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Rethinking Retirement Car Ownership

Cars In Retirement, Saving Money, Vacationing in Retirement,

I have seen the same planned retirement right of passage many times. People securing their magic carpet by following the Retirement Car Ownership tradition. Buying a new or late-model car before ditching the rat race.

Having all the time in the world for road trips means needing a reliable and new car to jump in. It should last forever without the commuting to work and is the smart retirement move to make.

Or is it?

Here’s Why I’m Rethinking Retirement Car Ownership

I fell for this same thinking. Not by buying a new car but we did get a year-old manufacture/dealer certified used car a year before I retired early. Paid cash and thought this is it, we are all set.

I really believed that with proper maintenance and mostly light duty highway driving that it would last a very long time.

Rethinking Retirement Car OwnershipThere was some method to my madness, I didn’t just blindly follow the herd with our thinking. I have a 1981 Toyota truck that I have been able to drive for well over 2 decades so this retirement logic seemed sound. I am a car-nut and consider my automotive hobby as important to my retirement. It’s part of what I retired to. I find a car I like and it’s till death do us part which has worked for me over my life’s decades.

But I am beginning to understand the NEW reality about retirement car ownership

I was right in one aspect of my retirement car ownership thinking. In these 7 years of my early retirement we have taken many road trip adventures in that retirement ride. We have plans for many more too. But there is a huge flaw in my and what I believe is the common retirement car ownership thinking.

These newer cars aren’t made to last long.

It has nothing to do with the engines. They are marvels of engineering compared to the old stuff and there is no questioning their higher fuel efficiency and their safety. In a collision my old truck is barely safer than a motorcycle.

Our retirement ride is now 10 years old and has 145,000 miles on it. It runs beautifully. All of the dutiful fluid changes have paid off. But that isn’t the problem with modern-day autos and yes, I do consider a 10-year-old car a modern-day car.

The retirement car ownership logic’s flaw is the tech.

All of the sensors, computers, electronic controls, and everything else that makes modern cars function becomes quickly obsolete and failure prone. That is what we are starting to experience. Some tech failures do more than annoy us with a Check Engine light to warn us to get something serviced. They can shut the car down.

The problem is when there is a tech failure it almost always comes without warning. No amount of regular car maintenance is going to keep someone from experiencing most automotive tech failures either. It will happen when it happens and it would certainly bite if it happened in the middle of nowhere hundreds of miles from anywhere. We see a lot of no cell service on our open road travels too.

Before all the tech lovers decide I am crazy just ask yourself how many people you know are rocking a 10-year-old laptop? How about even one that’s 6 or 7 years old? Modern cars are controlled by a computer of some sort.

Just do a web search on the Year, Make, and Model of car you are interested in followed by the word “problems” and see where most of the failures are.

My New Retirement Car Ownership Plan

I had set aside $20,000 to replace our magic carpet retirement ride at some point in our retirement.

But I now plan on using that money for another purpose. Instead of buying another vacationing ride I will just rent them. Problem solved. A new car for road trip vacations and keep my older cars for the other 90% of my life within 50 miles of home and within cell service.

I just had to start questioning my retirement car ownership thinking and ask, why pay for a newer car for the purpose of vacationing? A new car with more tech than ever. One that I know will have tech issues within 10 years regardless of my dutiful servicing and easy driving miles.

My justifying financial thinking went like this: We average 27 days of road trip related travel a year. The car rental rates for a full-size car on the Costco Travel site is just under $30 a day. That’s with an in-town pick-up/drop-off and with unlimited miles. If we travel as we have been then for $810 plus taxes we will be road-tripping in a new car.

My brain always insists on my doing a little Pros vs Cons analysis
Pros
  • We will always travel in a late-model car with the latest safety features.
  • The comfort of having that “Reliability” factor settled.
  • Lower Cost. I will have lower car insurance cost by keeping our older rides. They also have lower licensing fees and taxes.
  • That depreciation thing. New cars lose value fast. My cars are already at rock bottom.
  • The money I have set aside for travel car replacement could easily pay the rental car costs for many years.
Cons
  • I can’t be as spontaneous. We will have to always plan ahead to reserve a rental car.
  • There is the whole pick-up and drop-off hassles. But it just needs coordination with the bride or someone friendly.
  • There is the possible insurance hassles due to any damage to the rental car. Between my credit card car rental benefits and my personal $500 deductible auto insurance I should be covered. But it will be more work to get done than my personal car would take.
  • Not all full size cars are created equal. I could get an uncomfortable car for our long road trip.

