Buying a Car

Buying a Car

Tyler Henson

Snow College

Facets of Food

11/22/2020
I bought this car because I had just started a new job in Nashville which is a 98 mile one-way drive. I needed something reliable with good gas mileage.

It is and was mostly used for highway driving with a lot of rural roads thrown in since I live in a very rural area.
It can hold 5 passengers.

Two up front, three in the backseat.
I live in a very rural area and to reach my house you have to cross a dry creek bed. 

It floods quite frequently, so I wish I could have gotten a truck with four-wheel drive, but it was too expensive at the time. 

Also, it would have bankrupted me paying for the gas in a truck to get to work. 
My drive time each day was an hour and a half one-way, so three hours total per day I went to work. 

On days off, I live an hour away from everything, so a minimum of two-hours in the car each time I wanted to go anywhere. 
Since I drove 98 miles one-way to work, that is 196 miles total each day I went to work. 

I worked three days a week, which makes a weekly total of 588 miles. 

Add in going to the store once a week, which is 54 miles away and random or miscellaneous driving which averages 20 miles each trip, three to four times a week.
That totals 756 miles per week. 

3,024 miles per month.

36,288 miles per year.
When I bought the car, I intended to keep it for as long as possible. I didn't know at the time that I would become unemployed due to an injury at work, then have to find part-time on-call type work. 

Now, I am not sure how long I'll keep the car. 
The current resale trade-in value is: $10,000

Sold to a private party: $11,000


Advantages of leasing: 

Usually you get a good warranty to cover it while you have it. Free maintenance, oil changes, etc.

If you decide to get rid of it, you can. 

If you decide to keep it, usually that's an option at the end of the lease. 
Disadvantages of leasing:

Big upfront down payment required. 

Monthly Payments that don't go towards a principle amount. 

Some companies won't let you keep the car at the end of the lease.

Advantages of buying: 

It's yours to keep. 

You can pay it off quickly and own it out right. 

You can modify it how you wish. 


Disadvantages of buying:

You're locked into an auto-loan with interest.

It's yours, so the maintenance is mostly your responsibility. 

Resale value drops very quickly
Monthly payment: $326

Car insurance: $100

Monthly gas bill: $250

Oil changes every 3-6 months: $50
Other maintenance: average $100 every six months
Lemon Laws:

They're meant to protect the consumer. If you buy a product that constantly has issues that is the fault of the manufacturer, the lemon law may help protect you from being liable for the expenses. 


It varies by state. 

Mostly affects used-cars. 


Cited

Motors, H., 2020. Haims Motors Used Cars. [online] Haims Motors. Available at: <http://www.haimsmotors.com/detail-2016-toyota-camry-4dr_sedan_i4_automatic_se-used-16248756.html> [Accessed 26 November 2020].