What kind of car do you drive?

Investor Mindset

What kind of car do you drive?

Residential Real Estate Broker · Greensboro, NC · Member since 2015 · 14 posts · 68 votes

Just a fun post here. I have been a SFR investor for 15 years and now have $2M in rental RE while working a full time career. The cash flow was tight for years it seemed but the snowball of debt paydown is rolling big time now and I'll be able to "retire" in 2 years with enough cash flow to replace my salary.

That said, I can't imagine having a car payment and only buy used vehicles. I drove a 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee (to haul all my rental supplies) for 7 years and the engine blew a year ago with 275k miles. I made a significant upgrade and replaced it with a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee with 110k miles and paid $3,600 cash.

I don't need the status symbol of a new vehicle nor the monthly payment and living well below my means is my motto. As Dave Ramsey says, "live like no one else today, so you can live like no one else tomorrow".

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Roy N.Pro Member

Rental Property Investor · Fredericton, New Brunswick · Member since 2013 · 7k+ posts · 4k+ votes

11y

My preferred ride:

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Jesse Waters
Investor · Aiken, SC · Member since 2014 · 398 posts · 120 votes
11y
2008 Ford F-250 4 door with the diesel. My indulgence is my horses, so I use it to pull them around. My wife drives a paid off Nissan mini van as the kid hauler.
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Wayne Smith
Investor · Houston, TX · Member since 2015 · 59 posts · 17 votes
11y
I love the Dave Ramsey quotes. About a year and a half ago, I sold a 2008 Ford F250 and my Harley and bought a 1987 Ford F150 stepside. I paid cash and I am currently paying off everything I own, including my rentals. Some people think I am crazy, but I will be getting out of the 9-5 job and "retiring" to buy more rentals and enjoying life!!!
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Desiree M.
Rental Property Investor · Sunnyvale, CA · Member since 2015 · 11 posts · 7 votes
11y
My car is a train! In my section of California we get a $130 a month pre-tax commuter benefit. I have made it my goal to keep my transport cost low and as time efficient as possible. And it works. $130 is my monthly car payment, I get exercise, I live conveniently downtown, and get to the office in under an hour. My boyfriend, and partner in house hacking this downtown beauty on Airbnb, owns a Evo Mitsubishi. Barely able to fit a wheelbarrow in the truck with bungee and a 40" tv in the back seat out of the box. He pays $330 a month payments, e85 gas every month, and about avg $20 a month on insurance and maintenance. Between the prime location, Amazon Prime, Walmart free shipping, Safeway delivery, and food delivery services, we rarely ever drive anywhere. Just walk to where we need to be. It's a really nice feeling.
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Ryan Rupnarain
Investor · Howey in the Hills, FL · Member since 2015 · 24 posts · 18 votes
11y
1999 Lexus SC400 and 2002 GS430. Sold my Acura NSX some time ago to add to the REI fund! Knowing what a depreciation curve is makes me really struggle with the idea of a new car.
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Watson Smith
Investor · Peachtree Corners, GA · Member since 2012 · 131 posts · 83 votes
11y
2013 Dodge Ram 1500 crew cab.
It replaced my 2002 f15 with 265k.
Bought it new with 1.5% interest and 100k mile year warranty. Used trucks at the time were around 4k less. I'll take nearly free financing any day... :) Minus the gas milage its great. The Ford's have a few more bells and whistles but was going to run me 8k more. I took the baseline model Dodge and I'm very happy with it.
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Account Closed
Huntington Beach, CA · Member since 2015 · 7 posts · 2 votes
