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There's an incredible amount of value in simply not worrying if your car will run when you need it to. Cortisol is one hell of a drug. In many cases it might b

There's an incredible amount of value in simply not worrying if your car will run when you need it to. Cortisol is one hell of a drug. In many cases it might be better for someone to go deeper into debt on the car if it means they will be able to focus and perform better at work. It might even be worth engaging with less scrupulous financiers. Stability in transportation unlocks a lot of opportunities.

dainiusse 4d ago
Hubberman says spiking cortisol in the morning is good. So the $1000 car can solve that problem.
- Cyan488 4d ago
  Huberman also said it was good to gargle and swallow a glass of water in the morning before brushing your teeth. I think that was the last episode I listened to...
prmoustache 4d ago
People say buying used car is a lottery, but so is buying a new released car model. I've seen people having to send their brand new shiny car to the shop on a regular basis. The odds of getting a good experience are higher than blindly buying a second hand car with unknow history but not necessarily much better than buying a 20y old car (whose typical failure points are well known by that point) with complete documented history and knowing a good maintenance shop. Usually buying a new car that already went to a facelift is your best bet as it means it has been significantly long enough in the market to get most of its early gremlins known and sorted. Having said that I would now only consider buying a new car if I can pay it in one installment. I once loaned a new car and I regretted it immediately. Car was good but the amount I paid each month would have been better spent/invested elsewhere. I now drive a 20y old car that I paid cash last year. I checked before buying what were the main failure point (CVT transmission if not maintained properly) and bought a car with all the invoices and documentation checking it had been maintained properly and had her CVT oil changed. I expected a few things to fix (audio speaker, shocks) and negociated taking those into account. The car drive very well, is spatious and comfortable, I could afford replacing it if it died suddently. I would only consider a new car if I decided to go electric but gas price would need to multiply by 3 at the very least. I've seen people going EV then back to gas when they realized that after ~8 years of use their EV needed a battery replacement whose cost negated any saving on gas. I think battery price needs to go down for more EV adoption. Nobody wants to buy a second hand EV if it needs a usd10-15k for a new battery and an EV becomes pretty much unsellable at this point without a replaced battery.
- Peanuts99 4d ago
  I think you greatly overestimate how many 8-10 year old EVs will actually require replacement batteries. Barring a few models with poor engineering choices, most cars will still have 80% of their capacity after 10 years and won't have the downsides of having a 10 year old ICE engine with a variable record of maintenance.
  - graemep 4d ago
    EVs that are 10 years old now will have a lower range than current models, AFAIK, so 80% of that might still be limiting. They will also be slower charging.
    - bdangubic 4d ago
      Very true on both accounts (I own a 12-year old Tesla) but for vast majority of EV owners this is simply not an issue.
      - graemep 4d ago
        Do the vast majority never drive a long distance? If you use a car purely for short journeys maybe. Is this common in the US? Everywhere I have lived most people do atleast some long (i.e. an ICE car needs refuelling at some point) some long trips.
        minnowguy 4d ago
        I have friends with an EV that just rent an ICE car for road trips.
        bdangubic 4d ago
        exactly this. EVs are definitely not for road-trip-every-week families, I rent a car 4-5x per year (my other car is EV as well)
  - 4d ago
interstice 4d ago
For me a loan would be far more stressful than fixing a 20 year old car, but I have worked for myself for 15 years so my priorities are probably skewed
jjav 4d ago
> There's an incredible amount of value in simply not worrying if your car will run when you need it to. True, being able to know for sure you can get to work (or wherever important) is a huge peace of mind. And more than peace of mind, can be critical to remaining employed, etc. A new car does not guarantee you that. I've had partners who are way more into new cars than me and those new cars have failed to be usable in various ways. A brand new EV was in the shop for 3 weeks. Oops, can't go to work. A near-new car had an ECU lock up so no way to start it. Call a tow truck to the dealer ($$$) and took a week ($$$$). A near new EV had an EV-specific problem: it refused to charge. Car ran fine, but couldn't charge so only so many miles left. Drive to dealer, took a few days. At least warranty covered it. > In many cases it might be better for someone to go deeper into debt on the car if it means they will be able to focus and perform better at work. Going into debt for a car (a fast depreciating asset) is always a terrible idea. If you're super rich and can afford it, fine, have fun. But for anyone counting money, it's the second worst financial decision you can ever make (second only to carrying credit card debt). Back to having reliable transportation, which is super important for most people. Solution? Buy two used cars for way less than half of a new car which can still fail. I only buy cheap used cars, but always have more than one available. Occasionally one needs maintenance and is out of commission for a few days. That's fine, I have another one (actually a few more, but even one more would do). All my cars put together cost no more than an average new car today. And insurance is way cheaper since they're all old beaters. It's like servers. You can spend gazillion on the highest end server but it can still fail resulting in downtime. Or you buy a few cheap servers for redundancy and accept that failure is ok and redundancy is in place.
- OJFord 4d ago
  Oh, I read that quote the opposite way (wrongly, I think now) – > > There's an incredible amount of value in simply not worrying if your car will run when you need it to. > True, being able to know for sure you can get to work (or wherever important) is a huge peace of mind. If you don't worry about it not because you trust it, but because you just think you'll take it as it comes and don't particularly care if it doesn't start one day, there's also a lot of value in that you could save a lot on used prices and servicing!
cooperadymas 4d ago
There's an incredible amount of value in having a job. In caring about your job. In having a job where it matters if you perform well or not. In being in a position to engage with less scrupulous financiers. In stability. In having opportunities in the first place.

dainiusse 4d ago

Hubberman says spiking cortisol in the morning is good. So the $1000 car can solve that problem.

