My land value increased 11 times, but I wish I had bought a car instead

I used to think I would never buy a car because owning one does not just cost a few hundred million dongs (VND100 million = US$3,928.5) upfront. After buying it, you have to spend money each month to maintain it. At that time, I believed that using that money to buy some land in the city outskirts would be better, as a car incurs losses due to its decreasing value over time.

Ten years ago, my mother-in-law wanted my husband and me to buy a car to show off to our relatives in the countryside whenever we visited them. My husband was inclined to please his mom. However, I strongly opposed his decision. At that point, we only had savings of VND300 million, and buying a car would have required borrowing an additional VND200-250 million.

After some back and forth, I eventually convinced him to not buy a car and invest VND260 million in a 300-square-meter plot of land instead.

Meanwhile, my sister-in-law, to please her mother, spent nearly VND600 million on a car. Now, my plot of land is worth nearly VND3 billion, nearly 11.5 times its purchase price, while her car was later sold to a relative for only VND170 million.

Recently, my father-in-law in the countryside had a stroke. With none of their children living nearby, my mother-in-law had to run to the neighbors to ask for help taking him to the hospital. It was late at night, and there were no available cars, so I had to call everyone I could to rent a car to 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, knowing it would be convenient for us, especially with his parents frequently needing medical care. Our yard is spacious enough to comfortably park it. My husband crunched the numbers and concluded that with minimal use, the maintenance costs would not be too burdensome. Regardless, the cost of owning a car is much better than having to spend millions of dong to rent a car for each visit or constantly rely on others for rides.

With the new car, it only costs us about VND1.6 million each trip to and from my husband’s hometown. This saves us a lot of money, especially during holidays, when prices tend to skyrocket. After considering everything, we now find a car to be a reasonable purchase.

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

Reader Nguyen Quynh Thang

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