128,000 miles - most I've ever had on a car

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Well, I must admit it's weird to think of "monthly cost" terms because that's how trained salesmen are able to snag you.

But that's exactly how much it makes sense to think of it when you are paying that much in repairs anyway.

The rub is. ..just because you get a new/new-used car, that doesn't mean your monthly repair bill is zero, just hopefully smaller.

So. . .I should probably still budget $50/month for repairs or something and then factor in the car payment and keep my capital freed up.

[tripods68]

We paid off our 2006 Odyssey a year and half ago and it's been great.

[red92s]

Just cheap. . .but they know I am divorcing too. . .so you can add in pathetic to that

Actually, I punched the numbers. . .a $200/month auto payment will sport me a car costing $6600.

TERMS:
3 year loan
6% interest

This is what I did on my last car purchase (3 year loan, payments under $200/mo). I paid it off in about 18 months. I think there is a nice little "sweet spot" in the $7-8k range where you can get late model, reliable used vechicles that will last 100,000+ miles. Above that and the payments get higher than I like, or the terms get longer than I'd like. Below that things get cluttered with high-mileage, high-wear cars (there are gems for sure, but there is significantly more stuff to sift through to find the real deals).

[seen]

I paid in cash $8500 for an 04 civic almost 2 years ago. I basically service everything (well as much as I can without requiring special equipment) myself, and the thing currently has about 95k miles on it. I put on about 25-30k miles yearly. I get 40+ highway mpg (freaking amazing for a non-hybrid) on it, and plan on keeping that beatbox for a long time to come

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Red,

Yes, the "sweet spot" - I would agree that is about $5000-10,000 on a used car - maximum depreciation with minimal car repair risk.

Of course, you can always get a lemon.

[bjl584]

Red,

Yes, the "sweet spot" - I would agree that is about $5000-10,000 on a used car - maximum depreciation with minimal car repair risk.

Of course, you can always get a lemon.

A Vehix report should show all of the service records for a particular vehicle.(at least I think) A lot of trips to the shop in a short amount of time especially for the same issue would be a big red flag that the car is a lemon.