AI startup like OpenAI, spending six figures on a car might seem reasonable. But for us, we’d have to sell some Treasury bonds to afford it.
Our cash flow doesn’t allow for such a purchase under my 1/10th rule for car buying, and I'm a stickler for following my own financial independence rules.
That said, after purchasing our forever home in 2023, getting a new RRS would still fall well within my recommended House-to-Car ratio guideline. And this guideline is arguably the most important car-related rule for helping people achieve financial independence sooner.
The Most Reliable Cars: Toyota, Honda, and Tesla
Research shows the most reliable brands are Toyota, Lexus, Honda, Acura, and Tesla. European cars look great, but they eat your wallet alive.
Tesla has the best EV tech and least maintenance since there are fewer parts and no fluids. Full Self Driving is tempting, although it’s $8,000 extra if you don’t get a Model X. Still, a Tesla Model 3 or Model Y feels like the sensible choice, and prices have dropped.
The downside is that Tesla designs are getting long in the tooth and need a refresh. Also, the $7,500 instant EV credit disappeared at the end of October 2025. The good news is Tesla is offering incentives: a $6,500 credit on leases plus one free $2,000 upgrade.
The funny thing? My house already has a Tesla fast charger built in. Plus, I’ve got more than 21 solar panels on the roof. Charging would often be free during the day.
So the most obvious replacement for my 2015 Range Rover Sport seems to be a Tesla Model Y for about $48,000 out the door. A three-year lease with zero down is about $650 a month. What do you think? It would feel great to utilize more of the features of my house.
We Also Love Hondas
Since I no longer care about luxury European cars, Toyota and Honda are looking attractive again. I had a Honda Civic back in 2002–2003, and loved it. But as a 25-year-old finance employee in San Francisco, I eventually wanted something nicer, so I upgraded to a BMW M3 and later a Land Rover Discovery II.
Wow, today’s Honda Civics look fantastic. The Civic Sport runs about $28,000 before taxes and fees, roughly $31,000 out the door. It feels steep for a Civic, but these cars are incredibly reliable. My only concern? Safety. A smaller car might not hold up as well in a collision.
That’s why I’m also eyeing the Honda CR-V Sport. Clean design, roomy interior, AWD for Tahoe trips, about $38,000. Not bad, but the interior feels cheap compared to my Range Rover.
Toyota Could Be The Winner
Then I looked at a Toyota Land Cruiser and the Lexus GX 550, which is basically a more luxurious Land Cruiser for a few thousand dollars more. Prices run $72,000–$80,000 pre-tax, which feels hefty. Maybe the Toyota 4-Runner is the better-size car, priced at about $51,000.
The Civic and CR-V Sport are economical and reliable, and they don’t stand out. With my Range Rover Sport, I occasionally felt a little embarrassed in the early years, as it drew attention. Now, ten years later, I don’t feel that way at all. In fact, it’s cheaper than many new Civics, Corollas, Camrys, and Accords.
So Many Year-End Incentives, So Little Desire To Buy
What’s funny is that I could easily negotiate a lower price at any dealer, especially at the end of the year. But I don’t feel the same thrill I did in my 20s when I bought and sold cars for fun.
Honestly, all I want is to pay another $1,300 or so to fix the EVAP leak and have the Range Rover behave for two more years. The car only has 66,500 miles. My kids can kick the seats all they want. Door dings? Fine. Scratches? No problem.
There’s something peaceful about driving an older car that you don’t worry about damaging. But I’m not convinced the Range Rover's problems will slow down. I’ve already replaced the vacuum pump, water pump, PCV valve, both batteries, oil gasket, oxygen sensor, and more. And still new issues cropped up.
Help Me Decide My Next Car
Pretend you are me: a 48-year-old dad with two young kids in San Francisco. You care about safety and reliability above all else. Annual mileage driven is about 6,500. You're unemployed and fly Basic Economy. But you have about $360,000 a year in passive income after 26 years of saving and investing that covers almost all your after-tax living expenses. Finally, the car is a business expense.
