Author Topic: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!  (Read 9754 times)

Metalcat

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Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« on: March 29, 2019, 03:37:08 AM »
Seriously.
The first line of this article talks about the importance of having a flash car to appear rich even if you aren't.

It then goes on to recommend older luxury cars that you can buy for very little to try and fool people into thinking you have money.

I mean, if you buy a vintage XJ Jaguars then people won't be fooled that you have money, they will *know* that you have money...or at least that you have enough money to pay your mechanic to desperately try and keep that death trap running.

Wanna look rich? Buy a vintage Jaguar with no airbags that's famous for its electrical problems! You might die, but you'll look so rich!

...actually, no, you won't.

https://motor-junkie.com/25-affordable-cars-that-will-make-people-think-you-are-rich/14686/

ysette9

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #1 on: March 29, 2019, 04:18:24 AM »
I suppose if you really feel you must impress someone this is a good way to go about it. Except you are likely to only impress people who don’t really know about cars. I would think that those who know would also know how much those suckers depreciate. If you just want something fun to drive then I think it is a great idea. As a teenager I really listed after the MR2 Spyder. I still think it looks great but I suspect the only ones left at this point are probably death traps.

Metalcat

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #2 on: March 29, 2019, 04:42:59 AM »
Ugh, the premise of spending to look rich was enough to make me do a spit take, then when I read the article and saw what they were recommending I literally burst out laughing.

I just love that the whole premise is the absolute opposite of Mustachianism.

Buy a horribly unreliable car to impress only people who know nothing about cars, and the car will cost you an absolute fortune in unpredictable repairs, that you probably can't afford because you're the type of person who buys a stupid unreliable car to try and convince people you have money that you don't.

Vs

Maybe try biking?

Just Joe

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #3 on: March 29, 2019, 06:32:00 AM »
That article was terrible.

So was the following article that listed cars not to touch with a ten foot pole. That list was a blend of antique cars that aren't even easily found in most parts of the country along with some perfectly fine cars that just weren't popular - which sometimes can be exactly the right cars to buy. Quality cars that are simply unloved and thus undervalued. Do your homework.

JAYSLOL

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #4 on: March 29, 2019, 07:43:44 AM »
Been there, done that.  Bought a cool car on the cheap and just the difference in what i was paying for gas, insurance and repair costs between it and my old car, i could have afforded the monthly payments on a brand new car.  Yep.  Maybe I'd get a cool old project car to work on if I was FIREd as a hobby, but just buying one as a way to impress others, well it might work, but its not so cheap. 

jinga nation

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #5 on: March 29, 2019, 08:35:15 AM »
the only car I'd consider is a Lexus LS. That Toyota reliability. All other options are tripe.

Wrenchturner

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #6 on: March 29, 2019, 05:42:42 PM »
I always find it humorous when I see a 2+ year old premium luxury car.  I saw a Cayenne GTS the other day, and the first thing I thought was how old it looked(already).  I don't know how anyone could borrow money to buy some exotic thing that's going to look dated before the debt is even half gone.

Not to mention our winters here are terrible on cars, terrible on suspension, and with all the dings and rocks you get from other cars and other jerks I see hardly any reason to buy something fancy and then proceed to drive it on public roads.

calimom

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #7 on: March 30, 2019, 05:39:37 PM »
Some old cars do look cool, if you're into that kind of thing. But an old Jag? You would either need to be an ace mechanic, or be sleeping with one named Giles or something.

SwordGuy

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #8 on: March 30, 2019, 07:18:56 PM »
I'm not really a car guy, but I think this one might be a blast to drive.

Of course, not being a car guy, I have no idea of whether this was actually a good car or not for its time.   


Just Joe

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #9 on: March 31, 2019, 11:29:39 AM »
I rode in a car like that once. Not quite that ornate. Anyhow - big car.

Compared to a modern car: Rode pretty good. Clearly alot of power under the hood. Nice sounds. Comfortable. Beautiful.

Compared to an ordinary car of its time: a friggin' rocketship. Everything else of its time feels like a go-cart with a tractor engine and a horse and buggy suspension.

Sort of like comparing a 2019 Tesla S to a 1988 Chevy Caprice sedan. 

