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Old 01-13-2016, 11:52 AM   #1
clyde
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What next again?

I passed the three year mark with the Focus ST a few days ago. It took longer than I would have expected, but I'm starting to get bored with it and starting to think about what to replace it with.

I have no time pressures and I am not unhappy with my current situation. There's also nothing out there I'm lusting over that is driving me into a process that ends with buying something specific. My budget is probably $40k and I don't really know what I want.

The usual suspects are on the list. Mustang GT. Chevy SS. Maybe the new Camaro SS. I'd take a drive in a Focus RS and see if that unexpectedly sways me like the Focus ST did, but I really don't think that will be different enough. A Mark 7 Golf R? Or even GTI? More refined than the ST, and probably better, but different enough? New or newish, I'm drawing a blank on anything else out there.

Then, I start thinking about what I could get used that's 5-15 years old, and depreciated a good bit. Or maybe even two kinda older cars...one for fun and one with four doors. I think about how much I kind of enjoyed driving the Miata every day (minus power and my refusal to do anything above absolutely minimal maintenance).

I still don't know what I'll think about the XK8 and how that may fill in, but I should have that here by the end of the month.

I don't know and I'm just beginning to think...
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Old 01-13-2016, 12:03 PM   #2
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M2? seems comparable minus a bit more money of the cars you listed.
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Old 01-13-2016, 03:18 PM   #3
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M2? seems comparable minus a bit more money of the cars you listed.


I'd be seriously tempted if I didn't still love my car.
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Old 01-13-2016, 12:18 PM   #4
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I got halfway through this process and stalled - having sold the Golf but not yet determined what I'm doing next. But in slumming it in slightly older cars for the psat few months (an '06 M3 and an '00 528i), don't underestimate how much you can appreciate a newer car - both in terms of reliability and also tech features.

But new cars seem stupid expensive to me at the moment.

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Old 01-13-2016, 12:21 PM   #5
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slumming I guess maybe the slushy 5
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Old 01-16-2016, 11:07 AM   #6
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But new cars seem stupid expensive to me at the moment.
That's it in a nutshell. Again, the reason why I keep punting, and buying Accords these days. Other than the whole "not terribly fun to drive" thing, you really can't go wrong owning one. Cheap to buy, cheap to own, plenty of interior room, fantastic resale. Financially speaking, I'm not sure how you could do much better.
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Old 01-16-2016, 11:41 AM   #7
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That's it in a nutshell. Again, the reason why I keep punting, and buying Accords these days. Other than the whole "not terribly fun to drive" thing, you really can't go wrong owning one. Cheap to buy, cheap to own, plenty of interior room, fantastic resale. Financially speaking, I'm not sure how you could do much better.
The only time buying new makes sense is when the new car price equals the slightly used price - which is entirely possible if you shop hard enough; it also makes sense to buy new if you keep your cars a long time.

Otherwise, buying used is always the ticket, and if you buy something almost new with very low miles, and keep it a long time - you've made the best deal.
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Old 01-16-2016, 11:50 AM   #8
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The only time buying new makes sense is when the new car price equals the slightly used price - which is entirely possible if you shop hard enough; it also makes sense to buy new if you keep your cars a long time.

Otherwise, buying used is always the ticket, and if you buy something almost new with very low miles, and keep it a long time - you've made the best deal.
aka honda or subaru
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Old 01-16-2016, 12:07 PM   #9
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That's it in a nutshell. Again, the reason why I keep punting, and buying Accords these days. Other than the whole "not terribly fun to drive" thing, you really can't go wrong owning one. Cheap to buy, cheap to own, plenty of interior room, fantastic resale. Financially speaking, I'm not sure how you could do much better.
But you're a guy who loves a good sports car don't you miss it ? I'm not even saying you need to spend more money because the Accords aren't exactly cheap cars and if you are dead set on the Accords why not a 2 door coupe with a manual.

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The only time buying new makes sense is when the new car price equals the slightly used price - which is entirely possible if you shop hard enough; it also makes sense to buy new if you keep your cars a long time.

Otherwise, buying used is always the ticket, and if you buy something almost new with very low miles, and keep it a long time - you've made the best deal.

You are thinking more along the lines of the financial sense of it but we are all car enthusiasts and the type of cars a lot of us buy involve a lot of emotion on our part other wise we'd all be driving Camry's.

On a financial standpoint you are absolutely right and the way you buy your cars is smart but some people like new cars with me being one of them, nothing is like getting a brand new car.
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Old 01-16-2016, 02:06 PM   #10
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You are thinking more along the lines of the financial sense of it but we are all car enthusiasts and the type of cars a lot of us buy involve a lot of emotion on our part other wise we'd all be driving Camry's.

On a financial standpoint you are absolutely right and the way you buy your cars is smart but some people like new cars with me being one of them, nothing is like getting a brand new car.
But then you're scratching a different itch - a "new car" is new for about three or four months, then the psychological pleasure of that part of it goes away ( I just learned that in one of my "great courses" brain studies CD's )

I still overpaid for my ZHP vert, but I shelled out just under 10 grand less on a car that stickered for over 50k only four months after it had been sold initially - It had 2000 miles on it. With more mileage and two or three years of depreciation, the "used" car becomes an even better value - if there is such a thing as "value" with cars. Plus, you can often buy trim lines and options that are absorbed into the depreciated price in a way not possible when buying new.

Different strokes, but for me, brand new is no longer my first choice.
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