Bad decision?

Invest first, spending your remaining income mostly as desired. If a BMW is part of your fantasy life, then get it. But invest first.

Heck, I know a guy with 21 Oldsmobiles circa 1963-1973.
 
Milton said:
Lars, since you appreciate engine noise here is another video clip you might enjoy: YouTube - Hurricane and Bf-109E.avi It features the sounds of a couple of (inverted) V12s: a 1,300 hp RR Merlin 224 and a 1,100 hp DB601A.
Click to expand...

Milton,

Perfect example of another category of "get it" or not. I'm not a plane buff, but I can appreciate how someone would mortgage their house (albeit a very expensive house) to own something like an old Hurricane or a Mustang P-51...

Thanks for the vid...
 
I'd love a P-51. I also like the P-38. Must be leftover from all that childhood model building. I wanted to be a pilot until I got too tall, and discovered I get motion sick at the drop of a hat.
 
 
usafLT said:
I'm getting side tracked. I have wanted to own a certain type of car for years now and I am now at the point in which between my trade in value and low interest loan, I can get it for about $250 per month. I have dreamed of owning one of these for years (did I mention that). It is used but in great condition (30k miles).
Click to expand...

You should definitely buy this car.

For the first few months, it will be exactly what you dreamed it would be. You'll love the way it drives, and you'll feel like a rock star.

After a few years, you'll start getting sick of making car payments. You'll start having maintenance issues. You'll notice your shiny BMW isn't turning heads like it used to, now that the roads are full of people driving newer models. You'll look into trading it in for a new, more reliable model, and you'll be stunned at how much it's depreciated in just a few years.

In buying this car, you'll learn a lot of very important lessons about debt, status symbols, consumerism, and cars. Lessons that I could tell you right now, but you wouldn't believe me. You'll learn the lessons much more effectively if you go ahead and make the mistakes yourself. All told, you're going to waste a few thousand dollars on this car, and in the grand scheme of things, that's pretty cheap tuition for learning these kinds of lessons so early in your life. The experience you gain from financing a used BMW will shape your outlook on cars and debt and will save you a fortune in the future. The lessons will serve you well for the rest of your life.

Buy the car. Learn the lessons well.
 
kombat said:
In buying this car, you'll learn a lot of very important lessons about debt, status symbols, consumerism, and cars. Lessons that I could tell you right now, but you wouldn't believe me. You'll learn the lessons much more effectively if you go ahead and make the mistakes yourself. All told, you're going to waste a few thousand dollars on this car, and in the grand scheme of things, that's pretty cheap tuition for learning these kinds of lessons so early in your life. The experience you gain from financing a used BMW will shape your outlook on cars and debt and will save you a fortune in the future. The lessons will serve you well for the rest of your life.

Buy the car. Learn the lessons well.
Click to expand...

Bit holier than thou don't you think...:angel:

I guess I'll need to learn your lessons times two as I own two BMWs. Can't even contemplate the lessons I didn't absorb from owning Ferraris and Porsches and other assorted sports cars of the years.

Oh well...
 
LARS said:
Bit holier than thou don't you think.
Click to expand...

Just writing from experience.

The first car I ever owned was a brand-new VW Jetta with a bunch of upgrades. I bought it about 6 months after I started my first job after university. It was a ton of fun. The monthly payments were $656/month, for 5 years. Ignoring the finicky maintenance issues, it got rear-ended and totaled with 2 payments left.

We replaced it with a used Passat. It cost us $4,000 in repairs in a single year. So, needless to say, I'm done with German cars.

The amount of money I spent on cars in the first 6 years of my career makes my head spin.

LARS said:
I guess I'll need to learn your lessons times two as I own two BMWs. Can't even contemplate the lessons I didn't absorb from owning Ferraris and Porsches and other assorted sports cars of the years.
Click to expand...

Hey, if you're already FI, then more power to you. Knock yourself out. That's what money's for. No sense in being the richest corpse in the graveyard.