These were that car's peers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxfHMtgg2d8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kr53h0hv8hI

https://youtu.be/_mB8kIzOW6Q?t=655

A big luxury car was speed unlimited - capable of 100 mph+ when ordinary Fords four cylinders would start overheating above 45 mph. The Model T was even more speed limited. The old Fords were built to cope with lousy roads or no roads. There were no freeways in most places. In fact the American interstate system didn't come to my part of flyover country until the 1960s. Before that were two lane highways and country lanes.

I try to judge historical technology as much by what came before it as what came after it. A particular thing might have been very primitive but it was better than what came before it. History can be really fun to learn about as long as the topic isn't too heavy.
« Last Edit: March 31, 2019, 11:34:36 AM by Just Joe »

Montecarlo

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #10 on: March 31, 2019, 07:01:30 PM »
I’ve owned one of the cars on that list.  If I could go back and facepunch my younger self, I would.

Hunny156

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #11 on: April 01, 2019, 12:03:28 PM »
Well, that was a silly article.  I did scroll past to the 25 Worst Cars, and laughed when I saw Dodge Nitro made the list.

Hubby is in sales, so we have always had company cars.  When the Nitro came out, that was an option, and since it looked cool and the wheel wells didn't take up a ton of trunk space, hubby picked it.  To say that car was cheap was an understatement.  One time, he parked the car next to a small pile of snow, and when he pushed the door into the snow, the door dented.  Being that it was a company car, hubby kicked the door from the inside, and managed to pop the dent back out!  Only a slight mark remained on the exterior door.  Good enough for us, but man, you don't have much hope for quality!

NorthernMonkey

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #12 on: April 02, 2019, 10:39:27 AM »
I bought a $2000 100k mile poverty spec BMW 3 series. I got quite a few comments on how I obviously had more money now I was driving a BMW.

It wasn't a bad car to spanner, as it was the pre 2000 2 valve per cylinder model.  I got 50,000 miles out of it before electrical gremlins and tin worm killed it

Just Joe

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #13 on: April 02, 2019, 12:17:11 PM »
Aren't people funny about cars? I owned a watercooled VW at one point and a couple people made comments about it being a rich person's car similar to other German brands. No, they weren't teasing about the car being repair intensive. Car was a cheap daily driver, nothing fancy about it. It washed up nice but that was all.

MDfive21

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #14 on: April 02, 2019, 01:26:19 PM »
does my 1997 lexus es300 count?  my next car will be a ls430 someday.

pbkmaine

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #15 on: April 02, 2019, 02:23:54 PM »
If you want to look like old money, buy a Subaru and drive it forever. It used to be Volvo station wagons; now it’s Subaru Outbacks.

redwood_canyon

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #16 on: April 02, 2019, 08:19:39 PM »
Hey my dad kind of did that.

He bought himself a 2008 Maserati Quattroporte a few years ago. Did it in a somewhat Mustachian way, paid in cash in full ~$20k.

I know some people are going to bag me for this statement.  It really is not that bad though in all honestly. He did not buy it to show off, it is his daily driver, to some people's disbelief. In all honestly some people like cars and if they do it right, buy when the car has already depreciated to its lowest, what is wrong with that? He has clients who have bought brand new cars and driven them off the lot, depreciating quickly. And honestly everyone has their "thing", his is cars. I am sure someone out there understands this point of view. But I am already bracing for the hateful replies, because I know this is an uncommon opinion.

Metalcat

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #17 on: April 03, 2019, 05:45:42 AM »
Hey my dad kind of did that.

He bought himself a 2008 Maserati Quattroporte a few years ago. Did it in a somewhat Mustachian way, paid in cash in full ~$20k.

I know some people are going to bag me for this statement.  It really is not that bad though in all honestly. He did not buy it to show off, it is his daily driver, to some people's disbelief. In all honestly some people like cars and if they do it right, buy when the car has already depreciated to its lowest, what is wrong with that? He has clients who have bought brand new cars and driven them off the lot, depreciating quickly. And honestly everyone has their "thing", his is cars. I am sure someone out there understands this point of view. But I am already bracing for the hateful replies, because I know this is an uncommon opinion.

I posted the article here because it's recommending absolutely terrible, unreliable, expensive to maintain cars that are cheap to buy (for a reason) for the sole purpose of trying to look like rich, which is absurd.

Accepting people's love of driving is actually pretty respected around here. But that's not why we're making fun of this dumbshit article.

partgypsy

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #18 on: April 03, 2019, 10:53:33 AM »
If you want to look like old money, buy a Subaru and drive it forever. It used to be Volvo station wagons; now it’s Subaru Outbacks.

