New Cars Too Pricey for Many

[dfrecore]

There's always the unforseen costs of certain cars as well. I won't buy an AWD because I've heard horror stories of having to replace all 4 tires if you have a problem with 1 of them. Depending on the brand, the tires have to all be the same size, so if 2 years in you have to replace 1, you have to replace them all. Yikes, not a price I want to pay.

I have a friend who has a 2005 Honda Odyssey with the PAX run-flat tire system, and she has to replace all 4 tires almost every year. Not even kidding. I told her she was insane to continue with that kind of upkeep, as I think we pay for new tires every 5 years or so. That is a HUGE expense. More than $100/mo just to keep your tire budget going. No thank you.

I like the thought of the hybrids for my kids, but with what I'm willing to pay for one, it would probably need the batteries replaced sooner rather than later, so that's a no-go.