11y
I have y'all beat. 93 Toyota Pick Up with 514,000 miles. Still looks new and my only vehicle at 46 years old. I laugh at folks with car payments. :)
1 Reply
Leonid Sapronov
Investor · Laurel, MD · Member since 2012 · 149 posts · 33 votes
11y
@Flavio Zanetti Yay to fellow Subie enthusiast! I had a '95 Impreza, now I drive a 2006 Saab 9-2x (aka Impreza WRX) that I bought in 2008 cash. MSRP $30k, bought for $16k. Love that car, don't ever see myself selling it.
It seems like most people on here follow the discreet lifestyle of Millionaire Next Door - keep the business growing, but don't show off. I kinda wish someone would show off though :-)
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Tom Shepard
Investor · Brentwood, TN · Member since 2015 · 140 posts · 39 votes
11y
Our family car is a 2007 Dodge Durango which we got new at 48% off the sticker price when it was still on the lot in October of 2008 and we had CASH (not many did back then!).
On beautiful cloudless days here in Tennessee my wife pulls out her 2009 Inifiniti G37S convertable, and I can be found in my other baby (2nd only to her), my 1965 Corvette convertable, which IS an investment in and of itself!
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Account Closed
Investor · Cedar Bluff, AL · Member since 2015 · 83 posts · 17 votes
11y
Mine is a 2014 Silverado 1500 LTZ
Wife's : 2013 Nissan Armada Platinum
Both purchased used and paid cash for them.
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Juan Cristales
Investor · Willis, TX · Member since 2014 · 245 posts · 124 votes
11y
My STATUS SYMBOL: 1998 Ford Explorer - 256K miles and going STRONG as a bull!
Thinking about financing the title so I can get some cash to invest... bad idea?
1 Reply
Christopher Telles
Investor · Irvine, CA · Member since 2015 · 373 posts · 205 votes
11y
Haha, great post. As much as it might hurt, life isn't always about real estate alone.
I drive a 2004 Hummer H2. Its my primary car now and I bought it used in early 2005 with 20k miles on it. They were selling for $75-80k new then and I paid $37,500. It just rolled over the 206,000k miles threshold. The mileage really stinks, but its paid for and runs great.
In all candor though, I also drive about 30k+ miles a year commuting into the suburban areas for occupational work (I own a commercial brokerage) and investments. So that said, I've also been through a Mercedes S320 bought used in 1995 (140k, about 1/2 of those miles after getting the hummer) a Ford Expedition bought new for my family (130k, shared with wife 1/2 those miles where mine) and a Porsche Cayanne S (120k). The Porsche was my biggest personal purchase in a decade in 2007, and while I regret having bought it from a cash perspective it was certainly the best car I've ever owned and the best car I've ever driven.
I try to buy my cars used with lower miles, but it doesn't always work out that way. The Expedition was bought new because it was a "Only one at this price" holiday weekend special I notice two days before the actual holiday while looking through the paper for a used Expedition or Suburban. Called the dealership, and they said they'd honor it that day if I could pay cash. I paid cash. It was a much better deal than any of the used cars I was looking at, at the time.
Whatever cars we do buy I drive them until they start to get to the point of needing serious maintenance which is when I start looking for a another car, and put the one I'm driving up for sale. If you drove the miles that I do for as long as I have you'd get why. Its a royal pain to schedule and then pay for repairs over and above the operational costs of driving. Brakes and tires, while expensive, are easy to fix. Its the other stuff that really starts to add up e.g. air conditioning condensers, timing belts, suspension parts, etc.
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Flavio Zanetti
Investor · Andover, MA · Member since 2015 · 269 posts · 67 votes
11y
Originally posted by @Leonid Sapronov:

