Do you drive an expensive car? - UPDATE - PAGE 7

[shkeogh]

I built a $22,000 motorcycle. It cost me another $3,500 to get it inspected, registered, and for sales tax on all the parts that were bought out of state.

 

[Handbag Lady]

I am like the anti-Los Angeleno around here. My car is a 1995 Pontiac Grand Am, in gorgeous red. I love not having a car payment, so I watch as people at work buy two or three new cars, leasing and constantly making payments.

I choose to vacation often and pray my car doesn't break down again.

It only has 108,000 mile on it.

 

[shkeogh]

In LA I see lots of $100,000 cars ... problem is the roads out there are worth about 35 cents.

 

[DeterminedOne]

If you're certain that you're going to buy the car, I think you should take care of the financing part before you go in to the dealership. Don't be at their mercy with the financing. Don't go in there wondering if the payments will be too high or whatever. Apply for financing through your bank or credit union that way you'll know where you stand.

That is what my husband did when he bought his 2006 Rav 4. He borrowed $23,000 from his credit union (we have seperate banks) so when he went to the dealership they knew upfront that he would only spend $23,000 and not a penny more. It gave him a lot of bargaining power. But the thing is, my husband has spotless credit. In fact, when he told the dealer he already had a loan through the credit union, they told him they could get him a better rate through the credit union they work with and they were disappointed they couldn't talk him into getting a $60,000 Lexus. I'm not even sure I want to get the car right now, I'm mostly curious about the payments, price, etc. If I don't like what they are talking about I will leave. Problem is, I might end up liking what they say and walk away with a $32,000 vehicle. But that is why I am taking DH with me - to keep me grounded and focused.

 

[ducklite]

I drive a Saturn SKY--cost me $32K (it's loaded), and my payments are $600/month. I've been paying extra so it will be paid off next April. I called the dealers bluff and told them I had a better finance deal then they originally offered me with another source--wouldn't tell them what the source was or what the rate was, and they came back 1/4% less on the rate to lower than anything I had found.

DH drives a Toyota Prius, it was about $30K, and we paid cash for it, but I'm going to guess the payments would have been about $600/mo. as we had no trade-in. When we bought it you still had to be on a wait list, and there were no incentives, which is one of the reasons we paid cash.

We also have a Saturn L-200 that cost $20K new, that's been paid off for a few years now, but the payments were around $300/mo. We had a trade-in so I think we financed about $14K.

What I really want is a Porsche Carrera 4S Cabriolet. Unfortunately it's not in teh budget right now. I'm hoping in about eight years it will be.

Anne

 

[Banshee]

I guess it was expensive at the time. We bought it in 2005 and it is a 2005 Ford explorer fully loaded. I don't think its worth much now, never is when you drive it off the lot. But I need the extra rows of seats for carpooling, so I will keep it until the kids are both driving then I will get something different.

Actually blue book it. My dh has a 2000 fully loaded explorer that he uses for work it has 135,000 miles on it. I blue booked it just to see and it said it was valued at 8300.00 I was very suprised I fugured it would Blue book at 4000.00 at the most.

 

[rhanditresmom]

Yeah, we have an "expensive" vehicle. I drive a Land Rover...cost us about $43K in '02. Of course, gas wasn't nearly as much then as it is now...but it is paid off and I really don't want another car payment. Fortunately, I don't have to drive far to work...my school is only about 5 minutes from my house...so I don't have to fill up very often. I do love it though, it can go anywhere. We have taken it camping in the past. Comes in handy on rough terrain.

My DH drives an '03 VW Jetta TDI....we get about 48 - 50 mpg on that one! MUCH better than my car. That one was about $21K.

