Buying a new car

[biophase]

BTW, for those who talk about opportunity costs and reinvesting into their business... If that thought comes up in your mind during the process of buying anything, then you shouldn't be buying it. It means that you can't responsibly afford it. If you are thinking should I buy this $50,000 BMW or reinvest it into my business, don't but the BMW.

Wanna know when you can afford it? When you don't ask yourself that question. Do you say to yourself, should I get the Iphone 5 or buy more inventory?

Now the disclaimer... when something is expensive, you will naturally think about spending the money. The key is to understand exactly what you are doing and be perfectly fine with your decision.

For example, when I got my car 2 years ago I could have bought a condo cash for $72k. I looked at the condo and thought about the car. I chose the car. It was a pretty easy decision for me. 2 years later, the condo is worth $100k and would be cash flowing $500 a month. My car is worth $10k less and I've put $17k into it.

Result? -$27k car, +$40k condo. Do I care? Not really. I don't regret it at all. You must be ok with it or you will hate your car every time you drive it.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

This thread makes me so happy that I don't give a f*ck about cars anymore. As long as it starts, drives, and keeps me free from drama and drains on my time, I'm keeping her.

 

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[Runum]

Beast? I guess it's all relative. 1996/7 This was my street legal cruiser. Motor had 680 HP and the 400HP nitrous system brought it up over 1000 street legal HP before digital electronics were around. Wanna Runum?

 

[wade1mil]

I think I'm desiring a luxury vehicle to enjoy the fruits of my hard work and to "show off" my success.

You're 19 and you want to show off. I get it. I think we've all been there.

BUT

Buy the car because you want the car. Don't buy it to impress other people.

BECAUSE

You'll find after you get this bad a$$ car and pull up next to people, that 60% won't give a shit and 39% will hate you.

I know of a place you can spend a few hundred bucks for a tricycle and get more attention than any BMW

 

[Mike39]

"If it flies, floats or fornicates, always rent it - it’s cheaper in the long run." - Felix Dennis.

Same rule applies if you plan on replacing your car every 3-5 years like most people.

If not, get a Honda Civic/Accord and drive it until the wheels fall off.

I don't get this type of thinking. The whole point of starting a business is to generate enough money to do whatever makes you happy, so if Sean has made enough through his business to afford a 30, 50, 100k BMW (assuming it will not make a dent in his finances) and he want's the BMW, why shouldn't he buy it?

Why shouldn't he buy it new? If I were to purchase a car I would look at it like this: the car a instantly looses ALL of it's value the second I sign my name on the dotted line, whatever I get back at sale is just a bonus, if you can't afford that hypothetical 100% depreciation then you probably shouldn't be buying the car. Besides, whats the point of making money if you don't spend some of it on yourself, in the end that's what we all make and want money for is it not?

Edit: I am not saying go blow all your cash on yourself when you can't afford it; what I am saying is that if you can afford something outright and you want it, get it, you earned it.

 

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[1PercentStreet]

dude your only 19 if you have enough money and can take 50g's into the dealership without any regret than go ahead and buy it.

Whatever you do, do not do this.
F*ck age as an excuse to act stupid.



Buy a cheap car and build your business. Live the next few years like no one else will to live the rest of your life like no one else can.

 

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[healthstatus]

OP, I would go for a 3-4 year old, whatever coming off lease, don't buy new. It will still look new, been well taken care of being on a lease and generally fewer miles.

It's an Honda s2000 and it's one of the fastest cars.

Not unless he replaced the engine with a V8. They are well tuned, good handling, but not fast and low torque.



Mine is

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<------here

 

[Laverdure]

I know how you feel because I'm 21 and seriously almost everyday I'm thinking about having a nice car ... I was thinking about it so much that it was giving me some kind of pressure towards my daily profit/income.

What I'm starting to realize and this is where I was wrong, I was always thinking and still think a little bit that a ferrari or something similar would bring me more happiness in life... but I'm wrong.

I can say that this car I want it so bad that my desire is 11 out of 10 but let's think and see things like this.

