Effectively people, after 60 agonizing days of coping with automotive salespeople, test-driving far too many automobiles, visiting two auto mechanics to diagnose and repair my present automotive, and losing an unhealthy period of time on on-line analysis, I’ve determined to not purchase a brand new automotive.
I do know this will likely disappoint everybody who generously shared recommendation and proposals. Consider me, I listened. On the prime of my checklist have been the Lexus GX 550, Toyota Land Cruiser, Toyota Highlander, Rivian R1S and R2, Vary Rover Sport, and Tesla Mannequin Y Efficiency with FSD. I’m certain I might get pleasure from each considered one of these automobiles, all conveniently priced between $50,000 and $115,000 out the door. That can also be exactly the issue.
A Silver Lining After Returning From Hawaii
Regardless of getting back from 10 days in Honolulu to a very lifeless battery, two roadside help calls, and a number of system shutdowns whereas driving, I’m nonetheless maintaining my automotive.
In a coincidence, the January 1, 2026 rain-soaked automotive fiasco turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The total battery discharge whereas I used to be away seems to have reset the rogue modules inflicting a parasitic drain. Earlier than I left for my journey, the Low Battery Warning confirmed up 13 out of 15 chilly begins, regardless of changing the battery. Since returning, the automotive has behaved flawlessly. No Low Battery Warning. No ominous “System Will Shut Down in One Minute” message. Twenty clear days and counting.
With the problem seemingly resolved, I’m sticking with my 10-year-old car for not less than one other 12 months, however hopefully three and a half extra years. It has simply 67,500 miles on it, and I drive solely about 6,300 miles a 12 months.
So sure, regardless of current mechanical drama, a roaring bull market since 2023, and a current article on decumulating wealth, I’m passing on a brand new automotive. I can not bear to offer it up after spending all this money and time fixing it. However under are the primary the explanation why I’m unwilling to mild tens of 1000’s of {dollars} on hearth simply to get pleasure from that new-car odor.
Cause #1: I am Turning into an Previous Canine Who Doesn’t Need To Be taught Tips
With a brand new automotive, I’d must be taught an entire new interface – the way it drives, how the touchscreen works, the right way to activate the A/C, and so forth. Ultimately I’d determine it out, certain. However I’m additionally the man who didn’t notice till 12 months 5 of possession that my present automotive has a button to routinely open the trunk and one other button to warmth the steering wheel.
I’m formally turning into my father on the subject of expertise. He refuses to improve his 1998 Toyota Avalon and I do not need to improve my 2015 Vary Rover Sport that also has nice-smelling leather-based seats. It has Bluetooth, parking sensors, a backup digital camera, all-wheel-drive, and every little thing I might ask for.
Cause #2: I Don’t Need the Stress of Driving a Dear New Automobile
Spending $60,000 for a Tesla Mannequin Y Efficiency or $115,000 for a Vary Rover Sport would make me consistently careworn about dings, scratches, and maintaining the factor pristine. It’s like carrying a brand-new pair of white sneakers, multiplied by 1,000.
Proper now, I can park my 10-year-old automotive wherever with out a second thought. If it will get dinged or bumped, I shrug. But when a brand new automotive will get keyed in a grocery store lot? I’d be pissed. And my happiness is price far more than that. I have been in my automotive 3 times when the neighbor opening their door dinged mine. I not need to combat these nuances any extra.
As twin unemployed dad and mom (DUPS), I already really feel stress to offer. The very last thing I want is new-car-stress layered on prime of every little thing else. In reality, the biggest benefit of driving an old car is better mental health! New vehicles additionally include greater insurance coverage charges, which drags down our money circulation.
The Important Cause: Alternative Value Of Not Investing Is Too Nice
Being snug with my outdated automotive is sweet. Avoiding stress is even nicer. However the primary motive I didn’t change it’s this: Shopping for a brand new automotive now would sabotage a serious monetary objective.
I’m presently about $20,000 a 12 months in passive revenue brief of my ideally suited monetary independence goal. At a 4% withdrawal price, which means I want not less than $500,000 extra in invested capital.
Ever since I purchased my house on a large lot in 2023, I’ve been working to earn extra, save extra, and make investments higher to interchange the $150,000 in passive income I lost. I’ve made nice progress, partially because of a bull market in shares. Two tenant turnovers in 2025 additionally turned out to be a blessing, as they allowed me to reset rents to market charges and meaningfully enhance rental revenue.
So to spend $50,000–$115,000 on a depreciating asset looks like an unforced error. I do know the superb feeling of getting 100% of your required dwelling bills lined by passive revenue, and I desperately need to return to that scenario.