@Flavio Zanetti Yay to fellow Subie enthusiast! I had a '95 Impreza, now I drive a 2006 Saab 9-2x (aka Impreza WRX) that I bought in 2008 cash. MSRP $30k, bought for $16k. Love that car, don't ever see myself selling it.
It seems like most people on here follow the discreet lifestyle of Millionaire Next Door - keep the business growing, but don't show off. I kinda wish someone would show off though :-)
Totally agree!!!
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Drew Clements
Contractor · River Heights, UT · Member since 2013 · 130 posts · 59 votes
11y
Remarked to my wife while driving the other day that people look like two things: their dogs and their cars! Do you agree? Just look at profile pictures and vehicles of choice in this thread and see :)
2004 VW Jetta Wagon (Yakima rack gear on top). Paid cash used... will sell before 90K miles (generally where bad stuff starts happening at an accelerated pace).
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Derrick Craig
Memphis, TN · Member since 2013 · 969 posts · 524 votes
11y
2008 Honda Accord with 155,745 miles 4 cyl great on gas
Sold my gas gosling depreciating 2005 Cadillac Escalade and purchased a 4 bedroom 2 bath brick foreclosure an appreciating Asset!!
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Larry Flanagan
Investor · Midwest, USA · Member since 2012 · 204 posts · 33 votes
11y
I just bought a very clean, low mileage, used Porsche 911 turbo for $40k. MSRP new was $116k.
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Travis Lloyd
Real Estate Broker · Fairfield, CT · Member since 2015 · 312 posts · 231 votes
11y
Love these posts... I'm in a '97 subie legacy wagon. HUGE trunk space with seats folded down. AWD is a beast, and the small size means I can squeeze into the tiniest spots in NYC with ease. Looks like sh*t but I get asked about the mileage by other subaru drivers and have twice been offered more than I paid for it while pumping gas!
Just hit 100k miles last week *tear* - my little baby is growing up!
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Dyanne C.
Investor · Miami, FL · Member since 2013 · 49 posts · 7 votes
11y
2007 Toyota Yaris with 90k miles on it.
Tiny, fuel efficient and can carry a load of stuff from home depot. :D
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Josh Rowland
Real Estate Agent · Colorado Springs, CO · Member since 2014 · 13 posts · 15 votes
11y
My adventure vehicle - 07 FJ Cruiser. Bought it used this year for $15,700 (first car payment which is pretty manageable @ 3.25 APR). FUN mountain vehicle and plenty of interior room.
My wife sticks to her '01 Jetta TDI - 240k miles and I keep it running like a top. I think we'll keep this one another year or two until the tranny starts to fade out and then get a newer TDI with less miles.
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Scott E.
Contractor · Scottsdale, AZ · Member since 2010 · 2k+ posts · 3k+ votes
11y
2011 Scion TC with ~53,000 miles. Bought it new in 2011 for $22,000. I plan to keep it for at least another 100,000 miles.
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Tom Kelly
Real Estate Investor · Odessa, FL · Member since 2015 · 66 posts · 15 votes
11y
Just bought my 5th Ford Explorer used..Changed the color this time!
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David Swygert
Investor · Sebring, FL · Member since 2015 · 11 posts · 0 votes
11y
Mercedes e320.
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Nancy Brook
Investor, Realtor, Writer, Podcaster · Billings, MT · Member since 2013 · 175 posts · 97 votes
11y
I had been driving an old Isuzu Trooper with more than 150k miles. I upgraded to a brand new Suburu Crosstrek a couple of years ago for my cross-country property adventure across country. I love that car! Recently bought a 2002 Mustang convertible with low miles that had been totaled and put back together. It looks great now. Yes, a splurge but it was only $4k for a fun ride.
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Walker Hinshaw
Investor · Denver, CO · Member since 2014 · 135 posts · 37 votes
11y
I drive a 2003 Toyota Rav4 that was given to me by my grandfather before he passed away. While it is far from a new car, so far it has been reliable. Not having to worry about a car payment is awesome and having something to remember him by only adds to how special the car is for me.
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Darius Moody
Real Estate Entrepreneur/Investor · Milwaukee, WI · Member since 2014 · 44 posts · 15 votes
11y
Life is too short to be driving around a beat up old "prayer" car.
Some of you need some serious upgrades hahaa.
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Andrew Hawkins
Rahway, NJ · Member since 2015 · 2 posts · 1 vote
11y
2006 Sonata with 45k miles on it. Sad to have lost my old car to a wreck recently (repairable, but needed a car sooner). It was a 2006 Accord with 92k miles.
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