It was a resounding win for Trump, no doubt, but you’re far overstating what has proven to be global discontent with incumbent parties in the wake of Covid. Around 80% of incumbent governments that held elections this year lost power, some for the first time in 30 and 60 years, or like Japan largely since WWII. Global Elections in 2024: What We Learned in a Year of Political Disruption
I will buy used if I can get a car I want with less than 30k miles for 40% less than a new car. Otherwise, I buy new. It's not horribly expensive if you keep the car for 15-20 years and keep up with the maintenance. I typically buy Toyota for new, and Lexus for used. I try to avoid getting all the bells and whistles on the car, as this adds to the long-term maintenance costs. My previous Toyota SUV (4Runner) averaged an all-in cost (including gas, dealership maintenance & upgrades, but not insurance & registration) of $300 a month over 17+ years. Without gas, that number drops to $190 a month. The SUV hit me with $2,000 in repairs over four months (and the local dealership was reaching their limit in their ability to successfully complete some of the repairs), so I figured it was time for a new one.
It'll be interesting to see how things go. The republicans are very capable of shooting themselves in the foot and turning things right back over to the democrats.
Hi KY - we had the same with a 2013 Santa Fe. It is up over 140K now. Gave it to my daughter a few years back. Paint sucks but it has been a good car.
Is it the manufacturer quality or that of the servicer (assuming you take it somewhere)? My last car ('98 Pontiac T/A; bought new and sold in 2013) and current one ('13 Dodge Charger) were/are both over 200k mi. The common denominator here is that no one changes the oil but me. Mobil 1 filters and synthetics. Quality of oil and filter make a huge difference to an engine. As far as the initial topic, no way I can justify a new car purchase until forced to. Mopar ran a lifetime warranty with the Dodge vehicles (which is one reason why I made the purchase). Even if my engine has a catastrophic failure, it's $100 to replace.
Belts, hoses and SYNTHETIC OIL!! On of my dad's crusty old Navy buddies used to tell us synthetic only. He is no longer with us but always said he worked on planes older than us and maintenance is the key. Off topic - Kids and most drivers don't realize how vehicles work. When they jam the gas and slam the brakes how much strain that puts on an entire system. There are so many moving parts. Take care of your vehicle. Any new vehicle (if taken care of) should last 200K miles. They are truly marvels but get abused by drivers that think driving is like Pole Position. My uncle has a 1990 Toyota Land Cruiser with 500K on it. It has been taken care of. Toyota is my favorite.
I try to keep my rpm under 2K during takeoff. Brake slowly which drives my wife nuts as she thinks I’m going to run into the back of someone. I’ve had service people comment on how much tread and brake pads I have considering the miles. When people are behind me at lights they cannot wait to go around me as soon as possible. Then I smile at them at the next light. Lol I drive 5 over and use cruise control regularly.
I'll be driving a residential street at 25 mph, 200 yards ahead a car's brakes lights come on. I can hear my wife's quick breath intake of fear. My mother used to actually stomp the floor like she's trying to brake from the passenger seat. My dad loved that.
A friend of mine had a 2005 mustang GT with a 5 speed manual and he got almost 190,000 miles on the original clutch. When you drove with him you needed a neck brace after each first gear shift but that is a long life for a clutch.
Drive it like I stole it... Service it with the best stuff. Front brakes on 1/2 ton Denali went metal on metal for 30 miles, ruined the rotor. Less than 40 miles later, rear goes metal on metal for 14 miles intermittent. Ruined that rotor. Squeekers on inside never touched when outside pads were worn out. Never had front and back go bad that close together. Just had tires rotated 1k miles back and costco said nothing. Pulling boat didn't help life span of those pads
