Flexo, thanks for keeping us updated on this purchase and providing an honest picture of all the expenses. I can easily imagine myself buying a 3-5 year old civic right now. I'm glad to hear yours is still running well at 100,000 because that might be the range I start looking at in terms of miles.

In fact, if you ever sell that car let me know ;-)...

Baker: Good plan. If I ever decide to sell, you can be certain I'll announce it here.

Flexo,

I remember when you bought the car - time flies! My wife and I just finally broke down and bought a newly used Hyundai Santa Fe after put $1,100 into car maintenance (timing belt, new radiator) and then the engine went - oh well.

My '99 Civic hit 155,000 before getting a minor crack in one piston ring. It wasn't really causing any problems for a while (just had to add more oil half-way between the 6000 oil change maintenance). At 170,000 miles it finally died, where either the crack, or something else, started spurting oil all over the place, and clogged up all the engine control components. I looked at getting a replacement "used car," since my car was worth only $1,600 at the time (less since it didn't run any more), but decided to replace the engine instead. Replacement used civic would have cost me $4,000+ for 60k to 80k cars. A replacement used engine costs $950 (for the 80k mile one), plus $1,500 labor. $2,500 versus $4,000+ was a no-brainer, especially considering that I have been taking good care of the rest of the car, replaced some other maintenance-related things not too long ago, and actually know what is going on under the hood, as opposed to essentially gambling on a purchase and hoping I don't get a lemon. I doubt you get a maintenance schedule that tells you how old each part is when you buy used. Engines are cheap, apparently, and civics otherwise last for a very long time. If this one lasts as long as my other one did, this is $2,500 for 100,000 worth of mileage. Plus, since the odometer was left alone, I'll finally get to see one of my cars go over the 200,000 mark :D

Did your fuel and depreciation really end up being the same dollar amount, or is one of those incorrect?

I'll check when I'm home and have the numbers. That doesn't sound right.

I've edited the post with the correct fuel expense: $7,042.

I have a 94 Civic that I bought used with 47K miles. It's now at 285K. Of course, there've been a few repairs along the way: water pump, brake cylinder, and the normal wear and tear maintenance.

Good to hear that you've kept the car running well all these years. Recently made cars can get to 100,000 miles without any problem. I have 135,000 miles on my 1997 Saab and it still runs great, but it's my second car. I love it too much to sell, wouldn't get much for it anyway. (I should do a complete analysis on how much I spent on the car.) Cars aren't the best financial investment, but we generally need them and they go way beyond just the financial part.

Some reasons to buy a newer car include...

- being sure that you can rely on it (for long trips), because all machines become less reliable with time and usage
- safety features, (can't put a price on that, side airbags and stability control has been proven to save lives)
- consider that the trade-in value of your current car is higher in warranty than once warranty expires for time or miles
- enjoyment of driving, I'm a car nut, and consider cars a hobby worth investing in
- low interest loans or rebates now while rates will go higher later
- current low returns on other investments reduces opportunity cost
- buy new if you want to keep it for a long time and depreciation won't matter as much. This way, you know what's been done to it and that it hasn't been abused.

I just bought a car a couple of weeks ago, and have only bought new since I started getting the GM discount in 1996. That ends for me next year and my traded-in vehicle still had 9 months and 13,000 miles left on the warranty, so now was the time to buy. It's good to plan ahead and buy when the time is right even if you don't need a car today. You might need one in a year or two, but financially, it may work against you to not buy today, especially when the dealers and manufacturers are so desperate to sell.

Congrats on hitting 100k. I had a 94' Civic automatic that I bought brand new and drove it for 11 years and racking up 200,000 miles before getting rear-ended by a Porsche. Maintenance was low until the last few years, but even then the biggest thing was replacing the water pump and master brake cylinder... no biggie. I'm a huge proponent of 4-banger Hondas... They will perform above and beyond as long as you do your due diligence with regular maintenance.

My 2000 Nissan Maxima is nearing 185,000 miles and still going strong. I bought it in 2003 when there were 35k miles on it, and other than replacing the clutch early on, there's been no major problems since.

At this point I'm hoping it keeps rolling along. When the time comes to replace it, I'd definitely look for a Nissan or a Honda. Seems like they run forever!

Saabs and Volvos last a really long time too. But pretty much all cars will last 100,000 miles these days and 150,000 is no big deal any more. My 1997 Saab has 135,000 miles and runs very well. My goal is to hit 300,000 miles, but I can't rely on it as my sole car. If you go on a long trip and something goes wrong, then you pay through the nose for towing and repairs, (like in downtown Chicago).