Jul
13
It Turned 100,000
July 13, 2005 | Comments Off
(Reposted, from my old blog. First published on July 13th, 2005).
My trusty old 96 Mazda Miata M Edition turned 100,000 miles last Sunday while driving on the Masspike from Marlborough, MA to Pittsfield, MA (in the heart of the Berkshires). Watching so many numbers turn
in unison on my odometer provoked many feelings, mostly positive.
The Miata and I have been together ever since June 25, 1996. It was at that time that I arrived Massachusetts with little more than my suitcase and enough money (in the form of a gift) for the down payment of such car and some necessities. It has been a good companion and a good teacher. I share some of its teachings on this article.
We (the car and I) have had the best 9 years of my life together. We have seen the good and the bad of life. We have shared the tragedies and the success. And we have had the most exciting road
trips I can imagine. It is exciting to drive the countryside with the top down, enjoying every turn of the road, and ever scenery detail while soaking sun rays. All, knowing that you can enjoy it
without paying a single cent to the bank every month: it is has long been paid off.
My Car Principle #1:
Don’t buy more car than you need. A car must fulfill your needs. It must transport you back and forth from work, it must allow you to take your weekend trips, and it must be appropriate for your family size. It should be safe, easy to handle, and provide some enjoyment while doing so. But, don’t buy the things you will seldom use. If you don’t carry too much cargo every day, a pickup truck may not be appropriate (you can rent one for a day every couple of months. Even if you do a lot of cross country driving, you may only need one SUV in the family (chances are, not all of you will be on its own car while doing the off-road family vacation – assuming you even take the vehicle off-road). Consider balance when buying a car: a good mix of use, reliability, fun, and value.
The purchase was a pure luxury one. For a kid out of college that didn’t had any other car before, it was extravagant, just one way of saying: I finally graduated and I deserve this and a lot more! The monthly payments kept reminding me for the next 5 years that I deserved the world, but I could only afford part of it. In the first couple of months after my purchase I had to eat very inexpensively to be able to pay my debt obligations. Mostly elbow macaroni with Ragu sauce for lunch and dinner and oatmeal for breakfast. Had I been wiser I would have bought a more sensible car.
My Car Principle #2:
Don’t buy more car than you can afford. With afford I mean, pay comfortably, without having to cut into other items that you may miss. A comfortable car debt level should fall in around 5% to 7% of your monthly income. If you earn $3,000 a month, then it should fall around $150 to $200 a month. If you earn $5,000 a month, it should fall around 250 to 350 a month. Such debt will still leave “payment capacity” to allow for maximizing the mortgage you
can get on a home, and still pay any residual student loan or credit card debt you may have lingering around. Most importantly, it will help you stay out of (further) credit card debt. If you must have a certain car, consider a lightly used car with one or two years of use. They have depreciated a lot already (20% or more), but they are still covered by manufacturer’s warranties.
It has even be a protective car: I have never caused an accident on it, and the only body repairs it has needed have been because of people crashing into it while I wasn’t on the car. I made sure to buy a good handling car which compensates with my clumsiness at the driving wheel. And now more than ever I take care of it to make sure the safety parts (brakes, suspension, etc) are in good shape: you never know when you will need them. I must confess, though, that I have neglected such parts that are quite expensive but don’t add too much to the reliability of the car: the electric antenna, a speaker, and the speaker cover.
My Car Principle #3:
Insure what you can’t loose. Full cover on a new car, and enough 3rd Party Liability insurance for all cars. Chances are you can’t loose your car and still have the same kind of life: it is hard to come up with the cash to pay a loan of $10, $20 or $30,000 immediately, or replace a car with such values. Most important than that, you have to insure what you don’t even have. If you crash into someone and you harm them you may be liable for their medical expenses and unearned income for a long time – better have enough insurance for that, unless you like working for someone else. At a minimum you should remember that it is possible to
crash into a Jaguar while admiring it and absentmindedly pressing the accelerator. Good health insurance for yourself is also a must: you don’t want to be in pain after an accident and then have a heart attack after looking at the hospital bill.
The car has been fairly reliable. It has only left me in the middle of the road twice: once because I was stubborn enough not to fuel the car on time, even after it advised me to do so, and another one when a coolant hose broke and overheated the engine. Although it caused me a repair bill of around $2,500 three years ago, the average yearly maintenance expense for the last 4 years has remained at around $1,500 a year. That, added to around $700 in insurance bills comes up to $2,200 a year, or less than $200 a month. Such a figure is less than what it would cost to buy and maintain another vehicle. Even so, I must recognize that as the car approaches 10 years, and as it accumulates more miles in excess of the 100,000 it
has, it will start asking for more repairs. At some point I will have to make the difficult decision to part with it, or at least acquire another vehicle and keep it as my Sunday fun car.
My Car Principle #4:
Buy cars that you can keep for a long, long time. A car is a big expense. Don’t treat it as a disposable item. Buy reliable cars (Read Consumer Reports or other similar publication).
Research into a car history and take it to a mechanic for inspection (if it is used). Once you buy the car, keep the car for as long as it makes economical and practical sense. The loan may last 3 to 5 years, but the car may last up to around 10 years and a little more than 100,000 miles with proper maintenance.My Car Corollary #4.1
Properly maintain the car. Take it to the shop for scheduled and unscheduled maintenance. If you know how to do the repairs at home, do them. If you don’t, don’t experiment in the vehicle that takes you to work every day.
My Car Corollary #4.2:
When the car costs more to maintain and insure than what it is worth (Blue Book), it is time to get another one.
As to what car will I buy once this trusty 96 Mazda Miata M Edition expires (or becomes a nusciance)? I have not decided. I might go for the same one, just newer – a classic. Or I may wait until a friend doesn’t follow advice and I buy his one or two year old car, still in factory warranty, but just after taking the big
depreciation hit. Do you have a good one to sell?
Happy driving!
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Update
I have bought new cars since this article was originally written. The principles still apply. A newer model of the Miata, slightly used (no more than a 100 miles), for the same fun driving experience. We also bought a winter-worthy car.
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