Any fancy car drivers out there? (or dreamers?)

[bonehead]

Car enthusiasts know that fancy or expensive does not mean fun, and also that fun does not mean "fast".

[Dicast]

When my 2012 Genesis finally runs aground I will probably get a high end truck. I'm thinking that will be in the next 5 years so I'm hoping that the EV trucks will be well established before I have to make a decision. At the moment it would probably be a F150 Platinum or similar.

I've always liked the Porsche Panamera and I do like the new Corvette C8 but we are now a 5 person family and it just hurts my brain to have a vehicle that can't service the whole family.

I don't think NW is necessarily the best threshold to decide on car purchases. I'd say that it probably depends more on your trajectory and goals. NW of 1 million at 35 is a lot different than at 55.

[Cubicle]

Every car I bought, I thought was the highlight. Looking back, none were singularly. But I'm happy to have owned every single one.

Interestingly, as my net worth has increased, I have spent magnitudes less on each car.

When I was hundreds of thousands negative net worth, I spent my entire savings on car #1 11 years ago. Now as I'm approaching lean fire, car #4 was free 6 years ago, & car #6 was $900 1.5 years ago.

[burritos]

Kudos to your wife for her clear insight on what she wanted in a car compared to a cheapskate like you who could only go in incremental steps and waste money along the way :-)

I was in the same boat like you. Ordered the Tesla in 2016 but could not quite pull the trigger in 2018 when I was offered the vehicle. But on a vacation in another state in 2019 my wife was so impressed by a Model 3 that a friend took us around in that she wanted one right away. We actually stopped by their local dealership and confirmed the order for a SR+. A month later we had the car. It is now one year old this month. I feel I should have had it since 2018.

Wife was right. Shocker. I think I should just submit to my role as a personal assistant with an MD.

[ChicSkiier]

Because of my cheapness I(therefore we) tried hard not to get a tesla. After our prius we got a plugin accord then a leaf. But my wife kept harping on the range anxiety, so I broke down and we got the Y(49k, 1/2 fancy car?). I must admit, it's quite an engineering feat. Looking back on it, we should have gotten the 3 after the prius and bypassed the plug in and leaf. Live and learn.

What did you name your Y?

[Gamma Knives]

A couple of decades ago I was thinking of buying a Boxter. But better senses prevailed and I struck with Honda / Toyota / Subaru vehicles.

Now if it is not an EV I will not fancy it. High end gasoline cars have outrageous routine maintenance costs, that shoot up further once they are out of warranty. My friend paid $2500 for routine service on a 6 year old Mercedes and thinks the next one could be as high as $5K. And this is for a low end model.

I could have bought the Tesla model X but the gull wings put me and my spouse off from buying it. It would have been a fancy SUV for us had it had regular or even sliding doors, like a minivan.

I'm still tempted to get a boxster for fun but also have trouble justifying the costs. I think my next car will probably be EV (maybe model S) but if I get a second car boxster is pretty tempting.

[Kamban]

Interestingly, as my net worth has increased, I have spent magnitudes less on each car.

When I was hundreds of thousands negative net worth, I spent my entire savings on car #1 11 years ago. Now as I'm approaching lean fire, car #4 was free 6 years ago, & car #6 was $900 1.5 years ago.

I have been spending more on each ar over the years but I tend to keep my car for 10+ years and car prices have been like college tuition - racing well ahead of inflation.

My Subaru Loyale was 12K or so. The Honda Accord 18K and Camry Hybrid 25K. But the last two have been 50K for the Acura MDX Hybrid and 39K for Model 3 SR+. My Model Y that I will get a a couple of months will be another 50K. But luckily my purchase costs have fallen when taken as a percentage of my net worth rather than its actual dollar cost.

[Kamban]

I'm still tempted to get a boxster for fun but also have trouble justifying the costs. I think my next car will probably be EV (maybe model S) but if I get a second car boxster is pretty tempting.

I hate to spend money on routine maintenance and in those Porsches it costs a pretty penny. But I don't think I have the body flexibility to get under the car to do even the routine oil change.

One another thing I have noticed after I got the EV is that I hate to go to gas stations. The Value oriented person in me ( cheapskate really) would try and fill at Costco to get Top Tier gasoline at lowest prices but sometimes the line is 2 or 3 car lengths long. I also hate taking out the credit card, opening the gas tank and patiently waiting while filling gasoline while I breathe those noxious gasoline fumes. I love to just drive into my garage and the Wall Connector cable is less than 3 feet away. Plug it in, forget about it and it charges in the night and is ready at 80% tank every morning. Surprising this minor convenience has been one of the biggest selling points of an EV to me.. .

[burritos]

What did you name your Y?

It's my wife's. It's definitely the nicest car we've ever had. I personally have never owned a brand new car. Hand me downs are just fine so long as it's reliable.

[VagabondMD]

One thing that we have noticed during the pandemic is that we are using our cars a whole let less for daily driving. Wife works from home, and I work/commute sporadically. With daughter away at college, we now have three (of four) cars that sit idly most of most days. I certainly do not need a Porsche to drive 3 miles to the grocery store once or twice per week, the 2011 Prius does just fine with that. The pandemic lifestyle will eventually end, but I think that the way I use and perceive cars will be forever changed.

Looking forward, I will make car purchase decisions based on what we hope/expect to be doing in the future, with a wider range of possibilities, and not just what seems to fit our needs at the moment.

As they say, your mileage may vary!

[Gamma Knives]

Definitely agree. Previously I thought a car would be one of my first indulgences when I felt I could afford it. However, I live close to work and don't drive much otherwise; more and more it just seems silly to spend a lot on a car when I drive so little.

[NaOH]

I've sort of come to accept that even though we are well on track to financial security, I don't know that we'll ever be in a place that I could justify buying the 'fancy' cars I dream about (stuff like a Mercedes E63 AMG wagon, RS6 Avant, etc.)

I've decided to compromise by buying cool but reasonably priced older cars - goofy, weird stuff like a 2004 Subaru Forester XT (and going full 'angry toaster' STi upgrade with it) or an early 2000s Chevy Silverado (single cab, short wheel base, stepside - build the engine and turn it into the Lightning-fighter Silverado SS they never actually made).

I figure I'll be happier buying and trading $10-20k project cars every few years.

[Cubicle]

stuff like a Mercedes E63 AMG wagon

First you get a Miata. Then you mention a Benz AMG wagon. Seriously, are you me?!?! Am I posting under "NaOH" while intoxicated from tomato sauce???

[Hank]

Car enthusiasts know that fancy or expensive does not mean fun, and also that fun does not mean "fast".

Did you just say Miata?

[DocintheBox]

When I graduated college I had ~ $10,000 left over that my parents saved for my college expenses that I didn't use (scholarships, cheap rent, etc.) so they gifted it to me to buy a car. I used to be obsessed with cars and I wanted a cool car even though I couldn't really afford it. Long story short I bought a rebuilt 2013 VW Jetta GLI (like the GTI, but in a Jetta body) and it was a total lemon. Numerous repairs totaling ~$5,000 over 2 years and constant anxiety that it would break down at any minute and I cut bait and sold it for $4,500 at CarMax.

Needless to say that was a painful experience, but it taught me a lot about materialism and I suspect in the long run the lessons learned will be worth 10X the money I lost through it. That experience just about ripped out the interest in cool cars and I then purchased a 2007 Toyota Rav4 with 147,000 miles. I've been driving it for 3 years now and it has had no problems and even though it's a mom car it has been great. Once I pay off student loans I imagine I'd like to get a gently used Toyota 4Runner or something similar.