A place to discuss problems of car centric infrastructure or how it hurts us all. Let's explore the bad world of Cars!
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In the absence of a flair system on lemmy yet, letβs try to make it easier to scan through posts by type in here by using tags:
If you can afford to pay cash then take the loan and invest the cash elsewhere, and if you can beat the interest on the loan then come back to write better financial advice than this. And even if you can't you'd at least have done something interesting.
We bought a reliable car for 22k without financing. Our next car will be bought when this one dies. It's not necessary to have a new car every couple of years.
As a pedestrian, I'm glad not to support big bike chain lube, I'm saving dozens of pennies annually
Oh, you're one of those shills for the shoe-leather industry! π
Dave Ramsey hasn't tried to buy a reliable used car in the last decade, at least. You aren't going to find anything under about $10k that's actually reliable where I am. A mid-90s Toyota with 300,000 miles maybe, but not anything under 150,000.
With the $554 average new car payment in the original post, you can afford that $10k new-to-you used car outright in cash every 18 months.
In this land of legalised extortion in the form of insurance my friend who is in his mid 30s and been driving over a decade with no claims has to pay Β£700 per month.
My mum wanted to add my sister (again mid thirties and driving for nearly 20 years now with no claims) to her policy so she could borrow her car for a week and then maybe use the car once a month if that and they wanted an additional Β£1000 a month for the privaledge.
Fucking scum.
Now if there were a /c/fuckinsurance - I'd be all over that. I love my cars, I HATE insurance companies.
I love that I only have liability at $100k but my cost still goes up every year. My coverage is actually worth less to inflation and those crooks want more money? For what?
Per month?! Wtf are you driving? (Late 40s here, paying around Β£400 per year for my electric mini insurance)
Assuming you begin investing at the age of 20 and invest $554 per month for 45 years at a 6% growth rate, you would yield 1.4 million. Definitely not MILLIONS.
6% is very conservative though. Even at 7%, which is a widely accepted inflation adjusted number, it's over 2 mil.
What commonly goes unsaid in these conversations of insurance cost is the immediate disputes that occur with the provider.
Why am I paying tens of thousands a year to engage in an argument when making a claim?
I was once rear ended at a red light. I was knocked unconscious and the driver drove off. A few kind witnesses called police who took a report. They got half his plate imprinted on my bumper, but never tracked him down. I had State Farm, and I was even paying extra for the "uninsured driver coverage". They said they couldn't cover it because until they had another driver's information I was automatically at fault, even with the police report and witness accounts. They said it didn't count as uninsured driver because it's possible the guy had insurance. I was flabbergasted.
In the end I had a concussion and needed to take time off work for recovery and my short term disability insurance ended up suing State Farm because they didn't want to pay for my medical treatment. State Farm agreed to cover medical care but only if it was recorded as my fault and I paid my deductible. In anger I tried to switch insurance companies but found out they have a shared database and since it was recorded as a hit and run my fault, nobody else would take me. And State Farm jacked my rate up 30%...
I realised in a similar, though less detrimental, encounter that true insurance comes in the form of dash cameras. For the equivalent of an insurance payment or two, a high fidelity video of the entire vehicle surroundings can be had.
Honestly though, with a few witnesses and half a plate, it's a surprise they couldn't find the car that drove into you. Decerning the colour, and style of car, surely it'd be only a handful of vehicles matching both the description and the numbers.
I'm sorry that happened to you.
That would require a cop to do more than the bate minimum, so its just not gonna happen.
You are not kidding!
I got a motorcycle and paid for insurance. When someone stole my bike and police caught the guy and put it in the impound, my scummy ass insurance called me to go see if it's okay? Like bro, that's your job.
Then they said if I was willing to sign a contract that the bike was fine without allowing me to see it. I said no.
Finally they gave up and wrote me a check for the cost of the bike.
Memes circulating with this dude right now, even if positioning him as a chud, are a way to launder this dude as just a legit money guy. Sure, he has some basic, broad financial advice you can consider if you can see through all the Jesus and have no other options, but more than anything else, he's a vile human being.