Wrapping Up

I believe the Pros far out way the Cons. I think the swing away from the traditional retirement car ownership logic is all about the new tech and where things are headed. Aside from the above, it’s amazing how quickly technical advances are moving. From e-cars  to autonomous cars. 

I am convinced at some point combustible engines will be obsolete.

There is also the current jokes (I hope they are jokes) that soon steering wheels will be outlawed.

I am also fully aware that as I age the road trips will likely decrease. That is what I saw happen with our relatives over the years.

As our current old rides need more money than they are worth to repair we will just donate them. At some point I may be down to just my trusty old truck of 24 years and our bicycles.

Uber and Lyft drivers are now in our town and that too may be a new retirement car ownership shift to consider.

Obviously if I had a giant budget I could just buy a new car every 3 to 5 years and not have to worry about failing tech laden cars. But this early retiree doesn’t have a giant retirement budget to spend like that. Even if I did have that kind of budget I doubt I would do that. It would go against my frugal living values.

Do you see any flaws in my new retirement car ownership thinking? Have you already come to the same conclusion?

My Winter Driven Beater Car Saves Money

Cars, Cars In Retirement, Saving Money,

I have a couple of nice cars in the garage. Sitting outside year round in the driveway exposed to the elements is my beater car. Why would I have and keep an old unattractive beater car? Because My Winter Driven Beater Car Saves Money. It is not just limited to winter driving although that is its primary job.

I toy with the thought of selling it. But when I do the math it doesn’t cost me much to have. It saves me a bunch in work and cash by having it as my strategic beater. It saves my nicer cars from the abuse of winter driving, stop and go commuting traffic, and the occasional trip into the city.

My beater car is a 1990 Honda Civic Hatchback.

I just got the emission test done ($25) and renewed the license plates ($73) for another year.

My Winter Driven Beater Car Saves MoneyI bought the little eye-sore in 1998. At that time it was sitting at my mechanic’s parking lot with 270,000 miles on it and a blown motor. I was looking for a reliable car for my kids to drive. The car had been towed there and when they found out the motor was gone they signed over the title for the cost of the tow and just walked away from it. I struck a deal with my mechanic to get the car for free (no sales tax when titling and registering it in my name) and then paid him for needed repairs.

I had everything under the hood replaced. A used 30,000 mile or less motor, new radiator, water pump, alternator, hoses, belts, battery, clutch, etc. When you popped the hood open on this Quasimodo of a car it was new. I spent $2,000 and we have driven it ever since. You can say I am big into recycling cars. It ended up as my son’s primary car for a few years and after he left I just kept it as my beater car.

How My Winter Driven Beater Car Saves Money

Having a beater car is a choice.

I could have chosen to have a nicer car for this duty but then it would have cost more money to buy. Beater cars can be bought for a lower amount and no loans or big savings hits are necessary.

Beater cars need less insurance.

There is no need for a comprehensive insurance policy. Just the mandatory coverage and liability coverage. I also have a towing rider which costs very little. My clunker’s monthly insurance rate is $23. Because I have other cars they also have reduced rates under a multi-car policy discount.

My beater car gets 35 to 37 MPG.

Talk about sipping gas on a budget. This recycled car gets better gas mileage than new cars costing thousands, even tens of thousands of dollars. I saved a lot of money when I was still working and commuting into the city 20 miles every day.

Repairs and parts are inexpensive.

General maintenance is limited to oil changes and rotating the tires which I can do myself. Over the years I have had to get one tune-up, the timing belt replaced, replaced brakes, and two new axles when the CV joints went. All very low-cost repairs.

It saves wear and tear on my better cars.

Which means they will last longer and with less repair or maintenance cost. Especially when I was working and endured stop and go traffic as I commuted into the big city 20 miles each day. I have a set of snow tires for this winter driven beater car. It’s light weight and does very well in snow storms when under 8 inches of depth. It saves my nice cars from the corrosion of road salt and magnesium-chloride (de-icer) that is thrown down on all the roads during wet and cold winter days. I can also save my nicer cars from having to go through the sloppy after storm periods saving me time and money for all the car washes I can skip.

It saves me worry when I have to park and leave it in large non-secure parking lots.

I don’t worry about this car when parked at a park-and-ride light-rail or bus lot, the airport, or in the big city. Or when attending a concert, baseball, basketball or baseball game. It has a standard transmission and most bandits never learned to drive a stick so it’s not desirable. The car looks so bad that it is passed by as belonging to someone with nothing to steal.

It saves me money at the highway off-ramps.

Those asking for help with their cardboard signs see this car and keep walking by as I obviously must be broke to drive a beater car like this.