 

[Kama89]

The Infiniti G35 Coupe is my WANT car. LOVE that car!!! What I bought just five days ago was an '07 Toyota Avalon XLS. It's beautiful, lovely ride, but had I bought what I wanted and not what I needed.... it would've been the G! Head to Edmunds.com and look around a bit. You can get their invoice, the MSRP and what others are paying for the G in your area.... the "true market value". It was a lifesaver for us last Friday when we bargained (and boy did we bargain!!! ) for the Avalon. We wound up just inches above the TMV with two rather spendy add ons thrown in.

 

[lesroi]

Sign us up too... DH drives a Mercedes SLK32 AMG. Sticker is over $60k new. Payment is about $700 a month, but we obviously put down a very large amount and NEGOTIATED (and didn't finance for 72 months, lol.) His car is definitely the very definition of both "expensive" and "luxury." It is his baby, obviously.

I drive a 2000 Grand Cherokee Limited, fully loaded with nearly every option. Purchased new and still running strong. Paid it off early so we only have the one car payment. We will likely keep the GC forever. I still consider it luxurious, minus the dog drool on the windows, as mainly only the dogs and I ride in it, despite the leather seats, lol. It was over $30k new and again we negotiated and put down substantial downpayments to get a very low financing rate. Then we paid off early.

Good luck to you, and don't let them take advantage of ya!

Tracy

 

[Conservative Hippie]

I think DH's '01 Nissan Maxima was $35K or so. It's the GLE edition with leather interior, chrome rims, Bose stereo, etc. It was a gift from his dad, so we never paid a dime for it. The only thing is a more expensive car needs more expensive maintainance--for example, the tires are at least $100 each, and it takes premium gas. But I love our car--it's 6 years old, has over 100K miles on it (lots of road trips), and runs great!

 

[dreamcometrue]

OP, did you get your car?? Just curious...

 

[DeterminedOne]

OP, did you get your car?? Just curious...

Not yet, thanks for asking. At the last minute I chickened out and canceled the appt. with Infiniti. I set it up for Thursday of next week. In the meantime, I'm going to arrange a loan through my bank. I was pre approved through Infiniti, but I would imagine my bank can give me a better interest rate. I hate to be such a chicken, but the car I have my eye on is 33K and I know that once I get to the dealer it will be over and I will definitely leave with that car.

 

[TexasCourt]

I own a black Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited Edition, and it is a '99 (got it new as a high school graduation gift). I am fairly frugal, so I will drive that sucker until it can no longer be driven (and it only has 70,000 miles on it right now), but my ULTIMATE dream car is a black, fully loaded Range Rover.

 

[Kimberly]

Car is worth 34K brand new as optioned in the 2005 model year. The first owner bought it as a leftover that was a cancelled order by a potential buyer in the 2006 model year for 30k. The Kelly Blue Book value of the car is still over 25k (has only 7000 miles), and I bought it about a month ago for 20,000 dollars exactly. Got the deal of the century on a 2005 Mazda RX-8 Grand Touring with a 6-speed. I love it to death. Gas mileage is horrible on a rotary (get anywhere from 16-18 city and 20-23 highway), but I wouldn't have it any other way.

 

[Disney Doll]

I drive a 1998 Ford Explorer which was $30K when we bought it. It is long since paid off and I will drive it till it flips onto it's hood with it's tires waving in the air screaming "Mercy, mercy"!!!!

I hate shopping for new cars. I hate buying new cars.

 

[juligrl]

We bought our Jeep Grand Cherokee new in 2001. We don't drive it now though, except for really long trips or when we know we're going off-roading - gas too $$$! It's still fun to drive though.

 

[DeterminedOne]

Well folks - I did it! I got the G35 today. Funny thing is, I went there to test drive a 2006 coupe. When I got there they said someone was making a deal on it. I thought it was a ploy to get me to buy, so I continued on with the test drive. As I was driving the salesman got a call to bring the car back because it had been sold. Can you believe that??? So... I ended up getting the Sedan - 2006 but only 216 miles. The price was right and to be honest it drives better than the coupe since the coupe sits so low to the ground. I can't believe I got it!!!