A rediculously hard decision...

shadoquad

When I was young, all my parents could afford were cheap beaters. I see nothing wrong with it, as long as they're properly maintained.

Red__Zed

Was there a $40k sports car parked next to the $1k beater?

shadoquad

That's not the point. The point is that my folks drove me around in beater cars, and we were perfectly fine. Even when they did break down, we made due.

The reliability of, say, an Isuzu Amigo, is not effected positively or negatively by its proximity to a more expensive automobile.

Red__Zed

Yes, but the reasonableness of rolling around in an older, unreliable, less safe vehicle is directly correlated to your financial means.


Choosing to slap your kid in the backseat of a 1988 Honda accord when it's all you can afford is fine, it's a different proposition when the reason is "daddy doesn't want to give up his toy"

shadoquad

Meh, I don't know. In sixteen years, your kid may thank you for holding on to that toy when you teach him/her to drive it. It's all about priorities and decisions in life. I don't see anything wrong with either strategy, as long as the wife's on board.

I don't agree that "just because you can afford a nicer, newer car, you should buy the nicer newer car and throw away your happiness"

B&W_Evader

Sounds like you're not the guy on the Gieco commercial that's made of money...

I'd say sell it so you don't have to sweat about not having enough money. Being a new father is stressfull enough without feeling like you can't afford it. With the money you save, you can still take the boss lady out for dinner occasionally with feeling like your going to miss rent or a mortgage. Start saving for a place of your own. Once you've got food and shelter taken care of, that's when you can go out and think about buying a new toy.

BTW, having 1 extra vehicle is great for when 1 breaks down but keeping up on maintenance and repairs with more than just your own will wear on you over time, even if you don't do your own work. The older the vehicles the worse this gets.

Try to stay under 10 years and 100k miles if your getting a used car. Toyota or Honda, Manual RWD will be the cheapest to keep running in the long run. If it's the third car, your wife should be able to drive it too. For me that means auto tranny since she doesn't drive stick.

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m4a1mustang

If that's all you can afford then yeah, there's really no other option. But when you can afford to own a $30k+ sports car I think it's a little bit of a different story.

I think we went through this with one of our OGs. Originally he was looking for beater sedans but finally decided it'd be best to sell his 370Z for a G sedan. So he gets a fun, reliable sport sedan and the kid gets a safe ride.

To each his own, though.

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