Should this person get a new car?

[DamageInc]

This reminds me of The Other Guys when they find the Prius

It's pretty much exactly a Dirty Mike and the Boys situation, yes

[burritos]

Tell your friend to ride a bike if he has real pride in his frugality.

[justlearning]

good compliment to "I dont feel that rich" thread. Head out and see if still not feeling rich

[Hatton]

Take it to carmax

[MPMD]

keep the car
write the best guest post ever
title it "dear WCI, i'll see your durango and raise you a 25 year old rent-by-the-hour motel."

[Tangler]

Who steals a car from 1998? I would probably move if my neighborhood was that bad.


Also how frugal can a person with a 1.25M home be?

Yuck!

I mean really yuck. I am extremely frugal but would NOT get back in that car. Gross.

Questions / comments:

1. So, HCOL area but car stolen and .....yuck. Might want to get rid of that car and consider refunding the police. Just saying.

2. I have a civic. I bought used. Price = 13k. I get frugality for car, paying cash. Minimal. But why would you even ask this question? Gross!

3. This is probably not a real scenario, but whoever thought this up, gross. Go wash your brain out with soap.

[Tangler]

new car
new house
all in a new location

And refund the police! Maybe put up some street lights and cameras too.

[NaOH]

Your friend is clearly ready to upgrade to a 1980's Mercedes diesel running on old McDonald's fry oil.

[legobikes]

new car
new house
new job
new spouse

whoa whoa easy there buddy

[Tim]

Just a few questions:
Does the car meet the smell test?
Do the missing door panels and ignition exceed the value of the car?
Is the car immaculately maintained and low mileage? Basically a "collectors" car with emotional value.

You can have cars professionally sanitized, cleaned and restored. And then you have a 22-23yo Forester just as before. Just the sanitizing and cleaning is going to run more that the value of the car, before parts ($250-$1750). This is called a "disposable vehicle".

[CordMcNally]

You can't call yourself frugal if you don't daily drive a car with somebody else's sex fluids on the seats.

[Jaqen Haghar MD]

I would recover what “evidence” I could from the back seat. If the police ask, I’d say it was for the future extensive investigation and trial . Then I’d put some duct tape on the door, start the car with a screwdriver, and blammo!, back in business.

Now he can have all the drugs and sexy-times he wants in there, without worrying about depreciation.

Oh, and tell your friend to use the generic duct tape from Costco…. No need to waste money on the brand name stuff.

Same thing happened to me in residency. Old cars are easier to steal and chop, and needed for parts.

[MPMD]

i like all the snide remarks about defunding/refundind the police as if cops are focused on preventing or investigating theft of '98 subaru foresters.

cue the scene from Lebowski.

"leads??!?! ha ha ha ha ha! LEADS! they got us working shifts!"

[pierre]

Were there any neighborhood watch signs in the area? I think they are highly effective at deterring criminal activity.

i had a late 90s civic stolen a long time ago, not long after I canceled the full coverage on the insurance. It was found 10 months later. Cops didn’t call me for days since they found it on a holiday weekend and took it straight to the impound. Once in the impound, I can’t get it back unless I pay the fees, which were nearly equal to the value of the car. if I don’t want to pay, I have to sign the title over to them for nothing in return. It’s almost like I was robbed twice.

[Tangler]

i like all the snide remarks about defunding/refundind the police as if cops are focused on preventing or investigating theft of '98 subaru foresters.

cue the scene from Lebowski.

"leads??!?! ha ha ha ha ha! LEADS! they got us working shifts!"

Fair enough. Great movie. I’m just pro police!

$ = fungible. If you defund you get less.

Less police = more crime.

We will likely not agree on this, but the older i get the happier i am to see the cops.

I woke up and went kayak fishing at 0200 the other night. (big fish in northeast harbors at night).

cop confronted me at parking lot of launch site. I was glad to see him. Told him thanks for keeping us safe. He looked at me like i was crazy, i smiled and he laughed and said: “ be careful in that kayak!”

They have a nearly impossible job, many don't appreciate them, and they do make our country a better place. They are good people and have been treated extremely harshly and painted with a very broad brush. We need more not less and they deserve support. IMO