Which car would you buy or lease?
- Stick with an economy or mid-size vehicle? Model Y, Toyota Camry, Honda Civic, Honda Accord, Toyota 4-Runner
- YOLO and get a luxury car again? Range Rover Sport, Toyota Land Cruiser, Lexus GX 550, Rivian RS1
- Or just keep fixing the 2015 Range Rover for $1,100–$3,000 a year, hope it doesn't break down, and drive it into the ground?
My original goal was to keep the car until my son learns to drive in 2031 at age 15. If he dings it, no big deal. But I doubt the car will last that long without expensive repairs. And if we move to Hawaii in 2029, I would hate to overspend on a car only to sell it soon after.
Please share what you drive and what you’d recommend. What type of car do you drive, how much does it cost, and is it reliable? Thanks!
Car Fixing Update From My Mechanic
I got my car checked at the dealer on December 2, 2025, and they confirmed there were no oil leaks, hooray! They also reprogrammed the Battery Monitoring System (BMS), which they likely forgot to do the first time in 2024, and then again in 2025 when they changed the auxiliary battery.
Whenever a new battery is installed, the BMS has to be reset so it knows a new battery is in place, including its capacity, type, and resetting the state of health to 100%. If this isn’t done, the system still thinks the old weak battery is installed, which can limit charging, trigger low-battery warnings, and cause other electronics to stop working.
I finally took my car to a Land Rover specialist on December 6 to fix the EVAP air leak. They ran a full diagnostic and told me the problem wasn’t an EVAP air leak after all. It was lean bank one and lean bank two codes, which basically means the engine wasn’t getting the right air-to-fuel mixture. Not great news, but at least it was news. I paid $732 to get that sorted out. I hope the check engine light doesn't come back on for an EVAP air leak according to my generalist auto mechanic, otherwise, that's another $900 to fix.
Battery / Electrical Issue Still Persists
While they were at it, the specialist also reset my battery management system again. I drove away hoping this would finally do the trick.
Nope. The very next day the dreaded LOW BATTERY warning lit up my dashboard again, as if the car were mocking me.
So I went back to my original mechanic, who agreed to replace the battery under warranty (AC DELCO, AGM battery). They swapped in a new one in under an hour, and I genuinely thought, Okay, this has to be it.
Still no luck. The same ominous warning message keeps popping up like a bad dream I can’t wake from. I learned it can take 2-5 driving cycles, totaling 60 minutes for the BMS to fully recognize you have a new, 100% charged battery, and to stop giving you a “Low Battery” warning. So I'm hopeful after driving for 70 minutes on the freeway on Dec 7, 2025. Every morning trying to start the car is like playing the lottery.
At this point, I’ve dumped about $1,900 into the car over the past month, and the electrical gremlins are still running the show. I’m completely out of ideas and feel financially hopeless. I’m just going to step back, stop throwing good money after bad, and revisit the situation in 2026 with a clearer head. Let’s just hope the car lasts another two weeks before I go on my trip.
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I am embarrassed to write in a public forum the amount time I spent debating about luxury vs utility “look” with two younger children. I ultimately landed with the Grand highlander because I couldn’t justify the Lexus equivalent (TX?) – same chassis, same build and same company really. It felt like I was just going to spend more for the logo on front and maybe some extra electric vs manual pulls in the interior. I’m not sure if this helps with your decision making bit since this site has always had a FIRE bend narrative, but the Toyota equivalent “felt” like the “right” decision for me and my family, whatever that means. I’m also not a major car person, would rather take the “saved” $10K and put it towards a splurge fund.
Thanks for sharing! I love Toyotas and the Grand Highlander is very nice. I’m more of a car person, so I appreciate more of a sportier and aggressive look.
I have a very high opinion of the Toyota/Lexus V6 and V8 engines.
