Have you seen the prices of new cars lately?

I own two classic cars... one of which is a pristine low miles 93 Mercedes W124 - model designation 300E.. The first W124 to rack up one million miles was a taxi in Portugal.. This one.. Mercedes purchased the car back from the taxi operator, cleaned it up and put it in their museum with a sign on it.. "The million mile Mercedes".


This car was only the first of many of this model to go more than one million miles.. but that was then ..and there were reasons the car was that durable - every part of it was cycle tested and refined.. the W124 was a carry over of the engineering of the previous W123 which was also superbly engineered..Not just the drive train and components the frame, body and suspension as well.. every single part of the car was tested and refined.... Nothing Mercedes or pretty much anyone builds today is engineered with durability testing of components because people are not interested in cars that last for generations or are willing to pay for the work that goes into building a car this way.. Perhaps certain Porsche models who have no competition for their sports car lines and who charge what they like for them but no one else...

The car is now worth about three times what I paid for it.. it looks, starts and runs like a new car and its magnificent to drive..... but there is a problem.. parts support for it has been discontinued.. I have a donor car but I do not have space for this long term.. Meanwhile I drive it and enjoy it a great deal..

This is mine..



The other classic is a 97 Cadillac Sedan that was owned by my Wife's grandfather with low miles on it.. it also looks, starts and runs just fine, no rust - nice car.... its principle use is as a long distance interstate cruiser.. its very economical on the highway, large and comfortable - enormous trunk.. Perfect car for family road trips.. We took it from Toronto to NYC and back - it was like having first class airplane seats.. Girls in the back seat with pillows and blankets plus internet... Trunk holding everyone's stuff.. plus a cooler with drinks and food... and we did not come close to filling the trunk.

For daily driving I have a beater.. and I am going to replace it at some point.. and have already chosen what the next car is going to be... a particular make and model of EV that has proven durable but which is no longer in favour... it will do me just fine... I do extensive research on vehicles so I know which ones last and which ones to stay away from.. I don't drive much anymore... The price on these used models have plummeted.. the cars however are intrinsically worth far more than what the market values them at..

One of the examples of a car that was not valued well was the Mercedes W123 turbo diesel wagon... for a while they could be picked up in very good condition for under $5K... Now they are worth more than ten times that much... I like nice classic cars.. Because I own and drive them - I don't mind owning or driving a beater.. I have multiple cars for multiple purposes.. I do not spend much money buying cars... but I have some very nice cars..

That's what I did with my last car, aka Lola. She was a 2011 kia sportage and I made her last for 180k miles. She was good to me, but bad breaks with a bad parking light and bad sparkplugs forced me to get rid of her. Miss her everyday 😭😭😭

We had a 2005 Ford F-150 for a few months, it had been driven up North and in Alberta and the frame and everything in the engine was complete rust. The battery box was rusted out and someone replaced it with a plastic box. It still ran though and looked good on the outside. Was slow to start, door locks barely worked, windows screamed when you raised or lowered them and the alternator died and it went into park driving down the highway which blew out the front end. Cost $200 in gas to fill it. Cripes.. sold that POJ. You can put lipstick on a pig, but it will still be a pig.
I agree though, the cost of cars is so far out of reach. People lease them which is the dumbest thing you can ever do, and then struggle with the payments.

Mine is now 7 years old with 74,000 miles on it.

I just spent a few hundred dollars to flush a bunch of fluids. I had no clue but they said it was time.

I just renewed my registration for another year.

But I may get a new car next year.

One reason for the rise in second-hand values is that modern cars have become so difficult or even impossible for the owner to service or repair.

It's not helped by the manufacturers over-charging for OEM replacement parts, proportionally to the car's initial selling price rather than the component's intrinsic value: a scam no-one seems to have the courage to clamp down on.

I first learnt this some years ago when a dealer told me VW / Audi have two huge warehouses, one labelled VW, the other Audi. There are many parts common to both, but the company gives them individual VW or Audi part-numbers, puts them in the appropriate store and makes the wholesale price far more for those labelled Audi. Who told me this? A VW main dealer!

I dont know, that one on the front😂

And i totally agree.
About 15 yrs ago buying a restored classic would have been a good thing, but even those are up there.

When I realized that every time my budget seemed to be okay, something terrible happened to my car and i needed to almost start all over again, i discovered leasing. True, if you hold onto a car long enough that costs more, i can budget monthly for the car costs!

All the more reason to use a bike or e bike and use public transport, unless circumstances prevent that.

I haven't owned a car in over 25 years. Never again!

If you can create a new engine for your car you might as well buy a car