Two years ago, right before I was about to move to a place with no mass transit, I hit my car into a moose. I survived with no injuries but my car sacrificed itself completely. It was totalled; I had one scratch. I loved that car.
So I had about two weeks to research cars and buy a car before my move (in addition, of course, to getting ready to move). It was all very stressful. I hate shopping for cars no matter what and having to buy one quickly made the process even more painful. My father’s friend ended up selling me a 2001 Subaru Forester at slightly above book value. It’s silver and outdoorsy looking. It’s all wheel drive is particularly useful in Maine winters. But I’ve never fallen in love with this car.
It’s not a bad car but I’m not particularly attached to it. I’ve thought of getting rid of it since I’ve bought it. And with gas prices the way they are, well, going smaller is looking particularly good right now.
Thinking about new or used, hybrid or regular, car payment or cheap car I run into the ground are all making my head spin. I ran across this article at another finance blog about the cheapest new cars to own. Then I think I need to do some calculations about whether in my particular case a hybid car’s fuel savings and tax breaks would be worth the extra costs up front. Then I will research how much a typical used car with 50,000 will cost me over the course of five years in maintenance, etc. Sounds like this will be a three part blog series!
And if anyone is out there reading this who knows about cars, feel free to pipe in with information and links. In the end, this may not even pan out but it’s worth a little research anyway…