The Debt-Free Car Project Chapter 7: Sailing Past 150,000 Miles

Comments

• stig9 Member Posts: 1

  January 2013

  Oh come on 150,000 is nothing!!! my 2000 VW Passat just passed 200,000 miles.

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• peter_salinas Member Posts: 10

  February 2013

  Mr. Montoya, is it Edmunds.com's recommendation to "to live with the oil leak and periodically check on the oil level?" It would seem to me on its face to likely be a state or federal regulatory violation to knowingly release oil into the environment that could enter waterways. At least in Texas, it is.
  • Texas Water Code, Section 7.145
  • A person intentionally or knowingly discharges or
  permits the discharge of a waste or pollutant into or adjacent to water in the state that causes or threatens to cause water pollution without strict compliance with all required permits or other authorization; Water in the state includes drainage ditches and storm water sewers
  • Each day is a separate violation
  • Imprisonment up to five years and/or a fine up to $100,000.

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• peter_salinas Member Posts: 10

  February 2013

  Mr. Montoya, is it Edmunds.com's recommendation to "to live with the oil leak and periodically check on the oil level?" It would seem to me on its face to likely be a state or federal regulatory violation to knowingly release oil into the environment that could enter waterways. At least in Texas, it is.
  • Texas Water Code, Section 7.145
  • A person intentionally or knowingly discharges or
  permits the discharge of a waste or pollutant into or adjacent to water in the state that causes or threatens to cause water pollution without strict compliance with all required permits or other authorization; Water in the state includes drainage ditches and storm water sewers
  • Each day is a separate violation
  • Imprisonment up to five years and/or a fine up to $100,000.

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• yellowone Member Posts: 1

  March 2013

  I read the whole article! Awesome! I really liked it, almost like a novel

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• ltdan84 Member Posts: 1

  March 2013

  While this series of articles is interesting, the message is clear, don't buy an older high mileage Lexus.

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• x_factor Member Posts: 1

  March 2013

  This article series is very interesting and a lot of it rings true. I do a slightly different strategy when it comes to cars. I buy either new cars or cream puff used cars (1 or 2 years old with about 12,000 miles per year or less) AND run the wheels off them. Currently my daily driver is a 2003 Nissan Altima 3.5 SE that I bought at 1 year old with 10K miles in Sept 2003. It now has 138K miles and my average monthly cost has been just over $200 per month (excluding routine maintenance -- oil changes, brakes, and tires). Yes as cars get older they start having more maintenance issues but in the long run -- if the financial factor of owning a car is your #1 issue -- this has proven to be a great way to go. Granted, right now with used car values relative to new car prices being significantly higher than normal a used car MAY not make sense now but a "run the wheels off it" strategy can also be done with a new car. I have purchased 2 new cars and 3 used cars for 2 drivers (my wife and I) in the past 22 years. All were well over 100K miles when I sold them, one had 148K. And while I don't have the receipts or a spreasheet to prove it (but I am a former financial analyst so I'm qualified to estimate), my average cost per month for all these cars is less than $200 per month over each car's life.

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