Our "high consumption lifestyle"

[serialk11r]

Originally Posted by SomeoneWhoIsntMe

Cliffs notes: Everyone in the business of buying and selling houses is a conniving motherfucker and I have no idea how they sleep at night. Buying a house was a distinctly displeasurable experience, and I'm not eager to repeat it, ever.

Hahaha seriously. Thanks to the way the "American Dream" is sold to people, and the conventional "wisdom" about houses being a great investment, most people don't appreciate the amount of leverage available to them as homeowners.

Flipping houses is just as risky as trading a huge chunk of your net worth on maximum margin, no idea how those people sleep at night. A "cooldown" in the housing market could mean you're out tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars because of interest, taxes, etc., it's just hidden by the low liquidity nature of real estate (which should make people more worried not less worried, but ignorance is bliss I guess).

[s2d4]

Originally Posted by shiumai

i was 45 when i bought my first brand-new car just for me - the BRZ. up until last year, i was driving my 1978 280Z - the car i had since high-school/college that i bought off my step dad.

I hope you kept it.....
I've always liked old cars better than new, but with the twins, judging by how kids are these days and this forum, people really destroy them so buying new was the better option and it is cheap as chips.

[suaveflooder]

Originally Posted by s2d4

I hope you kept it.....
I've always liked old cars better than new, but with the twins, judging by how kids are these days and this forum, people really destroy them so buying new was the better option and it is cheap as chips.

Gotta realize who the car was marketed to. Young people. There are some nice used examples if you are willing to look.

I see 1 nice S2k around my house for every 10 beat up ones, but dang, the nice one is pretty much perfect! I actually had one follow me this morning. One of the best looking S2k's I've ever seen and it was driven by a younger gentleman.

Buying new and often is exactly what this thread is about. Scary that it happens so often. Not referring to you, but buying new is a waste of money. Period. I did it with this one and will never do it again. I can't believe that I'm STILL flipped on the stupid thing after a year and a half, even with money down! All it did was get me a lower car payment. Only way I personally feel anyone can justify it is if they are keeping the car 10+ years. Sadly, with the culture that surrounds us it's hard to be happy with stuff that is a couple years old. You can see it on these forums with people trading in their "base level" FRS for one of the dealer scams (limited models) within a year of buying their current car. It's ludacris.

[alan.chalkley]

Commitment is the missing word.
PPL have different levels of this and intestinal fortitude is necessary to meet commitment.
My dad said if you aim for Mars , you can make it to the Moon.

[Trettiosjuan]

Great thread for perspective. Even though I must be in a MUCH better position than most - I don't have any loans on this car or anything else for that matter (except for my business), I still have a bad conscience because I spent a lot of money from my savings on mods knowing I will never see that money put down back - OK maybe 25% at most but don't count on it. I always get nervous when the rate of spending is larger then my income...

The only way for me to get ROI on those is to enjoy the car. So the plan is to modify everything I want as soon as possible, then enjoy it for as many years as possible. On a previous car I kept modding it under my whole ownership and my last mods only gave me joy for a few months and I don't want to repeat that mistake.

The hard part is stopping modding for that plan to work, but I've decided I got everything I wanted two months ago and have been clean since... it is a start with no other cars on the radar that could even start to replace this one.

PS: the bad part is that I'm reading this forum where I could get tempted easily, luckily found this thread instead Outta here now

[s2d4]

Originally Posted by suaveflooder

Gotta realize who the car was marketed to. Young people. There are some nice used examples if you are willing to look.

I see 1 nice S2k around my house for every 10 beat up ones, but dang, the nice one is pretty much perfect! I actually had one follow me this morning. One of the best looking S2k's I've ever seen and it was driven by a younger gentleman.

Buying new and often is exactly what this thread is about. Scary that it happens so often. Not referring to you, but buying new is a waste of money. Period. I did it with this one and will never do it again. I can't believe that I'm STILL flipped on the stupid thing after a year and a half, even with money down! All it did was get me a lower car payment. Only way I personally feel anyone can justify it is if they are keeping the car 10+ years. Sadly, with the culture that surrounds us it's hard to be happy with stuff that is a couple years old. You can see it on these forums with people trading in their "base level" FRS for one of the dealer scams (limited models) within a year of buying their current car. It's ludacris.

Yeah, I am keeping it and can also buy 7 of these in 1 year if I want to.
But again, I can buy none if I lose my job....

[BRZ_Lawyer]

Originally Posted by BRZZZZZZZZZZ

I am only 23 years old and easily have spent most of my earnings on cars since I was 16, probably around $100k. Luckily I still managed to buy a home at the age of 22, and have owned a couple of really nice cars due to budgeting myself well.

Where Ru located ? I'm 30 and still trying to buy a home.... And did u buy in cash or have 20% + down?

Originally Posted by BRZZZZZZZZZZ

I am only 23 years old and easily have spent most of my earnings on cars since I was 16, probably around $100k. Luckily I still managed to buy a home at the age of 22, and have owned a couple of really nice cars due to budgeting myself well.

[shiumai]

Originally Posted by s2d4

I hope you kept it.....
I've always liked old cars better than new, but with the twins, judging by how kids are these days and this forum, people really destroy them so buying new was the better option and it is cheap as chips.

if i had a 3-car garage, i might have kept it. but, it was time to move on and i sold it to a young enthusiast who promised to take good care of it.

couple of pics of my old Z here: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35028

[s2d4]

Originally Posted by shiumai

if i had a 3-car garage, i might have kept it. but, it was time to move on and i sold it to a young enthusiast who promised to take good care of it.

couple of pics of my old Z here: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35028

Very nice! I think I would have built one just to keep it.

[BRZZZZZZZZZZ]

Originally Posted by BRZ_Lawyer

Where Ru located ? I'm 30 and still trying to buy a home.... And did u buy in cash or have 20% + down?

Calgary Alberta. 20% down on my home and cars are all cash.

[serialk11r]

Originally Posted by suaveflooder

I see 1 nice S2k around my house for every 10 beat up ones, but dang, the nice one is pretty much perfect! I actually had one follow me this morning. One of the best looking S2k's I've ever seen and it was driven by a younger gentleman.

Man, around Berkeley, I would probably say the kids with the S2000s are the ones with the cleanest cars around here (other than the people driving brand new cars). The ones I know of being owned by students include 2 white ones bone stock and in excellent condition (saw one of the owners changing his oil on the street, props to him), a gray one bone stock not washed as frequently as the 2 whites but very clean, and 2 red ones, one with a black hard top, one with matched color spoiler, both very good condition too.

The Miatas on the other hand are all quite dusty, most fitted with roll bars and lowered a lot, sometimes hard tops, and never on OEM wheels.