Frugal

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RarePepeCollector@lemmy.world

What are some frugal (but not penny-wise/pound-foolish) things you've picked up re: cars? (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 year ago by IonAddis@lemmy.world to c/frugal@lemmy.world

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Do you have any genuine tricks for keeping/maintaining a car that are frugal?

Could be anything from getting a deal on a car wash, or keeping the interior nice, or keeping the engine or tires or anything really in good order.

Also, are there any things you used to be able to do frugally with your car which has changed to be more expensive--maybe due to auto manufacturers changing how cars are designed?

(I'm asking this so if something used to be frugal but isn't now, people speak up about it.)

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[–] hrimfaxi_work@midwest.social 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I've bought hail vehicles exclusively for about 15 years. The savings aren't what they used to be in the current used car market, but you can still save a solid 20% on the price of the car.

I've been able to own lower mile/better quality/higher trim cars that I otherwise wouldn't have been able to afford by doing this.

[–] BrownKong@lemm.ee 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

What's a hail vehicle?

[–] hrimfaxi_work@midwest.social 6 points 1 year ago

A hail damaged car that was totaled out by the previous owner's insurance, making it technically a salvage title vehicle.

Late model vehicles tend to be readily totaled out since body work is so expensive. Insurance companies don't want to dump >30% value of the car into repairing cosmetic damage, put it back on the road, and then risk having to throw more money at the same vehicle again if another incident happens. They'd rather cut their losses, replace the car totally for their client, and then get what they can out of the damaged car at auction.

In mid-summer, after thunderstorm season, you can even get totaled dealership cars with like 70 miles on them. Mechanically pristine, but cosmetically banged to hell.

Back in the day, you could get them at nearly half their sticker price. Nowadays, it's not that cheap, but they're still a great deal and I swear by them.