Compacts are small and not very comfortable so I would definitely get an Accord over a Civic or a Passport/Pilot over a CRV
We bought a 2 year used CPO Honda Pilot EX-L for $30k with 10,000 miles on it. Great family road trip car.
I have a 19 year old Lexus with about 77k miles on it. still going strong! I can’t say enough good things about Toyota and Lexus vehicles.
Sam – I HATE cars and all the expenses they come with. But, I like to drive something reasonable. I have a 2016 Range Rover sport, she only has 67k miles on her, I hope to get another 5 years from her.
Over the years, I’ve noticed she self-fixes, she’s brilliant. Recently, when I lock her I have my setting set to fold down the side mirrors and lock the car without any noises. A couple months ago, she stopped folding the side mirrors and instead gave me a ‘beep’, which I assumed was my trigger the doors were locked. Doors still locked, so I was less annoyed. But, the ‘beep’ bugged the shit out of me. I tried to see if my preferences were adjusted, but everything looked right. This went on for about a month, then randomly, she started to obey and continued to fold down the side mirrors, locked the dooors without the beep. Either the Universe was teaching me a lesson in patience and acceptance, or my buggy was self-correcting. Either or, she’s back to normal.
And yes, my next ride will be another Range Rover sport, probably a couple years used, low miles and a long life ahead of her.
Good luck with you buggy, she’s not a bad girl, she’s just testing you.
Have a great weekend.
Tony
Kia Telluride. Many people talk about it being Range Rover esk. So much safety and bells and whistles, Car and driver 10/10. Kia also at 0% interest now. Get the V6 in the 2025 while you can now, new model will adopt a buggy unreliable turbo.
If I were you I would get a Toyota first a hybrid specifically, the Grand Highlander, not the Land Cruiser or the Lexus, all you’re paying for there is status great cars but inflated for what you get is the same thing as a Toyota. My 2015 Highlander has been the best car and before that I had a Sienna I am intrigued by the Rivian SUV would it would work with your Tesla set up? I would rather eat trash than give Elon one red cent of my money.
I like the Highlander, but I also like to have more joy when I’m driving. Status doesn’t matter. I left my job over 13 years ago and I’m used to having no status.
I would rather have freedom and fun!
In all of your analysis you continue to ignore the danger of SUVs…20% more likely to die…if you only search safest suv, you will never see the difference between sedan and suv. The marketing is so strong rn that parents think they are safer when in fact you are moving your children into a more dangerous vehicle. The most important factor for me is which class of automobile has the fewest fatalities. I was surprised when I learned it is not SUV.
Thank you. So what do you recommend then? Let’s provide solutions when you disagree to help.
Please send me some resources on “20% or more likely to die”… and in comparison to what and in what scenarios.
Appreciate it!
Hi Sam,
Long time loyal reader of your site and weekly news update. Saw you are considering buying a new car, we recently entered a 36 month lease of the new Tesla model Y and we are blown away by how good this car (or product) is along with the FSD capabilities, it truly feels like the best robot out there and we now can’t live without the FSD for our daily commute. It can achieve point to point fully autonomous driving for us, the monthly lease we paid is very reasonable. It also impacts our investment views on the technology and more, we highly recommend you to try it out with FSD.
Ben
Model Y all day. Performance Y awaits 12/30. Tesla covers the battery for 8 years and very little maintenance. You already have solar – slam dunk.
Hi Sam-
How does depreciation fit into your theory and calculations. One of the true paradoxes of wealth in our time is the surprising reality some very expensive cars that the wealthy are able to purchase can actually even appreciate (although rarely). One example are collector models that some can purchase at msrp but dealers and resellers often have a “market adjustment” that adds up to six figures to the price. These customers can drive the car a few years and then sell for more than they paid!
I’ve heard some vintage car collectors talk about “parking” money in a car- essentially they can own a car for the cost of insurance, maintenance and storage for a number of years then when they sell (sometimes even at a higher price) they get 100%+ of the purchase price back. Of course, as your point out the real cost has been the opportunity cost of not investing that cash in the bull market.