But giving in to such indulgences at such a young age can seriously handicap one's ability to build a substantial retirement nest egg. Blowing tens of thousands of dollars on a series of status-symbol cars during one's 20's and 30's translates to hundreds of thousands of dollars in foregone retirement capital.
 
LARS said:
Bit holier than thou don't you think...:angel:
Click to expand...

Of course, but that's what we do best around here.

Telling a man who likes cars that he should just buy a used Accord is like telling a woman who likes clothes that she could just as well cover her nakedness with stuff from Value Village.

In both cases, the point is being missed.

Ha
 
kombat said:
Hey, if you're already FI, then more power to you. Knock yourself out. That's what money's for. No sense in being the richest corpse in the graveyard.

But giving in to such indulgences at such a young age can seriously handicap one's ability to build a substantial retirement nest egg. Blowing tens of thousands of dollars on a series of status-symbol cars during one's 20's and 30's translates to hundreds of thousands of dollars in foregone retirement capital.
Click to expand...
No argument from me, on either point.
 
Milton said:
No argument from me, on either point.
Click to expand...

Everything in moderation. ER is a worthwhile goal, but not IMHO if you have to sacrifice all to achieve it. What is the point of that?

The OP said the car is a real desire he has had, and assuming it isn't one of ten all of which he intends to indulge, there is nothing wrong with it. If a modestly expensive car is the difference between achieving ER and not, then the odds are stacked against success anyway.

They say youth is wasted on the young: advise to forgo a targeted pleasure in the hopes of ER (which may or may not happen) ensures the statement will be correct.
 
Interesting. The OP hasn't posted for more than a month or logged on to the forum for the past three weeks, yet 111 posts later his bad/good decision question is still being debated. He's moved on and we haven't. :cool:
 
Keeps the crowd's mind off of politics.
 
haha said:
Of course, but that's what we do best around here.

Telling a man who likes cars that he should just buy a used Accord is like telling a woman who likes clothes that she could just as well cover her nakedness with stuff from Value Village.

In both cases, the point is being missed.

Ha
Click to expand...


Ha.... I have to say you have been coming up with some very good post lately... better than usual... thanks..
 
REWahoo said:
Interesting. The OP hasn't posted for more than a month or logged on to the forum for the past three weeks, yet 111 posts later his bad/good decision question is still being debated. He's moved on and we haven't. :cool:
Click to expand...


He probably has alread bought the car and is driving it around.... YOUTH... :ROFLMAO:
 
LARS said:
The OP said the car is a real desire he has had, and assuming it isn't one of ten all of which he intends to indulge, there is nothing wrong with it. If a modestly expensive car is the difference between achieving ER and not, then the odds are stacked against success anyway.
Click to expand...
True enough.

On the other hand, he also suggested that he was "getting side tracked", that the car might be a "bad decision", and that he was "looking for a reality check here".

Now that the pros and cons have been thoroughly canvassed, I hope that he will return to advise us regarding his decision.
 
haha said:
Of course, but that's what we do best around here.

Telling a man who likes cars that he should just buy a used Accord is like telling a woman who likes clothes that she could just as well cover her nakedness with stuff from Value Village.

In both cases, the point is being missed.

Ha
Click to expand...

The point being does the guy want to get laid or not... :p
 
REWahoo said:
Interesting. The OP hasn't posted for more than a month or logged on to the forum for the past three weeks, yet 111 posts later his bad/good decision question is still being debated. He's moved on and we haven't. :cool:
Click to expand...
Apparently the debate is much more interesting than the OP's opinions or actions.

I'm hoping we get a couple new posters to ask for opinions on mortgages, actively-managed mutual funds, the third significant digit of SWR, and whatever other pet peeves the rest of the membership has about how new posters are treated.
 
That is one cool car. Have no money, willing to sacrifice left testicle.
 
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