Man those things have gotten expensive! Someone I know recently bought a Hyundai H1. Main reason: The VW is now too expensive, and the H1 has most of the same things.
A Hilux double-cab is now over 600k. In other words, it is beginning to attract a legal “luxury tax”. Seriously?
And here I am still refusing to spend more than 350k on a depreciating asset… I’m probably just getting old(er). Right?
I argue a little differently: You only care about an asset depreciating in value if you plan on selling it. Which is why I bought a Honda Civic (naturally aspirated 1.8 - no turbo to worry about) when I started working. I except to one day give it to my daughter. Its second hand value is for little concern to me.
The other side of the coin is my house: While it could be argued to be an appreciating asset (though in recent years that might be contested) I similarly don’t plan on selling it ever (I don’t plan for the “pawpaw hitting the fan” because then all investments in SA is worthless) so its value, increasing or otherwise, is of little concern to me both emotionally and economically. 
Mostly I do care about selling my cars. Not now… but eventually. I tend to buy cars second hand around the 4-6 year mark, and for some reason I tend to sell them pretty consistently around 13 years of age. I prefer to lose the least amount of money over that period of time.
Even if you intend driving the car into the ground, even then there is a certain cost to it. Say I buy a new Land Cruiser for a round million, and I drive it for 35 years… after which inflation will mean that whatever it is worth will be nothing… that’s still a cool 30k a year in “depreciation”, not to mention the cost of insuring that asset.
Technically… what we should care about is “cost per kilometer”. If it exceeds around R20/km… you should just call an uber every time
SO agree with you re the vehicle … if you buy it right, you can drive it for decades … but they don’t build cars like they used to!
Like me a few years ago, could not believe it! I had to replace the alternator after 18 years!!! Geez man, where did quality workmanship go!? 
No seriously, I want to see how long today’s cars will last. I’m NOT selling my 280TD … EVER.
7 years and counting down, I can insure it as a vintage car. 
Re houses, Ponder on this for a moment:
Cause when the house is sold, DID one make an actual profit?
Or was the “profit” based on “market” prices, to “settle the bond” with some spare cash left over?
And heaven help one if a “housing market bubble” bursts.
Yes, agreed, the cost per kilometer is the important figure, but it does require all sorts of assumptions regarding the total amount of kilometers you will drive it.
I prefer to say that the total amount of kilometers I will drive my car is very much unknown, because my lifestyle could change a lot over 10 to 20 years. So I buy something that should be reliable and affordable today, meeting my needs regarding space and capabilities (for now and the future), and then hope that it lasts decades!
My Civic is now 10 years old, and there’s literally nothing wrong with it. Drives exactly like the day I bought it. Pretty sure I’ll get another 10 out of it… Touch wood.
100% agree with you. I’m not convinced that your primary residence should ever be considered to be an investment. Why? Well for the reasons you lists, but also because, when you sell it… you need to buy another one. If house prices went up, you might get more money for your house, but unless you go look in a different area (with different house price inflation) you will just end up spending all your “profit” again…
Exactly, only the second house on is considered an investment.
Wives work differently.
It is way to soon for you to make pronouncements about how long you’re going to keep it. Even good Japanese cars begins to need the odd bit of maintenance after 15 years or so, at around 20 years or so the rust starts to show up, parts become harder to find. And there is always the odd chance of someone crashing into your pride and joy – if you don’t do it yourself – after which the insurance company very much will attach a (low) value to it. In my experience, somewhere between 10 and 15 years… you start to WANT a newer car…
Haha! I’ve long ago started to want a new car.
I’m sure it’ll start to give me trouble eventually. But to me, a car has zero value after I bought it, because I intend on driving it until it has zero value (broken). I just hope that is long enough down the road so that I don’t end up spending money on a car soon again. So in my mind, whatever I spend today on a car I must be willing to “lose completely” in order to have the car for the next X years, where I unfortunately cannot know X, but it should be more than the guaranteed period (say 5 years) but probably less than 20.
That’s actually not a bad philosophy. But that is part of the reason I still refuse to buy vehicles over 350k. That’s already way more than I’m willing to lose. And of course life circumstances change. What I can afford now, I cannot necessarily afford in future, which means I may be stuck with the vehicle much longer than planned. Hence, I must pick something that is not going to become an absolute burden once it becomes a teenager. If push comes to shove, I must be able to keep it for 20 years. Then, if I can afford it, I can replace it when finances allow.
Which is of course why I avoid all manner of European vehicles…
My beloved Suzie was bought for ±R185 000 in 1999.
Her insured value as of today is ±R59 000
See on Gumtree and other places, that these trokkies are still being sold, comfortably, for like ±R85k if in really good nick.
And parts are still available.
All depends on the make and model one bought cause the model just after mine, where my clutch can cost like ±R7k, the next model is like R15k for a clutch replacement.
New injectors are like ±R2k … or recondition them for like R850 each. New cars today, more like R5k per injector and you can only use 50ppm or better diesel.
Me, I can drive on any diesel, even 100% biodiesel, as I had for months … if one can find a good supplier, and the bio diesel does not smell like fish.
It all depends on the make and model one bought, that has been looked after and taken care of over the decades …
Amen … if I lose it, I had YEARS of fun … just get another same model, or a Unimog … like the ones we had in the SAW. Then you will hear me say even more … here, hold my beer …