Worth of new Tires and Brakes –

What a click bait title – I know. You came here looking for a massive pile of sweet and sexy silver and all you got with this!

Fixing a problem –

Yup that was me earlier this week. While they were able to patch it up and fix me right – they treads were just barely legal and I knew the brakes needed to be replaced. They were getting soft and got even worse after it was driven around for a 5-10 miles with the parking brake on…… I guess on when the light burns out – others who drive your car might not check and just assume the old bus sucks for acceleration compared to their Jeep with a Hemi! No real damage done, just extra wear to the rear brakes.

My total bill yesterday was $2,043.51
Silver was $15.2 spot price
That give me my total of 134.44 ounces. One hefty bill – luckily I knew this was coming and had some dirty fiat laying around waiting to be given in exchange. No precious metals were hurt in these repairs.

Why investing in silver is great

I am a born saver – stacker and may be a bit too frugal at times depending on what spouse your ask. But buying silver is a great way to spend your money without spending your money. You buy silver and if you need cash all you have to do is sell it quick. It’s the only asset I know that you can do that with in the same and get cash. You might lose a small percentage on the premiums if buying and selling in retail, but for the most part, its like a hidden savings account that is there if you need it, but you can’t blow it for pizza and beer easily. Plus – buying an asset that holds it value fairly well, doesn’t depreciate overtime outside of market conditions give me a way to scratch that spending itch, without spending. No cheap junk that breaks, or new tech toy I won’t use in 3 weeks. Nothing to give to good will as I ask myself why I spent so much on that dumb thing anyways.

Tires and Brakes on an old truck. – Why

I bought the best tires I could again, I figure they are the most important safety equipment that keep me on the road as I do 70 down the freeway. Michelin Defenders – Had them, loved them, bought them again. Should have me covered for another 60k miles.

I think I will need to write a whole post about this, but it came in conversation with a few people. Why would I spent 2k on a 2005 Chevy Suburban with a 124k miles on it with rusty holes in rocker panels and rear quarter panesls. It has a trade in value of a whopping $2k – $4k and a private party sale of $5k-$7k. There is a deep discussion to be had about sunk cost, repair cost, cost of use, depreciation, etc.

This vehicle has a few pros going for it.

• Paid for – I own it clear ( I should hope so at this point)
• Solid people mover – No real mechanical concerns. They built these things to eat miles on a highway. It’s common to find these 2-3 years old with 100k miles. Mine is already 14+ years old and is only 124k.
• Tows my boat
• Yearly depreciation is almost zero at this point.
• Tires and breaks for me fall into the daily use category. When you take the cost over the next 6 years, it’s no different than any other vehicle I would buy.

The cons are long but –

• Ripped leather seats
• Rusty holes on rocker panels and rear quarter panels.
• Looks like 14 year old suburban that’s driven where we dump more salt on the roads than we should
• Dirty as hell and stains from previous owners.

Depreciation is B$*ch

At this point I think this is the cheapest transportation I could get. My wife is driving a “new” used Jeep we picked up. My tire and brake job was less than 4 months of payments for her jeep. If you were to buy a new car – you would lose half.. HALF to depreciation in 4 years. I am not talking about payments – depreciation - that evil word that just means you might as well burn your money. High level way to think about this, if you buy a 40k car – in 4 years you could sell if for 20k. You lose 20k to depreciation. That averages to a cost of 5k per year. 5K a year you are essentially lighting on fire. 50% over 4 years hold true for the first 8-10 years of a life a vehicle, no matter where you start from the tables I have seen. Even if we assume this still holds true for my truck. 7k- to 3.5k over 4 years is 3.5/4. I will lose $875 to depreciation. I like the sound of that a lot better than driving a 2nd “new” car. Since I don’t care what I drive, what it looks like am fine calling AAA again if/when something happens I drive Black Beauty here. My wife likes to have something a little newer and something that feels safer.

For me the question comes down to – would I buy this truck today for 2k. If yes, then get the work done. If no – then trade it in for nothing and upgrade.

My goal is 2025 –

It will be 20 years old, need new tires and brakes again, and should be ready for someone else to drive it just around town hauling crap on the farm. If I can keep this beast running – I can save myself an extra 20k-40k of deprecation loss that most families will experience by buying a new(er) car every 4-5 years.

BTW go look at a new Suburban with my options 65k – 70k… That is insane!

Lunch

Well after that bill got settled, I will say I am eating salad again today – all day in an attempt to enough greens they don’t got to shoot on me again. Will keep me from wasting money on fast food luches. I harvet in the am, and eat for lunch. Then harvest again for dinner and rinse/ repeat the next day! Love my garden

If I eat these all week, I think i can do a LCS run Friday!

Stack on!! ~Senstless~

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