Yep. In the rich neighborhood next door, a tonne of Volvos as well as subarus (pretty much all newer models). I love both of those kind of cars (but I'm not going to spend that kind of money on a car unless I was a millionaire).

I still remember my HS friend's Dad bought I believe a used jaguar, and he was so excited about his purchased he offered to drive me and my friend home. And on the way home, it broke down by the side of the road.

Both my brother and my Dad are really into cars. I think they know enough about cars to avoid the money pits. I think the most expensive car my Dad has was in 1986 a 1985 corvette. Was still expensive but he bought it privately, from a man who bought the car at full price and wife hated the car. For most of his life he did the financially inefficient thing of buying a car pretty much new, but then getting rid of it 3, 4 years later because he sees a newer car or model he HAS to have. Now he leases.
« Last Edit: April 03, 2019, 11:00:28 AM by partgypsy »

Just Joe

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #19 on: April 03, 2019, 11:08:05 AM »
Hey my dad kind of did that.

He bought himself a 2008 Maserati Quattroporte a few years ago. Did it in a somewhat Mustachian way, paid in cash in full ~$20k.

I know some people are going to bag me for this statement.  It really is not that bad though in all honestly. He did not buy it to show off, it is his daily driver, to some people's disbelief. In all honestly some people like cars and if they do it right, buy when the car has already depreciated to its lowest, what is wrong with that? He has clients who have bought brand new cars and driven them off the lot, depreciating quickly. And honestly everyone has their "thing", his is cars. I am sure someone out there understands this point of view. But I am already bracing for the hateful replies, because I know this is an uncommon opinion.

I'm just curious about the Maserati quality. Has it been a good car? I really like the looks of them.

I heard a story about a vehicle that a guy bought to suprise his wife who hated it and he was forced to resale and replace with a more MMM type car of some sort. Anyhow my friend bought the cast off vehicle at much less than new even though it was not quite to its first oil change. Seller was grumpy about it as you might expect. Was a good car for friend.
« Last Edit: April 03, 2019, 11:11:52 AM by Just Joe »

horsepoor

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #20 on: April 04, 2019, 09:35:49 PM »
I bought a $2000 100k mile poverty spec BMW 3 series. I got quite a few comments on how I obviously had more money now I was driving a BMW.

It wasn't a bad car to spanner, as it was the pre 2000 2 valve per cylinder model.  I got 50,000 miles out of it before electrical gremlins and tin worm killed it

Ha.  I worked at a pet store in college.  We were talking about a new co-worker failing to show up on time, and someone commented that "she probably doesn't need this job, look at what she drives."  Which was a complete beater 1980's BMW.  I looked dumbfounded for a minute and said "Umm, my Civic (which was only about 5 years old at the time) is worth more than that car, but cheaper to maintain."

partgypsy

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #21 on: April 05, 2019, 06:47:11 AM »
Sidebar: there ARE literally some young people who get jobs who really don't need the money. I live in a university town and some of the students are rich. My ex worked at a high end restaurant and this young woman worked there. She would just not pick up her paycheck. They would nag her about it but when she finally left she left a bunch behind, and even the ones she took she never cashed. She just doing the job more for fun than money? Or maybe her parents made her try a real job? Who knows. 

one of the more humorous local stories was that a set of parents hired a chauffer to drive the student to and from classes, because they were worried about his "safety." A lot of the off campus houses are lined with new or really nice looking, not inexpensive cars. I've seen bmws, lexus, etc. These are undergraduates. I don't get it. 
« Last Edit: April 05, 2019, 06:52:45 AM by partgypsy »

NorthernMonkey

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #22 on: April 05, 2019, 07:00:19 AM »
I bought a $2000 100k mile poverty spec BMW 3 series. I got quite a few comments on how I obviously had more money now I was driving a BMW.

It wasn't a bad car to spanner, as it was the pre 2000 2 valve per cylinder model.  I got 50,000 miles out of it before electrical gremlins and tin worm killed it

Ha.  I worked at a pet store in college.  We were talking about a new co-worker failing to show up on time, and someone commented that "she probably doesn't need this job, look at what she drives."  Which was a complete beater 1980's BMW.  I looked dumbfounded for a minute and said "Umm, my Civic (which was only about 5 years old at the time) is worth more than that car, but cheaper to maintain."

