Price Nostalgia

[Goofyernmost]

Yep. Sooo guilty of this one. I do find myself driving the ridiculously expensive car(s)

Many years back when I lived in Northwest Vermont, my wife was attending UMass Boston in pursuit of her Doctorate. I used to commute on weekends to see her. At the same time I had one daughter attending Tulane in New Orleans and the other attending Colorado College in Colorado Springs. Needless to say money was very tight. I drove a 10 year old Dodge Caravan with 140K miles on it. I was always amazed at the number of BMW's, Mercedes and other equally expensive cars that were broken down on the side of the road, while my old Dodge was just like the Energizer Bunny rolling on by them.

I was talking about that one day when I took it in to my mechanic to have some minor repairs done. He said that it wasn't rare that many people bought above their comfort level when it came to cars and that they spent so much on car payments or lease payments that they didn't have money left for regular maintenance. They just ran them until they stopped running and had to find even more money to get it repaired. I don't know if that is true, but, it seemed logical to me.

 

[Master Yoda]

Many years back when I lived in Northwest Vermont, my wife was attending UMass Boston in pursuit of her Doctorate. I used to commute on weekends to see her. At the same time I had one daughter attending Tulane in New Orleans and the other attending Colorado College in Colorado Springs. Needless to say money was very tight. I drove a 10 year old Dodge Caravan with 140K miles on it. I was always amazed at the number of BMW's, Mercedes and other equally expensive cars that were broken down on the side of the road, while my old Dodge was just like the Energizer Bunny rolling on by them.

I was talking about that one day when I took it into my mechanic to have some minor repairs done. He said that it wasn't rare that many people bought above their comfort level when it came to cars and that they spent so much on car payments or lease payments that they didn't have money left for regular maintenance. They just ran them until they stopped running and had to find even more money to get it repaired. I don't know if that is true, but, it seemed logical to me.

I spent a few years working at a Jiffy Lube followed by a BMW/VW/Mazda dealership and I would say that it is at least partially correct.

From my experience at the dealer, BMWs are great cars, but they can be brutally expensive to maintain properly. It is a big part of the reason I do not have one. I saw many a BMW owner stretch things longer than they should where as the Mazda owners kept up with it pretty well. VW was right about in the middle of the two.

My more broader experience at Jiffy Lube seemed to indicate that luxury car owners were the worst when it came to maintaining their cars, but most people were pretty bad at it which I think was just plain ignorance at the time. (it was the late 80's early 90' so pre-internet) I can't tell you how many people I ran into that had no idea that you should change your engine oil, let alone transmision, differential, coolant, etc.

I will never forget a late 80's Nissan Maxima that pulled into the shop with 90k miles and a knocking engine. Turns out I was the first person to ever open the hood.

 

[junglecruise93]

I spent a few years working at a Jiffy Lube followed by a BMW/VW/Mazda dealership and I would say that it is at least partially correct.

From my experience at the dealer, BMWs are great cars, but they can be brutally expensive to maintain properly. It is a big part of the reason I do not have one. I saw many a BMW owner stretch things longer than they should where as the Mazda owners kept up with it pretty well. VW was right about in the middle of the two.

My more broader experience at Jiffy Lube seemed to indicate that luxury car owners were the worst when it came to maintaining their cars, but most people were pretty bad at it which I think was just plain ignorance at the time. (it was the late 80's early 90' so pre-internet) I can't tell you how many people I ran into that had no idea that you should change your engine oil, let alone transmision, differential, coolant, etc.

I will never forget a late 80's Nissan Maxima that pulled into the shop with 90k miles and a knocking engine. Turns out I was the first person to ever open the hood.

I can speak from experience. Am in the midst of a driving restoration of a 1983 Porsche...bought it non-running for next to nothing. The majority of mechanical issues I have tackled are result of a lack of maintenance over the years. Fixed, it is back to just about a bulletproof car. Many friends who have similar vehicles often speak of the lack of regular maintenance that has been done - I am sure it is due to what the Master says above...

 

[jloucks]

Many years back when I lived in Northwest Vermont, my wife was attending UMass Boston in pursuit of her Doctorate. I used to commute on weekends to see her. At the same time I had one daughter attending Tulane in New Orleans and the other attending Colorado College in Colorado Springs. Needless to say money was very tight. I drove a 10 year old Dodge Caravan with 140K miles on it. I was always amazed at the number of BMW's, Mercedes and other equally expensive cars that were broken down on the side of the road, while my old Dodge was just like the Energizer Bunny rolling on by them.

I was talking about that one day when I took it into my mechanic to have some minor repairs done. He said that it wasn't rare that many people bought above their comfort level when it came to cars and that they spent so much on car payments or lease payments that they didn't have money left for regular maintenance. They just ran them until they stopped running and had to find even more money to get it repaired. I don't know if that is true, but, it seemed logical to me.

I suspect you are spot on. Fortunately, I have a line in the family budget for maintenance. With the teens in the house, I have a rather large fleet (5 vehicles), and surprises are always popping up. Now, I am a moderately skilled mechanic and can do pretty much everything up to the complexity of a master cylinder. That saves a ton of dough. But, yea, there are other things I lack the tools or skills for that would really sting anybody without a budget for such things. I have an old dodge diesel that is still going like new (2004). The paint all fell off tho, lol. Looking into painting it myself. Should be fun. I actually spend more time on car forums than the Disney forums

 

[jloucks]

I can speak from experience. Am in the midst of a driving restoration of a 1983 Porsche...bought it non-running for next to nothing. The majority of mechanical issues I have tackled are result of a lack of maintenance over the years. Fixed, it is back to just about a bulletproof car. Many friends who have similar vehicles often speak of the lack of regular maintenance that has been done - I am sure it is due to what the Master says above...

Nice car! I am thinking about getting an old C4 Corvette or Porsche to rebuild with my son. The little voice in my head is telling me not to get my kid a Porsche or Vette right out of the gate tho.

Porsches are my fav sport car, specifically the 911. But, out of my price range. I opted for a Corvette C7 Z51 3LT instead. Also, the quality of Porsche is amazing. Only car, imho, higher quality than Toyota. I think BMW and Mercedes are cars you do not want to own out of warranty (that statement was edited several times to lower the snark level )

 

[Prog]

Now post the difference in Universal's ticket prices, your car/home insurance, and your property taxes.

Welcome to life.

We're talking about five years here.

Also, ask any economist how much inflation there's been lately. Spoiler alert: not that much

 

[The Mom]

Perhaps people can move their argumetnts about whether there is economic social injustice to the correct forum? And maybe start a new thread on car maintenance?

Please stay on topic. Thank you.