Saturday, Sep 02, 2006 at 09:48
Hi Alloy,
"Too much money" - can never have too much money :-)) But nope, got wife, 4 kids and a mortgage.
"lease your vehicle" - nope again - I can get a novated lease thru work but if less than 25k per year, not worth doing. I own my vehicles outright - then I can do what I like with them.
"don't use a spanner" - nope again!!! Been doing my own repairs and servicing for 30 years. Even new vehicles we've had - warranty is not worth the paper its written on.
I've found with Toyotas like my current truck, I spend nothing on repairs and relatively little on maintenance in the first 100,000k. Repairs mount up in the 2nd 100,000 when clutch/brakes/maybe gearbox/alternator/batteries/tyres/timing belts/air cond/etc all may need doing.
For me, repairs are a PITA - wipes out a day. For others, each repair or major service wipes out $1000. But if you're doing the remote desert trips, where everything has to be 110%, I get things fixed earlier rather than later.
Sell a vehicle with under 100,000 on the clock and you'll get surprisingly good resale. My previous Prado TD was purchased new for $45k cash/no trade and sold for $39k after almost 3 years. I have friends with identical vehicle, but 2 years older, and they are struggling to get $25k.
Current 79series TD has excellent resale value - theres 4 in todays Advertiser - all priced above $44k - auction prices are all above $40k as
well. So depreciation in the first 3 years is not as much as people think, because of the large cash discounts you can get on a new vehicle, and good resale on the good vehicles that are in demand.
But like I say, I think I'll go the second round with this truck - it's too good to get rid of.
Cheers
Phil
FollowupID:
450151