Quote:
Originally Posted by Cloud
I don't know that it's realistic to require everyone to pay cash for a car. Most people do not have 25K they can slap down, even if they save for years. Especially since i think it's more important and essential to have an emergency fund of a few months' expenses.
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That is the point. One should be saving for many years so as to slap down $25K.
The emergency fund is not a bank account. The emergency fund is credit cards. Just another reason why no one should ever have a balance on their cards. Otherwise they have even spent their 'emergency fund'.
If one does not save that $25K for a new car, then the new car ends up costing closer to $40K. And that one remains a debtor his entire life. I have friends who love this. Therefore they do little work. And reap serious incomes from so many who never learn how to save that $25K over many years.
We can all appreciate your experience with a 'shit' car. But in your case, it was not the car. It was a mechanic who could not think for himself - kept replacing a perfectly good computer rather than the obviously defective valve.
I do have an advantage. I learned in the early 70s by not just fixing the cars. But learning why failures happen and how to make sure my mechanic has basic intelligence. Your bad experience was directly traceable to a mechanic who did not know how to think. Not due to the car.
One solution to a bad mechanic - never have a car that fails. Therefore start in places like Consumer Reports.