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1. Depreciation: I suppose my situation is the worse for depreciation as since this car is only one year old I've already taken the biggest hit (first year) plus I get the added advantage of not being able to ammortize the sales tax over the life of the car (The sales tax I paid is about equivalent to a 95 9K Aero) The car with tax was just over 60K CAD, I think its worth about 42K -43K now (that might even be generous, not sure yet) From a financial POV, it makes sense to me that keeping the car longer would help to offset the depreciation of the first few years, but I'm reconsidering if I want to have that much invested in a car at this point in my life- the big depreciation hit has come and gone, I've already paid off enough to cover it, but for the next couple of years I expect it will continue to depreciate at roughly the same rate I'm paying it off.
2. Difference in payments: Its a huge difference; at the rate I'm currently paying off my 9-5 I could buy a 900 or 9000 outright in 8-10 months. I'm assuming about $1200/yr maintenance on a 9KT, does that sound reasonable to anyone who owns one? Used parts are an option on an older car too. Have you priced out a set of 225-45-17 high performance tires lately? Ouch! 205-55-16's on the 9K Aero are almost the norm on a family car these days so they're considerably cheaper.(one example)
3. She will have a part time job while she goes through school, She's fortunate that her current employer will allow her to stay on part time for the duration of her schooling. I suppose that since its in her field she'll be adding to her experience concurrently.
4. I thought about the student loan option too, but really, if I keep the car then essentially I'd still be in the same boat- owing money at the end of it all. I've had some fun for the past few years and I don't regret it, but when I compare what I own to my net worth I'm not impressed. I'd rather invest the cash I (we) would have spent paying off the student loan and earn 4-5%, rather than pay it. You're right- we'll be in a better financial situation afterwards, and with less debt I'll be able to feed my car addiction sooner. From what I'm seeing coming into the showrooms these days there will be some spectacular cars coming into the used market in a few years, and all the hot new models now will have the first model year bugs worked out!
Thanks a lot for the time you spent to reply everyone!
bRAD
posted by 64.229.2...
, Fri, 25 Apr 2003 10:50:54
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