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Date: Thu, 19 Dec 2002 09:57:26 -0600
From: pbeyer <pbeyernopsam.edu>
Subject: Re: best car for me


tom reingold wrote: > superscript3 wrote: > > I'm planning to buy my first new car soon. I'm 26, male, currently about > > $1200 disposable income per month (after bills and food) and I want to buy > > a car sometime in the next six months. I don't have a problem waiting and > > saving money to make a bigger down payment to reduce monthly payments and > > apr. But I want to buy by next fall and I want to start thinking and > > planning about it now. I've read reviews for all the cars that look > > interesting to me, but there are a lot of factors whose importance I can't > > measure accurately from my perspective, since I've never been through the > > process of buying a new car. Also, since I've only been working for a > > couple years I don't know how well-developed my instincts are about > > managing my budget. So I want to get some opinions, suggestions, > > recommendations, insights that will help me to form a picture of the next > > car I should buy..from people who have been through this process and are > > wiser than I am. > > > > Here's a list of cars I really like from what I've read and seen: > > > > subaru wrx > > audi a4 1.8t > > passat > > saab 9-3 > > mercedes c230 > > infiniti g35 > > other suggestions... > > > > Here's how I would rate things I care about on scale 1-10 > > > > performance 9 > > luxury 7 > > prestige 8 > > styling 8 > > reliability/cust service 8 > > price(total cost of ownership) 10 > > > > I'm probably aiming a little high pricewise with most of these cars, but > > these are the ones that caught my attention. > > > > (i'm posting this individually to a bunch of different groups) > > > > At age 26 with that amount of disposable income, you have a lot of > leeway. If you save some money now in long term savings, it will be > worth more than if you do so later, because of the compounding of > interest. I didn't start saving for retirement until I was in my 30's, > and I regret it heavily. I assume you're single now. You may find, as > many of us do, that when you're married, and especially when you're > married with children, there is ZERO disposable income, even as your > income rises sharply. Just about every raise goes into necessities. > > In your car budget, consider the cost of insurance. Call an insurance > agent or two, and tell her/him the models you are considering. You will > be surprised at how much each different car costs to insure. I'm 41 and > live in NJ. I have a 1995 Saab 9000CS, and it costs me about $1400 a > year for insurance. You will pay more than I do, because of your age. > If you buy a new car, it will be much more. > > Get a book called "Car Talk" by Tom and Ray Magliozzi. They're the guys > with the funny radio show. They tell you about what you can do with > your money if you buy less car and spend (or save) your money on other > things. It's quite astounding. I have never bought a new car and can't > imagine that I ever will. I, too, have expensive tastes in cars, so I > buy the type car I couldn't afford new, and I buy it used. It's a good > compromise between pampering myself and saving money. Also, once a car > is paid off, collision insurance (which I believe is the expensive part) > is usually not worth buying, so you can save tons of money by buying a > used car, especially after it's all paid off. > > More importantly, get a book called "The Only Investment Guide You'll > Ever Need" by Andrew Tobias. There are some eye opening things about > savings and finance there. > > Well, gee, I gave you a lot of financial advice and not a lot of > automotive advice. But there you are. I hope it helps. > > -- > Tom Reingold > Noo Joizy Good advice from Tom-- Another kind of advice and my experience with 2 cars you mention. Consider a 1-2 year-old car to decrease cost, taxes, etc. I've done this with my car and my wife's car for about 20 years with no problems. (I'm and older guy, obviously who still loves cars and have had a bunch) I currently have an AUDI A4 1.8 turbo (among 4 cars currently). I bought it with very lo mileage and it had 6 mos bumber to bumper warranty remaining for about 60% of original cost. Performance is so- so, economy good, insurance good, handling very good, fit and finish very good and I've liked the styling for years. My son has a 9-3 Saab 5-spd (also purchased 2 years old, lo mi): Great performance, handling fair, utility excellent (big hatch now gone on the new ones) reliability so far very good. Economy pretty decent. I like the styling and the "quirkiness" of the Saab features. Have driven Passats and would have gotten one if the Audi hadn't come sooner. Nice cars-- like the Audi only less expensive. I'm not fond of the WRX styling but love the numbers it posts. For what its worth Pete

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