It really wasn't expensive to maintain, as long as you didn't do something silly like take it to a BMW dealer. Problem was more fuel use. It used loads of fuel for a 120hp petrol engine, from which a fair few of the 120 horses had long ago gone lame.

I was surprised by how many people thought that it was an expensive car though.

horsepoor

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #23 on: April 05, 2019, 07:02:48 AM »
Sidebar: there ARE literally some young people who get jobs who really don't need the money. I live in a university town and some of the students are rich. My ex worked at a high end restaurant and this young woman worked there. She would just not pick up her paycheck. They would nag her about it but when she finally left she left a bunch behind, and even the ones she took she never cashed. She just doing the job more for fun than money? Or maybe her parents made her try a real job? Who knows. 

one of the more humorous local stories was that a set of parents hired a chauffer to drive the student to and from classes, because they were worried about his "safety." A lot of the off campus houses are lined with new or really nice looking, not inexpensive cars. I've seen bmws, lexus, etc. These are undergraduates. I don't get it.

Oh yeah, my roommate managed our apartment complex and would tell me some of the ballpark bank balances that some of the student tenants had with their apartment applications.  They would have new BMWs and one had an Acura NSX (this was late '90's).  Mostly they were foreign students. 

Definitely not the case with this particular person though.

BTDretire

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #24 on: April 07, 2019, 06:54:22 PM »
the only car I'd consider is a Lexus LS. That Toyota reliability. All other options are tripe.

 I have a positive Lexus story.
We were in the market for a car, we have a small business and my wife would noticed every
car our customers drove up in. If she saw something she liked she would ask if it was for sale and
tell them if they ever buy a new car instead of them trading it in, she would buy it.
 It took a while, but a customer with a Lexus said the dealer would give him $4,000 for his 97 Lexus.
So we bought a nice 1997 Lexus in 2007 for $4,000. 11 years later we sold the Lexus for $2,900.
 It cost us $100 a year in depreciation! A week later the buyer stopped buy to pick up a key my son had,
 he told me how much he liked the car, I said I know, we miss it!

MDfive21

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #25 on: April 08, 2019, 09:24:04 AM »
the only car I'd consider is a Lexus LS. That Toyota reliability. All other options are tripe.

 I have a positive Lexus story.
We were in the market for a car, we have a small business and my wife would noticed every
car our customers drove up in. If she saw something she liked she would ask if it was for sale and
tell them if they ever buy a new car instead of them trading it in, she would buy it.
 It took a while, but a customer with a Lexus said the dealer would give him $4,000 for his 97 Lexus.
So we bought a nice 1997 Lexus in 2007 for $4,000. 11 years later we sold the Lexus for $2,900.
 It cost us $100 a year in depreciation! A week later the buyer stopped buy to pick up a key my son had,
 he told me how much he liked the car, I said I know, we miss it!

97 must have been a massive sales year for lexus.  i still see tons of 97ish ES like mine running around town.

jinga nation

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #26 on: April 08, 2019, 01:51:10 PM »
the only car I'd consider is a Lexus LS. That Toyota reliability. All other options are tripe.

 I have a positive Lexus story.
We were in the market for a car, we have a small business and my wife would noticed every
car our customers drove up in. If she saw something she liked she would ask if it was for sale and
tell them if they ever buy a new car instead of them trading it in, she would buy it.
 It took a while, but a customer with a Lexus said the dealer would give him $4,000 for his 97 Lexus.
So we bought a nice 1997 Lexus in 2007 for $4,000. 11 years later we sold the Lexus for $2,900.
 It cost us $100 a year in depreciation! A week later the buyer stopped buy to pick up a key my son had,
 he told me how much he liked the car, I said I know, we miss it!

97 must have been a massive sales year for lexus.  i still see tons of 97ish ES like mine running around town.
If MD=Medical Doctor, you need to upgrade to a used LS, stat! :=p

ES = Executive Sedan
GS = Grand Sedan
LS = Luxury Sedan

TheGrimSqueaker

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #27 on: April 08, 2019, 03:13:25 PM »
the only car I'd consider is a Lexus LS. That Toyota reliability. All other options are tripe.

