I’m having trouble deciding on a car to buy. I just sold my 2001 Honda Insight because it doesn’t totally suit my needs anymore. I have a wife and (2) 70+ pound dogs, so having no back seat wasn’t working. My wife has a 2011 Kia Sorrento which works great for us, but the 2 seater wasn’t too limiting for me.
Anyways, I’ll start with our “stats” and situation to give you a better idea of my needs and what I can afford.
Age: 29/30
Financial:
Combined income: $175k
- No kids, none planned
- No consumer debt or car payments
- $194k mortgage (3.75%, 15-yr) (1250 sq. ft. ranch single-family home)
- $175k net worth (relatively new to high paying jobs and stashing money away)
- Both max our 401k’s and Roth IRA’s yearly
- Low bills overall, everyone surprised at how low our gas/elec bills are
- Both have pretty secure jobs.
Unmustachian Habits:
- Both getting into Triathlon this year. Expensive bikes ($2500 combined), race entry fees ($700 combined), and gym memberships ($60/month combined)
- (2) medium/large dogs
- Compared to all of our friends we eat out very little (1x per week) but this COULD be reduced. We enjoy that time out of the house together for a date night though, so that’s unlikely to change. Those evenings cost $60 generally, so $240/month.
Car requirements:
- Looks professional. One thing that I didn’t like about my previous cars (2006 Scion XB, 2001 Insight) is that they don’t look very professional. I pull up to a customer’s office and get a lot of stares. It feels unprofessional and I think people view these cars as young kids cars (generally).
- Gas mileage. Previous cars got outstanding gas mileage. I don’t need THAT high, but don’t want a big SUV or V8 sedan
- 4 doors
- Reliable, not high mileage
- Fun – this isn’t normally a requirement posted on this forum, but I’m going to put a bit more importance on this area for my new car. The insight was the opposite of fun to drive, the XB was slightly more fun but not a lot.
The used cars I’m considering are:
2009+ Honda Fit - $12,000 roughly. This is starting to look like it’s out of the question based on the “professional” and “fun” requirements above, but it is very functional, economical, and has 4 doors.
2007+ Honda Civic - $10k-12k roughly. This might be the sweet spot? Professional enough, not really “fun”, fairly functional, 4 doors, economical.
2006+ Acura TL - $17-18k This is by far the most fun and the car I’d be most excited about. Very professional and very fun, not as functional, not as economical, does have 4 doors.
By most people’s (and my) definition of “Afford”, I can afford any of these cars. I'd pay in cash and stay away from car payments. I’m leaning towards either the Civic or the Acura, just because the Fit seems a little juvenile and geeky. No offense to the many people on the forum that currently own Fits – I’m sure they’re great cars.
I guess the main question is; Is the Acura worth the extra money? I lust for this car. It would be roughly $5k more. I think my dilemma is that if I get the Civic I’m afraid I’ll wish I had the more exciting Acura TL. Admittedly this has to do also with my outward image. I’m also concerned that if I get the Acura I’ll later regret not being super-mustachian and getting the Civic. My issue with the TL is that I almost feel like I'm putting my wife and I in a bad situation by buying it, even though I KNOW I'm not. She agrees to getting either car.
Lastly, before you respond with “Save money, get the Fit, and shut up” ;-) I’d like to know:
1) What you drive
2) Do you see a car as only being transportation
3) Do you splurge on anything if you can afford it? I noticed MMM spends extra money on his house (large house, lots of more-than-necessary design features, landscaping, etc) but puts very little priority on cars. This is his personal choice because he values those things over cars.. Is it not reasonable to have different values than he does and spend money on other items?
Thanks for any input!