Being Able to Afford Something Is Not The Same As Being Able To Maintain It

[mirakal]

Reality is, most of the people do not think what will be the consequences for today's action and decisions because they are more focused on what they can do at the present than think of tomorrow. They buy their dream cars, dream house or dream business without even thinking if they can truly afford the maintenance cost within the next months and years after purchased. And that instantly put their finances at risk because of wrong decision making that will brought long years of sacrifices in their lives.

Affordability isn't focused on the price alone, but the maintenance cost matters more than that.

[Alvin_talk]

Do you think people pay enough attention to the cost of maintaining what they buy or do we focus too much on the initial price?

No. Trendy things are the order of the day. Most people buy liabilities just because they can afford it momentarily without considering the consequences of their decision along the line. One of the major reason for this is that everyone has an urge or desire to be included. No one wishes to be left behind, beside an average Joe don't even care to keep record of his income and expenses. They will spend beyond their means and end up in debt. Such a sad reality

[Tamaperdana]

Snip

Do you think people pay enough attention to the cost of maintaining what they buy or do we focus too much on the initial price?

It's certain that when buying something like a car, not only do we spend money on it initially, but after that, sooner or later, other maintenance costs will also arise. Such as changing tires, changing the oil, or servicing the brakes. Because these three things are clearly common for people who own cars. But even so, it's also certain that if we buy a new car, it will be a long time before our car really needs a major service. So I don't think the maintenance costs are too high if you look at it.

Because basically, changing the oil, or replacing the brakes, obviously won't cost much money for standard cars. But for luxury cars, the price is definitely much more expensive for oil changes and brake replacements. But yes, I don't think we need to make this a headache, because I'm sure if someone can afford to buy a car, obviously he must have thought about the future and maintenance costs as well. Maybe a small number of people are not like that, but clearly they are only a minority.

[viljy]

Sometimes people make certain purchases solely to look no worse than others or to impress those around them. Moreover, sometimes such purchases are made on credit! Not to mention that they will then have to bear the costs of maintaining their purchase. For example, a car is often such a fetish. In reality, this ultimately only worsens their financial situation if it is not initially adequate to cover both the expensive purchase and the subsequent maintenance costs.

[henmark]

An uncle of mine sold his smaller Toyota Camry, and then bought a Lexus 350, I'm not sure if it was a 350 but one thing I am sure of is that the new care is more expensive to maintain and burns through more fuel than the previous one, now he is always complaining about how what he used to spend before is nothing compared to what he is spending now.
Why did he buy the new car? Because he wanted to drive something bigger and flashier and because at that point in time he could afford it, he did not consider the price for petrol that has skyrocketed in the past few years here, he did not even consider that parts for the new care would be more expensive than the ones he used to get for the former one.
This is the same thing a lot of people do, they make serious life decisions based on what their emotions tell them at that point in time without considering how the future will turn out.

Owning a utility asset should either save you expenses or improve your finances. Since a car is used, for example. Most people own cars because they want to up their game.

Society now measures wealth by owning a car, house, and business. If you own at least one, they won't look at you less in the society. It is the reason why a few buy a car so that they can be able to land a job, contract, meet business partners, and do logistics with ease. The other few buy their own car due to peer pressure and to show off. If owning a car and a house won't save expenses on transportation, logistics, and rent, don't rush into owning them.

But also let's not forget how important a car can be sometimes. Without a car, one might end up spending more money in travelling. It's not just the money but also time. It would take way more time to travel the same distance without a car. So for people depending on travel, car is a necessity and they will have to purchase a car at some point. As these people rely on travelling, they can definitely afford to spend on maintenance. Time is something really important for me and if I could save even a few minutes, I won't mind paying a premium price to do so because I can make better use of that time.

Buying a car simply because you want to show-off is something that will bring financial burdens. Without the actual need, car is just a luxury and in order to be able to afford luxuries, we should really have a strong financial backup. Lower or middle class can hardly afford to spend on such luxuries so buying a car should be off the table at least until we can add another income source.

[bakasabo]

It's certain that when buying something like a car, not only do we spend money on it initially, but after that, sooner or later, other maintenance costs will also arise. Such as changing tires, changing the oil, or servicing the brakes. Because these three things are clearly common for people who own cars. But even so, it's also certain that if we buy a new car, it will be a long time before our car really needs a major service. So I don't think the maintenance costs are too high if you look at it.

Because basically, changing the oil, or replacing the brakes, obviously won't cost much money for standard cars. But for luxury cars, the price is definitely much more expensive for oil changes and brake replacements. But yes, I don't think we need to make this a headache, because I'm sure if someone can afford to buy a car, obviously he must have thought about the future and maintenance costs as well. Maybe a small number of people are not like that, but clearly they are only a minority.

Some people think that new car does not break and warranty covers everything. That is one of the traps especially car buyers get into. Being crazy happy with purchase, they dont listen to what manager tell them. Then they get confused why change of brake pads and disks are not warranty claim. Or that oil and filter change cost that much, when on their old car it cost almost nothing. They have been playing small amount for maintenance and local garage, and they get shocked how much maintenance cost at official dealer even for a regular new car (or they will lose warranty if they do maintenance elsewhere).

For example in many places/services in my town, if you buy oil and filter, they will change it free of charge. But doing same at official dealer cost 50-60EUR/h, and as they do inspection during change, they write 2-3h of work in your bill.

[aoluain]

A lot of financial decisions are based on one question; CAN I AFFORD TO BUY IT? but I think another question is just as important; CAN I AFFORD TO KEEP IT?

Very true.

Before I was properly financially educated I fell into this trap - many times, by buying that which
I could afford at a stretch but couldnt see ahead far enough to realise it was unsustainable.

I would throw it out there to say that a good percentage of the average population make this very
basic error in a world where "BUY ME" advertising is everywhere and algorhythms are set to pull
us towards purchases of what we are interested in and dont necessarily need and in turn becomes
either a waste of money are a liability.