Drive a used bad. Does it mean you are poor?

Hello,
Let’s me say Hi to everyone here. I would like to discuss my private issue recently, it makes me think so much and get the feeling of inferiority.

I got a used car Mazda RX8 2004 for sale (https://carfromjapan.com/cheap-used-mazda-rx-8-for-sale-year2004) at Japanese platform. My friends laughed and said it is a bad idea and I would regret it very soon, the car will be cracked and damage soon.
However, it has been 4 months, I see nothing, my car is running very well, no need for maintenance. I don’t get it, why do people feeling shaming on using an old thing? If you are not a rich man, it is not your fault. Spend a small amount to archive your wishing list and save money for your future, is it wrong? How about you? What do you think about it?

Older cars here in America are popular choices for so-called starter cars (where someone is still learning how to drive and you don’t want to lose too much if they get into an accident).

Also in this country, used cars (even ones from recent years) tend to be a lot cheaper and are ideal choices for people who live on a practice of saving money where possible (because new cars tend to come with taxes and other stuff that jack up the total price over time). Used cars can still be pretty nice, they don’t have to look like a beaten up rust-bucket that might die on you at random.

They’re probably jealous of your ride. I’d love to drive an RX8, looks like fun!

Wrong person to ask, my last car I had from new, ran it for over a decade and clocked up 140,000 miles. My current car, I bought second hand when it was a couple of years old. It’s now 17 years old and has 130,000 on the clock, passed the last couple of MOT’s (UK) and is a solid workhorse lugging all sorts of stuff around, barely any hint of rust on the bodywork. I’ll continue to run it until it expires, my insurance premium costs more than the car is worth “on paper”. My two favourite guitars are 30 years old and still look as new. Never understood folks buying the latest. I know folks who recoil in terror at a 3 year old car needing an MOT when they barely put 800 miles a year on it!

I don’t know if I would understand this as an attempt to mock you or to make you feel ashamed - after all, they’re your friends. I’d rather think that they were expressing genuine concern…?

Anyway, here’s my personal experience with cars:
They run perfectly well, until a certain point in their lifetime is reached. When exactly that point is, varies from car to car.

However, when that time has come, it’s like a switch has been flipped: The need for repairs will become more and more frequent. The defects start to amass. And the visits to the garage will become increasingly expensive. And suddenly you realize that you spent thousands of dollars for the repair of a supposed bargain car and still don’t have a ride, since that damn thing is still broken all the time.

Here’s the catch: The older a car gets, the more likely it is that very point in time for the respective car is already there or at least close by. I guess that’s what your friends tried to spare you from. Especially since Japanese cars are (justified or not) notorious for their high maintenance costs. And even more so when buying from some online platform without a chance to examine the car before buying it.

There’s nothing wrong with buying used cars. In fact, buying a new car is an utter waste of money, as it loses half of its worth as soon as you drive it off the dealer’s compound. But buying a fourteen year old pig in a poke is its own kind of negligence.

:slight_smile:

‘a friend in need is a friend indeed’

you’ll meet the right one when you’ll get your car serviced… it’s Wankel

i personally prefer older cars, for the reason the driver does more of the driving, and less a computer.

im in the market for a new ride and i have yet to test drive one that didnt feel wrong.

my personal favorite was a 94 saturn sl2. it out lasted the odometer until the transmission kicked it. my most recent was a mazda, speedy little thing it was.

I’m so excited when hearing from you. :yes:.

Totally agree with you. As I researched, new car will get depreciation quickly in a few years and it will become a used car soon and you have to spend more money for maintenance & warranty. A good used car from Japan is still useful and saving money.

Thank you so much for these nice messages. I’d to post this story because I want to hear from others who had experiences in using used car, especially this used car Mazda RX8 2004. :smiley:

Don’t let your “friends” steal your joy. You bought something with your money and your happy with it, that’s all that matters. Take care of it, fix it up, and drive the wheels off of it.

Cars are like computers. As long as you take care of it, it’ll last longer than it should.
Besides, if you were to listen to all these “old stuff is worthless” people, you would have to buy a new car every year.
Also, anything past 10 years old is classified as an antique, and soooo much cheaper on insurance.
Another also. I “demand” older cars. There is no way I can trust a computer that somebody else puts into my car.

Don’t sweat it. If it runs well enough and gets from A to B, it’s better than no car. My car is just 2 years short of 20, and I’m still managing to keep it going. (Somehow. Less the car and more due to my money situation.) So far no significant rust (paint has changed for the better at GM after 2000, I remember from the years before when it didn’t last 8 years), and maintenance is cheaper than getting a different car. And I can only afford used anyways at the moment, so getting a different car would just be trading for another slew of problems I don’t know about. The few issues my car has at the moment are manageable.

Being a previous RX7 owner that lasted quite the long time and still was running and driveable when I parted ways with it. The main thing to look at is the rotary motor. It isn’t your typical take it to any shop and they could fix it type motor. Runs on same principle but is built quite differently than your standard 4/6/8 cylinder motor and some mechanics outside of Mazda dealers will just toss parts at it without having any idea what they are doing. The main concern with the apex seals and high mileage. Here is kind of a breakdown and explanation of the motor itself. https://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/a7103/how-it-works-the-mazda-rotary-engine-with-video/

Sometimes the old things work better than the new things. I personally don’t give a red rats arse what people say or think. Haters gonna hate. If you knew what everyone said behind your back it would stress you out. I just tune them out. I still have a 72 chevy custom 20 pickup, it’s rough, but it’s a great plow truck. Pull my neighbors truck out of the ditch when no other truck would. I wish I had some of my old vehicles now. The new cars ride like crap, compared to my old Pontiac Lemans, or Bonneville. I feel every crack in the road. At least the old cars didn’t lock you out if you leave your car running for a few minutes.

My primary vehicle is a 2006 Pontiac SUV that I love. It has over 200,000 miles on it, and I [had my trusted mechanic] put in a new (remanufactured …) engine last year with the expectation of getting at least another hundred thousand miles out of it. I’ve replaced many parts over the many years that I’ve owned it – bearings, drive-train components – all due to normal wear-and-tear. It is attentively oiled and otherwise maintained. And all of this not because “I can’t afford a new car.” It’s fully paid for, big and comfortable, has an XM radio, and I still like to drive it! (Plus, it’s very nice not to have a car payment.)

We did buy a “new to us” car two years ago: a VW Tiguron which, believe it or not, was three years old, (verifiably) had never been wrecked or seriously “shopped,” and had a grand total of 11,000 miles on it. (In three years? Woo, hoo! We’ll take it!) For much less money than VW would charge for “this year’s model” of the same vehicle-class, we snapped up a gently used vehicle that had never been abused … but also, so to speak, “never really used.” (And we bought a 150,000-mile extended warranty.)

In other words: “as good as new.” More exotic – turbocharged – well engineered, very satisfactory. I would recommend it to others. But, it’s nowhere near as “substantial” as the Pontiac, and isn’t designed to do what it can.

Thanks to fundamental technical innovations such as “ceramic thrust-bearings,” a well-made vehicle will continue to be well-made and can be expected to give hundreds of thousands of miles of service if it is properly maintained. The depreciation that you pay the moment you drive a “new car” off the lot is ridiculous. (You can buy “new car smell” in a spray-can, if it suits you …)

Always, always remember: “nobody really gives a damn what car you drive!” :yes:

I base my purchase of a car on how easy it is the change the headlights and turn signal lights. I don’t want to go to a car repair shop just because the car is over engineered.