[thill]

Originally Posted by extrashaky

It's not about an investment. It's about preserving resale value to put into the next vehicle. Suppose I buy a $25K car that I later sell for $15K to roll into my next new car. Then suppose instead that I buy a $25K car, put a bunch of garbage on it that ruins it and then find myself lucky to sell it for $10K. Completely ignoring my sunk costs spent on the car earlier, in real dollar terms at the moment I'm looking for another car, I have $5K less to work with because I fucked up the car's resale value with my stupid body hacks, wing and turbo.

If you like that shit and never plan to sell it, do whatever makes you happy. But even the people who think they'll never sell their cars eventually decide they want something else and are too often shocked at how little they've made the car worth.

Before I bought the BRZ, I was considering trying to find a used Dodge Magnum SRT, the station wagon with the big hemi. At that time, the SRTs were going for $20K to $25K. I came across one that had 14K miles on it and watched over a period of months as the guy initially listed it at $25K, then dropped it to $20K, then $15K, then finally bottomed out at $11K and wouldn't go any lower. And he still couldn't sell the damned thing. Why? Because he had put a ridiculous neon green paint job on it, huge rims and lambo doors. Nobody wanted that shit because it would cost more than it was worth to fix it.

I'm sure when he did that, he thought he would keep it forever. Then he outgrew it. Sadly, that car will probably end up in the crusher long before it should.

This guy gets it.