The time I feared has come...(car trouble)

Random Ramblings
1

My cars life my parents got me when I was 16 looks like its life has finally lived its last day most likely… isnt worth fixing. (Was just a 1998 kia sportage). Really didnt want to bust into any of my savings (17K now) but it looks like I may have too. :banghead

Any tips on this decision of getting a new car (new to me atleast, lol) ? I want a good car, but also want to be smart with my 17K. I know theres alot of car fans on this site, so I thought ide ask :stuck_out_tongue:

I wanted to run this current car into the GROUND, because I really didnt want to have to a buy a car… but unfortuently its gotta be time…

I gotta have a car to get to work… so… yeah I need a car. But I want to be smart about this future purchase. lol

Thanks. :beer

2

Buy USED, USED, USED…

If you have access to a running car start driving around upper middle class neighborhoods. Be on the lookout for cars with no license plates on them, lots of built up dirt, untrimmed GRASS growing around the tires!!

In my 20 years in the car business I made a KILLING buying cars out of these driveways. Upper income folks don’t advertise their used cars, they don’t want dirt bags coming to their homes from craigslist. They usually let their unused cars sit for a while AFTER they replace them with NEW,then sell them to a friend or neighbor. If YOU get there FIRST with CASH, you can BUY them!! These cars are usually “Diamonds” they were well cared for, but might need brakes, mufflers, or have high mileage. I’ve purchased cars like these for as little as $500 and sold them for $4500 after a $200 brake job. If you know someone that knows CARS, narrow down your search to one or two vehicles and offer them $100 CASH to take a ride with you and check the car out.

The only problem for YOU is…This can take TIME.

Lesson number one… NEVER, NEVER, NEVER go shopping for a car when you NEED A CAR!!!

ALWAYS be on the lookout for an UPGRADE to what you are driving. By upgrade I mean better condition, lower miles, newer car. NOT more expensive!!! An UPGRADE to me is a buying a BETTER car for HALF the price of whatever I’m driving.

This sounds MINOR…It’s NOT…For the MAJORITY of Americans the second biggest purchase they ever make is…A CAR!!! We all know how SMART they are when it comes to buying HOMES. :flush
Well let me tell ya…Their HOME BUYING makes their CAR BUYING look GOOD!!!

Look at these numbers:

For most Amercian’s their first new car purchase is made around 23-25 years of age.
They buy a $20,000 NEW CAR and FINANCE IT over 5 years. With interest, depreciation, insurance, and TAXES, each time they do this is COSTS THEM…about $10K-$15K over that 5 year period. They keep these cars an average of 5.5 to 6.5 years and the COSTS (and ensuing LOSES) INCREASE over time as the PRICE of their cars increase…So over a lifetime they can easily LOSE over $150,000 just on VEHICLES. THAT $150K would have bought and PAID FOR 4 rental properties in OHIO and they would have OWNED THEM FREE AND CLEAR! At that point they could have taken ONE PROPERTIES monthly rental, LEASED A RANGE ROVER, and STILL had 3 other properties putting $$$$ in their bank accounts every month. Leases SUCK…But at that point, with 4 income producing properties you owe NOTHING ON…Do what ever you want!!

PATIENCE

Josh…Spend as LITTLE as you can on this…LEARN about cars…LEARN how to buy them, fix them, or at least what BREAKS on them…The internet is a TREASURE TROVE for this stuff. I’ve bought and sold everything from FERRARI’s to FORDS…The single BEST thing I ever did was entering into the CAR BUSINESS…It taught me EVERYTHING…Advertising techniques, negotiation skills, what to pay, how to turn something UGLY into something everyone wanted.

If I ever ran a REAL ESTATE Boot Camp for new investors???

We’d start out on day one…BUYING USED CARS!!! The investment is LESS, the CONCEPT is exactly the same, and the way you make MONEY is NO DIFFERENT…Buying from the UNEDUCATED and selling to the LAZY!!!

This could be a GIFT Hoosier…It could be a turning point for you…People always think BIG…They think their lives turn on HUGE EVENTS…That’s NOT how it usually works…It comes at you without fanfare…Without you being able to SEE IT. It’s only later that you realize that this was a TEST!!

You’re being TESTED BUDDY!!! Remember “The Richest Man in Babylon”

You can do this the way the HERD does it…Or you can do it the way an INVESTOR does it…

It’s YOUR CHOICE!!! T H I N K T H I N K T H I N K

Learn how do this NOW…Because when you’re older and have a wife and kids…IT’S TOO LATE!!!
My wife LOVES driving something different every other year…Right now she has a Lexus RX350 that I found while looking at a property. The owner had lost his job, was selling everything, and moving out of state to a new job with a company car…I bought a 2009 RX350 with 23K miles on it for $19,000 CASH No PAYMENTS. Dealers are selling them for $29K. He needed to sell it the DAY he got on the plane because he NEEDED the car right up that point…So I offered to pick up the car the day he had to leave, pay him, stop at his bank so he could deposit my cashiers check, and drop him off at the airport for his flight. DONE DEAL!!!

