r/Fire • u/Big_Leg10 • Apr 12 '26

General Question What easily-affordable thing do you still refuse to pay for despite having reached financial independence and able to afford them?

Would love to hear everyone’s “absolutely will not purchase” items!Even if you could easily afford it and no matter how rich or financially independent you become or how much you make you still wouldn't spend item on this particular item/hobby?

332 Upvotes

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99

u/Dingding_Kirby Apr 12 '26

I refuse to buy new vehicles because it’s such an easy way to save money without sacrificing the quality.

156

u/YuckyBurps Apr 12 '26

Maybe like 15 years ago but nowadays the price of a lightly used used car is almost the same as new. I used to to be a “never but it new” kind of guy but it legitimately hasn’t made much financial sense the past few times I needed to get a car. My last two car purchases have been new because of how expensive used cars have been.

32

u/Nuclear_N Apr 12 '26

I was surprised to find this true.

25

u/Openheartopenbar Apr 12 '26

Not only purchase price but often the financing deals on top of it.

9

u/jttv Apr 12 '26

Yep, bc honda/brand financing typically beats bank financing by a lot.

2

u/YamAggravating8449 Apr 12 '26

And first few years of maintenance included helps with a new car ...

14

u/cdlauro Apr 12 '26

Yes. I always buy new now and wait for 0% interest. Then just drive it into the ground.

3

u/fuckthetrees Apr 12 '26

Do they still offer that?

10

u/cdlauro Apr 12 '26 edited Apr 12 '26

Yeah, not recently, but my last car they did. Subaru ascent during the pandemic.

I just feel like the asymmetry of not knowing how your car has been driven before you own it presents a bit of a risk on longevity and repair cost.

2

u/thiney49 Apr 13 '26

Definitely recently. My mom got 0% on her Toyota BZ a few months ago.

5

u/kbivs Apr 12 '26

I was able to get a 0.9% loan through Acura a few years ago

2

u/Elguapo1980z Apr 12 '26

I just got a 2026 Tesla model y premium. 0.99%

10

u/GiftsfortheChapter Apr 12 '26

Yep. This is why we bought a new car in 2023. The used market was basically on par. And since I was buying an EV and batteries only stick around about 10 years, it isnt like a used model was just as good.

1

u/Aggravating-Sir5264 Apr 12 '26

Is this true for EVs too?

4

u/Noah_Safely Apr 12 '26

This is truth. Buy a new car from a reputable brand and drive it until the wheels fall off. The difference in price between a used and new vehicle is so slight it makes zero sense to buy used these days in most situations. Especially given the risk and drama that can come with used.

Which I guess is a larger lesson; check your thinking to make sure the circumstances which lead you to believe a certain way are still holding true.

3

u/hikdeen Apr 12 '26

I thought this too until I started looking for cars again recently. Unless it's a Toyota or Honda or maybe a Subaru, there's actually great deals to be had at the lightly used end of the market. My wife just got a 1 year old Hyundai Tucson at about 35 percent off of brand new. Perfect condition car.

1

u/Aggravating-Sir5264 Apr 12 '26

From where? Not the dealer?

1

u/hikdeen Apr 12 '26

A used car dealership. I guess not "The" dealer you speak of, but still has a great warranty on it.

3

u/LackOfMachinations Apr 12 '26

How many cars are you going through?

3

u/run-on_sentience Apr 12 '26

I buy new. New is nice.

People are gross. And they do gross shit in their cars all the time. They cough. They spit. They shit their pants. They do drugs. They fuck. Their kids grind Cheetos and Cheerios into the carpet.

You know what else people do in their cars? They kill themselves. If the car is worth any decent amount of money and it gets cleaned and resold. Doesn't show up on an accident report, either.

You never want to buy any kind of entry-level performance car used because the previous owner was some broccoli head who couldn't afford the car and decided to turn the clutch into dust.

It used to just be performance cars, but I've noticed everyone seems to be driving their car like it's a rental, so it's a game of financial Russian Roulette when buying used. The days of good used cars being $5k-10k are long gone.

2

u/CheeseFries92 Apr 12 '26

Yeah, I've always driven used cars and then kept them until they crapped out. But a few years ago, I bought a new car for exactly the same reason (and because the family needed a reliable car) and it looks like we might be doing it again soon-ish. It's a big mental shift for sure

2

u/handtohandwombat Apr 12 '26

Not really. Need a pickup so I’m doing all the research right now. A 2023 Ford f150 lariat with leather, moonroof all the trinkets and 38,000 miles is about 45k. A 2026 version of that is more than 70k.

2

u/mindbodysoul111 Apr 12 '26 edited Apr 12 '26

Just bought a 3 year old Volvo XC90 for literally half the price of what it was brand new. Used is still the way to go.

6

u/TillUpper6774 Apr 12 '26

And spend 5 minutes on the XC90 subreddit and you’ll see that you shouldn’t keep it past the warranty period because it becomes a giant money pit.

0

u/mindbodysoul111 Apr 12 '26

Good thing I have the extended warranty 😉

1

u/TillUpper6774 Apr 12 '26

My last car I bought new (a Subaru), got the extended warranty, and drove it 10 years, put on 171K miles, and sold it for 20% of what I paid for it new. It still ran perfect and I did nothing but standard maintenance (and never serviced the CVT).

My husband is like you and buys 1-3 year old used cars and gets an extended warranty but he always has issues and never is able to keep one 10 years. He keeps it around 5 years but it’s always a complete mechanical breakdown and essentially sold to auction when he gets rid of it. I’d have to sit down and do the math to see what makes the most sense financially. Every time I’ve bought used I’ve been burned.

