Cars are like stocks. One need to understand when it is time to sell them, and when it is time to keep holding .
My 2006 4 runner has 180k miles. Barely broken in.
And is actually appreciating.
My 2018 Highlander has 40k miles. It will outlive me.
If these restaurants still need a large footprint, they should close down. From my experience, restaurants that focus on pickups and deliveries are doing very well.
In my case personally, I have lost money every time I have sold stocks because I got back in at a later date at a higher price. Hence, I am coming round to thinking that I can never exit the stock market (and now cryptos), or at least not until retirement (whenever that will be - I hope I can continue to be employed for 15 more years minimum).
Even in retirement, one probably can slowly sell only 3-4% of portfolio per year…
My automobile sales have been more obvious. With the exception of one vehicle which I sold when it was only 7 years old, all my other vehicles were sold in their ripe old age - I typically use them till I can only get $2-3k upon sale, and I roll those over as down payment in the next vehicle. And I tend to buy them lightly used (about 3 year old cars) rather than new because that saves $8-10k in the purchase price. And all my vehicles, except 1, have been Japanese makes. They are best value for money
There is no point on wasting money on cars unless your are like one of my friends who sells his on third year and gets a new one to drive for another 3 years. My theory is to buy a car after 120K miles. I try not to buy a car between 80-120k miles when it is time for the car to show maximum number of maintenance issues (like timing belt, water pump, ignition system, cooling system, transmission etc). Car that has lived past 120K and runs good generally has all these issues resolved, and is a good value for the money.
I consider myself as a mechanic without tools. I understand cars well and can drive old cars without causing undue stress in my mind and I do not mind waiting for a tow truck on a busy roadway (it rarely happens though - car can only stall for one of the three reasons - little engine oil, bad alternator, bad cooling system and you will never have these problems if you maintain your car well). And rate of stall of an old car and a new car are about the same. New car does not give you any special reliability advantage if you are driving a well maintained car. Some old car runs better than 70K cars built in Germany. Same driving pleasure without the bill. And snob value.
And if you buy big engine car (like Acura MDX 3.5 litre ) you do not even have to worry about engine wear and tear. The engines are so big that they are rarely stressed to the specs.
If you buy old car, look for good body. You can change engine and transmission any time if the body of your car is good. Body is the most expensive and difficult part to repair.
Timing belt? What kind of cars are you buying? I haven’t had one of those in 20 years.
You could just stick to Japanese cars. None of the things you mention are likely to fail until you are in excess of 200,000 miles.
my 79 toytoa celica had timing chain (bought 15 years later at 166k). Then the cars I bought have timing belt. I do not know what car produced in last 5 years come with.
I’m an old millennial. What do I do?
My '82 Corolla already had a timing chain. Every car I’ve bought since has had one. And major drivetrain failures on Japanese cars before 200,000 miles are almost unheard of. Maybe an alternator and possibly the starter, or maybe just an oxygen sensor goes out before 200k. Nothing else unless you got a lemon.
I’m a young Boomer. Last time this happened I relished the 12% CD’s where I put my paper route and then pet shop money and let mommy and daddy worry about inflation ![]()
This was obvious months ago with the wage growth that was happening.
The hondas and acuras have come with poor transmission at least between years 98 and 2003. They have fixed the problem since then. Timing belts replaced timing chains I do not know when but definitely by 1990s. Then they improved to non-interference engine to not damage in case timing belt breaks while driving. By mid 80s most car became front wheel drive, and came with fuel injection system ( replacing carburetor ) .
My celica was rear-wheel drive and was fun driving on snow, if you know what it means to drive a rear wheel drive car in show or road with black ice. I have had several spins when pumped too much gas suddenly.
The technology have improved so much these days that one can drive a car with just simple oil change for 100k miles without facing any real problem.
I remember they used to require tune ups every 20k or 30 k miles. Not any more.
Yeah, my AWD Crosstrek needs the differential serviced every 30k but apart from oil and tires that’s really all I need to do.
How come NYC and LA makes the list of top 10 most expensive cities, but SF Bay Area does not? I am offended 
I think their computations are based on some voodoo median numbers they cooked up. Singapore is number two
I don’t know how they compute “expensive”, 80% of the residents stay in heavily subsidized HDBs and eat very cheap Michelin level food in hawker’s stalls. May be price of a car is an major component in their computation, Singapore has the most expensive car in the world, regardless of how you look at the price of car. But who care about car, so many cheap and efficient public transportation.
Whole Foods. Pretty tender. Flanken cut is like a thicker cut Korean style short rib . Cheaper than most Asian markets i goto
Lately, many talks of stagflation. Was too young when stagflation happen. So no impression. Reading about it and experience through it are two different experience. It would be my first real experience with stagflation if it happens.
