Browsing tag: cars

Is it worth buying a manual car? You can push start them in a pinch if they won’t start.

How long should we register it for? It’s cheaper overall to buy a full year’s registration upfront … but what are the odds this car is going to last that long?

How much should we put in the tank this week? If this is the week it dies….

Seriously, I swear every one of our past clunkers gave up when on a relatively full tank, or was put out of action for an extended period of time with lots of petrol in the tank.

I do NOT miss the constant stress of owning a beater – rattling around with multiple things falling apart, only ever being about one repair away from scrapping the whole thing. When just one more would be the last straw tipping it over the edge to not-worth-it. O 

This may as well have been our anthem.

One of the best things about earning more is being able to afford a much better vehicle that doesn’t give us cause to worry .

I’m not happy that we needed to replace two tyres this month (are our wheels just magnets for nails?!) but very grateful that we passed the WOF check (our 2nd in this car!) with no drama, and are good for another year.

Taking out a car loan when your partner is basically unemployed and you’re living on one income. Sounds like the worst idea ever and the start of a judgey Reddit thread, right?

Yet that is just what we did.

I kept trying to hold out until T got a steady job, but eventually both the safety and reliability of our car deteriorated to alarming levels. We’re a one-car household and public transport will never be a viable option for BOTH of our commutes so it’s vital that we are able to rely on our vehicle. T needed to be able to get to job interviews and to start work at the drop of a hat.

It was a bad catch 22 – needing a car to earn money but needing money to pay for a car. I’ve said before that our strategy of buying cars we can afford in cash has not worked out well in the past – thus, the loan, despite the terrible, terrible timing.

A photo posted by egesther (@egesther) on Apr 26, 2015 at 9:45pm PDT

Our car-buying process

The last (and only time) I discussed our car issues with my mother, her advice was succinct: go for something in the $10k plus range, as cheap cars have always turned out to be money pits for us. Both her and my dad did and I don’t recall them ever having issues with their cars growing up. The difference of course is they had the cash to do that, and we don’t.

Much as I’d like the peace of mind of a brand new car, there just weren’t any good finance deals around (Subaru had 0% and 3 lump sum payments, Mitsubishi had some good driveaway prices, but not for models we had any interest in). So we took a punt on the used market again, just higher up the price ladder. The one small comfort was that we know more about cars than ever before and T knows car sales from the inside out now.

Looking in the $15k range (give or take) we were looking at cars falling roughly along two lines: 4 to 6-year-old cars with 80,000 to 100,000 plus km through to 10-year-old cars with 50,000 plus km, and everything in between. Basically, the best case choices split between newer model, higher ks and older model, lower ks. The older cars are usually Japanese imports, while the newer ones are occasionally New Zealand new (and thus with a full history).

T zeroed in on a few different specific models; narrowing down our choices made things easier in some ways and harder in others. He loves driving, does 99.9 percent of the driving, and needs to be happy with whatever car we have (and let’s face it, it’s really the only decision he gets majority say in – I’m the boss on everything else). It’s got to be big enough and hardy enough to handle him – a little 1300cc is not going to work for space or engine power.  Being a gearhead he’s very specific about particular models and year ranges and knows all the little differences – features and problems alike.

In the end we set our sights on a Mazda – possibly an Atenza but ideally a 6 (the Mazda 6 is the NZ version).

The Subaru Legacy was another contender, but it’s difficult to find a lightly used Subaru without ridiculously high mileage, and being the most stolen cars in NZ, insurance is higher on them.

(Toyotas are famously awesome for reliability but expensive as they don’t tend to depreciate as fast. Also, he doesn’t like any of their current models – last time we were car hunting he would have killed for a Caldina wagon but apparently the later years are definitely off the list.)

Random thought aside: I feel like I don’t seem to see many Hondas or Nissans around Auckland anymore. Growing up there were tons of Civics, Integras,  Accords, Pulsars, and Primeras on the roads – these days the models have changed of course, but anecdotally the makes just don’t seem as common.

Closing the deal

So, what did we have to compromise on? In the end, we went for newer with higher mileage – a 2011 wagon with a little over 100,000 km. It’s an ex-lease car with a full service history that’s had regular maintenance, all documented.

(I gotta say, it took a while to get used to the quiet engine. None of the rougher rattling, shaking or ticking kind of sounds we’re used to.)

I’d read a little bit about negotiating with sales people at dealerships online, but it was truly bizarre sitting through the process. It actually happens – writing down the price you want to pay on a sheet of paper, then sitting and waiting for the rep to take the offer to the manager. I was super tense the whole time, convinced they were out to get us, but it really wasn’t that bad. I’d even go as far as to say that the rep didn’t really seem into it – maybe their commissions are small. He was definitely not overly pushy.

