How Much Money Are You Willing to Lose on a Vehicle?

"Wobbles the Mind" (wobblesthemind)
01/03/2016 at 16:12 • Filed to: Question

We all assign financial limits for certain goods. Whether that be a numerical value or based on percent of income, we all have our limits. How much money would you be willing to never see again on a vehicle you love? Even after winning the lotto or marrying the inventor of Toaster Strudels.

For me, the most I would ever be ok with losing (even if my friend and I invented Post-its) is $40k. If the vehicle is $60k, then I’m going to end up selling it and getting back $20k no matter how much I love the thing. If it’s some $100k 911, then I better not lose more than $40k on it. If I Lutz’ed out a Fisker Karma, I’m not losing more than $40k in the end.

So the value of your happiness, what is it? When does a vehicle need to become an investment to grow your bank account or business?

DISCUSSION (13)

jkm7680 > Wobbles the Mind
01/03/2016 at 16:18

This is my view on some of this.

Let’s say me car cost $70,000 new. I paid $5,000 for it. The original owner can put money into a $70,000 car. While you can put money into a $5,000 car that cost $70,000 new.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Wobbles the Mind
01/03/2016 at 16:23

In a perfect world where I own newer vehicles, if I can comfortably afford a vehicle I want, it would be one I would try to keep for hopefully 10 years. If I bought a, say, $33,000 Honda Accord V6 Manual and drove it for X years up to 250k miles, I don’t really care about what it’s worth on the market. The value in the vehicle is reliability/longevity, enjoyment, and all the things that a daily car is supposed to do. I don’t view normal cars as an investment. All I know is if I’m dropping some serious coin on an increasingly depreciating vehicle, I better love it for a while.

Wobbles the Mind > jkm7680
01/03/2016 at 16:24

This was a difficult question to phrase. Buying a new M4 for the price of a Kia Sephia is great even if you have to put in $15,000 and months of work to get it proper. I mean what is your loss limit on a purchase, and zero is a perfectly acceptable answer.

Master Cylinder > Wobbles the Mind
01/03/2016 at 16:26

I can’t imagine that numbet not changing regardless of your financial resources. I would never dream of throwing $40K down the hole on a car. Maybe $7-10K would be more like it. But if I were a zillionaire, who cares about $40K? That’s just walking-around money, my friend.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > jkm7680
01/03/2016 at 16:30

Some of those cars have maintenance and repair costs on par with the once-$70,000 price tag though.

Wobbles the Mind > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
01/03/2016 at 16:32

I’m thinking I didn’t word this one well (great answer though!).

I’m trying to see at what dollar point do people not care about money being thrown away. Like you use the Accord, you wouldn’t mind missing a cent of that $33k because the value was placed elsewhere. I’m curious if you could say the same about a Cayman GT4. For $50k, would you be willing to give up all trade-in-value and be completely unable to be sold? Is the vehicle at that price worth not ever getting a dime back in return?

Wobbles the Mind > Master Cylinder
01/03/2016 at 16:37

I don’t know about that, I make a hell of a lot more than when I was 16 and I still think spending $2 for less than a gallon of water is silly.

smobgirl > Wobbles the Mind
01/03/2016 at 17:49

I’ve never had a car that was worth anything when I was done with it. Until last year (err, two years ago), I’d never spent more than $5K on a car, and never more than $800 on a major repair.

I don’t really have an answer yet.

Wobbles the Mind > smobgirl
01/03/2016 at 18:06

I was thinking how selling someone a $20 mechanical pencil next to a $2 one would be difficult, regardless of how much income people have and the obvious difference in quality. Even if you could sell that $20 pencil for $10 four years later, most people wouldn’t “waste” that kind of money.

I was thinking about if a $100,000 car to a $10,000 one would be as difficult, even if you got back $50,000 on the higher model. I still wouldn’t be able to throw away the over $40k difference if I had of taken the other option. Regardless of funds or quality.

smobgirl > Wobbles the Mind
01/03/2016 at 18:20

Yeah, but I’ll splurge on a $100 pair of jeans I like rather than buy the so-so pair for $25, even though they’re both just jeans and both worth $5 in the thrift store pile when they wear out. I don’t know.

On the other hand, my ideal workhorse vehicle has already depreciated as much as it can, shy of complete annihilation. I’d love a $1,000-1,500 AWD vehicle that can be sold in 3-4 years for the same.

E92M3 > Wobbles the Mind
01/03/2016 at 19:16

$500 a month. Right now I have 2 depreciating cars that together are are close to that limit. Too bad my classic trucks aren’t appreciating enough to even it out.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > Wobbles the Mind
01/04/2016 at 00:22

over time (5years) could greatly change how to approach this question. I had a friend with a fully optioned, 6 year old BMW. every few months he was dropping 1k for something. I suspect the PO mistreated the poor thing. For my frined it would have been almost the same cost to jsut lease a new BMW.

kind of going through a similar problem with a used car. I went to the owner, “I dont mean to low ball you but I’m about 4k off”. Car looks good, part of me is saying “YOLO”. Not crazy about the color, though part of me is thinking of potentially vinyl wrapping it.

Rainbow > Wobbles the Mind
01/05/2016 at 13:27

Hopefully nothing. My first car was $600 for me and sold for $800. (I spent more than the difference on repairs, but I don’t want to count that)

My current car was also $600 and has a KBB value of around $1200 (but similar ones go for around $1500, I think. So... No worries on this one, either.