I guess some people would say it’s too much WORK…Some folks don’t LIKE that 4 letter word!!! To me, it was a GAME…I’ve ROOFED HOUSES…THAT’S WORK…This stuff is F U N!!!

3

Thanks for the advice Jake.

Id’e really like to get a quality vehicle for something around 5-6K honestly. Anymore than that I would really dislike cutting into the savings I have.

I wont need a car for a while (I can drive my Moms vehicle without her missign it to much) so I can chose to be selective… I work a 16 hour day today, but tommorow ill go looking.

With how bad the economy is, hopefully I can find somebody desperate with something slightly used and, since I have all cash RIGHT NOW, I’ll be able to get a really good deal.

Wish me luck. :beer

4

I’d look for a Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla.

If possible with a 5 speed transmission. You would not believe how hard it is to sell a car with a manual transmission. What that means for you is simple…Manual Trans cars are MUCH CHEAPER !!!

Don’t be too picky with the brands though…A well cared for car is far more important than WHICH maker builds it. Just stay away from anything odd ball…Land Rovers can be had for $2000 but you’ll spend $10,000 keeping it running.

5

Manual? As in… stick shift? Ohh my… you sound like my parents.

I really should learn how to drive a stick shift just for the price reason. lol… just seems like a hastle to me.

(Im a fan of automatic). I can groove to my music with both hands that way.

6

That’s the LAZY AMERICAN in you son!!!

Learn how to drive a manual Josh…REALLY.

Once you’re a successful real estate investor you and I are gonna have a conversation about strategically INVESTING in vintage sports cars. The money you can make doing this can BLOW AWAY anything your 401K will do for you.

It’s a PLAN Josh…I can’t lay it all out for you now…It would be too overwhelming…TRUST ME…Learn the things I’ve mentioned to you…JUST DO IT…The pay off for YOU will BLOW YOUR MIND in a few years.

I’ve done this with a few investors in the past…They ALL said basically the same thing…

"I NEVER understood the VALUE of what you were teaching me, WHEN you were teaching it…It didn’t all come together for me until I could step back a few years in and COMPARE how much DIFFERENT my financial situation was compared to my friends. The reason it was so different was simple…I didn’t make the dozens of LITTLE mistakes most people make. The two major purchases THEY made were done BADLY…The way everyone TELLS you to do it…The way you taught me was harder and more time consuming but the $$$$ I made/saved changed my life. "

That is an actual quote from a letter I received from a investor. I gave him the same advice I’ve given to you over the years.

I can’t make you DO IT Josh…All I can do is lay it out for you man. The rest is up to you.

There’s the EASY WAY…Like paying full boat RETAIL for your home…driving an automatic and BUYING that automatic from a DEALER…Then there’s JAKE’S WAY…

In Jake’s world EVERYTHING’s a TEST of WILL’s…WILL you do the hard thing, the path less traveled, or will you fold, and just GET IN LINE with the rest of the HERD???

You know where that HERD is headed don’t you Josh??? The CATTLE in that HERD are headed for the SLAUGHTER HOUSE…And they GET THERE by following the @SS in front of them!!!

Hey Josh…How do you learn how to drive a manual transmission car???

BY BUYING ONE!!!

7

The herd follows Obama, I follow Jake. :beer

Thanks for the advice man big time. I appreciate it.

And also, here in a few years, I do look forward to the sports car conversation deffinetly. :bobble

8

I just finished helping one of my son’s friends buy a car last week. We got a 2004 Nissan Sentra with 72K miles for $4500. A good deal but not a steal. In this area comparable cars were $6k - $8k depending on how much the owners were dreaming. We missed the “steal”, a 2007 Hyundai Sonata with 66K miles for $3k, because the kid was working and could not look at it with me. The car was sold the same day it was posted on craigslist. We had an appointment to see it at 9 AM the next morning but when I called to confirm our appointment, the owner told me it had been sold. The Nissan had a reconstructed title that scared off most buyers but I did a very thorough inspection of the car and it was repaired well. I answered at least 40 Craigslist posts and looked at 8 other cars over 3 weeks before buying this car.

DON"T BE IN A HURRY! Time is your friend in this matter but if you find a STEAL, be ready to jump on it immediately with cash.

Along another line of thought, what is so wrong with the Kia that it isn’t worth repairing? If the repair is less than 25% of what you will pay for a new/used car and it is reasonable that you won’t be hit with other large repairs, it is almost always worth repairing the car and squeezing another year or 2 of use out of it. I typically get over 200K miles out of my car (usually around 250K) and I have a tendency to abuse them. My 1998 Acura Integra has around 220K miles on it and still runs great even though it looks like a real POS.

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Great question!!!

What’s wrong with the Kia Hoosier???

