Comments on: Keep Laughing… The Car is Paid Off!

By: Deborah McP

Deborah McP — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:10:24 +0000

After my first experience of trying to hang onto a car (bought for work) while living the student life, I’ve always considered them temporary utilities and an avoidable expense. That doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate a great-driving vehicle, though. When I last needed to buy a car (back in 2004), I kept in mind that I’d be doing alot of Canadian winter driving on major highways, and opted for a used, relatively cheap, fantastically heavy, powerful car … that I sold soon after the project period ended. Ah, the 1989 BMW 535i was an amazing drive. Stick. Heated seats. Responsive! In fact, if you don’t mind me going on a bit… when you’re rounding corners, it FEELS as though the car was BUILT around you and your backbone is the center of your little centrifugal universe. The 50:50 front to back weight distribution is apparently what produces this effect. Glorious. And potentially addictive. Not enough to sway me from my frugal path, but I do cherish that memory.

I think we should all enjoy some of the most wonderful aspects of vehicles and other modern technologies, but treat them less as necessities, and more as useful tools. Sometimes you need a car and sometimes you don’t.

By the way, I actually sold the car for more than I paid, one year after. Probably pure luck and the fine detailing job.

By: Canadian

Canadian — Fri, 08 May 2009 14:38:54 +0000

I am 31 years old and have never owned a car. I have chosen to live in a city (not the town I grew up in) with great public transportation. I also picked an apartment in a walkable neighbourhood where I can accomplish my regular errands on foot. I also bike a lot during the warmer 6 months of the year. I am very pleased that I am able to do this because I have saved so much money and also had less of a negative impact upon the earth, but it isn’t just luck, it’s because of the choices I have made.

By: Weekly Mashup, April 26th | My Life ROI, Getting the Best Return On Life

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 18:01:21 +0000

[...] Man vs Debt has a great idea. He posts an article that corresponds to the Personal Finance Hour topic run by Bargaineering and Get Rich Slowly. This week he wrote a post on his history of car ownership [...]

By: jonatsgonats

jonatsgonats — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 03:59:27 +0000

Nice comparison! I really got inspired by your post. We get to learn about ourselves through the things that we do even with our cars. Funny stuff yet very useful. jonatsgonats’s last blog post..Susan Boyle Inspirational Voice

By: Heather

Heather — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 00:31:38 +0000

We’re currently living overseas in Japan, and just this past weekend bought ourselves a minivan for $500. Granted, we also had to buy insurance, pay road taxes and do some work on it (which we had done CHEAP – basically just parts and a case of Red Bull) and we’ll have to pay for its every-2-year inspection this week, but after that’s all said and done, we’ll have spent about $1300 CASH for a car that won’t need anything (hopefully) other than oil changes and gas for the next year. Our other car we also bought with cash for $3500, and we’re replacing the $1000 clunker we bought when we first got here.

We’ve made a lot of mistakes over the years – bought cars that were too big in size and payment and even leased a minivan for our family of 4 – but never again will we purchase a vehicle with financing. If we can’t afford something nice in cash, we’ll settle with something cheaper until we can.

By: MB

MB — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 14:59:23 +0000

Oh yeah, and my last 3 cars have been Nissans. Of course, my Dad does work for them.

MB’s last blog post..Shopping Consignment Sales

By: MB

MB — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 14:57:46 +0000

I have never had a car payment and never will. I used to drive a total clunker truck to work, surrounded by all these young professionals in their hot cars. But, I was in HR, so I knew what they were all making and how much their car payments probably were and they were more than likely saving nothing. My clunker truck never bothered me once. It was paid for and it drove like a charm. It just wasn't pretty. When the transmission finally died, we sold it to a mechanic, so no guilt there either. Win win. We didn't have a car for the first 18 months that we lived in Brisbane. Then, after that we only had one car that we drove on the weekends or to the grocery. We took public transport to work every day. I don't know what the public transport is like in Cairns, but the buses are pretty good in QLD, I'm sure it won't be too hard. I really miss not having good public transport. When we first moved back to the US from Australia, I wondered why I seemed to have such little time for reading. Then, I realized that I used to read on the bus/train/water ferry all the time. I don't have that luxury here with needing to drive everywhere. MB’s last blog post..Shopping Consignment Sales

By: Cathy

Cathy — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 03:03:20 +0000

My dream is to one day not need a car at all. Maybe I will retire to Vancouver – they have an awesome public transportation system and lots of bike lanes!

My car is currently paid for, which is one reason why I’ve been hesitant to get a new one. I really don’t want a car payment. I’ve been saving money in a car savings account, so I hope that I will be able to trade cars with no payments at all.

By: Courtney Baker

Courtney Baker — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 23:02:14 +0000

Sell it? I thought we were going to ship it overseas. Now THAT would be a good investment.

By: Baker

Baker — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 19:56:32 +0000

@ Trevor – We looked at 2003-2005 Honda Civics one time when we had Car Fever, but managed to stay away (because our cars were fine). I’d could definitely see myself driving one, though.

@ My Journey – Haha, if you only knew how many times I’ve done 360’s on exit ramps in icy weather. I really think I could lift the back of the car up if I tried! It’s so light! We have to put bags of salt in the back in the winter.
I do like the fact that they can pull U-turns on two lane roads. Such an awesome turning radius!