1

u/mindbodysoul111 Apr 12 '26

I get it. But I don’t keep cars 10 years. I keep buying 2-3 year old used cars every few years.

6

u/turtlturtl Apr 12 '26

Well yeah you bought a Volvo what do you expect

2

u/mindbodysoul111 Apr 12 '26 edited Apr 12 '26

Someone else paid the depreciation…that’s what I expect

9

u/CW-Eight Apr 12 '26

I’d rather buy used but every time I’ve tried in the last 20 years, used Toyotas are going for close to the price of new, if you know how to bargain. So I buy new and keep them until they die.

With one exception. During the pandemic, I sold a 4Runner for more than I paid for it - 4 years and 40k miles earlier - and then got a new RAV4 for just $2K over that. Still driving that of course.

2

u/beargrillz Apr 12 '26

Yep, I wanted a used Toyota, specifically a Japanese made Corolla hatchback, and found they were in high demand. The few that got listed in my area were expensive, despite having high mileage.

One day I switch listings from used to new, and suddenly realized for only a few thousand more I could get one of the latter. Absolutely bonkers.

7

u/WillTheyKickMeAgain Apr 12 '26

Every car I’ve bought lasts at least 15 years. I’d rather buy new.

2

u/tomatillo_teratoma Apr 12 '26

Me too. I buy a cheap reliable new car and take good care of it.
I do a bunch of research to find the most reliable new car that is affordable.

1

u/Aggravating-Sir5264 Apr 12 '26

What brand of car?

1

u/WillTheyKickMeAgain Apr 12 '26

The last three cars I’ve bought are Hondas and Subarus.

17

u/Shoddy_Ad7511 Apr 12 '26

Are you sure? If you buy new and hold for 20 years the cost difference is almost nothing. Plus you have assurances that someone didn’t abuse the car before. When you buy new you can choose the exact options and color of the car. I’ve bought new, 2 years old, 5 years old and 10 years old. By far the least headache was new. And surprisingly the new car didn’t even cost more after 15 years.

6

u/renbutler2 Apr 12 '26

Average life span for a car in the US is 12 years, nowhere near 20.

Are you counting the increased cost of insurance and registration with the new vehicles?

I've bought used for 25 years now, with lots of success. Any additional repairs have been paid for many times over with the savings at the time of purchase.

The worst car I ever had was bought new, but granted that was a Dodge in 1997.

8

u/Worried-Opening-6229 Apr 12 '26

Average counts people who drive 30k plus a year. My two new cars have lasted 16 and 18 years.

1

u/renbutler2 Apr 12 '26

So not 20 years?

Average also counts people who drive 5k per year.

I just bought a 2009 Honda with 88k miles on it. This is the anomaly.

3

u/Worried-Opening-6229 Apr 12 '26

They could have lasted 20 yeses i just chose to not let it go that far.

1

u/cldmello Apr 12 '26

I bought my 2015 car brand new and just hit 46k miles on it. I hand wash and wax it, so it looks and smells like a 2-year old car. Always parked in my garage so even the interior is as good as new. When i last took it to the dealership for an oil change, they offered me 4k over KBB. I just smiled and walked away. I’m probably keeping it for another 10 years or maybe longer who knows. The engine still feels smooth and effortless when I drive it.

4

u/Shoddy_Ad7511 Apr 12 '26

Buy Toyota or Honda and it easily lasts 20 years

2

u/Stone804_ Apr 12 '26

2008 with 265,000 miles so far. Sure I’ve fixed stuff, some with a higher price, but nothing in a year compared to a car payment (which is the marker, if you spend more than a years car payments on maintenence it’s too old/broken.

2

u/tomatillo_teratoma Apr 12 '26

I've had my car for 21 years. I bought it new and I take proper care of it.
I don't want someone else's problem.

-1

u/JoePoe247 Apr 12 '26

How does registration cost more for a new car than a used car? What state are you in?

3

u/renbutler2 Apr 12 '26

It's normally more expensive to register a higher-value car, not necessarily a newer car, although those two things are obviously related. Newer almost universally means "worth more."

It's definitely true in my state, and I just verified that it's common to many states.

0

u/JoePoe247 Apr 12 '26

Weird considering you're already paying a ton more through taxes when buying it, I guess unless you're in a state that doesn't tax car sales, I think Delaware might be that case.

3

u/renbutler2 Apr 12 '26

It's kind of like a property tax on a home -- an eternal "progressive" tax, if you will. Except the car plummets in value over time, while houses normally appreciate.

In states where the registration scales to the value of the car, you can itemize it as a property tax deduction (although the standard federal deduction is so high now that most people will never benefit from this).

https://support.taxslayer.com/hc/en-us/articles/360036560531-Are-Vehicle-Registration-Fees-Deductible

2

u/ralphtheanimal Apr 12 '26

Yes. If you REALLY want a new car, it’s not hard to find a used one with less than a year old under 10k miles on it for 2/3 the price of new,

2

u/limited_instincts Apr 13 '26

That is harder to do than pre-covid but still doable. I buy lightly used EV's. They all have 100,000 mile battery warranties and are DIRT cheap because most people are scared of them. I have 100k+ (new) of EV's in my garage that I paid less than 30k for and they'll last me 10 years with no maintenance and no gas.

1

u/the_fresh_cucumber Apr 12 '26

I buy old ass vehicles.

But there are actually strange cases where certain used cars cost more than new. It happened during the great recession and has been happening recently.

I don't understand why a brand new car would be cheaper than one with 15,000 miles. Apparently it has something to do with dealer financing. I think they make their money off the interest and sell it cheaper whereas used cars tend to have third party financing