[MikeinMKE]

I need a car for work and it has to be nice enough to drive the VP of sales, sales managers, clients, and other reps who help my company to lunches in, etc. I get a pretty generous car allowance each month plus reimbursement for miles driven that rises and falls with the gas prices.

Most of my colleagues are married with young kids and they drive an Altima or a Honda CRX or something of that range. I feel like me being single, owning my own place, having no kids, etc. should enable me to enjoy a significant grade up in cars than what most of them drive.

[Sanblz33]

Have you considered the G37?

It has everything you want (roomy, fast, and well equipped) and you can find it cheaper than the BMW. Its more reliable. Personally, I wouldnt own a 335i out of warranty.

[presidentcarter]

(02-27-2013 06:06 PM)Sanblz33 Wrote:  

Have you considered the G37?

It has everything you want (roomy, fast, and well equipped) and you can find it cheaper than the BMW. Its more reliable. Personally, I wouldnt own a 335i out of warranty.

I really like the G37 hardtop vert (sedan is nice too). Good suggestion.

[snoop]

(02-27-2013 04:29 PM)MikeinMKE Wrote:  

I need a car for work and it has to be nice enough to drive the VP of sales, sales managers, clients, and other reps who help my company to lunches in, etc. I get a pretty generous car allowance each month plus reimbursement for miles driven that rises and falls with the gas prices.

Most of my colleagues are married with young kids and they drive an Altima or a Honda CRX or something of that range. I feel like me being single, owning my own place, having no kids, etc. should enable me to enjoy a significant grade up in cars than what most of them drive.

So what made you decide against getting an Altima or something like that and using that extra cash to upgrade a different area of your life?

[WestIndianArchie]

(02-27-2013 04:18 PM)presidentcarter Wrote:  

You say the interest doesn't matter ($3k over a 60 month loan, according to your $50/month calc), but then talk about gas and tolls? Are you trying to say he should spend a lot less because it's not all worth it in the end? I'm assuming a) he has to buy a car b) he can and wants to spend up to $30k c) interest, tolls, gas don't matter because he has to pay them anyway.

He has fixed costs in running a nice car.
The carrying costs for a 30k car are not insignificant.
And they're gonna stick with him through the time that he owns the car.
This is w/o even getting into unforeseen repairs.

So it's X + Car payment.

Or rather it's

Net Monthly income - (Car Payment + Carrying Costs) = disposable income.

Which one of these variables can be tweaked the most to increase his disposable income?

His income? (Largely fixed month to month, slight upticks year to year)
His carrying costs? (Largely fixed month to month, random upticks from month to month)
or his Car Payment? (not fixed right now, but will be with his decision)

Again, OP is gonna do what he's gonna do. Maybe his overall transportation spending is less than 5% a month of his net income. If so, Kudos to him. The typical case is that the car is at least 15-25% of a persons after tax income.

He has an opportunity to increase his overall flexibility by going for a nice car @ half the price. It could just mean choosing the 2009 over the 2011, and saving the difference for the scheduled maintenance between 50 and a 100k.

In my case,I needed to buy the car in order to understand the mathematics. I needed to be in a spot where having an extra 400 bucks a month would have come in handy. But I invested that money in a depreciating yet beautiful piece of steel.

(02-27-2013 04:18 PM)presidentcarter Wrote:  

You can get a NICE car within the $20k-30k range, so I think OP is on the right track there, but he could also spend on the lower range of that if he wants to. He could have a $100k budget and I'd still make recommendations, not question why he would want to spend that much.

First thing I did was give him advice on what car. Audi A4 AWD. (given him flipping over in the snow)

Second thing I did was offer my unsolicited advice on whether he should buy a 2011 for 32K, when it is not a small amount of cash, and his total monthly transportation costs would be significant.

Now I've laid out a case that says, you can buy a nice car, but keep in mind how much the nice car is really costing you. And that one should consider their monthly cost especially if they are price sensitive over the initial sticker price.

If you're making this decision based on #'s, a good tool is using the Edmund's Total Cost of Ownership tool

http://www.edmunds.com/tco.html

WIA

[presidentcarter]

(02-27-2013 07:30 PM)WestIndianArchie Wrote:  

(02-27-2013 04:18 PM)presidentcarter Wrote:  

You say the interest doesn't matter ($3k over a 60 month loan, according to your $50/month calc), but then talk about gas and tolls? Are you trying to say he should spend a lot less because it's not all worth it in the end? I'm assuming a) he has to buy a car b) he can and wants to spend up to $30k c) interest, tolls, gas don't matter because he has to pay them anyway.

He has fixed costs in running a nice car.
The carrying costs for a 30k car are not insignificant.
And they're gonna stick with him through the time that he owns the car.
This is w/o even getting into unforeseen repairs.

So it's X + Car payment.

Or rather it's

Net Monthly income - (Car Payment + Carrying Costs) = disposable income.

Which one of these variables can be tweaked the most to increase his disposable income?

