When To Sell @ How Many Miles?

[LexKid630]

Which of the following is the cheepest way to go when having to drive 40,000 miles a year?

Have one car, and sell:

-1 year after purchase with 40,000 miles

-2 years after purchase with 80,000 miles

-3 years after purchase with 120,000 miles

-4 years after purchase with 160,000 miles

-5 years after purchase with 200,000 miles

-6 years after purchase with 240,000 miles

-7 years after purchase with 280,000 miles

Have 2 cars, and sell:

-both of them 1 year after purchase with each having 20,000 miles

-both of them 2 years after purchase with each having 40,000 miles

-both of them 3 years after purchase with each having 60,000 miles

-both of them 4 years after purchase with each having 80,000 miles

-both of them 5 years after purchase with each having 100,000 miles

-both of them 6 years after purchase with each having 120,000 miles

Any other possible sugestions? The reason i'm asking you all this is because both my wife and i drive around 40,000 miles each year. In 03 she bought a gs and this year it already has 79k miles on it. The resale has dropped a lot because of the mileage and condition.

I on the other hand have 2 cars. I have an 03 rx300 and 04 rx330. Every other day or so i take the other one, assuming that in 2 years each car will only have 40,000 miles (cut in half). Am i really saving anything? Am i making the right decision to have 2 cars at one time?

[SW03ES]

I don't think so, you're paying insurance and upkeep on 2 seperate vehicles vs just one. I doubt the lower depreication will work out to your advantage.

My suggestion would be to keep the cars in better condition mechanically and physically. Its easy to sell a high mile car as a highway car as long as its in good shape. My other suggestion would be to always sell them yourself vs trading them in.

[Lexusfreak]

Best way to 'beat the system'....buy a very good vehicle or 2 if that's what is needed (a couple years old that is a 1 owner, has been well cared for & serviced & has some full factory warranty remaining) , drive it untill it dosen't go any more (12-15+ years). When it dies, replace it & start over. Any other way, you will get hit with too much depreciation which ever way you look at it. B) ;)

[RX in NC]

Depreciation is always the primary hurdle, particularly when you're in the habit of purchasing your vehicles new. I never let emotion enter the picture and I handle our vehicle transactions purely on economics and tax consequences. To maximize my results along these lines, I always buy (pay cash in full for) a two-year-old vehicle with extremely low miles that had only one owner/lessee who took meticulous care of the vehicle and as a result all service records are intact and accurate. I continue to take meticulous care of the vehicle and we drive it until the odometer reaches 120,000 to 130,000 miles whether that takes four years or ten years depending on who the primary driver is and the purpose of the vehicle. At that time I sell the vehicle myself, using the meticulous condition and all service records as the primary reason for someone to purchase my 120,000+ mile vehicle from me. I then start the process over again with another two-year-old vehicle that has low mileage and has been meticulously cared for.

I've followed this plan for a decade now with all of our vehicles, and there's no question that from a purely economic standpoint it's the only way to go. But it requires a measure of discipline that those who catch "new car fever" typically can't muster. Good luck with your decision.

[Lexusfreak]

Depreciation is always the primary hurdle, particularly when you're in the habit of purchasing your vehicles new.  I never let emotion enter the picture and I handle our vehicle transactions purely on economics and tax consequences.  To maximize my results along these lines, I always buy (pay cash in full for) a two-year-old vehicle with extremely low miles that had only one owner/lessee who took meticulous care of the vehicle and as a result all service records are intact and accurate.  I continue to take meticulous care of the vehicle and we drive it until the odometer reaches 120,000 to 130,000 miles whether that takes four years or ten years depending on who the primary driver is and the purpose of the vehicle.  At that time I sell the vehicle myself, using the meticulous condition and all service records as the primary reason for someone to purchase my 120,000+ mile vehicle from me.  I then start the process over again with another two-year-old vehicle that has low mileage and has been meticulously cared for.

I've followed this plan for a decade now with all of our vehicles, and there's no question that from a purely economic standpoint it's the only way to go.  But it requires a measure of discipline that those who catch "new car fever" typically can't muster.  Good luck with your decision.

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Very well said RX. B)