If you would be alone on this world how bad would you want a badass car? it probably wouldn't matter...

So what I figured out is my happiness was dependant on what other people thought about me... right?

Are what others people perceptions and thoughts about me something I can control from my own at 100%??? no ...

So I figured out I needed to change a few things in my mind and about my perception in order to become happier with less.

Let's be honest you'll find PLENTY OF EXCUSES TO BUY THE CAR

IE: yeah but it's more confortable than the one I have
it's faster and ''I can have more fun with it''
etc...

You are finding excuses to make that decision because otherwise you would feel bad and you wouldn't buy it ...

In my opinion ... you are still 19 years old ... go learn PICK UP ARTIST STUFF if you want to pick up women it's $100 an ebook and if you really wanna master it take a live private course for 3k and you'll pick up about any women without a car.

You want people to be jalous about you or see you have someone who succeed?

Invest in yourself and travel around the world while using gopro camera and video shoot everything on facebook and your blog PEOPLE will actually want your freedom and your exeperience.

Travel can bring you a lot of good thing in your inner side which is good in order to find your purpose in life.

I realize that having a nice car can be expensive when you buy it and to keep the maintenance up and good ...and this could only be something I buy once I can say I'm really free and even if I don't work anymore for the rest of my life today I'll never miss money even if I spend on this kind of car otherwise I think you are trading more hours in the long run for material stuff that doesn't worth being bought for a short term happiness.

PS: that's just my opinion.

 

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[PopEmersen]

Plus the new Fusion is absolutely beautiful and looks like an Aston Martin.]

Not trying to get into a flame war BUT the fusion borrowed the grill the the Aston and it in no way, shape, or form looks like an Aston.

 

[SeanKelly]

Sounds like me. I am a certified, old school, gearhead. Love cars. Every time I think about buying a nice, high end car, I look at what that money could do for me.

At this time I drive cars only for transportation and function. They are a Jetta, Accent, and GMC 2500HD. Yeah, it's boring and cheap. Oh well, not trying to impress anyone.

You can buy a nice car without spending $50k. Depends on what you want your car to do for you. Are you buying it for comfort and to get from A to B? Or, are you buying it in hopes of impressing someone that really doesn't care?

I think I'm desiring a luxury vehicle to enjoy the fruits of my hard work and to "show off" my success. I know that success is not measured by material possessions, but I'd like to reward myself once in a while. It'd also make dates with girls a lot easier than taking my pickup lol. I just genuinely love cars and speed and would like to enjoy what I can while I'm young

 

[DeletedUser2]

really?

already voting yourself back into the slow lane

well.... that was quick

Z

 

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[Russ H]

For anyone who has read this thread so far, this is worth reading:

https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/general-entrepreneurship-startup/191-car-story.html

It may not be what you want to think about right now.

But it's better to consider the points made *before* you drop 100K+ on some wheels, than come to realize this after.

Sometimes wanting is better than having.

-Russ H.

 

[Kak]

This is easy just lease something. As an entrepreneur you don't want to mess around with the headaches of owning a car worrying about depreciation faster than the loan, or blowing 50k in cash. BMWs leasing program is AWESOME, they take care of EVERYTHING. You pay your lease payment and don't ever worry again.

I am currently looking to just go pick up a lease on a BMW 335i sedan for under $400 per month. It says right on the BMW web site, I will print and tell them I want THIS CAR. Nothing more expensive. A BMW will have leather and an engine, sounds good.

The reason for this, my "financially responsible" 2006 Nissan Xterra (a "reliable" Japenese SUV) owned completely outright has cost me 200-300 per month over the last 12 months it also gets 13 MPG. Consider oil changes, tires, bullshit that breaks (then rental cars). Now consider that new BMW, the tires will last the whole lease unless you are an idiot, the oil, maintenance and repairs are FREE and it will get 30 MPG.

$400 is jack shit and I will be driving a brand new BMW with no other worries. Who cares if I don't get any equity, I will just reup a lease on another new one in 36 months. The best part is BMW will probably give me 5k for my 200-300 dollar per month money pit.

