What is the most money you paid for service on your vehicle?

[Yander]

I'm convinced you can't win with cars. When you put 25-30k a year on them, like I used to, it's just a real expense, new or used.

I tried buying used for many years. Sometimes I did okay but often got burned by people who didn't maintain their cars.

Now I buy slightly used where I can see a Carfax that has oil change records. It's the only way I will buy a car that costs over five grand.

Here in the last two or three years I've been burned by cars that I paid cash for for under five grand.

I bought an old truck for myself and a older Toyota Avalon for my son's girlfriend. Both sellers lied or didn't disclose everything.

But I also bought two brand new Subarus, a 2012 Forester and 2013 legacy, both of which had the oil consumption issues. I change my own oil so I figured it out before having any issues. There was a big class action suit.

Can't win. People that don't drive their car as much would say why do you switch cars so much.

 

[oosik]

Most of my young adult life was spent living in Alaska. This IS NOT an area where you want troubles with any vehicle. I have always bought new and rotate out prior to any major problems. I know this might be a costly way to go but I simply do not want vehicle problems. Especially in the remote areas where I travel.

Folks frequently die of exposure in Alaska due to faulty vehicles.

 

[Sigarms]

Most of my young adult life was spent living in Alaska. This IS NOT an area where you want troubles with any vehicle. I have always bought new and rotate out prior to any major problems. I know this might be a costly way to go but I simply do not want vehicle problems. Especially in the remote areas where I travel.

Folks frequently die of exposure in Alaska due to faulty vehicles.

Your line of reasoning makes complete sense.

 

[Yander]

Off topic, but you haven't moved to a "rust free zone" yet?

I'm still trying to figure out how my T100 has rust. It was a one person vehicle per the title, and the person lived in NC, Florida and then moved back to NC. 1998 model, bought around 2004, and I still have it.

When I took my son up to the finger lakes last year, he finally noticed what my wife and I talked about how cars take a beating up North per rust.

Ahhh yes, the rust belt.....

I bought a 2004 Ford F-150 from up near Cleveland Ohio. Yes big mistake because of the rust belt. I went up to look at it at night I did get underneath with a flashlight but it was hard to see things clearly.

Gave the guy $4,500 and drove it home.

Took it to have some work done on it the next day they called me and said they couldn't even lift it because the frame was so rusted out.

I took a bath on that when I sold it but I told the guy the truth and he was okay with buying at the way it was.

said he wasn't going to pull anything much with it and didn't worry about it.

I know the other guy that sold it to me knew about the rust because the shop that called me had me come look at it. You could see where somebody else had tried to put it on a rack and couldn't because it was crushing the frame.

 

[Sigarms]

I'm convinced you can't win with cars. When you put 25-30k a year on them, like I used to, it's just a real expense, new or used.

I tried buying used for many years. Sometimes I did okay but often got burned by people who didn't maintain their cars.

Agreed on not winning with cars, new or used.

Generally most of our used vehicles came from a dealer lot. Having dealt with a lot of scam artitst on Armslist a long time ago, in general it's pretty easy for me to get a bad vibe from the person looking to sell whatever they have online.

That worked for the Avalon (buying from local dealer). Second day out with the car, took it back in as their was sludge in the oil. They replaced the entire transmission at no cost.

When my son was looking for his car online, some general guidelines I gave him was to be able to take any car to a mechanic to get checked out before you buy. Look at the person and the history of the car and see if it "makes sense". When he bought his car, we had to drive to Fort Brag. The german woman was the wife of an officer who had since died. Since we couldn't drive the car to a mechanic I knew to have it checked out, given the history or the car and the woman, my son rolled the dice because it's what he wanted and everything else seemed "OK".

Whenever I sell something, I tell the person both the good and the bad with my experiences on what I'm selling and why I'm selling it. Have a A+ rating with a bunch of transactions on Gunbroker LOL With the avalon at 399K on the odemeter, wouldn't sell it to anyone expecting a reliable car.

