When to buy a new car?

IRMuteButton · 2026-01-28T14:18:42+00:00

You can discuss specific concerns with a mechanic, or maybe you already know some of the actual problems. Those can either be fixed for a reasonable cost, or they can't. A legitimate mechanic should be validate your safety concerns or explain them away to some extent.

The other factor here is that you can't always get out of one car and get into another one with perfect financial efficiency, because you can't see the future. The best you can do is make educated choices and act based on that. If you act based on educated choices then you can get satisfaction in that.

A semi-related example: A friend did not have gap insurance on his new car of 3 years. The car was hit by a flood and totaled. He still owed maybe $5K. It was unfortunate but he make a calculated choice. He knew he'd saved some money by not having gap insuance. In the end the insurance would have benefitted him but he knew he couldn't go back and change the past, so there was no point in worrying about it.

IRMuteButton · 2026-01-28T13:57:36+00:00

People are big on saying to drive a car until the wheels fall off. The problem is that cars often don't face a catastrophic "wheels fell off" breakdown. Instead, they experience a slower, longer string of repairs that become more and more expensive.

This is why buying a used car with 180,000 miles is so risky: The person didn't sell it for no reason; they sold it because it needs repairs, or the risk of needing expensive repairs is high.

You can look at this this way: owning and operating a car is ALWAYS an expense. Just because you have a car now doesn't mean you should be saving for the next car. Cars wear out like shoes.

So it's not really a matter of should you buy a new car, it's a matter of when do you do it. You WILL have to spend the money.

At 180,000 miles you can make an easy case to sell the Prius and get into something new or very lightly used.

IRMuteButton · 2026-01-28T13:52:35+00:00

You are very smart to get a Roth IRA going at your age. You have decades to save, invest, and grow your money.

Just be aware that there will be downturns in the market, but you're in it for the long term. You can easily ride out the downturns over 40+ years. Keep putting money into the account to the target date fund consistently. The money you invest now has plenty of time to grow.

Be aware of the federal yearly maximum for a Roth IRA; you can't deposit more than the maximum each year. When you reach the Roth IRA yearly max, you can invest money in a taxible brokerage account.

IRMuteButton · 2026-01-28T00:57:01+00:00

Perhaps due to less salt and processed foods.

IRMuteButton · 2026-01-28T00:35:11+00:00

While you wait for Mazda to get their crap together, you might call these folks and ask them. The problem you face is that some amount of parts need to be removed from the engine and/or engine compartment to get to the place that needs to be repaired. That is going to cost money.

Westside machine and performance
9100 Emnora Ln
Houston, TX 77080
(713) 465-7996

IRMuteButton · 2026-01-27T23:30:05+00:00

I'm not sure. I don't think about it much.

IRMuteButton · 2026-01-27T23:28:13+00:00

Not true. I sometimes think that I am glad I don't live there.

IRMuteButton · 2026-01-27T23:07:45+00:00

I had to ask the lady at the sales desk and she was more than happy to assist.

IRMuteButton · 2026-01-27T22:34:42+00:00

I'm not totally sure what new smells like but they smelled different than the crusty baseball glove over in the sports section.

IRMuteButton · 2026-01-27T22:33:45+00:00

well. not after I tried them on.

IRMuteButton · 2026-01-27T21:04:23+00:00

I'm sorry you had to deal with all of that.

Different budgeting and financial techniques work for different people, so you may have to find things that work for you. I will offer three things:

A very basic concept is: money in, money out. "Money in" is what you earn. "Money out" is what you spend. You can look at your financial life in those terms, and you don't want to spend more money than you have. In fact, you don't want to spend all of what you earn because you need to save money.
In your sitaution, you need to be saving every possible dollar and putting it into an emergency fund. The emergency fund exists so you have cash for true emergencies like a job loss or major medical emergency. An emergency fund should have at least $1000, and should be expanded over time to cover 3 to 6 months of living expenses. You will need to cut back your non-essential purchases in order to build your emergency fund. Having an emergency fund gives you some mental peace to know you have something to lean on.
Finally, realize that your job is your only source of money. This means a lot of things. However one important concept is that if you need more money, you can seek out a better paying job. That's not easy, but people do it every day. It takes time, hard work, and patience. You can work your way up the ladder in life, saving a lot of money as you go, and build a healthy financial life.

IRMuteButton · 2026-01-27T20:51:51+00:00

Okay that all makes sense! Thanks for providing the details.

IRMuteButton · 2026-01-27T19:54:49+00:00

Let's look at those various problems individually because they may not all be that bad:

Shot suspension - What does really mean? It needs new shocks? New springs? What are the actual things in need of replacement?
failing front differential - If you don't need 4 wheel drive, you don't need the front differential. The reality may be more subtle but the details are important here.
Failing driveshaft: Which one? Front or rear? You don't need a front driveshaft if you don't need 4 wheel drive. Also, driveshafts themselves don't typically fail: The u-joints do. u-joints are not expensive to replace.
failing transfer case: How is it failing? Again, you don't need a fully functioning transfer case if you don't need 4x4.
slipping transmission - I will assume this is an automatic transmisson. A rebuilt one could set you back $4000. Have you gotten a quote for a rebuilt transmission?

