[Broken_Hippo]

I bet repair costs on used are less than depreciatiom ...

There are more considerations than simply cost of repair. Used cars break more than new cars. You are more likely to need some sort of backup plan if you have a used car. I'd be fine here in Norway: My 25 year old car is only used a few times a month. Otherwise, my partner and I walk and/or use public transportation. But I'm lucky enough to live in an area with a fairly robust public transport and pedestrian path system.

I couldn't be this secure when I lived in Indiana. Most places had little public transport, and fewer had affordable public transport (taxis only, though they likely have uber now). These options only worked if you stayed in town - but if you were like a lot of Midwestern folks, you have to drive to work and working in the next town over wasn't uncommon.

Which means: Something happens to your car, you might wind up unemployed or minimally, it pushes you ever closer to being unemployed. Hope your kid doesn't get sick and you have to miss even more work.

I'll also add that "another low mileage car" will still be expensive and you won't generally save yourself a car payment. I was lucky to find mine and if it weren't for a friend finding it, I wouldn't have it at all.

[lallysingh]

25yrs old is a bit extreme for anecdotal data on used cars. My 10yr old truck has been pretty reliable.

[Broken_Hippo]

My car is reliable. I got lucky. I've replaced the brakes. And I was illustrating that I only need minimal reliability since it isn't my main form of transporation. I have public transport and live in a walkable place. I can (and do) dress for weather.

The rest of the comments aren't specific to 25 year old cars. I've had an array of used cars in an array of ages. Anything over 4-5 years starts to break due to wear and tear. Alternators and starters go out. Brakes have wear and tear. Things happen. You still likely have a car payment - and you are more likely to if you are poor. Being poor brings the bonus of opting for a car that's been driven more instead of less simply because of the price difference.

'Pretty reliable' isn't the same as the reliability of a newer car.

[tristan957]

My 18 year old truck is great.

[Broken_Hippo]

And mine is fine.

But again, it is luck. Some cars seriously went downhill before they were 10 years old.