cars
I had been looking for another car. My old subaru is rusted bad. I use to do my own work on it but rusted parts come off pretty hard so I take it to a local garage. Only problem is my mechanic has been begging me to buy something newer! I just laugh and remind myself how much money I am saving from not having to buy something else, however, a week ago, I was climbing a steep hill with my old car and the transmission was acting up bad. I said, "Yikes!" I guess I will have to start car shopping!
I went to a local used car dealer and looked over his entire inventory. I noticed that most of the vehicles were priced higher then what they cost, when they were brand new! In fact, it was kinda shocking and it made me think I might be better off buying something newer!
So I went online and looked at the newer subarus and toyotas and a few others and I narrowed it down to a few. I thought about getting a hy-brid. I have a niece that has driven them for years now and she just bought another one. I really love the subaru crosstrek and they have those in a hybrid model so I read the reviews on those and apparently, they were not good. After 100,000 miles they start having problems and battery replacement is extremely expensive.
So then I looked at the toyotas and I really liked the corolla and the rav4 but I thought the rav4 was a little too big for me at this point in my life so I started looking at reviews for the corolla and they were very good. One thing I like about them is they don't go down in value by much....
Long story short is that I became obsessed with the newer cars and I spent so much time looking for one, it was becoming a problem....like an addiction, so I figured, I would go online and order a car, pay for it and be done with it......I almost pulled the trigger on that idea but a thought crossed my mind, intuition, if you will, so I closed my laptop, went out to my car with a napkin, opened the hood and checked the transmission fluid after running it through all the gears... It looked nice and clean since I just had it changed a thousand miles ago.....The fluid was a little low but not by much and I figured well, I have some fluid on hand so I'll put some in and top it off.
The following day I had to go on my weekly dump run. I made sure to take my cell phone with me in case something happened. I came to that big hill expecting to hear some clattering noise while my car humped along like it was on it's last legs, but nothing happened! I was so happy! It made it up the hill easily! So I completely forgot about buying a new car.!
The moral of this experience for me was to never rush to do anything out of fear. Pause, stop the wheels from turning in my head, and just ask myself, is this my only choice? Is there another way because God....this is alot of money. The answer came in such a subtle way..... I was more interested in listening to my ego and buying a new car, but my heart was telling me I should cover all my bases, and try things even if I thought they wouldn't work. Lesson learned!
Thankyou for reading this.........
Replies
Awesome! Love this, and it was something I needed to read to remind me to take it easy when the fear rushes to the front. Thanks for sharing!
Yes, do things in haste, repent in leisure. so true.
Thanks Mid! I know you mentioned this in the past and It motivated me to post about it.
Thanks atpeacemary!
Bob, your advice is spot on! New cars are great and buying one can be a definite adrenaline rush. For decades, I would always buy my cars new. But the newness of a car doesn't last near long enough and your trade-in value is never what the car is worth. My view of it all changed significantly when I had a major heart attack and cardiac surgery over 2 years ago that necessitated an early retirement that I had not contemplated. I sold my newest 2nd vehicle to get some cash for medical and living expenses saying bye-bye to car payments. I have just my one car now, a 2015 Mazda MX5 (Miata) with 65,000 miles. I take care of it doing scheduled maintenance and plan for it to by my last vehicle until if and when I become unable to drive a stick shift. With Social Security as my sole source of retirement funding, I am amazed with how much less I spend when forced to do so. Life is good!
LOOK AT YOU!!!!
I had to smile at the 'automatic writing'....one of those things that we share that are 'unexplainable. As for cars, I've only had one New car in my near 70 years...a plymouth horizon that ended up as garbage!
I now will not have any other car except a Honda. If you are looking at a corolla, you need to look at the civic. My son looked at the Rava, vs. honda crv....crv came out flying so much higher!
Glad your little car made it up the hill!
I don't buy cars for ego. I buy them because I enjoy driving them. But yes...I'd think long and hard before buying another one.
It's easy to get caught up buying what we want verses what we need,
Yay, beep beep :)
Big hug <3
Amen to that Bob xxx
They are really expensive.... I don't blame you one bit for waiting til you really have to make a choice... Big hug... xo
@ scottito.....I know it's hard to make it on SSI alone. I do some side jobs to make extra cash and have been able to save a little in the process, but business has been slow with inflation so high, squeezing the life out of a once vibrant economy....
I didn't know they still made cars with stick shifts? Thankyou for the compliment.
@ billwfriend....Thanks Bill!
@ Miro853......I know! It doesn't hit me very often. I have to be in the right mood. otherwise, writing is difficult for me and I struggle to find the right words.....I have a friend who bought a Honda with a crv about a year ago. It had 200,000 miles on it at the time....He loves that car. I talked to him recently and he said the car is still going strong. He is very happy with it. The car I have now is one I bought new back in 2005. It has served me well. Only thing I don't like on subarus are the brakes. They don't last as long as on other cars, which is why I am looking to try something different next time around.
Wow! what year is your friends crv....when I did research, it was models prior to 2015 that had a longer mileage. Who knows when my son will get a car??? he still doesn't driver! I Loved driving a stick shift....until my knees started hurting....crazy though, staying hydrated I have no more pain in them!! Take Good Care, ml
@ mlr0853 ......He said it's a 2011.
@ TheChickenChronicles.......I use to enjoy driving but I enjoyed it less and less as I got older and I think it's because I always had jobs were I was on the road all the time. I believe past experiences influence the decisions we make later in life..... Nowadays, if I have to go into town to run an errand, I will usually try to get someone else to do it for me, lol Thankyou!
@ annieheart.......Yes, plus, I am a minimalist anyway and even though I can afford it, I still like living frugally. Thankyou!
@ lilmissy7....Beeping back at you! :)
@ Shiney.......Amen and congratulations!
@ Suncloud.......Thankyou!