On 2011-06-29 18:37 , John McWilliams wrote:
On 6/29/11 1:53 PM, Alan Browne wrote:
On 2011-06-29 16:40 , tony cooper wrote:
On Wed, 29 Jun 2011 16:22:27 -0400, Alan Browne
wrote:

I recently sold a 1977. If I lease them I have
to get rid of them. I currently lease a car. It would have been
cheaper to buy it, but now I know I have to replace it. OTOH, I just
bought a car I expect to own for the next ten years.

Every car I buy is for 9 - 10 years.

A guy recently gave a presentation on fireworks photography at my
camera club. He uses a technique where he sets the camera to bulb,
holds a black card over the lens, removes the card when the firework
blossoms, re-covers the lens, and repeats. He gets several blossoms
in a frame. Pretty, if you like that sort of photograph.

When asked how long he keeps the shutter open, his reply was "Until
I'm done".

I feel the same way about trading cars. No set number of years, just
"When I'm ready".

It's a way to do it. I don't like cars and I despise maintaining them.
So I buy a reliable brand (Honda) which needs minimal maintenance over
10 years and ~180,000 km. After that the rust starts up (Quebec uses a
lot of salt on the roads) and other things begin to fail.

So then I buy a new one.

I believe the above formula is about as stingy as I can get and have a
reliable, always starts at -35°C car that handles well and is efficient.

If I bought a 1 year old Honda and drove it for 9 years I'd avoid the
initial steep depreciation too. I just dislike not knowing how a
previous owner treated the car.

This makes sense. But it doesn't support your "smartest way is to always
purchase outright for cash" as a rule for everyone.

You're right. So many people are such vain idiots when it comes to car
purchases that they are also subscribers to the "Jumbo Mortgage" plan
that has turned the US taxpayer into the bailout resource of Wall Street.

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