The Hidden Costs of Buying a Motor Vehicle
There comes a time in just about every man’s life when they start thinking about buying that final car, the one that will last right through until it’s time to let someone else do the driving.
When that time comes it’s quite natural to also think that it’s time for something a little more up market. The kids have grown up, the hard work’s been done so it’s time to take things easy and what better way to enjoy your retirement than with a car that is fully optioned.
Air conditioning, power windows, leather seats and everything else that you could never really afford before now look quite affordable and you deserve them. You’ve worked hard to get to the point where you can afford a car like that so why shouldn’t you have something a little special? After all it is going to be your last car and it will last you for a few years.
But are you missing something there?
All those options are great, it’s wonderful to drive in air-conditioned comfort with power everything and it really is quite affordable while your luxury vehicle is under warranty. Unfortunately though, your fully optioned luxury car is going to change. In the twinkling of an eye it will change from a comfortable luxury vehicle into a very large collection of very expensive spare parts.
And it is inevitable that it will change and the change will occur at midnight on the day your warranty expires.
On the 15th of March this year that change happened to our vehicle. The luxury of power windows turned to the incredible expense of $250 when a minor part in one of the window mechanisms failed. Multiply that by four and you begin to see just how expensive power windows can be.
And that is just one of the things that can and will fail on any vehicle and it’s always more likely to fail when the vehicle is outside the warranty period.
So take a moment to consider whether your last car really should be that luxury vehicle you always dreamed of owning. Dreams are nice but reality can be harsh.
