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Have money, but not ideas

K

kamikazekyle

Senior member
I face a bit of a dilemma: I don't *need* a new car, but kinda want one, and have some money to actually get one. But, I have no idea what to get.

Right now I have a 2007 Tiburon with 36k miles, and the missus has a 2011 Elantra. I have three motorcycles for fun and profit that I commute year round in, and as the Elantra gets better mileage there's not much point in holding on to the Tib outside of just not having a car payment. Besides a trip this year where I voluntarily took the Tib over the Elantra, I only average 1200-1500 miles per year on the car.

So, I've been looking around for something that'll fill a role the Elantra can't, whatever that might be: sport, utility, whatever. Top of budget taking into account trade in and down payment is ~$45k list if I'm financing, ~$55k (or higher) if I go lease. I'm actually leaning a bit towards leasing if I get a new car of a higher end brand (BMW, Audi, etc) to help not eat so much depreciation. Plus, since I predominantly commute by motorcycle, not having a car isn't a big deal unless it snows (maybe 2-6 days a year here).

I'm kiiiiiinda eyeing full time AWD (or maybe 4x4) cars as I've never owned one before and figured it'd might help (w/ proper tires) in the oddball snow or on forest service roads in the mountains. But I've been tooling around in FWD cars in all sorts of conditions for many years (great fun taking a Nissan Sentra 45 miles through 3 feet of snow). The only other wish might be for some more storage space and/or towing in case I pick up a trailer for my motorcycles. No kids or family, so there's no need to haul around people -- there's the Elantra.

Anyway, I sorta like the new Outbacks from a numbers standpoint, but am so-so on the interior for the price (looking at the 6 cylinder model). And whenever I look at something that's more pure-utility I get performance lust (having never owned a real sports car) and start looking at M1s, hot hatches, etc. Maybe a sport wagon of some sort?

I tend to favor new vehicles as I can get what I want and won't have to hunt for weeks/months for the right used car, though I'm not opposed to it.

Any ideas?
 
If you don't 'really' want/need one, I'd toss money into an index fund until you're sure. Then you'll be making money and not buying something without plenty of research/etc. 🙂
 
kamikazekyle said:
Anyway, I sorta like the new Outbacks from a numbers standpoint, but am so-so on the interior for the price (looking at the 6 cylinder model). And whenever I look at something that's more pure-utility I get performance lust (having never owned a real sports car) and start looking at M1s, hot hatches, etc. Maybe a sport wagon of some sort?
Click to expand...

I've spent some time in two Outbacks recently. A base model and a 3.6R with the leather interior and what not. The 3.6R was actually pretty nice. Not Lexus nice, but better than I was expecting. The base model, not so much.
 
RLGL said:
jlee said:
If you don't 'really' want/need one, I'd toss money into an index fund until you're sure. Then you'll be making money and not buying something without plenty of research/etc. 🙂
Click to expand...
What he said!
Click to expand...

Rent when you need a different vehicle. After a few months, you'll either find out you don't need a second car, or you'll find out exactly what you need.
 
Based on the low # of miles you drive per year, a lease would be an expensive option IMHO. You would be in a great spot to buy an off-lease car 2-3 years old with 20-30k on it. You could then take over after the major depreciation hit and drive it for 3-4 years (or more) and keep the value relatively intact. This would be especially true on a Subaru or BMW, both of whom hold their value very well.

On the other hand....a fun, but maybe not the most practical suggestion, you could nab a CTS-V wagon. 😛
 
I loved my 13 Audi S4 but they don't lease well. I currently have a 14 GS 350 F sport that is AWD, a cheap lease, and a great car.

Otherwise I'd go BMW 3 or 5 series on a lease depending on what type of car you want.
 
For that kinda price range I'd be thinking about the new Mustang GT350 when it rolls around.

You're also into turn-key V8 Miata prices...
 
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Just keep what you have. Why spend the money and get a car payment again and all that? Money burning a hole in your pocket?

If you're current vehicle is fine, and does what you want fine, and you don't hate it, then just wait. Maybe something else will strike your fancy later. But to go get something "just because" but not having anything that really sticks out to you as a car you want seems like a bad idea.
 
Thanks for the replies, all. Admittedly, a large chunk of it is simply that I want a nice, new (at least to me) car that's not an econobox. My car's reliable and gets me from point A to point B, but it that's about all I see it as. Doesn't really do much for me, especially since the Genesis came out just about 2-3 years after I purchased it 😛

Really, the only rational justification I can have for a new vehicle is for additional cargo space. We lump our grocery and "stuff" runs into single trips around once a month thanks to scheduling. So we're frequently spilling stuff into the back seat in my wife's Elantra. And it's really bad if we do semi-primitive or primitive car camping -- my wife likes to pack a bit heavy in that case with chairs and such.

It'd also be really nice to have something that could do long distances better than the Elantra or Tib. Both of us get pain no matter how we arrange the seat/steering column after a few hours in the Elantra, and I have to use my Airhawk pad on the Tib for >2 hour drives.

Sooo, I'll probably keep mulling over ideas for a while longer like I have been for the past year.

Oh, JulesMaximus, as for the motorcycles I have: BMW G650GS Sertao, Kawasaki Ninja 1000, Moto Guzzi V7 Stone.
 
jlee said:
If you don't 'really' want/need one, I'd toss money into an index fund until you're sure. Then you'll be making money and not buying something without plenty of research/etc. 🙂
Click to expand...

Something along those lines sounds like a better idea.

Why I haven't bought a newer car in awhile.

But the whole point of living is what makes you happy sometimes I guess, I'm getting old enough I'm going to start just going WTF and why worry about it soon.
 
kyle, buy a damn truck.

Edit: if its just you and the wife, get a 2 door. Kids or when you have them, get a 4 door truck.
 
Bock said:
With 45k, he can get plenty of truck & an enclosed trailer big enough for all 3 bikes or car.:awe:
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Just about any SUV and honestly most sedans can tow a couple motorcycles; my 4 door sedan is rated for 5500lbs.

If you own a utility trailer to begin with, I don't see a point of getting a truck at all. Why subject yourself to bad ride and fisher price interior when you can just use the trailer for all the messy hauling.
 
B sure to look carefully at the opportunity cost. Buying a new car you don't need could mean retiring years later.
 
If you only drive 1500 miles per year, buy a very used but reliable truck or SUV, maybe a mid/early 2000s 4Runner or Pathfinder/Xterra or Frontier. You want to find a car that doesn't depreciate much from just a year passing by, and one cheap enough that you can just get liability insurance on it.
If a truck is cheap and depreciates $500 per year and extra 1500 miles on odometer, then it cost you 35 cents per mile, but if it's a new SUV and it depreciates $5-10K per year, then it's $5 per mile you drive, just in depreciation. And then some for expensive maintenance and then some for insurance. Basically you could take taxi everywhere for those 1500 miles, like a boss, and it would be cheaper per mile.
 
kamikazekyle said:
Anyway, I sorta like the new Outbacks from a numbers standpoint, but am so-so on the interior for the price (looking at the 6 cylinder model). And whenever I look at something that's more pure-utility I get performance lust (having never owned a real sports car) and start looking at M1s, hot hatches, etc. Maybe a sport wagon of some sort?
Click to expand...

Same here, the new Outback 6-cylinder with EyeSight looks really nice (without having to own a truck!). As far as the interior goes, I actually think it looks pretty nice. Granted, to have to understand that Subaru is all about the utilitarian look, so the 2015 redesign was a HUGE thing for them:

http://preview.netcarshow.com/Subaru-Outback-2015-1600-2b.jpg
 
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