[quote=scaredyclassic] But now that I’m turning 60 I’m thinking maybe I want to become a guy who trades cars in every 3 to 5 years. Why am I driving shitty old cars? It’s some kind of weird mental condition political statement obstinacy cheapness. If money and environmental consciousness weren’t an issue, I’d prefer to have new, safe, reliable car.
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There’s nothing wrong with leasing and trading in a car every 3 years. Especially when you’re already 60 and financially established. And then you really dont need to worry about reliability and maintenance. In many ways it makes more sense to do that than paying for maintenance and repairs post warranty.
And besides, lots are car companies are moving towards the subscription, pay per monthly usage anyway.
Take BMW for instance. In Europe, you can now buy heated seats on a subscription bases for an additional $18/month
But seriously, you’re old enough to just try different cars out and not deal with the headache of keeping things long term. You can afford to do this.
Leasing is a lot like dating a high maintenance trophy GF/BF… If you just want to perpetually date the latest and greatest trophy GF/BF without any sort of long term commitments like marriage, then it probably makes sense just to lease and only be committed to 3 years each time versus buying and being commited to one vehicle for 20-30+years. During that 3 year lease, everyone is on their best behavior, and the amount of demand from your wallet is only limited to routine maintenance (no different then occasional exotic meals and trips)…The problems with these high maintenance exotics is the longer they are with you, the more demanding and pain in the ass they get…and when you’re out of warranty, nobody is no longer obligated to be on their best behavior… whoa you better have some pretty deep pockets…. But if you’re leasing. you then you simple trade in the previous model for a brand new one and let someone else who wants to buy preowned previous model….deal with all the maintenance issues when they are past their prime and start to break down and complain over issues….
Of course, if you do insist on a 20-30 year commitment, you probably want to just find someone a reliable Toyota, Honda, or Mazda. They do make sporty versions of Toyota, Honda, and Mazdas too that gets you to probably 80-90% of the fun, without being a royal pain in the ass too.