Cyan488 4d ago
Huberman also said it was good to gargle and swallow a glass of water in the morning before brushing your teeth. I think that was the last episode I listened to...

prmoustache 4d ago

People say buying used car is a lottery, but so is buying a new released car model. I've seen people having to send their brand new shiny car to the shop on a regular basis. The odds of getting a good experience are higher than blindly buying a second hand car with unknow history but not necessarily much better than buying a 20y old car (whose typical failure points are well known by that point) with complete documented history and knowing a good maintenance shop. Usually buying a new car that already went to a facelift is your best bet as it means it has been significantly long enough in the market to get most of its early gremlins known and sorted. Having said that I would now only consider buying a new car if I can pay it in one installment. I once loaned a new car and I regretted it immediately. Car was good but the amount I paid each month would have been better spent/invested elsewhere. I now drive a 20y old car that I paid cash last year. I checked before buying what were the main failure point (CVT transmission if not maintained properly) and bought a car with all the invoices and documentation checking it had been maintained properly and had her CVT oil changed. I expected a few things to fix (audio speaker, shocks) and negociated taking those into account. The car drive very well, is spatious and comfortable, I could afford replacing it if it died suddently. I would only consider a new car if I decided to go electric but gas price would need to multiply by 3 at the very least. I've seen people going EV then back to gas when they realized that after ~8 years of use their EV needed a battery replacement whose cost negated any saving on gas. I think battery price needs to go down for more EV adoption. Nobody wants to buy a second hand EV if it needs a usd10-15k for a new battery and an EV becomes pretty much unsellable at this point without a replaced battery.

Peanuts99 4d ago
I think you greatly overestimate how many 8-10 year old EVs will actually require replacement batteries. Barring a few models with poor engineering choices, most cars will still have 80% of their capacity after 10 years and won't have the downsides of having a 10 year old ICE engine with a variable record of maintenance.
- graemep 4d ago
  EVs that are 10 years old now will have a lower range than current models, AFAIK, so 80% of that might still be limiting. They will also be slower charging.
  - bdangubic 4d ago
    Very true on both accounts (I own a 12-year old Tesla) but for vast majority of EV owners this is simply not an issue.
    - graemep 4d ago
      Do the vast majority never drive a long distance? If you use a car purely for short journeys maybe. Is this common in the US? Everywhere I have lived most people do atleast some long (i.e. an ICE car needs refuelling at some point) some long trips.
      - minnowguy 4d ago
        I have friends with an EV that just rent an ICE car for road trips.
        bdangubic 4d ago
        exactly this. EVs are definitely not for road-trip-every-week families, I rent a car 4-5x per year (my other car is EV as well)
- 4d ago

interstice 4d ago

For me a loan would be far more stressful than fixing a 20 year old car, but I have worked for myself for 15 years so my priorities are probably skewed

jjav 4d ago

> There's an incredible amount of value in simply not worrying if your car will run when you need it to. True, being able to know for sure you can get to work (or wherever important) is a huge peace of mind. And more than peace of mind, can be critical to remaining employed, etc. A new car does not guarantee you that. I've had partners who are way more into new cars than me and those new cars have failed to be usable in various ways. A brand new EV was in the shop for 3 weeks. Oops, can't go to work. A near-new car had an ECU lock up so no way to start it. Call a tow truck to the dealer ($$$) and took a week ($$$$). A near new EV had an EV-specific problem: it refused to charge. Car ran fine, but couldn't charge so only so many miles left. Drive to dealer, took a few days. At least warranty covered it. > In many cases it might be better for someone to go deeper into debt on the car if it means they will be able to focus and perform better at work. Going into debt for a car (a fast depreciating asset) is always a terrible idea. If you're super rich and can afford it, fine, have fun. But for anyone counting money, it's the second worst financial decision you can ever make (second only to carrying credit card debt). Back to having reliable transportation, which is super important for most people. Solution? Buy two used cars for way less than half of a new car which can still fail. I only buy cheap used cars, but always have more than one available. Occasionally one needs maintenance and is out of commission for a few days. That's fine, I have another one (actually a few more, but even one more would do). All my cars put together cost no more than an average new car today. And insurance is way cheaper since they're all old beaters. It's like servers. You can spend gazillion on the highest end server but it can still fail resulting in downtime. Or you buy a few cheap servers for redundancy and accept that failure is ok and redundancy is in place.

OJFord 4d ago
Oh, I read that quote the opposite way (wrongly, I think now) – > > There's an incredible amount of value in simply not worrying if your car will run when you need it to. > True, being able to know for sure you can get to work (or wherever important) is a huge peace of mind. If you don't worry about it not because you trust it, but because you just think you'll take it as it comes and don't particularly care if it doesn't start one day, there's also a lot of value in that you could save a lot on used prices and servicing!

cooperadymas 4d ago

There's an incredible amount of value in having a job. In caring about your job. In having a job where it matters if you perform well or not. In being in a position to engage with less scrupulous financiers. In stability. In having opportunities in the first place.