Investment Thinking
It's funny how this whole topic of how to grow and sustain financial wealth, limit risks and losses and use chances and opportunities has influenced my thinking.
I'm like: ok I need to know the value of my assets and how much I spent on them to figure out how much I won or lost on them sof far, evaluate the quality of my previous decisions and identify present risks and opportunities...
So my largest single “investment” so far, the CX, I know that I poured in pretty exactly 6.4k (incl. insurance and tax, excl. fuel) but how much is it worth now?
In order to find out I put it up online yesterday for 1.5 times its cost, 9.6k, stating in the first sentence that I don't want to sell it but just figure out the market value, and one guy actually showed interest and said I should let him know if I changed my mind. So it seems that maybe I have actually gained 50% (or maybe rather 30%) on this asset through stupid luck and dedication, but is it the time to take the profit or should I just keep it and risk it (losing its value)? And is this even a good lens to view this through?
Then a friend told me today that he's looking to buy a car for less than 4k€ to travel with.
I took a quick look online and found a 21 year-old Citroen Xantia Break retrofitted for LPG use (which means 0.75*cost/km compared to my CX) and the guy is selling it because he can't finish the repairs because he's 70 and has severe backpain, for 700€... after he invested 4k into the LPG retrofit... As it was built in 2001 it has a lot of modern features, the same suspension as my car, but with an additional electronic control to keep it level in curves... Seems way underpriced.
Another nice Citroen with even more modern features (like knee airbags and Hydractive III suspension) would be a C5 Break from 2006 for 2.9k. Another potentially good car for Marco, all ready to drive without any necessary maintenance, but even for me... at approximately 4/5 of my CXs fuel consumption this C5 could also save me around 720€ a year in Diesel and probably also a bit in maintenance. On the other hand I would lose all the style.
But financially thinking, choosing to use the CX as a travel car is probably irrational, mainly not because of fuel consumption but possible repair costs coming up.
It's basically two opposites:
style + historic relevance + robustness (simple electrics, simple motor)
vs.
ugly mediocrity, better safety and comfort (thanks to complex electronics), better fuel economy (thanks to turbocharged high-pressure direct fuel injection engine), cost economy (I could basically buy this car off the profit of selling the CX...)
I don't know why I think about this, probably just because some cars seem super underpriced, but maybe all the others are simply overpriced...
Or maybe I simply miss air conditioning in my car.
But basically it's about cutting cost and reducing my investment in cars.
Or increase it and keep both. Which sounds totally stupid.
To be further assessed.
Edit 27. November 22:
I ended up, quite soon after this post, checking out an XM Break with Turbodiesel. Quite nice, but a lot of weird stuff happening with the electrics and a slightly lower and shorter trunk. Hard to sit or lie straight. Roof fabric was also hanging down, generally just not as nice of a quality as the CX.