March 25, 2019 - Buying a new car is no fun. It's a lot of money and it sort of feels like visiting India again. Everything is a negotiation. You walk into a showroom feeling defensive and you can't trust anyone. You know you are going to get ripped off so you are vaguely irritated the whole time.
"Oh, you want 'four' wheels with the car, well that's an extra feature", the dealer replied sensibly.
So you try to prepare knowing that no matter what you do, you will lose money on the deal.
We try to always buy used. But we typically get more car than we actually need. We try to get all the advice we can as we start this new "Road to Bali".
Mr Money Mustache is one of our mentors for early retirement. His articles are great and will inspire you, but he can be pretty hard core sometimes.
http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/11/28/new-cars-and-auto-financing-stupid-or-sensible/
We are also older now and like to be comfortable while driving. The days of sporty cars that feel every bump are not for us anymore. The Motrin budget was getting too high. So today, after several days of shopping we finally settled on a used car we both like after enduring hours of "What would it take to earn your business today?"
We like to keep our cars a long time. The 4x4 we were saying goodbye to today had been with us for 9 years. But, like us, it was increasingly breaking down and the costs of maintenance were getting too high. So before it completely failed we decided to sell it.
But I was surprisingly sentimental about leaving it behind today. I spent many hours in the car. Late night rushes to the hospital calling out orders to staff about an emergent patient, trying to eat dinner while driving, singing along with a radio too loud to try to stay awake on long drives; I lived in this car. It was an old friend. It carried me through the last years of full time work and was a small oasis after a long day. "The Road to Bali" began in this car and it served me well.
It was time for a change. It was costing to much to continue our journey with it. So we turn the page and say good bye to my old friend.
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