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Great advice here from the guys Josh. A few years back after my divorce was finalized, I decided I wanted to go out and get a really nice vehicle. I bought a new F250 4x4, crew cab, diesel. This was (at least what I thought was) my dream truck. My dream truck turned into a nightmare. Stupid thing needed the transmission re-worked at 15k miles and it quit on me going down the interstate at 43k miles. The dealer had to replace pretty much the ENTIRE fuel system…thank goodness it was under warranty. I’d had enough by this point and started my search. I came across a '97 Chevy Z-71 extended cab for 5k. Had 140k miles on it. I’ve been running that for the past year and a half. It’s got 157k on it now and I’m planning on taking it to 200k or more. It’s nickel and dimed me a little bit, but when I think of how much new car payments are and how much value my Ford lost in a few years - it’s well worth it. I enjoy tinkering w/ the truck too so it’s not a big deal.
There are so many people out there that think cars die at 100k miles. If you’re willing to make a few repairs, these cars can save you big bucks in the long run.
I don’t know that I’ll ever buy brand new again… Did it once and that will probably be it…

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fdjake, I showed my 16 year old your post so she can learn from it . We both admire and appreciate your thinking. You are a genius!

12

No idea exactly. Started just being dumb yesterday, doesnt want to go over 20 miles an hour. Ill press the peddle all the way down and theres no screaching or anything, it just wont accelerate. Im going to have somebody look at it obviously before I sell it, but im guessing that my car is about done.

13

It could need something as inexpensive as a fuel filter. Does it happen when it’s hot or cold? Does it happen all the time or is the problem intermittent?

JP

14

Is your check engine light on? It could be something as simple as a sensor has gone bad. My truck had the coolant temperature sensor go out and it ran like complete hell until I replaced it. It cut out a bunch and bucked & jumped like there were problems w/ the transmission.

15

Most likely one of two things (maybe I shouldn’t say most, just reasonably likely, remote diagnostics is always dicey); a large vacuum leak due to a ruptured rubber hose in the air intake or a bad mass air flow meter. If correct, the MAF should be less than $500 and the hose less than $200.

16

This is such a fun thread…!

My dad bought a brand new Comet two door in 1964. By 1981, he’d rebuilt the engine twice and replaced the transmission once. The clutch…? I’d say four times. Repainted the car 3 times. Reupholstered seats once. Was in collision with deer that caused a permanent misalignment of the hood latch …allowing the hood to pop up on occasion (caught by a safety latch).

Speedometer was increasingly off at higher speeds after transmission replacement (showed 55 when we were going 75). Front end was loose as a goose, but drove straight. AM radio, heat, fan, blinkers (literally a mechanical blinker under the dash that could be heard at any speed!) all worked flawlessly. And (drum roll, please) rolled the odometer at least four times. That’s over 400,000 (likely 443,000 miles)

Car originally purchased new for about $2,000 in 1964. Finally sold it, showing about 43,000 miles on the odometer, for $400 in 1981. Took a $1,600 loss over 16 years (-$100/year).

Not accounting for tune-ups, the $3000 we put into the car over 16 years in upkeep, plus the depreciation totaled about $4,600 in losses and overhead, or about $25/mo.

We had a myriad of other cars that didn’t make the grade, including a 1970 Olds 98 with everything, a 1967 Chevrolet Caprice 427/450(??), standard transmission with everything, and a 1973 Lincoln Continental with everything. The nice cars just uglied o.u.t. or were too expensive to keep driving and continue with ‘pride of ownership.’

The 1964 Comet was ugly in 1965, so this was never a pride of ownership, or ‘statement’ issue for us. It’s quite economical not to be proud. Meantime, the Comet was too cheap not to fix and keep driving …at $25/mo.

17

Hi,

I guess since you don't drive a stick shift we won't be sending a Lambo for you to drive!!!

Good luck finding a new ride.

        GR
18

Give me one and ill learn… you know what town I live in. .you can make it happen :beer lol

19

I’ve had my 96 honda civic since 2001 and it has been a pretty good car. It is a 5 speed and I had an interesting month of learning how to be smooth from a dead stop. It still gets 35 mpg on the highway and high 20’s low 30’s in town. The car has always been parked outside so the paint is really beat up due to all of the head/cold. The material on the sun visor disintegrates when i touch it lightly, and the rest of the interior looks worn. But, I’ve definitely got my 6k out of it and it only has 170kish miles. So the engine is cherry. Funny thing though I’ve had to replace the muffler 3 times and it sounds like I need to replace it again. It keeps rusting out in the same spot and the “experts” can’t figure it out eye roll. The driver’s door has a huge dent my dad just put into it though =(. I can’t get too mad at him since he let me save my money for my ROTH IRA and he bought the car for me. Hopefully, by the time I go to replace it the government will have another round of Cash for Clunkers.

Stick Shifts Rule. I think I was one out of 5 people at my graduating class of 400 in high school that could drive a stick…kind of sad.

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“Stick Shifts Rule!” LOL :beer