How much have you spent buying cars?

Lounge
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I would be quite interested to know how much people have spent buying cars for themselves to use in their lifetime.

Please state the total figure spent minus resale value.

I’ve only ever had four cars in my 60 years on planet Earth: a Peugeot 405, Honda Civic, Touran, BMW325i - all bought secondhand.

Most of my life, I didn’t own a car at all because I lived in cities and could travel on public transport and by bike and walking.

The total cost of these cars, not adjusted for inflation, is about £17k - minus resale value comes to about £12k.

(To make sense of peoples answers it would help to have some indication of roughly how old they are - the poster not their cars!)

The reason I ask that on here is because to me it’s much more important to spend money on Hifi systems, not on expensive cars.

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Spent too much! I’ve spent more on hifi and had more pleasure!

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Zero.

I’m 45 and don’t have a car and my license expired. Last time I was behind the wheel was decades ago when I passed my test. I figure I’ve saved a packet over the years not owning one. I spend about $50/week on taxis which my calculation of a decent car, plus petrol, servicing, tax, MOT over 10 years makes $50/week on taxis much cheaper than car ownership. If it’s just me, I take the subway but a taxi becomes cost comparable with public transport when the whole family is going somewhere.

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Spent so much. It has been a lifelong hobby alongside hifi. Lots of pointless spending for marginal improvements, but I’d do it again. :smiley:

Edit. You asked for age, 69 years and just about to sell what is probably my last ‘hobby’ car, a Lotus. Started driving in 1972, grass tracked a series of minis and mg’s learned how to build an engine, suspension etc and have never looked back.

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I’ve bought about 30 cars since 1986. As a rural dweller I do about 10,000 miles a year, my wife does 20,000.

The figure is a big one even if you deduct resale value. Then there’s servicing, insurance, tax, tyres, fuel.

I suppose, deducting resale value, if you factor all those in then well over £200,000. Some of the cars did very well come resale time.

I didn’t have one when we lived in NY. Did have one when we lived in London but that was a waste. Didn’t have one living in Luxembourg City.

I do quite like public transport as an alternative though it’s very limited where we live.

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Excellent point.

I forgot to mention this, so will add that to the original post.

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I’m not sure how meaningful not adjusted for inflation, however roughly?

Meanwhile it is a bit complicated, because my wife and I have shared cars, sometimes only having one, other times two, depending on travel need. Easiest to tot up the total between us, me from starting driving in 1976, joint from ~1990: Total 12 cars. Purchase cost is only very approx as i don’t have a record and purely memory, some more accurate than others, I would say a total of about £40k, though as noted thst is two people’x cars. That is quite a bit more than I expected, as I never bought new, mostly buying quality cars with high mileage so cheap though young… (That is actual amount spent, a fair bit more if adjusted for inflation.) Only sold a few, at total of maybe £3-4,000. Mileage is a total guess, probably of the order of half a million miles.

Most enjoyable car to drive Audi TT 2.0t quattro 225bhp, best car overall for usability Toyota Corolla Verso 2.2 turbodiesel, or slightly less usability but more fun to drive, Saab 9000 2.0t hatchback, most interesting car Audi 100S Coupé

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Under £8000 I would guess. Owned 5 cars since 1984, when I got my first car aged 27.
I have spent significantly more on Naim kit, Cameras Holidays and of course my house.
I have owned two smart cars now and for me, these cover over 99% of my needs, rarely need more than one passenger seat and the boot size is ample.

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Quite embarassing amounts of money.
Over the last 30+ years, i owned 3 Honda Civic VTEC and Integra R, 9 Lotuses Elises/Exiges and finally, i am with Porsche N.4 + Mini Cooper S. On the top of this 5k + euro in Road taxes/insurance every year for cars decorating the garage. However, like Oscar Wilde said, i can excuse with everything bar the unnecessary

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There is no need to be embarrassed. If people have the wherewithal and love cars, they should be able to spend as they please, and similarly if their passion is hifi. Spending big sums on either is unnecessary and neither is more justifiable than the other. We may as well ask how much people spend on takeaway coffees rather than CDs, vinyl, or downloads.

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Very Little in restaurants and nothing at all in aperitifs, wines and spirits

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I’ve probably spent no more than 20k since 1985 on purchasing.

I’ve probably spend 40k on two of them though :thinking::anguished:

The resale value far exceeds the purchase price.

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I have had a total of 6 cars in my life, starting in 1987.
For me, a car is a tool to get from point A to B. Nothing fancy needed. The money I save on cars can be applied elsewhere.
My current car is a 2012 Toyota Yaris sedan that I bought new in 2012. It only has 40k kilometres on it. I intend to keep it a long time yet.

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I know you’ve explained that you prefer spending money on Hi-Fi rather than cars, Jim, but I’m curious as to why you’re asking the question in the first place ?

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One of our cars was a Yaris, 4-door hatchback (I’ve no idea what a sedan is). Dating back to Now 24 years old, we bought it af a bargain price as a repaired insurance write-off in 2001, and it is still going strong, now owned by one of our sons. It is a comfortable, surprisingly spacious small car, that has proved incredibly reliable, no faults in all that tome (just the usual consumables), and minimal running costs.using third party servicing.

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A frightening amount over the last 50 years. I would have a lot more money now if only ………
Here in Madeira they keep their cars a lot longer. I queued behind a 40 year old Toyota for my MOT - not that unusual here.

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0
But we rent cars on a share cars site when on holidays.

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Zero, the DVLA revoked my license on medical grounds. I am certain that I would not have the HiFi system I enjoy today if i had to run a car.

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I’ve bought just one car in my 71 years, a VW Polo from a friend. I collected it on April 7th and destroyed it on July 24 in a bad car crash. It amounts to a stunning 3 half months. I could have rented it for a little less.

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One good reason to celebrate! I not so secretly hate cars, and openly love HiFi.