Leaving these special cars aside – it remains true that some models (at all price levels) depreciate more than others. EVs seems to be the worst offenders right now along with certain luxury cars. A 100k+ Lucid or Rivian might be worth 50% after only 1-2 years. At the opposite end, many 10-20 year old vehicles are “fully depreciated” in real money terms- not just an accounting basis. Owning a new high trim R1S probably costs about 2k/mo in depreciation alone.
Should a line item for depreciation be in there along with fuel, insurance, parking etc in the calculation to stay below 10% of annual income? If you keep the car “forever” depreciation becomes mostly irrelevant and you’re just back to opportunity cost… of course the business use case and claiming depreciation expense changes things entirely!
Love to hear your thoughts! I enjoy your musings (and spreadsheets!) on these topics.
I feel your pain on the car – we (family of four, 10 yo son and 6 yo girl) are our trading in our car for a new one. After exhaustive search and negotiating with 6 dealerships, we landed on a 2025 Toyota 4runner (the sr5 base model) in the underground color. Yes, the interior is as basic as they come, but we opted for the third-row option (only $700 more). Plus, there is comfort in knowing the 4runner likely will run forever. Plus, we live in the Pacific NW and it’s just a very practical car for the conditions up here (though admittedly, we do a lot of mall crawling and just occasional off roading/snow driving).
The bummer is that I had to sell some bitcoin holdings for the down payment, and of course it might be the worst timing for that.
Good luck on your car journey,
DB
At age 67 I recently traded my poor man’s mid-life crisis car – a 2008 Infiniti G35X with 160k. Overall it was a great car but was developing electrical and other gremlins. The car buying experience was about as fun and exciting as a colonoscopy. Wow, times have changed!
What did you trade it in for?
PS drove my first Volvo 495,000 miles. Replaced battery once …
Amazing! It makes my 66,500 miles so far on my Range Rover seem new. It also makes the situation a little bit more pathetic that I want to give up on the car with so low mileage and only 10.5 years of age.
In retrospect though, would you have been happier if you bought another fun car sooner?
9 years later, I don’t regret for one second buying my RRS. It was a joy to drive.
I’d like to add a thought on a good way not to waste time when buying a car. I shopped around first and checked Consumer Reports, etc..
I then test drove cars I was interested in and checked online for best prices at dealers within 30 miles and once I had a best internet price and the window sticker sticker I was able to order a new car with all I wanted at the best price. Although I had to wait for delivery it was the best experience.
I grewup only affording $100-$200 Rovers, MG’s & Austin Healeys that bno-one could keep tuned.
Since 2000 the family has been though 4 Sequoias, 3 4Runners (all used & all lasted over 200k miles). All were deductible business expenses, including the wife’s 3yr leases on several terrible Cadillacs SUV’s
My 2013 180Kmile Ram 1500 is still going strong, but anticipating it’s demise I bought 2 ’24 iMax hybrid Tudra’s for real estate & heavy towing work. My wife went with a ‘24 Telluride, but didn’t want to go on a waiting list so brought $15,000 cash & a bank check for the Telluride a customer had just declined the purchase of.
We are downsizing our RE portfolio socould pay cash for all the vehicles. I Sect 179’d the trucks, as they do eventually pay for themselves.
We still have our ’95 Mustang GT Convertible (bought in ’97 $15k) with just 25kmiles.
I would avoid Toyota’s vehicles built in Mexico. They feel plasticly/cheap compared to the earlier years that were built in Japan.
Once you’ve picked the vehicle you want, you can do most of your negotiation remotely via email. The only times you need to go to the dealership are to let them evaluate your trade-in (if applicable) and then when you pick up the new ride. Being out of the building gives you significant leverage. And, be patient, wait until the last business day of their month to finalize your deal. To do this effectively, you’ll want to begin dialog a couple of weeks earlier. In 2024, I walked into my BMW dealer at 4 pm on 12/3,1 and I was the last deal of the year, securing a massive discount on my CPO BMW X3 m40i.
