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Old 02-24-2009, 03:49 PM
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disneysteve disneysteve is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LivingAlmostLarge View Post
Jim, I see the math. But how does it work for beater cars that are like $2-4 that you just drive for a couple of years, then when they die you let them? Versus a new car? I mean not a relatively new used car but a beater?

Wouldn't the beater come out ahead?
I had a friend in college who bought a car about every 6-8 months. He generally paid around $500 (this was in the early 1980s). During the time he owned the car, he would clean it up and make it look nicer and do minor repairs, mostly stuff he could do himself for minimal expense. Then he would sell that car and buy another. He almost always sold for about the same price he had paid and occasionally as much as double what he had paid. His cost of ownership was close to zero, maybe even negative cost (meaning profit). I always thought that was a great way to go if you had the time and inclination to do the work.
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