Another house prices to collapse article....

The author's and economist and has been around for years, I wouldn't call him "entry level".

 

It seems tbat a lot of self obsessed social media people seem to think so!

Or am i just being a old fart?

 

The irony is that only the extremely evil (Hitler, Pol Pot, Stalin) or the extremely "good" (Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed) are remembered.

Everyone in between is pretty well forgotten. Noone truly cares about the caveman or woman who discovered fire. yet it had an amazing impact on the world as it is today. we are fairly insignificant in the universe. that doesn't make life less wonderful but we aren't as important as we think we are.

 

Rationally - very hard to justify, and there is probably not real explanation to someone who isn't a "car guy" I guess sometimes you need to feed your emotional side and give it what it wants. The context form me is I've always loved my cars I'm comfortable enough financially that I'm able to justify the expense.

When I say expense the biggest part of it is depreciation. In hindsight I should've probably bought a used Porsche as it would've depreciated less but at the time something like that wasn't suitable for my situation.

As per some of the posts above I've always been focused on the financial picture when it comes to everything I do and I'm sure I could be putting the capital to better use from a ROI perspective. But what is the point of the journey if you don't take (rational) opportunities to enjoy things along the way?

PS: My last car was a Commodore @datto (VF HSV GTS) and the two of them did look good side by side for a while They're a great buy on the second hand market and should hold their value relatively well given they're last of the line!

 

Value & cost is all relative to individual financial circumstances ....

Why you ask.... because they can.

Many think it's crazy that people spend over a $1M on a PPOR? Or $2M or $3M.. ....

Many people can't understand why anyone would need a $200k+ boat or $500k+ or $1M+.......

Many people can't understand why anyone would work their whole life being a frugal tightwad only to then die & gift a large inheritance......

It's all relative.......

One person's trash is another person's treasure .... & vice versa.

 

I cant get over the fact that some women spend $2000 on a pair of shoes or handbag.

You wont see my carrying a an aldi bag for fashion, but $2k!!!!

 

I do think a decent car would bring you lots of enjoyment and satisfaction from time to time even for a non car guy like me. One has weight up the pros and cons. Put it this way, if you can comfortably afford it, the question is ”why not?”

 

I wish they were all my relatives .

 

I can’t afford a “fancy” car but I’ll never not have a new (model within 1-5 years), reliable car with all the gadgets.

The main reason being piece of mind. I simply don’t get people who say “buy the worst car that will get you from A to B”. All well and good until it doesn’t get you from A to B and their is no warranty which ends up costing you more to replace plus the wasted time.

As for the gadgets...what can I say I like my bum to be warm whilst I am heading away with my adaptive cruise control.

 

I think safety is the biggest consideration. Crappy old cars are death traps for the drivers and passengers. An article I read today was something like 15% of total registered vehicles are pre 2000 and responsible for something 35% of fatalities. Whereas 30+% vehicles are 2012 to now only responsible for 12% deaths.

 

Throwing it out there, it may well be the quality of driver who can afford a newer car is better than those who can only afford an old *******.

Or the obvious answer is that teens in their first (hand me down) car are overrepresented in the crash statistics because they are not as responsible or skilled drivers.

 

If this NCAP video of a 70s commodore doesn't make you reconsider **** old cars nothing will.

 

As opposed to current model

 

"Special testing of new facility in 1992. Car was loaded with 375 Kg /827 lb of sand and was 100Kmh into a solid wall not alloy honeycomb. Not a real test of the car."

 

The video doing the rounds of 90’s corolla head on with more modern one is probably a better example of progress. I will see if I can dig it up the steering column in the older car is a deadly weapon

 

Of course the extra weight of the newer car make it worse for the older one

 

I'm not a doctor but the older car still looks survivable. What happens when two new cars crash into each other? How can I get a job working in this place?

 

I don’t think headbutting the dash and ending up in the back seat with your neck backwards is “surviving”. But I’m an advocate of old basic cars. My 2001 laser does the job as long as no one hits me of course..