So I'm (25M) finding myself in a position where I would like to buy a car. Never owned one since I learned how to drive 10 years ago. I'm lucky to live in a city with great public transit and I bike a lot. I'm looking at buying a car because I want to go camping, hiking, backpacking, road tripping etc. I also want to go to Costco, take my cat to the vet more easily, be able to have more transportation freedom in general. I've been doing a lot of research on cars and really interested in getting a Subaru Crosstrek, preferably one with a 2.5L engine but those are pretty limited to newer models in the nicer trims (like 2021 and later). I'm pretty specific in that I want a sub compact SUV, I want something reliable with decent gas mileage, good on forest roads, and I can still camp out in it if I want. I know the Crosstrek tends to have decent resale value despite depreciation. I like the safety features and how difficult they are to steal (I live in a city with a big car theft issue). Really the Crosstrek checks all those boxes for me.
The used car market is just atrocious right now and while I suspect it will crash eventually, I want a good car that will last me forever. I am in a position where I can buy in cash so I can avoid auto loans all together and I won't have to worry about keeping up with car payments in quite the same way that I would if I financed it with my bank or the dealership. I had the idea that I could buy with cash and essentially pay myself back (put what would've gone towards a car payment back into my savings) over the span of 3 years. I will say that automotive expenses would be about 1/4- 1/3 of my monthly budget but I have cheap(ish) rent, no student loans and I figure a new car will likely not have many issues as long as I follow the maintenance schedule. I know the old adage is to buy used to save money but the Crosstrek has a lot of what I'm looking for specifically in a car and I plan to own it as long as I can and I won't have interest rates to worry about, and I've already saved a lot of money simply by not owing a car the last several years. I would also have it "paid off" within 3 years, potentially even sooner. Is this an absolutely stupid idea?
Submitted January 25, 2023 at 01:34AM by tn999 https://ift.tt/nZ0iw7d