Don't genearlly sell cars. The accord will be a tough cookie. We have over a total of over 8k into it, but it's fine now, and makes for a good "spare". Before my son bought his car, he updated the stereo system so I like that as well LOL

 

[oosik]

Generally speaking - vehicles do not rust out in this part of the world. Too cold in the winter and much too dry in the summer.

However - live in the "beeg city" - Spokane/Seattle - they liberally use de-icing materials. For years it was salt mixed in with the sand. Now they have gone hi-tech. Some type of liquid - sprayed on the asphalt.

I live way out in the boondocks and avoid the beeg cities - like the plague. Both summer and winter. City folks simply live a different life style - and their driving shows it.

 

[Tomtint]

Off topic, but you haven't moved to a "rust free zone" yet?

I'm still trying to figure out how my T100 has rust. It was a one person vehicle per the title, and the person lived in NC, Florida and then moved back to NC. 1998 model, bought around 2004, and I still have it.

When I took my son up to the finger lakes last year, he finally noticed what my wife and I talked about how cars take a beating up North per rust.

Haven't moved yet, Going to Fla for Jan/Feb and March this year. Plan to spend a fair amount of time looking around to find a place. ..Fla is a strange place.. neighbourhoods change by the foot.

 

[alexpops]

Just over $10K after hitting a deer on I-10 with my 2011 Silverado 2500HD in 2019. Had to replace whole front end/hood/windshield/AC condenser/oil coolers/radiator/& both air bags. All work paid for by insurance & done at a dealership in San Antonio, TX (who I'll never use for anything again ever). Long story short ... the body work was good, the mechanical, not so much. Had electrical, tranny & AC issues after their repairs that cost me another $5K over two years. When the evaporator blew out (they never replaced the dryer after the condenser was off/open for 3 months -- remember the GM parts shortage back in 2019?) & I was looking at another 2K for the full dash removal & replacement, I said screw it. Between the ongoing costs, general lack of reliability & the fact the CP4 was 11 years old (& destined to fail catastrophically at some point) I traded it in on a '22 3500HD. Before the deer, only issues with that truck in 140K mile were EPA sensor related & under warranty and a soft seat on the driver's side. After ... truck sat waiting on parts more than it was driven.

 

[alexpops]

Haven't moved yet, Going to Fla for Jan/Feb and March this year. Plan to spend a fair amount of time looking around to find a place. ..Fla is a strange place.. neighbourhoods change by the foot.

FL isn't necessarily rust free. Lot of salt air, humidity & ground moisture. Not as bad as NE or Midwest, but nowhere near CA/AZ/NM/or TX as far as rust. Good luck on your search in FL. Prices have gotten stupid over the last 2 years, & insurance costs are ridiculous. My homeowners tripled between 2015 and 2022.

 

[ponytug]

Most of my young adult life was spent living in Alaska. This IS NOT an area where you want troubles with any vehicle. I have always bought new and rotate out prior to any major problems. I know this might be a costly way to go but I simply do not want vehicle problems. Especially in the remote areas where I travel.

Folks frequently die of exposure in Alaska due to faulty vehicles.

X2! Not that I drive in anything like Alaskan backcountry these days, but I used to get into some pretty remote areas.

I had an old Saab that we took everywhere. Driving out of a remote area, I heard a massive clunk from underneath, and I knew that I hadn't hit anything. I crawled under the car, poked around, and discovered that one of the shock absorber mounts had broken completely off near the axle due to metal fatigue.(!) I hated to see the car go, but knew that I couldn't reliably rely on it in the backcountry if I was having metal fatigue issues. I mean it only had 250k miles on it. Sheesh. Great car, bought used from a lady who used it for a forty mile commute everyday, and I put another 175k on it. Zero issues. I saw the car around town for another couple of years (I sold it to some cash strapped students.)

All the best,

Peter