This is what happens to your nice cash flow graphs when you buy a new car.
6 months prior we had put $500 down on a 2023 Honda Odyssey minivan. There wasn’t much for new cars on the dealer lot. We could’ve bought a used Odyssey for almost the same $43,000 (before taxes and fees) with anywhere from 40-80k miles on the odometer. That didn’t make a ton of sense so we waited for global supply chains to catch up.
Used car prices are crazy right now. I was able to trade a 10 year old VW GTI with 65k miles for $10,500 which is not included in the cash flow charts above. I joked with the dealer that they could wash and vacuum the GTI and sell it for $15k. It had a dent in the hatchback and some hail damage I never fixed. A few weeks later I brought up the dealer website and saw the GTI listed for $19.5k. It’s now fallen to $17.5k.
One place we save a ton of money is being a 1 car household. We finally have a car that fits the soon to be 7 of us although the teenagers may dispute that fit with 3 car seats. I expect we’ll have the van for 10 years. At that point perhaps electric passenger vans will be a thing or cars will drive themselves.
