Used car buying sure has changed a lot over the years. The most recent changes have come from rising gas prices.
Back in the 1940’s, a used car could be purchased for about $50 and gas only cost 10 cents a gallon.
By the 1960’s, a used car would probably cost about $60 and gasoline was still pretty cheap at around 19 cents per gallon. And insurance was only $10-$15 a year. That’s right, a year.
Things started changing in the 1970’s with the OPEC oil embargo. Gas prices shot up, and American automakers had to find crafty ways to market their gas-hungry cars. Higher marketing and production costs led to higher automobile prices, and of course, higher repair costs. This also led to higher insurance rates.
During the inflation happy days of the 1980’s, car prices continued to rise. Along with the escalating prices came more complex cars. By the 2000’s, it became almost mandatory to take cars to specialized mechanics for repairs. Sometimes it was even necessary to go to the dealership for even minor repairs.
This is okay for those with cars under warranty. But if you have a used car, this can be very expensive. Since most cars made within the past decade use computers and chips and fancy diagnostics, it is nearly impossible for amateur mechanics to do many repairs.
Now if we take the current high gasoline prices into consideration, the costs get even higher. Most used cars we’ll be buying today were made during the low gas price days of the late 1990’s. And many of these cars were SUV’s. At today’s prices, it can cost almost $100 to fill up these metal monstrosities. To make matters worse, these SUV’s sometimes get as little as 10 miles to the gallon.
So what should the family in search of a used car do? Well, first avoid the gas guzzling SUV’s if possible. Also, families should consider sharing the car instead. Prioritize which duties are most important (work, school, picking kids up from school, etc.) and which are not (movies, dates, some shopping, etc).
Work out a schedule where teenagers can expect to have access to the car and limit how much money they can have for gas. Everyone has to chip in to get the most use out of the vehicle while still saving money, gas, and frustration.
These days, you’ve gotta utilize all of your resources to save money on cars, gas, and insurance. And one of the best resources in my insurance blog http://insurance-news-and-info.blogspot.com – where you can get quick snapshots of the latest auto insurance tips and developments. An hours worth of work can save your hundreds of dollars in the long run.
Author: E.A. Ismail
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