Things to consider - the "happyness" or "newness" will wear off and it will become the new normal.
It might make you less happy in the long run as you have to be paranoid about where you park, how you drive etc, as a scratch is more of a disaster on an expensive car, both in terms of cost of fixing and the dent in your pride :-)
Owner of severely dented run of the mill Toyota here. Where I live: been hit and run dented this year, then the hire car I used while that was being repaired was hit and run dented. Out of pocket $3k, and yes I had insurance and I got the excess reduction on the hire car :-( /rant
Having said that if $50k is a drop in the ocean, then why not. But if it is a choice between the car and some kind of investment I'd prefer the investment.
I am already careful (what SO likes to call 'paranoid') about where I park, how I drive etc I imagine its just going to get worse.
I feel ya about the dual hit and run man.
so yeah, lease.
Add up gas (CA prices are laughable), then you're in for a LOT of money. Not just 30%... If I were to do it again, unlike most of the people, I'd actually buy an OK used car (2-3 years) which already took a hit in terms of depreciation, then I'd keep it for 3-4 years. You could get something descent for $25-30k. The loss between 3 to 6 years is usually smaller than a loss from 0 to 3 years. Audi's keep their value high, don't buy infinity or Lexus, with $50k and above, go for a car that has a whole community around it like an 'R' or 'GTR' or 'M', things like that because again, people want those car badly and would do anything to get one cheaper than brand new. Don't buy a standard BMW's because you can't bit BMW dealership in terms of rates, etc. They will always come up with a much better car/deal than you when you're ready to sell. Again, people would rather buy new and at a dealership and get a quick and easy loan going with a low rate.
For the same $45k Merc that I am looking at, the 2016 model is up for sale around $28k - $30k. That gave me the impression that I am in for around a 30% hit if I kept it in good condition. Good point about the low balling dealers and the "California debt" factor, I did not look at it that way.
So I'm looking at a price tag of around $30k. Add in insurance, gas and parking.
Wow! Just Wow!
+10
I was considering a Lexus CT200h, I really liked the car and prices were decent. The only issue was that I could basically only find base model, and I really want adaptive cruise control. So I don't think I'll get one.
You could also look into leasing. You might be able to find a great deal, https://forum.leasehackr.com/ has a ton of info. And there are some sites that let people advertise leases they want to get out of. Some have really low monthly payments. But that would make me a little nervous. I'd worry a little bit about additional expenses when turning the car in.
Well, the 24 month hard limit on the lease skyrockets the total amount as compared to 36 months. Plus I drive around 12k miles a year. Also, the visa situation right now makes me very uncomfortable around the 2 year commitment with no exit strategy.
- lease a car - especially that car that has low depreciation. The lower depreciation - the cheaper the lease. Sometimes it maybe cheaper to lease more expensive car because it has low depreciation.
- Buy used, in-demand car with very low mileage and 1.5-2 yrs of remainder of warranty.
You eliminate all the hassles associated with having your own car and free yourself up to actually utilize the drive time doing something. It's also a highly efficient way to socialize with strangers (if you use Uber Pool) which has been an unexpectedly pleasant benefit.
If you really want to know if buying a luxury car is worth it then hire the car of your dreams for a week and see if the value provided is worth the cost.