 I have a positive Lexus story.
We were in the market for a car, we have a small business and my wife would noticed every
car our customers drove up in. If she saw something she liked she would ask if it was for sale and
tell them if they ever buy a new car instead of them trading it in, she would buy it.
 It took a while, but a customer with a Lexus said the dealer would give him $4,000 for his 97 Lexus.
So we bought a nice 1997 Lexus in 2007 for $4,000. 11 years later we sold the Lexus for $2,900.
 It cost us $100 a year in depreciation! A week later the buyer stopped buy to pick up a key my son had,
 he told me how much he liked the car, I said I know, we miss it!

97 must have been a massive sales year for lexus.  i still see tons of 97ish ES like mine running around town.
If MD=Medical Doctor, you need to upgrade to a used LS, stat! :=p

ES = Executive Sedan
GS = Grand Sedan
LS = Luxury Sedan

Those three all sound pretty fancy: which is supposed to be the most extravagant?

PDXTabs

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #28 on: April 08, 2019, 03:39:12 PM »
I'm not going to lie, if I was rich I'd happily drive a Lotus Elise (which has a Toyota engine mounted to a Honda or Toyota transmission) or an Audi S8.
« Last Edit: April 08, 2019, 03:45:22 PM by PDXTabs »

jinga nation

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #29 on: April 09, 2019, 08:07:28 AM »
If I had stupid money, I'd buy the yellow Westfield 7 Lotus replica that my buddy built using his Mazda MX-5 Miata donor car. He would have to include the vintage-look racing goggles or No Deal!
This is the guide he used: http://westiebuild.blogspot.com/
I love the Miata, esp the 1st gen, mid-cycle refresh 1994-97, with the pop-up headlights, and tan seats, and LSD.
« Last Edit: April 10, 2019, 10:03:07 AM by jinga nation »

JLee

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #30 on: April 09, 2019, 02:34:13 PM »
Lotus Elise:  "Although rare and somewhat expensive when new, you can find them now for around $20,000"

Meanwhile, the cheapest one in the USA (via CarGurus) is $28,877.

Admittedly I am a car guy but almost everything on that list screams 'cheap' to me, not rich.  Nissan 350Z? That's the hallmark of the broke sideways-hat drives-like-a-douchebag crowd.

Rufus.T.Firefly

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #31 on: April 09, 2019, 02:44:49 PM »
The British Top Gear had many hilarious episodes where they purchased old sports cars or super cars for cheap. Hijax ensue as they try to merely make it from point A to point B 100 miles away. Many breakdowns later, the repair bills would outstrip the cost of the purchase.

The inevitable conclusion was the question, "can you buy an older fancy car for less than a modern car?" is answered with resounding "no"

NorCal

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #32 on: April 09, 2019, 05:39:16 PM »
On one hand, totally facepunch worthy.

On the other hand, I could see myself buying an old porsche for cheap post FI and fixing it up myself. 

To me, the "luxury" wouldn't be driving a fancy car.  The luxury would be that I get to work on it myself.

HPstache

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #33 on: April 09, 2019, 06:30:39 PM »
Admittedly I am a car guy but almost everything on that list screams 'cheap' to me, not rich.  Nissan 350Z? That's the hallmark of the broke sideways-hat drives-like-a-douchebag crowd.

My thoughts exactly.  I would have added vaping.

pbkmaine

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #34 on: April 09, 2019, 06:46:29 PM »
I had an art teacher in high school who would haunt the local junkyards and lovingly put together classic Mercedeses from bits and pieces. When he got finished they were perfect and he sold them for big bucks. Always drove one, too. He said the old ones without modern electronics were easy to work with. Rumor was he made more from the cars than from teaching.

PDXTabs

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #35 on: April 09, 2019, 06:57:15 PM »
pbkmaine,

The 1970-80s diesel Mercedes were rock solid. I owned one that was older than I was with over a quarter million miles on it before it was sadly totaled. With that said, I don't think they ever sold for much. Your teacher must have been looking for much older models.

pbkmaine

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #36 on: April 09, 2019, 07:14:42 PM »
Yes. I graduated high school in 1974.

PDXTabs

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #37 on: April 09, 2019, 07:18:03 PM »
Yes. I graduated high school in 1974.

Doh! Your age is public. Don't mind me.

Turnbull

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #38 on: April 09, 2019, 07:35:45 PM »

I love the Miata, esp the 2nd gen with the pop-up headlights.

