It always struck me as odd people buy cars so often. My first car I drove into the ground (quite literally at the end!), and my current car has been chugging along for over a decade with no end in sight. A car loan is one of the larger expenses the average household has, and it is one of the expenses that can be reasonably paid off within just a few years.
I knew a couple who drove their vehicle into the ground. The moment when it shit the bed? Deep into the middle of the crazy market of the pandemic, with chip shortages and supply chain issues and all that, so used and new cars were all ridiculously expensive. It’s not just a matter of being smart with your money.
I got an electric vehicle, and I’m worried about the post warranty period. Do I keep it after 8 years and hope the battery doesn’t go out, or do I say fuck that risk and get another one to drive until it’s battery warranty is up too.
Since it sounds like your car is currently reliable, you have the choice of ‘paying for a new car now’ and ‘maybe have to pay for a new car in the future’. The latter is the less expensive option.
Edit: Even when considering the trade-in value of a car goes down as it ages, as a new car devalues much, much faster.
It always struck me as odd people buy cars so often. My first car I drove into the ground (quite literally at the end!), and my current car has been chugging along for over a decade with no end in sight. A car loan is one of the larger expenses the average household has, and it is one of the expenses that can be reasonably paid off within just a few years.
I knew a couple who drove their vehicle into the ground. The moment when it shit the bed? Deep into the middle of the crazy market of the pandemic, with chip shortages and supply chain issues and all that, so used and new cars were all ridiculously expensive. It’s not just a matter of being smart with your money.
You have to be careful with making plans for black swan events.
And even if they bought an insanely inflated car, it still probably came out ahead compared to always having a car payment.
I got an electric vehicle, and I’m worried about the post warranty period. Do I keep it after 8 years and hope the battery doesn’t go out, or do I say fuck that risk and get another one to drive until it’s battery warranty is up too.
Rebuild/refurbished is starting to become a thing for EV batteries. I hope it becomes commonplace in the coming years.
You essentially need a fully remade battery.
Most of the attempts to fix a single module don’t work out and fail again as the battery isn’t properly balanced.
It’s almost impossible to do it without the scale of batteries the OEMs have at their service centers.
Maybe it’ll get better as time goes on though
Since it sounds like your car is currently reliable, you have the choice of ‘paying for a new car now’ and ‘maybe have to pay for a new car in the future’. The latter is the less expensive option.
Edit: Even when considering the trade-in value of a car goes down as it ages, as a new car devalues much, much faster.
Well ya, I got years left still.
But at 8 years it’s resale value will be much higher than at 8 years with a 15-20k battery replacement if it dies.
There’s a cost/risk to consider there, it just working isn’t a financially sound decision on its own
Edit: also by the time 8 years is up,getting a 1 year old car to eat that initial depreciation will be easier.