In light of the Home Ownership thread, I thought it’d be a good idea to post a car ownership thread where people can talk shop, get advice on repairs, get advice on purchasing new cars, etc.

I’ll get started by asking when you decide it’s time to trade in for a newer car. I’m in that conundrum now. I hate car payments and my wife and I own two vehicles. One is a 2017 and almost paid off. The other is a 2007 that has been paid off for almost a decade. We use the older car as a backup since my wife usually stays at home with the kids (we homeschool and she teaches them). But if they need a car for doctors appointments or what have you, I’ll take the older car to work and they use the newer one.

Anyway, would it be best to put some money in the older car to get it painted and looking better or getting a new one? It’s a Honda with about 140,000 miles on it and mechanically sound. Should I just drive it until the wheels fall off or trade up?

This is the wrong time to be buying a new car. Most are going above sticker price. You have right idea in general about not having a payment and driving it until the wheels fall off.

I would try to find information on how reliable and how much maintenance will be required on the Honda with 140K miles on it. Personally any indication of major expenses or reliability issues would have me looking to upgrade. Driving a car newer would be nice too.

My rule of thumb for getting rid of a car is when it is making enough unscheduled trips to the shop to inconvenience me or when it leaves me stranded too often (generally more than once).

IME that has generally worked out to be 8-10 years and 200,000-250,000 miles. There are more productive ways to spend one's time than duct-taping a car to keep it running.

I would not put any significant money into a 2007 vehicle for cosmetic reasons. At that point I would hesitate to make substantial mechanical repairs unless you can do the work yourself. If you do and something else needs replacing or repairing, you feel inclined to do so because you just put $xxx into the vehicle.

Everyone's tolerance for car troubles is different. Mine is now far lower than it was a few decades ago. I suggest getting a firm idea of where your tolerance level is before being surprised by a mechanical failure. Buying a replacement vehicle, whether new or used, is far easier when you do not have an urgent need to make a purchase--or decide what to do with a car in need of a major repair.

That’s pretty much the only reason I’m hesitant to do it right now. It’s crazy how expensive even used cars are at the moment.

Does anyone know anything about cargo racks? The 2017 we have is an SUV but we’d like to have more cargo room for road trips. My understanding is you need to buy the side rails first, then the cross rails. Is that accurate? If so, any good resources for finding the rails? I can’t find the right ones online for less than about $400 and the dealer doesn’t have any or know where I can get them.

$400 seems reasonable. You don't want any cheap **** that will rip off your car. You don't need side rails unless you want them to be permanent - something I wouldn't do with a 5-year old car. We recently purchased Yakima cross rails for my wife's daughter's car and they are working well. You get components specifically for your model and put them together.

It’s $400 just for the side rails and that doesn’t include the cross rails. But I don’t need side rails? Don’t the cross rails connect to it? Or do I have it all wrong? Do you know anything about the kind that strap through the windows with no need for a rack?

Got a new car (Outback) in July, traded my old beater. (2002 Camaro conv) .

It is true that it will always be cheaper to repair than replace with new. Don't forget to factor in higher insurance and licensing costs when considering new.

All that being said, I'm very happy with my purchase. Love the adaptive cruise, backup camera, auto-braking, etc, etc. Also, just having a vehicle that rides well is nice. Not long after I got it, I took a long road trip. Looked down, "oh, look, I'm doing 85" because the ride was so smooth compared to my old vehicles.

Bought a 2021 Lexus IS 300. First time in my life I bought a new car. It's ****ing nice to have a turbo engine and RWD and this thing is much more fun than just buying an Accord. 46.7k with taxes in CA. I still got my 2007 2-door Civic which runs great. I probably should sell but not expecting more than like 3k. Meh, I have enough street parking at my place I could keep it around as a backup. But seems pointless either way.

Also, **** car companies in 2021. I don't need a computer, a gps, and onboard wifi. Just called Lexus and disabled all that ****. At least my car has a CD player baby!

The cross rails attach to piers that clamp down to the door frame. It doesn't look like it would hold when you first get the parts, but once they're on properly they're not going anywhere.


You'd trust a strap through your car to hold something on when you're doing 80 down the interstate?

