My conscience is working overtime right now.
My car, as I've stated here before, needs replacing (I'd say it's a piece but since my brother's talking about buying it I shouldn't say that). It has 150K miles, is limited to NPR, and needs new brakes and power steering hoses. I've got to upgrade before the next NPR pledge drive.
This is the first time in my life that I'm in a position to consider buying a new car. Dean, Mason and I drove a bunch of them on Black Friday. Then I fell in love with a slightly used car that's much nicer but has 20K miles on it. Either way, it's a lot of coin compared to the $7K I spent on my current car six years ago.
Aside: I had a $10K budget, but spent $3K on a mtn bike, figuring that the impact of that $3K was going to be much more meaningful on the bike than the marginal value on the car.
Now I'm having guilt. With the economy in the gutter; protectionists, regulators, plaintiff's attorneys and union organizers moving into the White House; people losing their jobs left and right; our pets heads falling off; etc., should I really splurge and get a big boy car, or should I just buy another modest car? If I go modest, do I spend the savings on a new mountain bike, a real-live Texas smoker, new lenses for my camera, and board games that I'm sorely lacking (spend it anyway); give it to my dear wife to spend on new flip flops, cool shirts with large buttons and scrapbook supplies (spend it anyway); put it in our rainy day fund (lose it along with the rest of my invested capital); or give it to the poor and needy?
Wait a minute. The fact that I considered doing something good with this money instead of spending it on myself makes me feel good enough that maybe I don't actually have to do so. I feel better. Definitely get the car. Right?
If you comment, relieve my guilt. If you increase my guilt, I'll delete your comment. LOL.
5 comments:
Get the car! The new one or the slightly used one. Peace of mind is worth it, right? And it's not just your own health and safety but the lives of your children who may be riding in it. How's that?
Why in the world would you ever buy a brand new car!? Can we say immediate depreciation Mr. fancy economy talk man? :) Buy the slightly used one. Then your guilt won’t be as bad as it would have been if you had bought the brand new one.
A few reasons to buy new:
1) Model upgrades. For example, the 2009 redesigned Maxima is WAY better than the 2008.
2) No doubts about what condition the car's in or how it's been treated. A lot of the slightly used cars I'm looking at may have been driven awfully hard for their first 20K miles.
3) Current deals on new cars make all that depreciation go away immediately with cash back or discounts.
4) Initial maintenance and warranties - stronger as the initial buyer.
But in general, yes, a slightly used car is probably better than a new one.
You, and all of us around you, have been waiting for you to get a newer car for a long time. You have done your time in that one. Just flip a coin and get on with it...
Update - the car shown here has sold. Also worth noting - the "go cheap" option is my rental car this week. That pretty much seals the deal against it. No way am I buying a car that's already a fleet staple.
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