The value of my property has increased 11 times, but I wish I had bought a car instead

I used to think I would never buy a car because owning a car costs not only a few hundred million dong (100 million VND = 3,928.5 USD), but also you have to spend money on maintenance every month after buying it. At that time, I thought that it would be better to spend the money on buying a piece of land on the outskirts of the city because a car will cause losses due to its decreasing value over time.

Ten years ago, my mother-in-law wanted my husband and I to buy a car so we could show off to our relatives in the countryside whenever we visited them. My husband wanted to please his mother, but I was strongly against his decision. At that time, we had only saved 300 million VND, and to buy a car, we would have had to borrow an additional 200 to 250 million VND.

After some back and forth, I finally convinced him not to buy a car and instead invest 260 million VND in a 300 square meter plot of land.

Meanwhile, my sister-in-law, in order to please her mother, spent nearly 600 million VND on a car. Now my property is worth nearly 3 billion VND, almost 11.5 times the purchase price, while her car was later sold to a relative for only 170 million VND.

Recently, my father-in-law suffered a stroke in the countryside. Since none of their children lived nearby, my mother-in-law had to run to the neighbors and ask for their help to take him to the hospital. It was late at night and there were no cars available, so I had to call anyone I could to rent a car and get to their town as soon as possible.

When my father-in-law was discharged from the hospital, I urged my husband to get a car. I knew it would be convenient for us, especially since his parents needed medical attention frequently. Our yard is big enough to park comfortably. My husband did the math and concluded that the maintenance costs would not be too high with minimal use. Regardless, the cost of owning a car is much better than spending millions of dong renting a car every time you visit or constantly relying on others to give you a ride.

With the new car, each trip to my husband’s hometown and back only costs us about 1.6 million VND. This saves us a lot of money, especially during the holidays when prices skyrocket. After considering everything, we think buying a car now makes sense.

I hope my story helps provide some insight into the question: Is it worth buying a car?

Reader Nguyen Quynh Thang

*This opinion was translated into English by AI. Readers’ views are personal and do not necessarily reflect the views of VnExpress.