If I recall right, we got a little over 10 percent knocked off, paying $16,000. Compared to what similar cars, even private sales, were going for, it was a very good price.

Getting finance

It’s funny how things work out. I was determined to shut down any attempts to sell me on dealership finance, and yet…

1. The AA completely disappointed me. In their pre-approval email they gave me absolutely no details beyond the fact that I was pre-approved for a loan. I had to hit reply asking what my interest rate would be, and it wasn’t the best one they advertise.

2. My bank was the complete opposite – what a great experience! I was actually almost excited about the whole thing. A banker called me up, went through every little detail with me, took the time to make sure I understood everything, and was incredibly patient.

3. But the dealer in fact bettered the offer through their finance company. (There was slightly less flexibility around making extra repayments – however, given our situation, it was highly unlikely we’d be in the position to make extra repayments any time soon.) Also, going through them meant the whole process would be quicker, which was a bonus.

Incidentally, I had to laugh at this:

For every instance of a car loan “horror story”, how many people have no trouble or regrets about financing their car? You aren’t going to have a bunch of threads titled “Two years ago I bought a nice car, negotiated a good deal on it, put down a sizeable down payment, had excellent credit and secured a low interest loan and I couldn’t be happier!”.

(Yes, I have become a Reddit addict. Reddict?)

Plenty of my PF blog friends have borrowed for cars in order to get something reliable and on the newer side, and done so responsibly. Ideally nobody would ever take out a loan for a car, but we don’t live in an ideal world.

I won’t say it’s the best financial decision I’ve ever made, but it’s definitely far from the worst one.

I set the car loan up as an 18-month loan, so payments were rather high with the aim of killing the debt all the quicker. But halfway through, thanks to my new job, I decided to pay it off. That monkey is now off my back.

It’s the best vehicle-related decision I’ve made to date. Our car hasn’t given us any trouble and will hopefully give us many more stress free motoring years.

BONUS: having a car this new reduces our annual registration costs by heaps.

We’ve always paid cash for our cars, with the exception of our second car (a strategy I think we’re going to buck for our next car, which will hopefully last us a minimum of 10 years). Based on our automotive history, I have drawn the conclusion that every $1000 spent = 1 year of life.

Car 1: Red Mazda 626 sedan, $1500

I remember the bank teller looking at me all sideways when I said the cash I was withdrawing was for a car. “Half a car,” I hastily lied, to get him off my back. It served us for probably a little over a year before the gearbox totally gave up.

In between car: We also had a freebie white Corolla hatch worth next to nothing for a few months that helped bridge the gap between the first and second car. I don’t actually remember how it came into our lives/who gave it to us or what specifically happened to it. 

Car 2: White Toyota Levin coupe, $3000

This was all T’s car – his chance to fulfill his desire to have a ‘cool’ car, and learn an expensive lesson in the process. Thanks to this car, we also learned how dang useless the police can be sometimes when it comes to car accidents. I’m really proud of T for going to court and coming out with the result we wanted (in a nutshell: the cops at the scene screwed up, basically tried to lay blame on him rather than the other party, and we refused to lie down and let them walk over us). This one didn’t quite make it to 3 years – maybe 2, actually.

Car 3: White Mazda Familia hatch, $1800

Left in the lurch and scrambling for a vehicle, we wound up with this little thing – again, all we could afford at the time. It is, I think the only car to break down on the road and actually strand us to date. This also remains the only car we’ve ever had that was in an accident where we actually wound up getting damages fixed at the other party’s expense. Unfortunately the engine and rust issues only got worse and eventually proved too much; we farewelled the car not too long after that incident (shiny new back bumper and all). I’d say this lasted us close to a couple of years.

Car 4: Silver Mazda Familia wagon, $4500

Our most expensive car – and the newest we’d ever bought, only being about 12 years old with barely 100,000km when we got it. Also the only car that ever managed to get through a warrant of fitness with no issues at all – you get what you pay for. It was still a pretty old car though, so that lovely streak didn’t last and after one or two warrants, we were back to the stressful cycle of expensive fixes every  6 months in an effort to get it to pass. It also has a weird ghost problem (to do with the tyres/steering/alignment)  that nobody has ever been able to fix.  Nothing that’s terribly off, just an annoying niggle – the pea to T’s princess, if you like.

It’s in a sorry state right now – rubber chunk missing from the steering wheel, no handbrake, no power steering, the ongoing tyre issue, and most recent and worrying, dodgy brakes. It’s coming up on four years, and needs to retire.

