Buying a Used Car: the Joy Was Absent

At 9,000 miles the 2019 model still looks like this.

Yesterday I went to the dealer to buy the 2019 SUV at the end of its three-year lease.

In 2015 we had switched from the buy-and-hold-till-the-wheels-come-off strategy to one of leasing a new car every three years: 1) technology was changing rapidly; 2) we could afford the monthly hit; 3) slowing reflexes and poor vision argued against purchasing a long-term asset.

6½ years into the plan circumstances changed. Runaway inflation in both new and used cars, plus the ultra-low mileage during the lockdown, made the case for buying the leased car overwhelming.

And so we did, though writing a check put a dent into the cash cushion we had built up in retirement.

Not having to make a car payment going forward should have made me happy, like the last house payment in 2016, but the feeling was different. The joy was absent.

On the way out, I saw our same model, one year older and looking like it had been driven a lot more, going for $12,000 above our price. OK, I feel better now.