Good point about doing most of the negotiating over email or maybe text message. It is definitely more stressful doing the negotiating in person.
I was in the process of negotiating, or really getting all the financial details for a Range Rover sport 2025 beauty. It was black on black on black.
But after two days, when I followed up, he said the car was sold. So we didn’t even get to the stage of howling down on Price. How sad.
But I guess with a couple more weeks left in the year, I still have a chance. But we are gonna go to Hawaii for 10 days at the end of the month so I’m not gonna buy a nice car before our trip.
A few thoughts on this deal:
-Doesn’t look like you’re getting a discount on the 2025 they were offering you and the 2026s start arriving within a month or so- might give your more choices. On that thought, if you’re paying full price and can’t find one equipped exactly how you want it, maybe consider ordering one to your specs?
-If you aren’t super picky about specs, have you looked at what’s available in terms of CPO inventory for current gen RRS? If you find a 2023 model (first year of current style), one nice thing is that they had physical climate controls (for some reason, those got removed for the 24+MY). From what i’ve seen, you can probably get one for somewhere in the 70s.
-If leasing, dont do a down payment (other than the required drive offs such as DMV fee, taxes, etc). The reason is that you dont really save all that much in terms of interest costs and the downside is that you forgo some of the benefit of the “gap insurance” that most leases come with. Basically, the gap insurnace will pay the difference between whatever your insurance pays out in a total loss and what is owed to the finance company. So, you’ll lose whatever you put down in that scenario.
Nice tip on doing zero down payment for the lease. Thanks.
Regarding the best price, yes, I’m just sharing the prices they initially offered. But if and when I decide it’s time to buy, I will negotiate aggressively like always.
I know I can get them down a lot, I just don’t have the energy at the moment during year end. But ironically, the best deals are probably at year end as the new models come out as you say.
Sam, the model Y is a great car. I have a 2021 model Y performance and it still drives very well. The only maintenance is changing car tires and adding the window washer fluid.
My mom is in the market for a new car so I went to test drive different cars with her. She is torn between the Toyota BZ ev and the model Y basic. The downside of both is that the seats are half fabric. Toyota was even running a rebate or $3.5k on EVs and 0% financing for 72 months. The car was $40k before tax and the model Y is $38k before tax. She’s been deciding for months. Have you considered the Toyota Bz? The size is practically same as Model Y. But of course, if getting an EV, maybe might as well get a Tesla. I also test drove the new model Y and the FSD on that car is much better than on my older model Y. It drives better than my mother. Lol
I bought my first new vehicle in 2007 which was a Toyota Sienna which I still have and runs great. It has 305k miles! I bought another Sienna in 2019 and it has 125k miles on it. We also have a used 2012 Camry with 185k miles. For reliability and longevity you can’t beat a Toyota.
Sam you can learn a lot of vehicle repair on YouTube. I work on all my cars and learned mostly everything from YouTube and saved a lot of money over the years. Buying a new vehicle from stealership is the worst!
I would fix the evap leak. I recently fixed an evap leak on my 2002 BMW 325 XI.
A new gas cap didint fix it….It turned out to be the valve on the chacoal cannister.
it was a 150.00 to replace it or there about.
Man, $150 is cheap! I was getting quoted for $900.
The thing is, I brought it to a Land Rover Specialist that I went to before (more expensive), and he said the computer DIDN’T register it was an EVAP leak, but a lean bank 1 and 2 code. So I fixed that… which cost $732 after tax. Ugh. So now I don’t know whether there is truly an EVAP leak or not, or whether the check engine light will come on for it at a later date.
Endless…
Toyota Sienna with AWD, or a Grand Highlander.
Most common cause of an Evap system leak is the gas cap.
True. Buy a new one if twisting it tightly doesn’t work?
Buy a used police car at an auction. Good value with high performance. Make sure it has the police/taxi package. Good luck