The Bottom Line

Owning a beater car still takes keeping up with all necessary maintenance and most of all purchasing the right beater car. I prefer something that runs reliably over looking good. A shabby paint job or hail damage may mean a good car cheap. If you find a beater car you want to buy then first negotiate allowing you to have it inspected by a trusted mechanic before taking ownership.

Another thing to remember is if your beater car does break down you do have your nicer car(s) as back-up. That said, when your nice car is in the shop for service or a repair you have the beater car to drive while it is in the shop. I have never had to rent a car for my day-to-day lifestyle use.

My yearly cost without considering any unknown future repair is under $430 a year which to some may sound like too much. Especially to people who live in the city where bus, train, and taxi services are nearby. But for me living in a town where there is no mass transit and 20 miles to the nearest city make having a car necessary and having a beater car I believe saves me money overall.

I actually enjoy driving this little clunker now and then. It’s like driving a go-cart and I admit to enjoying winter driving in it. I have driven it many years and know how it handles making it a breeze to maneuver through the snow.

Do you see yourself ever owning and driving a beater car?

Do you believe since I am now retired and not commuting daily that I should sell it and just stay home when it snows and still spare my nicer cars bad weather roads and wear?

Preparing for Cold Weather Driving: The Easy DIY Steps I Take

Automotive Hobby, Cars, Cars In Retirement, DIY, Do It Yourself, Saving Money

I am Embracing Fall and Preparing for Cold Weather Driving. Every year the first cold day with ice or snow catches everyone off guard causing crashes and traffic jams. So come on people, it is no secret that there will eventually be that first crappy driving day.

I do all of our cold weather auto-readiness myself to save money and hassle. I spent a considerable amount of time yesterday on two of our cars and other than needing a couple of new tires for my Honda Civic things went without a hitch.

Most people just take their cars to what they hope is their trusted mechanic, tire, or muffler shop. As long as they are truly a trustworthy shop it comes down to hassle for me. Making appointments and dropping off a car requiring I get ride out of there by someone or having to sit in a waiting room for hours isn’t enjoyable to me.

Many tire shops will do what I just did (rotate, tire pressure) for free for any tires you bought from them. The thing here is they do that to find something else to get you to spend money on. Another hassle is my having to review, evaluate, and scrutinize what they claim and judge as a necessity. That and the hassle of dealing with them if I say no thanks. They can be very insistent. The biggest thing is I have a garage, the necessary tools and I kind of enjoy a lot of this.

Preparing for Cold Weather Driving – My List

This is a list of what I did yesterday and you should consider doing or have it done.

Change the Oil.

If it has been a while since you last oil change its time to see when that was. Today’s cars will tell you on your display the calculated oil life remaining. If you don’t have that then you have to stick to traditional methods like the number of miles driven since the change. All city stop and go driving the experts recommend change every 3000 miles or 3 months. Mostly highway and it is more like 5000 miles but they still stick to the 3 months.

That is because oil decays in your engine and loses its lubricating quality. Today’s oil is of a lot better quality than the past and I have my theory of oil changes that I use. If your car is under warranty then check your car’s handbook to stay within the factory recommendations.

My unscientific experience is once the car’s display gets anywhere near 25% oil life left it’s time to change the oil. Waiting for the warning to come is too late if you want to have a car that lasts a long time. My non-car calculated rule is 5000 miles or 5 months.

That is just me but I have a truck with 320K miles on it now that I have driven 22 years. Also a Civic with 310K miles on it that I have driven for 16 years. Maybe I am just lucky. The real point here is make sure you get the correct weight and type (Standard organic or Synthetic) for winter driving based on your manufacture recommendation. If the car is old like some of mine then I run 5w30. Cold weather driving is hard on the engine so you want to make sure you have the correct oil weight and highest lubrication standards met.

Check your Tires.

Inspect the tires for any side wall blemishes.

Hitting a few curbs can cause weakness and a slight bulge. This is a recipe for blowout. Same with any bent rim lips where your tire touches the rim.

Preparing for Cold Weather Driving- Quarter Tire Tread TestInspect your tread depth by using the Quarter coin test.

Place the edge of the coin head first into your tire tread and If you can see the top of Washington’s head, your tires are worn and should be replaced. In the old days this test was done with a penny and looking at the top of Lincoln’s head was used. It has been proven that using the penny actually was a little too worn for stopping and traction purposes. In any case you get the idea to check the tread depth. Tires can look perfectly fine but have worn past their safe use.

Check your tire pressure.

As the air gets colder the pressure drops. Fill under inflated tires to the recommended tire pressure. This can sometimes be found on the car’s driver side door pillar decal. Open the door and look below the latch. Correct tire pressure will save gas and avoid blowout on cold days. If you have no decal info check the tire sidewall for pressure recommendation. When all else fails I stick to 32 to 35 lbs. pressure. I have seen under pressure tires blow out the tire seal on cars and it’s no fun having a flat tire on a snowy day. Check your tire pressure monthly if you can.