2nd gen Miatas (the NB) had fixed headlights. The 1st gen (NA) was the only Miata that's ever had pop-up headlights.

WhiteTrashCash

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #39 on: April 09, 2019, 07:39:08 PM »
Ooh! I could go out and buy a vintage Ford Probe and then everybody would think I was cool with my futuristic supercar. I'd buy that for a dollar!

NorCal

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #40 on: April 09, 2019, 07:46:51 PM »

I love the Miata, esp the 2nd gen with the pop-up headlights.

2nd gen Miatas (the NB) had fixed headlights. The 1st gen (NA) was the only Miata that's ever had pop-up headlights.

Miata's are great cars.  I drove one in my mid 20's.  It was cheap, fun to drive, and no one ever asked me to help them move.  What more could you ask for?

Although the one time I put an 8ft long Ikea furniture pack in the passenger seat and drove across the Bay Bridge in the rain was a bit dicey.

NorthernMonkey

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #41 on: April 10, 2019, 03:05:46 AM »
MX5/miatas are an almost mustashian car. Light, dont use much fuel, easy to maintain, and cheap to buy.

As long as you don't need to move a lot of crap, they're ideal

jinga nation

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #42 on: April 10, 2019, 10:01:44 AM »

I love the Miata, esp the 2nd gen with the pop-up headlights.

2nd gen Miatas (the NB) had fixed headlights. The 1st gen (NA) was the only Miata that's ever had pop-up headlights.
Thank you for correcting. I meant to refer to the 94-97 mid-cycle refresh, with the tan seats and LSD.

Turnbull

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #43 on: April 10, 2019, 08:07:46 PM »

I love the Miata, esp the 2nd gen with the pop-up headlights.

2nd gen Miatas (the NB) had fixed headlights. The 1st gen (NA) was the only Miata that's ever had pop-up headlights.
Thank you for correcting. I meant to refer to the 94-97 mid-cycle refresh, with the tan seats and LSD.

After I posted I realized that maybe that's what you were talking about; those 1.8L NAs were nice indeed. I had a 2000 model and really enjoyed it. Wish I could have gotten a six speed though. It was geared so low that it was screaming in fifth on the interstate (I know they're not GT cars but 4000 rpm gets old after a while).

jinga nation

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #44 on: April 11, 2019, 08:43:18 AM »

I love the Miata, esp the 2nd gen with the pop-up headlights.

2nd gen Miatas (the NB) had fixed headlights. The 1st gen (NA) was the only Miata that's ever had pop-up headlights.
Thank you for correcting. I meant to refer to the 94-97 mid-cycle refresh, with the tan seats and LSD.

After I posted I realized that maybe that's what you were talking about; those 1.8L NAs were nice indeed. I had a 2000 model and really enjoyed it. Wish I could have gotten a six speed though. It was geared so low that it was screaming in fifth on the interstate (I know they're not GT cars but 4000 rpm gets old after a while).

The mid-cycle refresh was so significant that many owners feel it should have been the real NB, and prices would have stayed higher, instead of being lumped with the 90-93 NAs.

I'm lusting for a spanking brand new club edition, stick, white, tan interior. Wouldn't affect my FIRE date. Practical only for daily commute. Or Kid 1, Or Kid 2. Can't take the Mrs. She has to stay with the left behind kid. Or she could take the car of she decided to re-learn driving stick (she hasn't driven stick in 20 years). Or my dad would perma-borrow it, Mazda and stick are his weakness (he's owned a 323 hatchback, 626, 929 wagons, CX-5 currently).
« Last Edit: April 11, 2019, 08:47:54 AM by jinga nation »

Dicey

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #45 on: April 11, 2019, 08:50:48 AM »

I love the Miata, esp the 2nd gen with the pop-up headlights.

2nd gen Miatas (the NB) had fixed headlights. The 1st gen (NA) was the only Miata that's ever had pop-up headlights.

Miata's are great cars.  I drove one in my mid 20's.  It was cheap, fun to drive, and no one ever asked me to help them move.  What more could you ask for?

Although the one time I put an 8ft long Ikea furniture pack in the passenger seat and drove across the Bay Bridge in the rain was a bit dicey.
This Dicey would totally do that! IIRC, when the Miatas first came out, they were only about $6k. I desperately wanted one, as I knew the price would go up. I was saving for a house, so I didn't do it. Same thing happened when the Suburu Outback was born. By then, I was in the process of buying my third house and staying with a friend until it closed. I showed her the brochure and she scoffed at it, saying it wasn't sexy enough for a single girl. I thought her reason was stupid, but I still didn't buy the car.