I’ve always been an extremely self conscious person. I would lie in bed at night when I was younger, replaying the day’s events in my mind. Berate myself for lost opportunities, for failing to come up with witty retorts, for a particularly embarrassing trip’n’fall, and so on. I had a kind of list going on. Points for having the guts to speak up in class. Points deducted for getting tongue tied in front of my crush. Basically, a tally of maturity, as judged by me.

When we got the news about this latest car repair, I wanted to throw myself on the ground and launch into a tantrum. Why’d you have to make such a big deal about one tiny thing? Couldn’t the first two mechanics’ clean diagnoses have sufficed?

I went for a long, sweaty run. Then I decided there was no point in sulking. I could let it ruin my afternoon, my day, my week. I could wallow, gloriously – if wallowing was a sport, I would be a Olympic athlete. I decided that heck, I can’t do anything about it. Shit happens; we couldn’t have done anything differently. You never know with a used car how it was treated before.

Or I could chin up, change my attitude and move on. Basically, act like a damn adult. Whining might make me feel better, temporarily, but accomplishes nothing. (I started bashing out a furious post, that went something along the lines of:

WHY do we always have the ridiculous problems? Why does nobody else we know have to deal with such insanely fucking expensive issues? Yeah, T drives a lot, but he doesn’t drive stupidly. Surely we’ve paid our dues with learning about regular maintenance, and paid our dues with his insistence on buying a stupid boyracey car and now opting for something sensible (insert LIFE’S NOT FAIR rant)

If I had double my cash savings right now, I would be seriously thinking about financing a brand new vehicle right now – 3% over 3 years, 30% down.)

before realising what a self-pitying douche I sounded like.)

And in the long run, whining only serves to make feel you worse. Instead, I would do what I do second best: deal with it. I’ve been meaning to get around to working out a new realistic number to direct into our irregulars account, which I’ve been putting off. As for ponying up the cash, it just means a blow to progress on the travel fund.

As always, car costs are the sticking point. We haven’t had any of our cars for more than two years, so judging reasonable ongoing repairs isn’t easy. Last year, the first year I tracked, we spent about $1000 on our piece-of-crap beater. So far we’re on track to spend double this year for our current 10-year-old one, between the new tyres and the new transmission (it was cheaper to replace the whole gearbox than the one specific part that conked out). I don’t anticipate much more for the rest of the year, and we shouldn’t need to get any work done to pass its warrant, but you just never know, do you?

Maybe aiming for $1200, the same figure as our motor insurance bill, is a good starting point. I figure this is actually not that crazy, because between his commute, visiting friends and family, and trips, we put a lot of kilometres on our one car. Where tyres might last 2-3 years for some people, it’s more likely to be closer to 18 months for us. So that’s already nearly $500 there. Add to that maybe $100-200 on fluids and filters for regular servicing, plus room for other nasty surprises.

So, do you love wallowing? Or are you a chin-up-and-get-on-with-it type? And how much do you spend on maintaining your car each year?

Okay, so New Car brings with it New Insurance Costs.

If you’re just tuning in, this wasn’t a case of lifestyle creep; it was a case of knowing when to let go of the last in a string of beaters, and upgrading in the hopes of getting something more reliable and efficient with a bigger initial outlay. (Also, you may recall that every single one of our other cars died before we got the chance to replace them. I figured we should try and beat that this time around.) I’d never call a car an investment, but the idea is we are investing in terms of, theoretically, coming out ahead by reducing the cost and headache of ongoing maintenance and repairs.  Our $1500 hatch was a steal (I’ve got a nostalgic post brewing) but the constant upkeep…ouch.

Nicer cars also mean higher insurance premiums. According to this Liz Pulliam article on MSN Money, 10 per cent is the most you should pay for full coverage.

Problem: That doesn’t work for us. Full cover is about $1200 annually – way more than 10 per cent.

Meanwhile, third party, fire and theft cover is  only $500 (it was $300 on our old car).

That’s a difference of $700, or just over double. And yet, is that really all that much extra for total peace of mind? I don’t mind a few dings and scratches, but what I am afraid of is a total wreck. After all, you can’t control the actions of others, and it’s not inconceivable that it could be totalled through no fault of our own. That would mean putting away $23 a week for insurance, as opposed to $6.

In the worst case, I could afford to replace it, even now…but that would put a massive dent in my savings.

So, it’s a gamble. Pay that $700 (our excess payable on claims is $500, by the way), or attempt to self-insure? It wasn’t even an option previously; none of our cars were ever worth the cost of full cover. Not even debatable.

But this is a car we want – need, even – to last years.

What would you do?