re: Ride your vehicle till the wheels fall off, or sell it off before it depreciates too far?

2 year old trucks are ridiculously overpriced. I have been looking at all kinds of choices too.

There's little savings to be had in a 2 year old truck can brand new from what I've seen. Go down a trim level on the new and it's often less than the 2 year old truck of higher trim

Once you have actually paid a vehicle off AND THEN HAD THE DISCIPLINE to put the car note $$ into a separate account and not spend it.......

It is soooo addictive to be able to pay cash for any repair that comes up while you watch the car $$ add up in the account.

It adds up fast. You don't realize how much money you give to the dealer because it comes out in small monthly installments.

Set up an additional account at your bank, without your wife's name on it and have an auto draft of the car payment into it each month.

You will never desire to buy a new car again.

I used to trade them in around 3 years knowing it was just another expense every month. That was before I retired. Now, I haven't bought a new car or truck from 2004. Heck, my truck has just under 200K. Had to have the front end changed out that cost me 1K. Other then that, it should be good for another 100K. Got to love a diesel. My jeep is a 1999. Use it just around the house and off roading. Bought it used, add a lift kit and tires about 7 years ago. Only put 18K miles on it and all that time.

I drive until the wheels fall off. If I need anything for a trip, I'll rent.
My wife has a newer vehicle, past warranty. She goes to the stealership for repairs and their hourly rate is enough of disincentive for me to upgrade.

Till the wheels fall off. It's only now that the vehicle is working for you.

I have a bad habit of getting a new one before it needs tires. I know it's economically stupid but at least I admit it. I hope to hold on to this one for longer. I really like it.

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Till the wheels fall off or it becomes a money pit

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Yes

250k+ miles on original powertrain (engine & transmission) is very doable. powertrain cost thousands but other parts don't cost that much. unless you really love cars, blowing money on car note is a huge waste of money imo

The other thing about newer vehicles is the modular nature of their construction. In the past to change a wheel bearing you had to be somewhat of a mechanic to know how to preload the bearing and so on. Now you just unbolt one wheel bearing and bolt another in. As long as your engine is ok you can run a vehicle almost forever. You don't even need to be a really talented mechanic to do this.

I think I paid 250 dollars for the factory carpet in my wife's trailblazer. I disassembled the interior in her vehicle in my driveway and installed it myself in about 4 hours. Every piece of trim I popped of I handed to my wife to scrub in the sink. When I got it back together the interior was spotless and looked brand new.