If I grind for an additional 1–2 years and the market cooperates, I ought to attain my passive revenue objective of $380,000 a 12 months no downside. However slicing off $50k – $115k of capital immediately would value me not less than: $2,000–$4,600/12 months in misplaced passive revenue, endlessly.
That places much more stress on the inventory market to do the heavy lifting, which I am not bullish on as a consequence of valuations. Managing my family’s finances already looks like a full-time job typically with 10 funding accounts. I actually don’t need to drag this out any longer than needed as a result of I’m already burned out.
The Even Greater Alternative Value: My Youngsters Funds
It’s exhausting sufficient to justify shopping for a automotive I don’t completely want once I’m making an attempt to hit an enormous private objective. This is the reason I rolled the cube and spent $1,750 to repair the automotive from money circulation. However once I take into consideration my youngsters’ future, it turns into nearly not possible to splurge.
At ages 6 and eight, they’ve the longest time horizon of all, and subsequently the very best compounding potential. Each greenback invested for them immediately is dramatically extra invaluable than a greenback invested for me.
And let’s be clear: they’re technically poor. They haven’t any nice expertise, no jobs, and no capacity to generate revenue, but they’ll be entering a labor market disrupted by AI. They might very properly be underemployed after faculty and nonetheless dwelling at dwelling with us.
The principle approach I am hedging is by investing closely in AI on their behalf.
I’ve already funded a brand new $200,000 Fundrise Venture account earmarked for them in August 2025. Ideally, I’d prefer to double the funding, so it has an opportunity to develop into thousands and thousands by the point they graduate as an insurance coverage coverage. In fact I am not going to inform them they’ve this insurance coverage coverage.
As well as, I imagine there’s going to be a ten % pullback within the inventory market this 12 months. If and when it occurs, I need to make investments as a lot as potential for my youngsters’s custodial funding accounts.
This Is The place the Math Will get Critical
If I make investments the cash I would have spent on a brand new automotive as an alternative:
State of affairs 1:
Make investments $50,000 (Tesla Mannequin Y cash) for my daughter for 13 years at 8%: -> $50,000 -> ~$136,000. I believe she would admire $136,000 further in her custodial funding account after faculty to launch than sitting in a brand new Tesla beginning at age 6. She’s completely comfortable kicking the again of my automotive’s entrance seats as is.
State of affairs 2:
Make investments $115,000 (Vary Rover Sport cash) for 10 years at 8%: -> $115,000 -> $248,000. I believe he would admire having $248,000 to pursue his profession goals, as an alternative of simply go into an trade society considers prestigious.
That’s life-changing cash for a child beginning maturity. It’s not life-changing for me to be driving a nicer automobile to the grocery store, faculty, or Lake Tahoe. Actually, I simply desire a dependable automotive that will get me from level A to level B safely.
An 8% price of return is affordable. Nonetheless, if we expertise sturdy runs like we’ve seen since 2023, absolutely the greenback features over 10 years might be even larger. The Fundrise Innovation fund, for instance, returned 43.5% in 2025.
As soon as I noticed the numbers, it turned apparent: It is higher to speculate for his or her future than drive a brand new automotive that I do not completely want.
So as an alternative of promoting Treasuries to purchase a depreciating asset, I’m rolling expiring Treasuries into conventional enterprise capital funds investing in AI, plus an open-ended venture fund. I am additionally going to make use of the cash to purchase any important dip of three% or larger on the inventory market.
I am within the camp that the larger danger is not the AI bubble popping, it is lacking out on a generational life-changing alternative close to the start.
Paying for Repairs Via Money Move
So there you may have it. The personal finance nerd in me simply can’t justify splurging on a brand new automotive. I actually really feel silly doing so once I merely do not worth new vehicles anymore. Greater than anything, I worth freedom and peace of thoughts.
I hope to outlive the following 12 months with minimal automotive issues. If I can simply spend simply $1,000 – $2,000 a 12 months fixing the automotive sooner or later, I’ll take into account it a win. Maybe if I ever get some sort of giant windfall, I will purchase a brand new automotive.
However immediately is the day to proceed investing for a brighter future. Within the meantime, I am simply going to clean and vacuum my automotive to make it really feel new as soon as extra! And you understand what, washing the automotive labored! I really feel like I am driving a brand new automotive at no cost.
How do you overcome the guilt of spending on a depreciating asset when you understand that cash might compound into much more for you and your youngsters sooner or later? In case you’ve discovered methods to faucet principal for a serious buy, moderately than counting on money circulation alone, I’d love to listen to your methods.
Strategies For A Extra Safe Life
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