A New Way To Drive
Why this family man ditched his buy-and-hold car credo.
Uros Majstorovic isn’t precious about cars; he looks at them simply as way to get from one place to another.
“Like a piece of clothing or shoes,” he said.
But when his longtime family vehicle finally broke down recently after years of ferrying him and his wife and children to jobs, appointments, school and countless other engagements, he found himself at a car-based crossroads.
After all, the 29-year-old consulting recruiter from Irvine, Calif., had always believed in the benefits of buying a car new and driving it until the bitter end. But now he was doing the math in his head. First, there was the the car’s gigantic hit in value the second he drove it off the lot. Then he layered on the fact that he hadn’t particularly enjoyed driving it for years and now possessed a non-operational, nearly worthless piece of metal.
The net result was a serious round of questioning around his buy-and-hold philosophy on car ownership.
Unfortunately, he didn’t have much time to think. His wife, Lundyn, had just gone back to work and needed a car for commuting and driving around their son Luka, 7, and daughter Drina, 3.
“I was in desperate need of a car, and my friend Aleks told me, ‘I think you’re rushing,’” said Majstorovic. “‘You should check out Fair.’”
So Majstorovic did. And he was so impressed with what he saw, he decided to try it out. He scanned his license to see cars with payments he could afford, selected a 2016 Chevy Cruze, signed for it with his finger, and picked it up with a brief stop-in at Connell Chevrolet in Costa Mesa, Calif.
Majstorovic said he opted for Fair’s flexible model — which allows him to turn the Cruze in whenever he wants — over the traditional way of buying and financing a car because he and his wife are planning to move, which might change their transportation needs. And while his wife currently works part-time, Majstorovic said her job situation might change at some point too.
“Sometimes we don’t need a car or the commitment that is three, six or eight years, and the complications and piles of physical paperwork,” said Majstorovic. “We needed to make a quick, efficient decision and not have to worry long-term about it.”
Having driven their Fair car for several months now, Majstorovic said they might only need it for a few more. Or, he said, they might keep it longer. Whatever they settle on, Majstorovic said it’s nice to be able to make the decision for themselves instead of being locked into a long-term contract.
And while he continues to drive his own paid-off car, a 2013 Hyundai Sonata, he said he can’t imagine going back to buying a car the old-fashioned way.
“I’m going to run my car until I can’t anymore, but for my next car I don’t think I will buy one. I will definitely use Fair again,” he said.
