I was just reminiscing about how you could roll the dice on a $500 beater that would run for a couple months or a couple years but when it did die there was always another 50 ‘86 Buicks to be bought for cheap. Just take the tags off wherever you broke down and grab a newspaper to check the classifieds while you wait for a ride, lol.
Buying a 1500 dollar car used to be something that would still last you a few years. Now you can only find something like that at auction and it will need at least another 1500 to make it drivable again. With all the fees and work you put into it, you'll still end up spending 4-5k, in total. Of course it's all dependent on how mechanically inclined you are and how much of the work you can do yourself.
I bought an 86 F-150 years ago for 500 bucks, 181k on the odometer...drove it for two weeks, loaned it to my dad, who wrecked it. Bought another F-150 three days later, I think that one was an 87...drove that for years.
Used to be so easy to grab a used POS and just get back to work.
I should have worded it better. Not a brand new car, but almost as much as what that 2015 civic cost brand new. A really well maintained 2015 Civic will cost you 13k-17k, depending mileage. A brand new one was 18k in 2015. Yes you can find used for cheaper than 13k, but they'll also have lots of miles on them and you'll have to dump money into it to keep it going. Of course it's still financially better to buy a used car. Nobody is arguing that point. My point is that the used car market is crazy.
Ok I’m glad we found some common ground. Yea, I agree the used market is crazy. I’m curious if it’ll keep getting worse as newer cars continue to become harder to service outside of a dealership maintenance shop
Well, since brand new now they are much more expensive then they were even 10 years ago, it feels like it will only get worse. And the worst part is, they are much more difficult to work on yoursel.
I bought a 2015 Honda Accord EX-L with like 37k miles for ~$25k or something in 2017. It only has 85k miles on it since I barely drove for 5 years living in Portland. I'm seeing ones with 120k+ miles on AutoTrader for $13k-14k.
FWIW, $18,000 in 2015 is worth about $25.5k today. Now, the 40% depreciation in value over 10 years is still impressively small for an automobile, but when you start talking about more than a decade, especially a high inflation decade like this one, I think it's important to take into account.
I just but an '18 for $9500, has 105k miles on it. New it was 20k, adjusted for inflation that would be 24k (it has bluetooth).
Granted, my buddy bought a 98 civic in 2002 for like $2000 so you aren't wrong about the used market being over priced, but its not nearly as bad as your statement.
Nope, my Brand new Honda Accord 2025 costed me $30k USD not including the minor fees to get it on the road legally
Edit: I can find a 2015 civic for $10k used and running
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u/GRisForFun 9h ago
A 2015 Honda civic in decent condition costs almost as much as it did brand new. The used market is crazy.