Nope, I wouldn’t. I was wondering if you had experience with them that could possibly change my mind. Guess not.

Painting a non collectable car is probably cost prohibitive.

Newer Honda 4 cylinder (2003 up) are normally timing chain, if its a Honda V6 its a timing belt and 140k puts you in no-mans land. Either it was done correctly at 90k miles and will need to be done again in 40k miles or hasn't been done and you are at risk of being stranded with a seriously damaged engine. Honda uses an 'interference' engine which means if your timing belt goes you are gonna damage the valves and be looking at several thousand to repair.

I like to drive cars until they won't go anymore and just payed 1k to put a clutch in a 97 Tercel with 220k miles. I prefer Toyotas as they use 'non-interference' engines and if the timing belt breaks your only additional cost is a tow to the shop.

As someone who leases cars, these words and concepts are foreign to me, but there must be some advantage to using an interference engine for Honda? Maybe cheaper to produce?

Weird - I never stopped to wonder why but your question made me look up the answer. (from the first google link so lets just assume this must be correct)

The main reason why is because everyone wants good engines. That means powerful, efficient engines, and one of the best ways to make powerful, efficient engines is to have engines with high compression.

Compression refers to how much the fuel/air mixture in an engine’s cylinders is, you know, compressed. The more you can squeeze that mixture, the more bang you can get for your buck, almost literally.

Compressing more, though, means pushing that piston further and further up into that cylinder—which means that piston’s top is very likely to reach the same places where the valves will be when open, which means that the piston and valves have the possibility of—you guessed it—interfering with one another.

This is also why nearly all diesel engines are interference engines—by their nature diesels are very high compression engines.

The benefits of high compression are so good that many engine designers decide it’s worth the risk to have an interference design. If you’re willing to change the timing belt or chain when the manufacturer suggests (usually starting around 60,000 miles or so, it’s not like changing oil or underpants) then, ideally, you really shouldn’t have to worry.

Out of curiosity, why do you lease? Don’t you ever want to own an old beat up car that isn’t what it used to be but at least it’s YOUR old beat up car and you don’t have to pay anyone a monthly fee to drive it now?

I pretty much do the same as you do. I have a 2007 Charger with 130k miles on it. At this point, I'll pay for the routine maintenance kind of things, but I wouldn't make any substantial repairs on it. The last thing I repaired was a coolant hose leak, which was relatively minor. Then I have my newer car, a 2015 Corvette. I keep the Charger around because sometimes I need to have more than a single passenger, and because the Corvette can be a little more temperamental. I've had to replace three tires on it in the last year from hitting various potholes

Probably for typical reasons - you always have the most recent advances in car design with the latest and greatest technological features. You're basically always driving a new car. Plus, you never have to even think about car maintenance because your car is always under 35K miles and even if there is an issue, it's under warranty. Just easy/enjoyable car ownership.

Yeah, pretty typical reasons I hear from most other lease people. I do a fair amount of driving so keeping it under the allocation would be tough for me but I can see the appeal of always having something newer. But then again, nothing beats the feeling of paying off a car and getting that pink slip mailed to you.

Au contraire.The feeling of just paying cash for that ish in the first place is even better.

I wouldn’t know but that does sound awfully nice.

My wife's car just died. Cost more to get running then it's worth (then there would still be other needed maintenance/repairs too)
I'm not normally for leases. Typical reasons for that. Want to own my own, don't want to make payments I'll never get back, blah, blah. I don't knock anyone with a lease, I just prefer the other way.
With that said - I'm thinking right now might be a good time to lease for a year or two? Purchase prices are insane and they (hopefully) will come down in the next year or two. Any thoughts on that front?
Or am I better off with a cheap 1-3k vehicle to hold us over?

Yes you are. Financing a car is one of dumbest things a person does financially. If you can’t write a check for the car, you cannot afford it.

Buy a beater and then put the money away every month that you were going to spend on a lease/insurance. When you have enough saved up and you are debt free, and have an emergency fund, then buy a nicer car with cash if you have to have one.

Oh come on. Car loans with low interest rates aren’t terrible. Credit card debt is significantly more dumb than financing a car unless you finance it for a ridiculously high interest rate.