I haven't posted here in a while, but I still lurk around the forum.

I eventually sold my F-150 (some of you may remember me) because it cost more in gas a month then the payment and insurance on it.

I drove a 94 ranger 3.0 with 350,000 miles for a while, got a 02 grand am GT sc/t package for $2,800 and ended up trading that in on a 2013 lancer.

Later on sold the ranger for $1,500.
Got married over a year ago, still going good. Even moved into a new home.

Big change between all them, but so far I am pretty happy with the lancer.
my wife has been wanting a truck and I might end up with a F-150 again lol.
She has a trailblazer that seems like something breaks every month, 05 with under 70K.

I still enjoy reading the posts here though.

Its funny how a person changes over the years, I swore I would never buy non USDM car/truck and that buying new was a bad idea.

Oh well, just stopping by. Hope everyone has been doing well.

 

From a purely financial standpoint, buying new usually doesn't make any sense unless you intend to keep the vehicle for a long time.

That being said, I usually always purchase new because I want to be in charge of maintenance from Day 1, and the standing rule around our house is that we keep a vehicle for a minimum of 10 years before we even think about replacing it! So in that context, I feel I am well-served by purchasing new, even though I could "technically" get a better deal buying a low mileage used vehicle instead.

It's hard to believe you got that much for a Ranger that was approaching 400k on the odometer! Was the body in unusually good shape or something? Or maybe the trusty old '97 Ranger sitting in front of my house is worth more than I think it is.....

 

Good to see you again. Yep, our lives take some strange twists and turns. Sounds as if your wife is pretty sharp, if she is wanting and F-150, that is.

 

I really wanted a dart to be honest, its the first thing I looked at but apparently darts are a hot item and a base model w/no options and manual would have run me over 22k OTR (msrp is 16).

Its a longer story than I told, I loved my f-150. it was the best thing I have ever owned so far, I haven't had the lancer long though, not enough to judge it.

It just really tied me up too much every month with the payment insurance rate and gas. I sold it back at the first part of 2012 and drove the ranger for a while (more on it later) and with no payment and getting 17-20 (miles/gallons) mpg I got caught up really fast.

I went from $300 a month payment and $300-350 in gas and $100+ insurance to just about $150 in gas and $50 in insurance.

Found a good deal on a 02 grand -am but it didn't last long (8-9 months or so) before it starting having serious electrical issues. It got better millage and I paid cash for it.
In between all that we started work on the land I was given, and I am very lucky and thankful for that.

My wife and I paid cash for what we could and between my parents and my wife's parents we got enough money scrapped up to do get the equipment to fix the land up. I am paying them all back slowly but now everything we have is paid for (besides the car), I owe my family a lot, and since everyone pitched in and we did all we could out self we saved a load of money on labor.

Its pretty amazing what deals on a double wide you can find if you look.
We got our 2002 model (top of the line for that year after I looked it up) for $14,500.


But then the Pontiac started slowly dying. I talked it over with my wife and we spent almost a month looking until it got to the point that I had to have something to drive (the ranger was sold by this point) so I spent 2 days off work looking for a deal on something.

Looked at a dart, corolla (new/used) Camry (new/used), Kia and a few other things.
I "wanted" a mustang but I needed something with good millage and just ended up getting a good deal on the lancer. MSRP was 17,300 and I got it for $19,800 total counting TTL and all fees.

I had strongly considered the new FRS but I really didn't want to pay a premium for one, and we are wanting kids before too long.
So 4 door lancer > 2 door sports car.

So I ended up with a 50K/5 year B2B and 100K-10year engine/trans and I am getting 31-32 mpg.
It has a lot of bells and whistles when compared to the other cars I looked at in the price range.
I would have went with the dart/focus but the warranty is not all that hot and I just was not able to get a deal on one.

Buying new was the last resort, I looked at a lot of used cars but most of them are so high here it was not worth it.
Why pay $15K for a used 2010 corolla (40-50K miles) when a new can be had for 17?

I wish the grand am would have lasted a month longer, right after I got the lancer the local lot had 2010 left over Camry loaded out for $15,995 trying to move them before years end.

Well, my grandpa kept it for a long time, its a 4X2 with the 3.0 and I original thought it had 250K until my dad told me it had already rolled over 3 times and was at 50K again.

It was, believe it or not, almost all original. The body was a bit rough but because my dad kept up with it really well grandpa never had any problems with it. Normal upkeep on it, a new PS pump and water pump and new front suspension parts and it was right as rain.

I would have kept it, but I got ok deal the grand am and selling it helped on the house.

It was still going when I seen it about 2 months ago.
The guy we sold it to paid us a bit up front and the rest in payments. (600 down $200 a month). He didn't have credit and needed something to drive.

Yea really, getting married really helped me "grow up" and I have had the best time of my life in the last 2 years.

January 23 2011 was the first date and we got married that year. I got to go to Tennessee the first time, stayed in a real cabin for my first time.
Got to go to my first nascar race in 2012 (on my B-day no less) got my first brand new car, house and more.

I am still kinda of down about my wife wanting a truck while I got a new car but she agreed I needed something I can depend on, I drive over 50 miles a day now.

I hope to be able to get her something new-er in the new couple of years. Her trailblazer is still under 70K lol.

This forum just really has a good vibe to it, and the lancer forum is not all that active.
Ive only seen 3 in this area, a 2010 model and one 2012 and then mine.

 

seems odd to keep spending money on vehicles just to end up back where you started...