Rotate your tires.

This is usually recommended every 3000 to 5000 miles for prolonged tire life and even-wear but people seldom do that. Tire shops that you bought the tires from will sometimes do this for free. If you haven’t been doing this at least at this time make sure you have your best traction (deepest tread) tires on your drive wheels. For most cars today that is the front wheels. If you are driving a truck or muscle car it’s the rear wheels. I rotate my own tires and use the opportunity to check the breaks when the tire is off. If they need replacing now or soon, better do it before it’s a snowy hell and cold time of year.

Preparing for Cold Weather Driving – Open the hood and inspect:

Hoses and Belts.

Look at the various hoses for bulges, cracks or leaking. Look at the hose connection for signs of leaking. Cold weather is tough on hoses. Look at the belts while the car is not running of course. Look for any signs of wear like cracks or missing chunks. Any defects that you find need to be replaced because when they go you are stuck.

Windshield Washer Fluid Tank.

Make sure your washer fluid tank is full and only use the winter-rated cleaner to avoid freezing in the tank and lines.

Radiator Overflow Tank.

While the car is cold look to see the correct amount of Radiator Fluid is there. You can see a line that says full when cold and another for when it is hot. If your car is more than a few years old and you don’t know when the last time the fluid was changed, you need to consider having it tested for its strength. This can usually be done anywhere that does oil changes.

Look at your Brake and Clutch reservoirs.

Cars with auto transmissions won’t have a Clutch reservoir. These are usually plastic and round with a black lid on them mounted on the firewall which is under the hood and below your windshield. You can see the fluid level through them and lines indicating correct fill height. Low level brake reservoir can indicate worn out brakes and you should have it checked out. If the Clutch reservoir is down it may also be worn or have a leak. Hitting the fill mark means there is probably something more needed than just filling them up with the correct hydraulic fluid.

Auto Transmission fluid.

If your car has an automatic transmission as most do check the fluid levels and color. The fluid should be deep red. If it is brown or very dark and has a strong smell you may have burnt fluid. It is recommended the fluid is changed every 60,000 miles or so. Look at your manufacturers guidelines. In any case if it has a lot of miles since the last change consider getting this done at a shop. I don’t do this maintenance myself anymore because they have machines that can pump out and change all the fluid. Winter driving is very hard on transmissions with all the slipping the wheels do.

Battery – Check for Corrosion

Inspect your battery terminals. This is where your cables attach. There will be a Power (Red) and Ground (Black) cable attaching either to posts on the top of the battery or threaded into the side of the battery. They should be tight and not move on the battery if you gently tug on the cable.

Look for and corrosion around these connections. It is highly corrosive so don’t get it on your clothing or touch it and get it in your eyes. It will appear as a white and somewhat powdery. The best thing to do if you see evidence of corrosion is to grab a wrench and disconnect the cable so can clean it all away using a wire brush and a mixture of baking soda and water. Left unattended this could cause your battery power to be interrupted and your car won’t start.

If you haven’t the tools or time to completely clean the terminals then you can flush some of the corrosion away with your baking soda/water mixture or by gently and strategically pouring a Diet Coke on the corroded posts. The potassium in the Coke will react chemically with the corrosion to flush it away. I use Diet Coke because it doesn’t leave the sticky mess that a sugar laden drink will. Also check to see how old your battery is. There could be a punch label. indicating month and year of purchase or a 2 digit year sticker on one of the sides. If it is 5 years old or older you might want to consider replacing your battery if you live in a cold area of the world.

Preparing for Cold Weather Driving -Check your batteryBattery -Make Sure it is Not Moving- Fill Cells If Needed

The battery should also be tightened down with a bracket so it isn’t rocking around on the battery tray where it sits. Some batteries are sealed but others will have what looks like two rectangular plastic caps. This is where you can use a small screw driver to carefully lift the cap up and inspect the cells for water. If you can see water in all the cells then replace the cap. If you look in the cell and the water level is below the lead plates then you need to add some distilled water to the low cell.

Replace your windshield wipers.

I replace these every fall. Even if they are still functional now the ozone has hardened the rubber and they will most likely fail you when you need them most. This is cheap insurance of good wipers through the cold weather months.

You can see how busy I was yesterday as I went through these things and finished them up for two cars. My embracing fall and preparing for cold weather driving will save a lot of money by avoiding problems later.

Do you live in a cold weather area and routinely prepare for the upcoming driving conditions?

Is there anything I missed in this post?