Eat religious shit dave ramsey.
some people care DEEPLY about what kind of car everyone drives. that's literally why overpriced cars even exist
Honestly if someone were to have said that garbage to him 40 years ago he prolly would have called it unAmerican and communistical.
It is weird to watch the ethical scoliosis happen in real time over five decades.
If you pay 500$ a month for 30 years at 5% interest compounded monthly you would contribute $180k and would have $416,129 so not really a million. You would need a little less than 9.5% interest to get a million. 2% interest is only getting you $246k which when you take into account inflation 2-3% normal average minus 5% one of the higher realistic interests that is what you are actually making .
If you pay 500$ a month for 30 years at 5% interest compounded monthly you would contribute $180k and would have $416,129 so not really a million. You would need a little less than 9.5% interest to get a million. 2% interest is only getting you $246k which when you take into account inflation 2-3% normal average minus 5% one of the higher realistic interests that is what you are actually making .
Ramsey is always very optimistic about investment returns. His advice isn't too bad though.
Insurance payments for teenage boys are INSANE. $100-150 is the usual but my buddy is paying literally $300 a month on a year 200X Tahoe that he bought for $700 and fixed himself. Its the cheapest option on his families insurance and his parents won't let him switch.
That's not even payments that's INSURANCE.
Millions? I don't think so. There is no investment that would turn $30K or whatever into millions that was safe enough to work for the majority of people. But it would be a significant help.
That being said, for most people, the amount you'd spend to live in a place where a car isn't needed or constantly paying for ride share or taxis greatly exceeds the amount you'd save by not having a car for the vast majority of people, and that's not even getting into the ableism issue.
And sure we could get into buying a cheaper, used car or whatever, but in the long term the maintenance costs, having to buy another car sooner, and other financial risks to cars outside of warrantee over a lifetime will add up similarly unless you're really lucky or can repair your own cars.
and thatβs not even getting into the ableism issue.
Infrastructure that requires people to drive is far more ableist than the inverse. As many people with a disability can't drive at all (or driving is a significant challenge).
Oh come on, Lemmy. I know I'm on c/fuckcars; but seriously - $600 a month for a new car sounds really good to me, I'm from Eastern Europe.
It's good because new cars are significantly more reliable, fuel efficient, safe and comfortable than 10+ year old cars. If you drive a lot and can't afford to pay $15k up front for a decent ~6yo car, then it's really not that bad. Much better than buying $600 rolling wreckage, I can tell you that much.
Yes people, I know you only use bikes and trains and whatnot. But some people neee cars, and you have to respect that. Or are you gonna tell this mother of 2, living in a village, working from office 20km from home, that she would be better off just sticking to the public transport which visits her place once every 2 hours.
That's really exorbitant insurance. I don't know where he lives or what is situation is but $350 a month is insane.
I paid $830/month for a moderately priced car at only 2.9% for a few years. 1/3 my current yearly salary in full. It wasnβt smart, but I beat inflation at that rate. That car let me and my wife travel so much in our early marriage and it was so worth it. The car is more expensive now then when I bought it.
I love that car and it brought me joy. Itβs paid off now.
Tomorrow is not promised. Save for the future but donβt neglect being happy today. Go live a little.
It drives me crazy when i get spam that says they can save me money on my car insurance
O rly? How you gonna beat $0?
Spoken like someone who's long since stopped worrying about having to commute without mass transit available.
If mass transit is available and reasonable then yeah, go off. But otherwise please stop blaming the victims of Capitalism.
A decent 7 year old car with 100k miles on it currently goes for about $15k. Everything private sale is a lemon, completely used up with over 200k miles, or 20+ years old. All still asking thousands more than they're worth.
This was the best thing about living in New York. No need for a car. No expenses paid in car payments, gas, or insurance. People claim that New York City is expensive, and rents are certainly higher than most places, but you end up saving so much money just on the cost of owning a car alone. Overall, the cost of living for me was much cheaper in New York City than it is now in Orlando.
I wish I had the resources to go back.