Other great cars to consider for lease right now: Chrysler 300 loaded out, Cadillac CTS, Cadillac XTS, Lincoln MKZ/MKS. GREAT lease deals from my research.

I will put my wear and tear on a lease from this point forward, I will fully purchase my really cool cars when the time comes.

There is something to be said for stuff not owning you. Make your transportation easy. You can always dump a $400/month BMW on swap a lease when you get sick of it as long as you don't plow through your miles. That is another good place to look too. No money down, you just assume their payments...

 

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[theag]

Every business owner I know leases all his cars as company vehicles for tax deductions. Maybe its different in the U.S. but in Germany thats the most economic way. Plus of course you always have the newest cars which is acceptable

 

[Mike39]

Somebody who starts a business and would pay their first hard earned money from their biz for a car is NOT an entrepreneur.

A) this isn't his "first" hard earned money, it's not like he made his first 50k and is now deciding to flush it all on a car.

B) Why not, he has re-invested already in his business, grown his profits time and again, and now can afford a car. That's like saying if the first thing you do when you are rich is reward yourself, you are not really rich?

 

[TK1]

A) this isn't his "first" hard earned money, it's not like he made his first 50k and is now deciding to flush it all on a car.

B) Why not, he has re-invested already in his business, grown his profits time and again, and now can afford a car. That's like saying if the first thing you do when you are rich is reward yourself, you are not really rich?

There is a difference between building a business to make yourself money and building one to make a statement.

First is 'building a lifestyle business', second is I want to build amazon, invent flying cars, cure cancer etc.

True entrepreneurship is about wealth, not (only) about becoming rich.

People mostly driven by money don't change the world, people that are driven despite the money (especially if it doesn't come asap..) very often do change the world like van gogh.

Rich and wealthy, huge difference.

Each to his own, like he said in response to zen*******'s post: Thread was only a test to see what's happening.

If an entrepreneur thinks of spending 50k on a car while being in the process of building a big company, it's ok, but that means the entrepreneur is about ME very fast. Still too close to 'instant gratification' syndrome..

If there comes in somebody in the same industry that is out there to make a big statement his company will get flushed. The guy who builds a company in 2 years doing 200k profit per year and thinks about buying a 50k car gets beaten by the guy who aims for the whole market, changing the whole industry, doing an ipo etc.
(...and then buys himself a jet IF he likes to....)

You cannot build something very big - meaningful if you go crazy after having a bit of success.

(ps....I didnt say it's his first money, I said if > then.)

(pps....B.) is a false comparision, because if he would be rich already this thread woudn't exist.)

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Even that Aventador Roadster?

Sorry, but my desire for one has to exceed my desire for being drama-free. Right now, it's not even close.

 

[lovecharm]

Hey,

Well, if you want my advice then I will say invest the money or use it in business to earn more.

Mind you, when you say "nice car" I am presuming you are talking about Bentley (by the way, that bentley in my avatar is actually mine), Ferrari, Lamborghini etc.

You see, you might even end up buying one of those luxury cars cheaply if you know how to negotiate, however, there is no way to negotiate or reduce the running cost of those cars. Seriously, they drink up a lot, service charge is huge, insurance (since I am in UK, we have to insure them) is pretty high etc..

As for getting attention from girls, well I can tell you from my first hand experience... you will be getting attention alright, but FROM GUYS. Seriously, every time I pull up in the petrol station guys comes up to me and talks to me about the car, on the traffic light its the guys who gives you the nod etc..

I think in last 2 years of owning the Bentley I have probably had only 1 girl who ever came up to me to compliment on the car (and she wasn't that hot either), whereas I have lost counts on how many times guys came up to me..

Some of the girls doesn't even knows much about cars either... I dated couple of girls and they didn't know about Bentley and Ferraris.. Frankly speaking, talking about cars to them was same as talking about tampons to guys, as we wouldn't be interested in them and we wouldn't care about them either..

