I want a truck (I think?)

[JST]

Originally Posted by John V

I'd swap his suspension for mine...

I'll swap his *car* for mine. That way he can even put the top down.

[bren]

Originally Posted by rumatt

Entertaining review....]

Touch screens in cars are terrible. Why is that a thing.

You should get the Ridgeline.

Originally Posted by JST

I'll swap his *car* for mine. That way he can even put the top down.

I'll swap for a corvette. Then he can remove the rear glass and make it a pickup! Someone has to figure out how to get the input shaft from the transmission to line up with the shiny new engine first though, because I can't seem to be able to do it.

[John V]

Originally Posted by JST

I'll swap his *car* for mine. That way he can even put the top down.

He hates convertibles

[wdc330i]

Originally Posted by John V

He hates convertibles

I get everything in this thread but that.

[Josh (PA)]

Personally, I would not want the amount of money Matt has tied up in the R if I didn't absolutely love it and use it all the time. If it was me, I'd swap out his entire fleet for cars that more appropriately fulfilled their roles (as I'd want them fulfilled) and allocate the cost % differently.

Here's my understanding of your cars:
1. Fun, engaging daily driver that can hold your bike has a manual transmission and can be parked on the street (currently the e46)-
Since I'm spending 75% of my time in this car, I'd put the majority of my $$$ here as well. I'd buy a good condition e90 of f80 m3 sedan, possibly an m2, rs4, c63, (or because its me doing the buying a 1 convertible or e63 wagon).

2. Winter utility vehicle, lake house hauler (currently the e90 wagon)
I'd want something that I don't mind getting dinged, dirty and generally mistreated. It would either be a Subaru Outback wagon with a trailer (although I personally hate towing trailers) or a cheap old 4wd pickup at $10k or less. I think the e90 is too 'nice' to haul shit and too close to the e46 to be interesting to drive.

3. Fun hedonistic car (currently the Cayman)
I'd personally try to combine car #1 with this car if at all possible, but if you can't/ don't want to drive a m240 convertible everyday, swap out the cayman for something that you can enjoy more regularly (like a z4)

If you're not going to use the wagon as a beater/hauling vehicle, get rid of it and get something of equal value that you don't mind dumping firewood, muddy mountain bikes, wet kayaks, etc into. It does sound like you should get rid of the e90 wagon and get a similar vehicle that better fits your needs. Something like this:
https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-...delCode1=TITAN

[Josh (PA)]

Originally Posted by wdc330i

I get everything in this thread but that.

yea, I know. Matt is just weird.

[rumatt]

Originally Posted by Josh (PA)

Matt is just weird.

Let's not waste time rehashing things everyone already knows.

E46: It's not going anywhere. I like driving it. I might go back to the more aggressive Koni shocks at some point if I want more sporty.

E91: I wouldn't replace this with an outback. If I want a wagon I'll keep the BMW. I like it more.

If I had to go to 2 cars I could maybe do E46 + SUV that's could haul lots of shit inside, and tow well. This doesn't fully replace a truck but it overlaps more than a wagon.

Cayman: It's not a suspension thing. The car is fine. If I had a base suspension or a 981 with PASM would I be driving it more often? Maybe, but I'm not convinced. Had seats that I loved? Maybe. But my main conclusion from this experiment is that for me, sports cars are like threesomes - better in fantasy than reality.

[John V]

I will say this, I love owning a truck. When I got my first one back in ... whenever I got it, it was much more of a liberating purchase than I'd expected. I never realized how much I'd use it for hauling crap around. Much more useful than an SUV since I didn't care if I was buying stinky mulch or dirt. The bed gets dirty, you just hose it out. At this point I can't ever see myself not having a pickup.

I get Bren's point about the Ridgeline and similar tinker-toys trucks that can't fit a 4x8 sheet of building material in the bed, and the fact that those trucks aren't much (if any) cheaper than a full-size half-ton truck. But the smaller stuff really is nicer to drive if you're going to commute in it, and the Ridgeline can be effectively used as a car with the ability to haul stinky / dirty stuff and tow a small trailer without any real compromise.

Sell the wagon, sell the Cayman, buy a not-very-used truck and put the money you save into your index fund so you can retire early and spend your free time bicycling or drinking coffee at your lakefront property.

[Josh (PA)]

Originally Posted by John V

I will say this, I love owning a truck. When I got my first one back in ... whenever I got it, it was much more of a liberating purchase than I'd expected. I never realized how much I'd use it for hauling crap around. Much more useful than an SUV since I didn't care if I was buying stinky mulch or dirt. The bed gets dirty, you just hose it out. At this point I can't ever see myself not having a pickup.

I get Bren's point about the Ridgeline and similar tinker-toys trucks that can't fit a 4x8 sheet of building material in the bed, and the fact that those trucks aren't much (if any) cheaper than a full-size half-ton truck. But the smaller stuff really is nicer to drive if you're going to commute in it, and the Ridgeline can be effectively used as a car with the ability to haul stinky / dirty stuff and tow a small trailer without any real compromise.

Sell the wagon, sell the Cayman, buy a not-very-used truck and put the money you save into your index fund so you can retire early and spend your free time bicycling or drinking coffee at your lakefront property.

I agree with this. But don't put all the money in the index fund. Buy an ATV... and #Sharp: maybe an NC Miata.

[John V]

Yeah, buy an NC Miata, then bring it to me for "service." I'm looking for a wrecked NC Miata to use as a donor for a proper engine to put in my RX-8