Considering a new car.
There is a $2,000 premium for leather seats, metallic paint, alloy wheels on the Hyundai i30 that I'm considering.
Just wondering if the extra is worth it, if it will make a difference to my resale value.
Reason why I'm considering the leather seats is because I have 3 kids, between 4 and 11. Leather seats will be easier to clean.
Alternative is to get the fabric version, then pay for seat covers to protect the material until they get older. No idea on cost, but the wooly types feels nice. Not easy to clean though.
Fair enough, but I'm onto my second new car in 13 years. The first one cost me $16000, and I had it for more than ten years, then sold it for $3000. My current one cost me $26000, and I intend to hold onto it for 10-15 years provided all goes well.
The cost per year for the car is worth it for me, because I'm not spending that much to begin with. I have previously bought cars for $2000-5000, kept them for around 2 years and then moved on due to the ongoing troubles that came with buying these cheaper cars that hadn't been kept in great condition.
I'm happy with my my decision to have a new car because things rarely go wrong with them, and I keep them serviced. I wouldn't want to spend much more than I did on this last car though, because then the depreciation kicks in even more severely.