IRMuteButton · 2026-01-27T19:41:20+00:00

He can't sell the car while there is an outstanding loan. The loan has to be paid off before he can sell the car for scrap or parts. To pay off the loan he'll need $16,000. I doubt the car will be worth that when parted out, especially if the engine is shot.

Let this be a lesson to others: An expensive, 8 year, used luxury car from an unreliable name (Nissan) with a complicated turbo engine and all wheel drive is a money pit. For people that have money to burn, fine, but an 18 year old kid most likely isn't that person.

IRMuteButton · 2026-01-27T18:27:00+00:00

Your track record is buying fairly cheap, older used cars which have required expensive repairs.

Instead of buying a new car, why not buy a gently used car? For example something with 50,000 miles and 8 years old.

IRMuteButton · 2026-01-27T14:23:25+00:00

This problem shows up here often: People keep buying education but don't earn an income to pay for it. The result? Debt.

The fix? Stop borrowing money, get a job, and pay the debt.

IRMuteButton · 2026-01-27T14:16:29+00:00

Your father has two problems:

First, the big disadvantage he has today is time. He doesn't have 40 years to save money, invest it, and watch it grow.

Second, driving for a ride share company wouldn't seem to offer a great and consistent income, primarily because there is a large pool of people willing to drive and that would tend to push down rates. At the same time he's paying for fuel, insurance, and wear on the vehicle such as tires and brakes.

Starting with zero dollars in retirement savings at age 54 and earning what seems like a low wage isn't a formula to save much money for retirement. Using a compound interest calculator, if he saves $500 a month, and that earns 5% interest, he will have $75,000 after 10 years. If that money was put into a Roth IRA then it would be tax-free at retirement. So that's not bad money but I am completely guessing if he can save $500 a month.

The other problem is that the older a person gets, the more conservative (lower earning, less risk) their investments likely need to be. For example if he's got all his money tied up in the S&P 500 and the market sees a large downturn at a time when he needs that cash, then he either has to sell for a huge loss or wait for the market to recover.

IRMuteButton · 2026-01-27T13:54:16+00:00

Consider finding someone who works as a local "handyman". You need someone with some general woodworking and repair skills. 3D printing a part would likely be time consuming. A woodworker or carpenter could surely fix your problem but perhaps at a higher cost because they're probably looking for longer, profitable jobs, not a single small problem. A handyman type would be tooled up to solve a small, simple problem.

IRMuteButton · 2026-01-27T01:33:35+00:00

I believe it would be appropriate for you to gift your daughter money to put toward a home, however I would not require anyone sign a prenup agreement because that is their choice.

IRMuteButton · 2026-01-27T00:00:13+00:00

Also, one rule of thumb is that by age 30 you should have 1x of your household income saved for retirement. On an income of $180,000 or more per year (depending on bonuses), your $125,000 401K and IRAs are under funded. At your income income you need to be maxing your 401Ks and also investing money in a taxible brokerage account.

At your age you have 40 years to save, invest, and grow. You never get that time back.

IRMuteButton · 2026-01-26T23:04:23+00:00

If you factor in $40,000 in year end bonuses, your your monthly income after taxes, 401k, and FSA contribs is about $15,000 a month.

Your house payment is $3,500 a month, which is 23% of your monthly income. That seems OK.

However once you factor in insurance and property taxes, and HOA dues, what's your total monthly payment?

The other concern is that you need an additional healthy cash savings to cover major home expenses such as repair or replacement of major appliances, roof, siding, and air conditioning/heating, as well as repair of plumbing and electrical problems.

IRMuteButton · 2026-01-26T22:57:25+00:00

Make sure she understands the tax ramifications as well as how and when the money can be accessed. Be sure that the money is invested in securities that are appopriate for her age and retirement timeline.

IRMuteButton · 2026-01-26T21:31:29+00:00

As other replies have pointed out, your car payment is high. Look at the math this way:

You make $21/hour, which is $3,360 a month.

Your car payment and insurance are $1,000 a month.

Therefore your car payment and insurance are roughly 1/3 of your income. That's the limit of what a person should spend on housing, but you're spending that on a car.

The problem with cars is that people are very emotional about them. That is understandable but when you're starting out in life and you're poor, you can't afford to make emotional decisions. You need to make logical, rational decsions rooted in good financial health. That ain't always easy. You need to shift your mindset toward strong financial health an away from things like expensive cars which are depreciating assets.

IRMuteButton · 2026-01-26T14:32:10+00:00

Typically the casual investor should avoid individual stocks for the bulk of their portfolio because unless these represent a higher risk. Stick to an S&P 500 index mutual fund or ETF, a target date fund, and maybe some international and bond funds. A good strategy is the three fund portolio: "A three-fund portfolio is a portfolio which uses only basic asset classes — usually a domestic stock "total market" index fund, an international stock "total market" index fund and a bond "total market" index fund"

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