uke vs car price

My oh my, I just did something that I probably shouldn't have done: I compared my uke cost against my car's cost.

Now, I don't drive an expensive car; but, still, it shows either that cars are cheap compared to ukes or ukes are expensive compared to cars, take your pick.

So, add up what you paid for all your ukes and compare that to the price you paid for your car (if you're renting, i.e. not leasing, just use an estimate of the car's price. Yes, I do know people who don't own a car but rent them as needed).

New car price compared to what I paid for the ukes I have now? It's probably around 10%. My car is 4 1/2 years old and worth about half what I paid for it. The ukes, on the other hand are probably worth 20% of what the car is worth now...

The car and the most valuable ukes...

I paid more for each of our last 4 vehicles than I paid for my house in 1994. And when my Dad bought their house in 1963, while earning about $1.85/hr, the house was only about $9,000.

Since my house and my ukuleles are all paid for, I can honestly say that if it weren't for the annual school and property taxes, the instruments would cost me as much every year as I pay for my house. However, when I can start playing out again, no matter how little I earn, I will derive more income from the ukuleles than I do from my house.

My ukes altogether cost about 30% as much as my 2021 Outback Touring. Now if you factor in amps, cables, pedals and other instruments (basses, drums, their accessories) I'd be looking at a much higher percentage.

You need to include the annual upkeep costs, insurance and mileage depreciation.

My vehicles are 13 and 30 years old. My wife's is 9 years old. She's in the market for a new one, I am not.

I like the V6 in my RAV4. I still enjoy driving my 5-speed stick, convertible RX7. It ain't that fast, but it's a lot of fun.

LOL! My last moped (which is my car) was about $500 with the upgrades, so they cost more.

I bought my Beetle for $1000 bucks. Most of my several ukes are more valuable.

My car is 22 years old and I own several ukes and guitars. I figure the combined price of the new instruments was about 50% higher than the price of the new car. I am fairly certain that if I wanted to sell them then I would get more for each of the guitars than for the car.

I own about 15 ukuleles, I don’t own 15 cars. So in my mind it’s not a fair comparison. At least that is my rationalization for not doing the math

I don't own nor do I lease a car, which is probably the reason I can afford my ukes.

Dohle said:

I don't own nor do I lease a car, which is probably the reason I can afford my ukes.

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Same here: Not owning a car frees up a lot of capital to invest in fine ukes (and a great bike)! As a matter of fact, that is exactly my rationale when buying another uke.

Dohle said:

I don't own nor do I lease a car, which is probably the reason I can afford my ukes.

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Wow, I've had a car (or two or three) since I was 16, which was decades ago. Wouldn't go without a car or an ukulele...:shaka:

each of my ukuleles cost about 11% of the last car I bought, which was around $17000

This is a pretty cool (& enviable) lifestyle, though usually achievable only in places w/ strong infrastructure & public transit. It also helps if one has no kids or dogs, especially large ones.

Also, I probably know a few people whose bikes cost wayyyyy more than their car/truck, lol.

Rakelele said:

Same here: Not owning a car frees up a lot of capital to invest in fine ukes (and a great bike)! As a matter of fact, that is exactly my rationale when buying another uke.

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Multiple cars & ukes here. Both except maybe one uke have likely depreciated. But the pricing of many ukes when purchased new has increased a bit dramatically since the pandemic? The demand for non "luxury" ukes, like bikes, shot up during the pandemic, as has the cost of importing a variety of stuff, mostly due to supply chain disruption & skewed demands.

All the cars were pre-owned upon purchase & only one has financing. One of the cars was from the 1990's when upon purchase around 2015?. It later got hit. Because there were no claims filed for physical damage to car or driver, the insurance company of the other driver paid out a cash settlement. So ultimately, we were paid to own the car, in the grand scheme of things, if one doesn't count maintenance. Like many cars during the pandemic, it didn't get driven much last year so the battery is dead.

To the OP, if you are waiting, I wonder if the increase in uke purchases will result in an increase in used ukes hitting the market as this pandemic wanes.
Also, one of my best Hawaiian Koa ukes was a "blem" purchase, from HMS. It may be less likely for that opportunity to pop up in UK, but not impossible.
And to answer your question, my "better" ukes don't get played as much since they're not hanging on the wall... in the future, after house remodel, I have every intention to put up more hangers, and hang some but not all of the "good" ukes.

Unfortunately, I have kept track of how much I have spent on ukes, and it's more than I have paid for cars. I buy cheap cars, though.

On the plus side, ukes hold their value better than cars.

Rakelele said:

Same here: Not owning a car frees up a lot of capital to invest in fine ukes (and a great bike)! As a matter of fact, that is exactly my rationale when buying another uke.

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It all depends on where you live.

Dohle said:

I don't own nor do I lease a car, which is probably the reason I can afford my ukes.

Click to expand...

Rakelele said:

Same here: Not owning a car frees up a lot of capital to invest in fine ukes (and a great bike)! As a matter of fact, that is exactly my rationale when buying another uke.

Click to expand...

Jerryc41 said:

It all depends on where you live.

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I own a car and whilst I don’t like using it much, and would prefer to cycle places instead, the distances and terrain involved make being car-less quite unattractive - impractical even. Of course circumstances vary and some people local to me do manage without cars, but they also live a significantly restricted life and local employment is very limited both in amount and career prospects. Much as I enjoy playing my Uke having effective forms of personal transport is much higher up the needs hierarchy.

I tend not to own expensive cars and instead tend to run smaller old ones that are well cared for and kept for many years. My car’s annual service, National safety test, road tax and insurance are several times my total spend on Ukes over several years ... and then there’s car depreciation / replacement costs to consider. Broadly my motoring costs are more necessary rather than discretionary. I recently had my eyes checked and purchased new glass, that test and purchase cost about the same as my total spend on Ukes. I might have paid more than was strict necessary but once needed Glasses aren’t really that much of a discretionary spend - certainly looking after your health is a very high priority - but Ukes are a completely discretionary spend.

With relatively little spent on then are my Ukes fit for purpose? Yes they certainly are fit for purpose and they do not hold me back in any way, the limit of the music I produce is me. Ukes are also not that expensive in that for a few hundred pounds, euros or dollars you can buy a good instrument that could last you a lifetime. By way of example Wilfred Welti plays a Bruko No 6 (which cost well within that budget) and he plays it at a professional level.

How we spend our money varies as do our needs and what we have available to spend.