So the bottom line is, think about the running cost of the car first, many people buys these luxury cars and then they gets a major shock when they add up the running costs.. As for attracting girls, well as I mentioned, you wont have girls coming up to you and throwing their numbers at you.. If they do, then they are most likely to be gold diggers and you really don't want them in your life.

If I were you, then I would invest those money in to some business or rental properties, where I can get a decent return passively, then with those returns I might want to buy a car and then run it..

Last thing you want is, buy a luxury car and then keep it in your garage as you can't afford to run it around..

Personally, I bought the car from my rental income. I could have bought the luxury cars at least 3-4 years ago, but I didn't want to break my capital, I bought it when I was getting passive income and when I realised the running costs will be covered with those income as well.

Good luck.

 

[Runum]

Sounds like me. I am a certified, old school, gearhead. Love cars. Every time I think about buying a nice, high end car, I look at what that money could do for me.

At this time I drive cars only for transportation and function. They are a Jetta, Accent, and GMC 2500HD. Yeah, it's boring and cheap. Oh well, not trying to impress anyone.

You can buy a nice car without spending $50k. Depends on what you want your car to do for you. Are you buying it for comfort and to get from A to B? Or, are you buying it in hopes of impressing someone that really doesn't care?

 

[Runum]

I think I'm desiring a luxury vehicle to enjoy the fruits of my hard work and to "show off" my success. I know that success is not measured by material possessions, but I'd like to reward myself once in a while. It'd also make dates with girls a lot easier than taking my pickup lol. I just genuinely love cars and speed and would like to enjoy what I can while I'm young

LOL, well, didn't see you were 19. Now I get it.

<--------Old fart

There is nothing wrong with rewarding yourself with a nice toy. If you find threads about MJ's lambo you will come to realize he bough it for him. He only drove it when traffic was low and the squirrels wouldn't mess with him. He didn't buy it to impress anyone.

About the girls, well, that's your call. I am not sure I would want to be chasing girls that were sizing me up because of my car. What happens if the biz suffers and the car has to go? It can happen quicker than you think.

Good luck

 

[SeanKelly]

Beast? I guess it's all relative. 1996/7 This was my street legal cruiser. Motor had 680 HP and the 400HP nitrous system brought it up over 1000 street legal HP before digital electronics were around. Wanna Runum?

Now that's my kind of machine! What an amazing build you've got there

No need to spend huge amounts of money for great looks IMO.

You're absolutely right. That's a great looking car!

really?

already voting yourself back into the slow lane

well.... that was quick

Z

No slowlane for me... this whole thread was just a test to see if you had my back

In all seriousness I just had a moment of temptation after cashing a few checks and looking at the truck I drive. Knowing me I'll probably buy a beat up civic for the gas mileage and put the rest of the money in another asset

 

[PopEmersen]

This is easy just lease something. As an entrepreneur you don't want to F*ck around with the headaches of owning a car worrying about depreciation faster than the loan, or blowing 50k in cash. BMWs leasing program is AWESOME, they take care of EVERYTHING. You pay your lease payment and don't ever worry again.

I am currently looking to just go pick up a lease on a BMW 335i sedan for under $400 per month. It says right on the BMW web site, I will print and tell them I want THIS CAR. Nothing more expensive. A BMW will have leather and an engine, sounds good.

The reason for this, my "financially responsible" 2006 Nissan Xterra (a "reliable" Japenese SUV) owned completely outright has cost me 200-300 per month over the last 12 months. Consider oil changes, tires, bullshit that breaks (then rental cars). Now consider that new BMW, the tires will last the whole lease unless you are an idiot, the oil, maintenance and repairs are FREE.

$400 is jack shit and I will be driving a brand new BMW with no other worries. Who cares if I don't get any equity, I will just reup a lease on another new one in 36 months. The best part is BMW will probably give me 5k for my 200-300 dollar per month money pit.

Other great cars to consider for lease right now: Chrysler 300 loaded out, Cadillac CTS, Cadillac XTS, Lincoln MKZ/MKS. GREAT lease deals from my research.

