Car changes over the years

[DieselnDust]

2 minutes ago, LazyTrailRider said:

Over the last 4 years, I think I've driven probably 100km for work. Driving to an office is stupid, and I freed my team from this silliness as soon as the pandemic started.

My car gets used for:

- Taking my bike to Tokai from Claremont (no, not riding it there, it's a trail bike and I love my soft compound rubber too much).

- Shopping trips

- Weekends away

For the rest, I walk, and we just added this wonderful puppy to the stable for my wife to use to get to her office (exactly 2km away) in summer, and for deli runs in the 'hood the rest of the time. 20km/hour with a 10km range.

I live just outside the bedornerd traffic zone in muizenberg (Zandvlei).

woolies is a 500m walk

pnp 2km round trip

muizenberg beach 1.8km walk one way or about 15-20min run walk run with Waveski under my arm. It’s pointless taking the car because they’re a zero parking down at the cnr. 
 

my job requires me to be in the office everyday despite the fact I can do it from home as I spend 80% of my time on msteams or the phone. BTO is now a new trend as companies realise they can’t get rental or resale value from their commercial property. I’d prefer to spend the R4000 petrol bill on something that’s an investment or appreciates in value instead I’m compelled to set that cash alight to srroke someone’s ego while they find all sorts of excuses to take my salary back to the 1980’s.

a bicycle is the only way forward for me now but safety and security is a big issue on the road. 

[The Ouzo]

11 minutes ago, LazyTrailRider said:

These folks are BSing themselves.

I've done the calculation 1 gazillion times over the last decade (and I used to BS myself this way). Show me someone who can *guarantee* outperforming the interest on a vehicle loan over a 5-year period with an investment (the operative word here is *guarantee*), and I'll show you someone who was a victim of optimism.

Super low rate on a new vehicle compared to a demo or used one? The premium you're paying for it being new kills all your investment good intentions.

There are pages upon pages which can be written about this...

I'm not going to argue the merits of this with successful business men buying 7 figure cars from me

[Hairy]

35 minutes ago, Spinnekop said:

So who of all you guys commenting here have taken the bike to work and ditched the car today? 

I walked to work, about 15 meters worth of walking.
The previous 20 or so years I regularly covered on average 900km per month cycling to work and back ... good or bad weather. This was the reason I sold my car (The second car in the household) back then as it was never used, and it just sat in the garage. 

[Hairy]

11 minutes ago, The Ouzo said:

I'm not going to argue the merits of this with successful business men buying 7 figure cars from me

In that case they are absolutely right, and would be twice as right if they bought two cars from you

[The Ouzo]

3 minutes ago, Hairy said:

In that case they are absolutely right, and would be twice as right if they bought two cars from you

listen they're earning big bucks and I'm earning peanuts, they're obviously doing something right, so who am I to argue.

[Hairy]

2 hours ago, Hairy said:

One word RE rail: "PRASA"

https://www.capetalk.co.za/articles/482834/listen-prasa-ceo-on-state-of-rail-utility-a-recovery-build-s-fully-underway?bid=32_22770_9967612

[Underachiever]

5 hours ago, LazyTrailRider said:

One of the finance gurus in my feed said something very interesting recently:

"Much of the psychology around owning an expensive car is about the *ability* to own an expensive car, more than actually owning it. Do yourself a favour over the next few years: Save until you get to a point where you can buy the car you dream about with cash, but then don't actually buy it. You'll find that you'll likely get just as much pleasure out of knowing that you can walk into the dealership tomorrow and drive out without debt as you would actually doing so."

I've done this experiment, it works 😉

Also, very very easy to buy say a R1mm car via finance.  Very, very very difficult for me to do the same transaction with cash.  Makes me think if it is really worth it!!

[Underachiever]

1 hour ago, The Ouzo said:

I'm not clever enough to articulate it, but I've heard a few times that even if you can afford to pay cash, is often times more beneficial financially to purchase on HP.

 

The problem we have in our society, and very much so in SA, is that a car is a status symbol. People look down on you if you have not bought "the top number" (i.e. the highest spec).  And all the point Jewbecca pointed out are 100%. We survived going on holiday in mk1 golfs and opel kadetts, all the bigger cars do is allow us to take more junk with that we wont use.

I see people weekly looking at bakkies, they all want the 4x4 version, yet less than 1% of them do anything more than climb a pavement from time to time.

It normally the greedy sales guys that show me the top of range stuff models........happened to me at an East Rand dealer a while back😃

[The Ouzo]

1 minute ago, Underachiever said:

It normally the greedy sales guys that show me the top of range stuff models........happened to me at an East Rand dealer a while back😃

It normally is yes

[Hairy]

3 minutes ago, Underachiever said:

It normally the greedy sales guys that show me the top of range stuff models........happened to me at an East Rand dealer a while back😃

Do people on the East Rand even know what high end is ... and not it is not a hilux bakkie

[The Ouzo]

2 minutes ago, Hairy said:

Do people on the East Rand even know what high end is ... and not it is not a hilux bakkie

I see your italics

but a survey a couple of years back revealed more super cars per capita on the east rand than in affluent northern jhb suburbs.

but yes you sterotypical east rander wants his hilux 4x4=16 fully kitted out

[Underachiever]

3 minutes ago, Hairy said:

Do people on the East Rand even know what high end is ... and not it is not a hilux bakkie

Hairy, actually they do.  In our portion of the estate (100 houses) we live in there is at least 10 new Raptor/Cruisers for the normal okes.  Then the outlier with 2x Lambo's, New Defender and Rangie, Lambo Urus, Cruiser and the overpriced Jeep bakkie. And the bottle blonde of course!!

Plenty of 911's and AMG Mercs.  Another Ferrari or 2.

Crazy stuff.

[Underachiever]

7 minutes ago, The Ouzo said:

I see your italics

but a survey a couple of years back revealed more super cars per capita on the east rand than in affluent northern jhb suburbs.

but yes you sterotypical east rander wants his hilux 4x4=16 fully kitted out

I thought it was more rangers.

Edited August 30, 2023 by Underachiever

[ChrisF]

4 hours ago, Spinnekop said:

So who of all you guys commenting here have taken the bike to work and ditched the car today? 

 

😉

[SwissVan]

5 hours ago, Hairy said:

I walked to work, about 15 meters worth of walking.
The previous 20 or so years I regularly covered on average 900km per month cycling to work and back ... good or bad weather. This was the reason I sold my car (The second car in the household) back then as it was never used, and it just sat in the garage. 

No wonder you have a gazillion bikehub posts and are chairman of the bikehub premier club, using all that time us mortals spend driving to hubhub 🤟

15 meters… that’s 100 meters shorter than my walk to the garage before I start my 43.5 km drive to work… 5 x week. Trying to organize a hybrid home office situation, but the company is not keen #livinginthedarkagestheyare

Already on my second car since starting this job, but that’s another story  😳 

Edited August 30, 2023 by SwissVan

[sirmoun10goat]

Cars may be a depreciating asset, but also an asset that can be enjoyed, if you enjoy driving and road trips. I loved having a hot hatch with a B&O sound system and flappy paddle gear box. 

A house is an asset, but do you need a 5 bedroom house for you and the missus? That’s also a liability. Yes, the value of the property may go up, but you pay more taxes, water and electricity, more insurance, higher fees for the estate where your house is, more money on maintenance, more domestic workers to keep things in check…so your capital growth is offset by these expenses. And then these rooms are empty most of the time, so you derive no benefit from that.

So you need your Vida coffee everyday, or is a nespresso good enough? Water is cheap, maybe drink more water.

To each their own, live and let live