Fast forward a lot of years. Now FIRE and driving my former company car that I bought out cheaply when they killed the company car program. It was a sexy beast, a bright blue 2007 Dodge Grand Caravan XLS. DH was doing all the maintenance and upkeep and he decreed it was time to "let it go". He asked me to chose a new car. Petulant at losing my beloved van, I replied that I wanted a new Tesla. (I've purchased exactly zero brand new cars in my life. Don't feel sorry for me, I've had lots of brand-new company cars.) Shockingly, he agreed. I immediately went into panic mode. No way did I want to be responsible for driving/caring for such an expensive "thing". We finally compromised on a two year old Toyota Venza. I can still haul a fair amount of crap in it and it seats our four adult-size humans comfortably. I think of it as my "fancy" new car, even though it's now five years old. Recently, I drove my friend to the airport in her Lexus. I couldn't believe how similar it felt to my Venza. I wisely said nothing of that to her.

Indexer

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #46 on: April 13, 2019, 02:50:24 PM »
Quote
This Fiat gives you the chance to drive a rare, Italian roadster with turbo power and distinctive looks for Miata money.


LOL!!!

It's the same price as a Miata because it is a Miata. It's built at the Mazda factory in Japan that builds Miatas. They just add different body panels and a Fiat engine to it. On that thought, who wants an engine built by Fiat?

FIRE 20/20

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #47 on: April 14, 2019, 01:56:30 PM »
I'm not going to lie, if I was rich I'd happily drive a Lotus Elise (which has a Toyota engine mounted to a Honda or Toyota transmission) or an Audi S8.

In my pre-MMM days, I had an Elise.  Fantastic car - as you said it had a Toyota drivetrain that was bulletproof.  Car insurance was cheap, because it was listed as a "pleasure vehicle" and there weren't kids out wrecking them.  It got over 30mpg, and tires and consumables like break pads were cheap.  It hardly depreciated - after 10 years of ownership I sold it for 75% of what I paid new.  I could drive it to an autocross or track day, drive it like I stole it, and cruise home without any worries about whether or not it could take the abuse. 
After I stopped competing in it (and more importantly after finding MMM) I realized that it was the opportunity cost that was killing me.  That's when I sold it, and I've been much happier with the time that it knocked off my working life than I would have been driving it occasionally. 
I do think they make sense if you are a true car fanatic though.  If you buy one today for $30k you'll almost certainly be able to sell it in 5 years for...$30k.  During those 5 years running costs should be incredibly low, especially if you can do your own work.  ***Excluding the loss of market gains*** it's probably not much more expensive to own than a Honda Fit. 
« Last Edit: April 14, 2019, 03:09:16 PM by FIRE 20/20 »

londonbanker

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #48 on: April 14, 2019, 03:00:24 PM »
Maserati biturbo??? Surest thing to bankruptcy!!!

Just Joe

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Re: Buy a terrible old car to try and look rich!
« Reply #49 on: April 14, 2019, 03:24:04 PM »
Quote
This Fiat gives you the chance to drive a rare, Italian roadster with turbo power and distinctive looks for Miata money.


LOL!!!

It's the same price as a Miata because it is a Miata. It's built at the Mazda factory in Japan that builds Miatas. They just add different body panels and a Fiat engine to it. On that thought, who wants an engine built by Fiat?

Actually - Fiat has made some really great engines over the years. I've thoroughly enjoyed wringing out every horsepower from some of their smallest engines. They were building dual overhead cam engines that were efficient and full of technology long before American car companies who have hung onto pushrod valvetrains for decades longer than everyone else.

My old Ford 3.3L made the same horsepower as some of the 1.8L engines I owned that were designed in Europe at the same time. Torque obviously was a different story but that old Ford engine quickly ran out of breath and sucked fuel whereas the little European engines I owned would happily rev for hours while still getting reasonable fuel economy.

I have to admit - the title of this thread makes me imagine trying to look rich while driving a Ford Tempo or something similar. MMM readers might get it but nobody else would. Cheap car, loads of savings. 
« Last Edit: April 14, 2019, 03:25:51 PM by Just Joe »