His income? (Largely fixed month to month, slight upticks year to year)
His carrying costs? (Largely fixed month to month, random upticks from month to month)
or his Car Payment? (not fixed right now, but will be with his decision)

Again, OP is gonna do what he's gonna do. Maybe his overall transportation spending is less than 5% a month of his net income. If so, Kudos to him. The typical case is that the car is at least 15-25% of a persons after tax income.

He has an opportunity to increase his overall flexibility by going for a nice car @ half the price. It could just mean choosing the 2009 over the 2011, and saving the difference for the scheduled maintenance between 50 and a 100k.

In my case,I needed to buy the car in order to understand the mathematics. I needed to be in a spot where having an extra 400 bucks a month would have come in handy. But I invested that money in a depreciating yet beautiful piece of steel.

(02-27-2013 04:18 PM)presidentcarter Wrote:  

You can get a NICE car within the $20k-30k range, so I think OP is on the right track there, but he could also spend on the lower range of that if he wants to. He could have a $100k budget and I'd still make recommendations, not question why he would want to spend that much.

First thing I did was give him advice on what car. Audi A4 AWD. (given him flipping over in the snow)

Second thing I did was offer my unsolicited advice on whether he should buy a 2011 for 32K, when it is not a small amount of cash, and his total monthly transportation costs would be significant.

Now I've laid out a case that says, you can buy a nice car, but keep in mind how much the nice car is really costing you. And that one should consider their monthly cost especially if they are price sensitive over the initial sticker price.

If you're making this decision based on #'s, a good tool is using the Edmund's Total Cost of Ownership tool

http://www.edmunds.com/tco.html

WIA

Yeah I mean fair points...but he's asking WHAT kind of car to get with $X. He's not asking whether or not we would recommend him doing so. That's another thread for another day.

[1bliss]

Personally I would get an STi or older M3. If only I had $32K to spend on a car...

[thegmanifesto]

What about a BMW Z4?

[Pete]

Infinity G35S.

I've driven one. You can actually feel the torque when you accelerate. I've done 140+ mph easily in it and it really doesn't feel like much. Fast, comfortable, yet sophisticated.

The sedan version has a stronger differential and a bit more horsepower. My friend has one with these rims (but the sedan).

[Donnington93]

(02-27-2013 09:08 PM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  

What about a BMW Z4?

Dude says he needs to drive clients around to lunches.

[MikeinMKE]

(02-28-2013 01:47 PM)Donnington93 Wrote:  

(02-27-2013 09:08 PM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  

What about a BMW Z4?

Dude says he needs to drive clients around to lunches.

I think I've got it figured out... my USAA site help me find a great deal on a Mercedes c300. 2011 luxury style (no cool grill logo sadly) but only 32,000 miles for $24,500. Blue book is close to $29000 for these metrics. Clean title and car fax - was company vehicle bought prior to auction by this boutique Chicago dealer - sound legit?? I'm going to pick up tomorrow. White with tan faux leather interior looks sharp - would have preferred sport model with hipper grille logo but still seems like a steal.

[MikeinMKE]

My drug test came back clean btw

[presidentcarter]

(02-28-2013 02:22 PM)MikeinMKE Wrote:  

I think I've got it figured out... my USAA site help me find a great deal on a Mercedes c300. 2011 luxury style (no cool grill logo sadly) but only 32,000 miles for $24,500. Blue book is close to $29000 for these metrics. Clean title and car fax - was company vehicle bought prior to auction by this boutique Chicago dealer - sound legit?? I'm going to pick up tomorrow. White with tan faux leather interior looks sharp - would have preferred sport model with hipper grille logo but still seems like a steal.

Nice. The grill is easily replaced with the larger logo version if you want it. You can even black it out if you want!

[MikeinMKE]

(02-28-2013 02:30 PM)presidentcarter Wrote:  

(02-28-2013 02:22 PM)MikeinMKE Wrote:  

I think I've got it figured out... my USAA site help me find a great deal on a Mercedes c300. 2011 luxury style (no cool grill logo sadly) but only 32,000 miles for $24,500. Blue book is close to $29000 for these metrics. Clean title and car fax - was company vehicle bought prior to auction by this boutique Chicago dealer - sound legit?? I'm going to pick up tomorrow. White with tan faux leather interior looks sharp - would have preferred sport model with hipper grille logo but still seems like a steal.

Nice. The grill is easily replaced with the larger logo version if you want it. You can even black it out if you want!

Hey how would I do that? The hood ornament would need to be replaced with that blue/silver benz logo as well - does that come with the grill logo kit?

This is the color/look of mine. Would you mind if I PM you for details?

[blue]

do you have "Audi" in the states? it's a german car brand that belongs to Volkswagen, and they have some cars that i think look pretty cool for what they cost:

[aphelion]

I own a 2000 BMW Z3 that I bought in 2006 for $16,800. It's been a good car.

If you asked me now, I'd tell you that the best car you can get for $30,000 is a $2000 Toyota from Craigslist with a suitcase stuffed with $28,000 in unmarked bills in the back.

[aphelion]

Ah. Just went back and saw that you do need it to be nice for work. That being said, I'd look for an older model European import and spend a few grand on restoring it.