# What is the value of your car relative to the value of your home? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 7, 2015, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-value-of-your-car-relative-to-the-value-of-your-home/724481 "2015-07-07T15:10:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-value-of-your-car-relative-to-the-value-of-your-home/724481/61 "2015-07-08T19:50:27Z")
1.4% for my 1998 Ford sedan and two-bedroom condo in the near suburbs of Chicago, per Zillow and Kelley. That would be 0.98% if my condo was worth what I paid for it in 2005, near the peak of the market. ☹ The car would have depreciated no matter what the economy or real estate market did. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![SpeedwayRyan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@SpeedwayRyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpeedwayRyan)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-value-of-your-car-relative-to-the-value-of-your-home/724481/62 "2015-07-08T20:33:57Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > Consider personal preferences. Some people don’t care about their house as long as it keeps the rain out, but their vehicle is self-expression, freedom, a love, a passion… I say that as one who considers a car to be something to get me from here to there safely and comfortably. My husband, on the other hand, really, really likes performance vehicles. So I’ve driven an Escort station wagon and a Scion xA, while he’s had 2 'Vettes and a Crossfire - not at the same time, but over the years. I honestly think he’d live in a single-wide in order to get the kind of car he wants. I can’t imagine he’s the only person who would take that option. Yep. My car is worth a larger percentage of my house than what might be considered wise by some, but I don’t care much about having a big fancy house, and I consider cars to be my #1 hobby. I don’t play golf or drink craft beer or smoke cigars or fly radio-controlled airplanes or play video games or buy expensive stereo gear…the amount of money I spend on my car actually pales in comparison to what a lot of guys spend on all that stuff, so I’m perfectly happy with the whole deal. If I was struggling to make rent and paying a big car payment, it might be an issue…but I’m a homeowner, happy in the house that I’m in, and happy with the car I drive not only as a means of getting from point A to point B, but as a passion in life. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-value-of-your-car-relative-to-the-value-of-your-home/724481/63 "2015-07-08T21:16:03Z")
0.9%. My car is 12 years old and I live in the CA Bay Area. When I bought each (roughly the same time), it was about 10%. ---
**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-value-of-your-car-relative-to-the-value-of-your-home/724481/64 "2015-07-08T21:28:40Z")
> [@corkboard](#): > > I bought my house and car in the same month in 2008. The car, new, was $26,000. It now has about 150,000 miles on it and is probably worth around $4,000. The house I purchased for $562,000 and according to Zillow, is now worth about $640,000. > > So at the time of purchase my car was worth about 4.6% of my home; now it’s about .6%. This is probably the closest to my own situation. 12 year old car, newly purchased for $14,000, now with 70,000 miles. KBB says $4k so that puts it at 0.6% of my house value. When purchased and two houses ago, it maxed out at 4% of the house value. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-value-of-your-car-relative-to-the-value-of-your-home/724481/65 "2015-07-09T01:22:42Z")
My rental is in a fourplex worth $1.27 according to Zillow, so I’ll call the market value of my space $320,000. I pay a realistic fraction of the estimated mortgage on that. My Civic would cost about $19,000 for this year’s model, or about 6%. Realistically, it’s a 2006 with 110,000 miles on it, and is worth maybe 1% of the house value. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-value-of-your-car-relative-to-the-value-of-your-home/724481/66 "2015-07-09T14:17:28Z")
Current value of house and car? Then about 2%. At time of purchase for both? About 7.5% ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-value-of-your-car-relative-to-the-value-of-your-home/724481/67 "2015-07-09T16:13:00Z")
I have 6 cars and a motorcycle that total up to about 25% of what I paid for my house. I paid my house mortgage off early. All vehicles are paid for and all were purchased with cash (no money wasted on loan interest). I have money in the bank and money in a 401k. Some of those cars are just toys, but I’m failing to see how I am being financially irresponsible. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-value-of-your-car-relative-to-the-value-of-your-home/724481/68 "2015-07-09T22:06:53Z")
Three model years ago, the new car was 49% what I could get for this house. Now, it’s 29%. The car’s not that expensive- I bought a cheap, but decent house (still needs a bit of work, but it’s home). I do have four vehicles and two houses- all completely paid for. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-value-of-your-car-relative-to-the-value-of-your-home/724481/69 "2015-07-10T00:51:19Z")
Let’s see. I live in the Bay Area, so we’re out of whack right there. We have two cars. One of them is paid for. Check. One is spendy, but related to the value of the house, hmm, carry the one, divide the square root of why the hell do I have to live here and commute 4 hours a day, it was under 10% when it was new, under 5% now. Because I live in one of the most expensive places on the planet. And I’m fine with my spendy car because I spend more time in my car awake than I do in my house. The only reason I can say I spend more time in my house is because I sleep there. ---
**Author:** ![Curid1992](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Curid1992](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Curid1992)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-value-of-your-car-relative-to-the-value-of-your-home/724481/70 "2015-07-10T20:45:24Z")
Our families car is about 1% of the value of our house. How on earth can people have cars that are worth almost as much as their house? :eek: 😕 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-value-of-your-car-relative-to-the-value-of-your-home/724481.md?page=3)