Yup, more waffling...
 

I mentioned a few months back I couldn't really make any decisions until my wife got back on her routine of working and I got to see how things developed with dropping my son at daycare, etc.

Well, it's early still, but 3 weeks have gone by since my wife got back to work and a few things (non of them surprising) are evident.

I need to drive a car with 4 doors Monday thru Friday. Soon my wife will stop working form home once a week, and it will eb off to daycare 3 times a week, and grandma's twice a week. I don't think I'd want to deal with a coupe's back seat.

As a result, whatever sportscar I get will be driven only on weekends, and even then half the times I drive on weekends the family and/or dog are coming along or I need a roomy vehicle to run an errand, so it's not as if ALL weekend drives could be taken care of with a 2-seater.

Obvious conclusions:

-I need a somewhat fun 4-door car.
-Whatever I spend on a sportscar has to be money I could not possibly miss (meaning not a lot).

Well, one could argue I already have the fun 4-door, and I do. So that's taken care of (at least in the short to medium term).

On the 2nd point, I think it woud be positively silly to spend anything more than 30K on a car that would be driven so little. In fact, it kind of begs the question... Why the hell do I even bother with a separate 2-seater?

Should I instead get a used 911 and deal with the rear seat access every morning? Should I just upgrade to a new/different/more fun sedan?

Should I go 180-degrees and add a wrangler unlimited to have top down fun with the whole family and fix any shortcommings of the V70R? Should just drive the V70R everyday and add the sports car? (I would be OK with driving the wagon daily if it were a 5er stickshift. But it isn't, and we're not swapping the V70R for a while)

So... thoughts?

Ahh, nothing like waffling in the morning.

Wow... you really are all over the place... :eeps: :D

My cat's breath smells like cat food.

Take it from someone that learned the hard way about babies and coupes. I had a 2000 Accord coupe when our first was born. By the time my daughter was big enough to ride in the 2nd stage child seat (the size that your son will be in before long) I needed to start bringing her home from daycare every day. The problem isn't so much getting the child in and out of the back seat. It's getting the child seat into the car in the first place. The seat wouldn't fit through the door opening and behind either of the front seats. I suppose I could've removed one of the front seats to get it in, but it was then that I realized without any doubt, that using a coupe to tote around young kids was a losing proposition. The very next day a new Accord sedan was sitting in my driveway. :)

I would recommend an E46 ZHP.

Yes, well, these conclusions all sound very familiar. A two-seater is a remarkably impractical extravagance when you don't drive very much and must carry three people during the week.

However, with one kid, a four door really isn't strictly necessary. I carry my daughter to day care quite often in the Mini (did it today, AAMOF), and while it's slightly more awkward than doing it in the BMW, it's not that big of a deal. As long as you have a bigger car to travel in, a smaller two-door is fine (at least in my experience).

I came very close to buying 2 different used 911s. At the end of the day, I couldn't justify the cost. You might not be feeling it yet, but there will likely come a point in the not-too-distant future where the idea of spending that much money on a used car seems irresponsible, given all of the other expenses that will abound.

Personally, if I were facing your constraints, I would get a 335i 4-door and a Mini Cooper S. :)

I do not believe that it's necessary to have more than one four seater when you have small children. Convenient, perhaps, but certainly not necessary.

LOL.

Well, I'm not opposed to a 911 - we'd be talking 996 here, and obviously (and sadly) not a GT3. Well, maybe with luck a base '05 997. As an absolute stretch, I may consider a 996TT but I really doubt it would happen. If I replace the 330i, spending ~$50K is not verboten. Now, spending $50K on a new car with a warranty vs. a used, pricey car to maintain with no warranty is a big difference.

If I replaced the ZHP with an MCS my wife would love me forever (hopefully she would regardless :eeps:). But it's hard for me to not think ZHP-to-MCS is a downgrade, and a loss of praticality for sure (nevermind that I'd have to cough up about $10K on the swap.

I could upgrade to a 335i. But would the driving be MORE fun? Faster sure, but more fun? Further, would it be $30K more fun? Why not use that $$$ and buy JV's car instead (or similar - like a base '05 987) and keep the ZHP?

LOL, yeah I always liked those...

This is true. But that assumes you are willing to drive the one 4-seater everyday. It's not like I'd get hives form drving the V70R mon-fri, but I rather drive something more fun.