I will put my wear and tear on a lease from this point forward, I will fully purchase my really cool cars when the time comes.

There is something to be said for stuff not owning you. Make your transportation easy. You can always dump a $400/month BMW on swap a lease when you get sick of it as long as you don't plow through your miles. That is another good place to look too. No money down, you just assume their payments...

This is my exact same mind state. I am tired of paying for maintenance. I just want to pay a monthly fee and be done with everything. Any vehicle I get going forward has to have maintenance included.

 

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[Kak]

I would rather just throw 400 per month on my amex for a new car with totally covered maintence than be out ANY money on any used car. Especially one, that as you said, might need 5k in repairs at any given moment.

 

[Milkanic]

"If it flies, floats or fornicates, always rent it - it’s cheaper in the long run." - Felix Dennis.

Same rule applies if you plan on replacing your car every 3-5 years like most people.

If not, get a Honda Civic/Accord and drive it until the wheels fall off.

 

[Milkanic]

I don't get this type of thinking. The whole point of starting a business is to generate enough money to do whatever makes you happy, so if Sean has made enough through his business to afford a 30, 50, 100k BMW (assuming it will not make a dent in his finances) and he want's the BMW, why shouldn't he buy it?

Because there is an opportunity cost to purchasing a car (or boat, plane, house, etc). That 100k BMW is also going to be boring in 2 years and you'll want the 170k Porsche. You'll get 50k back on the purchased BMW but would have saved yourself 10-20k leasing.

If you are going to own something for a lifetime, buy it. If not, do the math on renting.

Lease or Buy a Car? - Calculator - SmartMoney.com

 

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[wade1mil]

Whatever you decide to do, just make sure you have the tightest car in the Marbella Gardens apartment complex and an 18-speaker stereo system

Regardless of what MJ says, that's the best quote in the book

 

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[Kak]

Yeah well I am the kind of person to slip into a car trance and focus on nothing else. So I need a system to drive a decent car for cheap with NO WORRIES. It keeps me from F*cking around and owning 3 old money pit cars at a time.

Yes I will eventually buy a ferrari and a phantom, I just refuse to look them up and drool over them every day. It is a huge waste of time.

 

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[Kak]

Sean, I thought you might like this. I found it today searching swapalease a bit.

2011 Mercedes-Benz C-Class lease in Denver, CO

No money down, short term enough you can just dump it in a little over a year.

 

[Kak]

I think most of this has been way over thought. If you can swing a car at whatever price without really feeling it, and you want it, do it. If you can't, get something cheaper.

Bio is correct, if you have to think about it it is too much. Other than that, you NEED transportation, it is good to look professional, you don't need a luxury car to look professional. If you want it, can afford it then do it. If you can't then shut the hell up and make some more money.

 

[mrsilva]

I've been on the biz for many years.

You guys are crazy to recommend a 7 year old 7-Series to him, do you realize the size of the repair bill if anything goes wrong on that car?

Kia, Hyundai? Yes they look very good, and are better than never... but... the depreciation still very high! Go for a Japanese and don't regret!

First of all he already said that is not spending that money on a car. Will buy something cheap and hold it until he can afford something very nice.

I love cars. I care about them. And I just don't want a transportation for every day, I need to feel passion when I drive my car. Is just the way I am. Some people love to buy big TV's to watch the SuperBowl with friends and I don't give a damn about sports.

But the same way I need to be responsible for my own finances and achieve my goals. I recently purchased a daily beater... 2002 VW Golf 2.0 for $3,000. In good conditions. Will save me in gas, insurance and cost with financing or lease.

My next car will be around $12,000. Looks better and also keeps me saving money. Something like a Acura TSX, BMW 330i, Infiniti G35, Lexus IS250. They look good and are cheap to maintain!

Around $5,000 budget I would look into:

03+ Acura RSX
04 Acura TSX
05 Dodge Neon
06 Honda Civic
05 Honda Accord
04 Mazda 3
05 Nissan Sentra
05 Toyota Corolla
06 VW Jetta

Good luck and if you need any inputs let me know!

 

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