Americans Are Keeping Their Cars Longer, as Vehicle Age Hits 12 Years

Re:Americans Are Keeping Their Cars Longer, as Vehicle Age H... by imtringued on Sunday June 20, 2021 @04:53PM (#27573804)

I "repaired" a car that was worth 600€ because without a repair nobody would be willing to buy it for its true value. I'm pretty sure value of the car (to me) exceeds 600€ + the cost of repair now.

Your calculation is silly and so many people fall into this trap. If you want to calculate whether a repair is worth it you have to either calculate cost per mile or cost per month. If a repair costs 1000€ and buying a new car would get you 200€ monthly payments and the repaired car survives 5 months then you just broke even and every month after that is profit. Your new car is never going to make you a profit.

The only thing you lost is the opportunity cost of not driving a new car.

When people say "where the cost of the repair exceeds the value of the vehicle." what they really mean is that they want a new car and there is nothing wrong with that but it is absolutely not cheaper than maintaining the old car a little bit longer.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Americans Are Keeping Their Cars Longer, as Vehicle Age H... by erikpukinskis on Sunday June 20, 2021 @07:11PM (#27574668)

I always thought they were saying, “Sell the car for scrap, take the money you would’ve spent on the repair and buy another (functioning) car for 600€ cash“.

I don’t think they’re saying “get a new car with a monthly loan.”

[ Parent | on HN ]