Future car purchase - The downward spiral

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mortal
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Joined: Mon Sep 15, 2008 11:15 pm

Future car purchase - The downward spiral

Post by mortal »

I will be shopping for a new car some time between 1 - 3 years from now. I'm a planner (read, indecisive). It took me two years to find what I wanted and buy my last car. It's a 2006 mazda miata. I bought it because I wanted something that was everything my ford ranger was not. It's fast, it's nimble, it's a playful little thing but the impracticality and lack of comfort are starting to wear on me.
Maybe I'm getting old :?.

I recently moved to Atlanta for a job. I like the city so far, but the traffic is a bit soul crushingly awful. If I did buy a new car, I think I'd want to get a Hybrid, like prius or some such. That way, even when I'm stuck in 15 mph bumper to bumper traffic... hey, at least I'm still getting 50 mpg!

The thing is, you generally don't buy a hybrid because you enjoy driving them. You buy them to save on gas, save on insurance, and save money. But, buying a car to 'save money' makes no sense. Mathmatically if you were really buying a car to save money, your best bet is to generally go out on craigslist and buy an old beater, or better yet, keep what you have.

So, this leaves me with twisted logic. If I'm going to buy a car, then it should be one that I'd 'enjoy driving', but even this is subjective. Do I enjoy driving a sports car in Atlanta? No. (Though I will say that being able to quickly / safely merge and slot into the flow of traffic is nice.)

Maybe I would enjoy the technical aspects of a pruis enough to overcome the fact that I really wouldn't save any money by buying one. I don't know. I'll see if I can't get an extended test drive when I get serious about it.

Anyone else ever deal with conflicting automotive emotions? How do you balance the rational, smart choice, with the inner urge for something sporty? (No, I can't have two cars :wink: )
Iorek
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Re: Future car purchase - The downward spiral

Post by Iorek »

Get a tesla. ;)
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LAlearning
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Re: Future car purchase - The downward spiral

Post by LAlearning »

Iorek wrote:Get a tesla. ;)
+1
I know nothing!
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Kalo
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Re: Future car purchase - The downward spiral

Post by Kalo »

Tesla? Why? I know nothing about them but am curious why two people are recommending them without saying why.

Kalo
"When people say they have a high risk tolerance, what they really mean is that they are willing to make a lot of money." -- Ben Stein/Phil DeMuth - The Little Book of Bullet Proof Investing.
mlipps
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Re: Future car purchase - The downward spiral

Post by mlipps »

Lexus CT Hybrid?
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BrandonBogle
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Re: Future car purchase - The downward spiral

Post by BrandonBogle »

The 2014 Mazda 6. 37 mpg on the higher (like you would get to see that much in Atlanta lol) and still a sporty drive. Comes with all the amenities too at about 25k new. In 3 years, buy the 2014 for a steal. If you want more comfort but also more boring drive (though still good looks), the 2013 Altima.
Topic Author
mortal
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Re: Future car purchase - The downward spiral

Post by mortal »

Anything Tesla is way out of my price range.

I'm *keenly* interested in the 2014 mazda 3. 0-60 ~7.2 seconds and 37mpg highway is enticing.

My guess is it'll be a throwdown between the mazda3, the new GTI, and the new Prius, with possibly the new Honda Fit Hybrid coming into play. I haven't heard anything about a redesigned CT, but as it's a kissing cousin of the pruis, it certainly makes the list as well.
oragne lovre
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Re: Future car purchase - The downward spiral

Post by oragne lovre »

LAlearning wrote:
Iorek wrote:Get a tesla. ;)
+1
+1
The finest, albeit the most difficult, of all human achievements is being reasonable.
letsgobobby
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Re: Future car purchase - The downward spiral

Post by letsgobobby »

How many miles do you drive?
Mingus
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Re: Future car purchase - The downward spiral

Post by Mingus »

mortal wrote:Anything Tesla is way out of my price range.

I'm *keenly* interested in the 2014 mazda 3. 0-60 ~7.2 seconds and 37mpg highway is enticing.

My guess is it'll be a throwdown between the mazda3, the new GTI, and the new Prius, with possibly the new Honda Fit Hybrid coming into play. I haven't heard anything about a redesigned CT, but as it's a kissing cousin of the pruis, it certainly makes the list as well.
What's the road quality in Atlanta?

I was very interested in the Mazda 3 as well, as I wanted a hatchback. Drove one, and found it underpowered, rode really rough, and lots of wind and tire noise. However, the steering feel was excellent and it would probably be a pretty fun car living somewhere where road quality is good. I also have concerns of Mazda's overall durability. They've done a lot of tweaking to their engines and transmissions to reduce reciprocal mass in efforts to increase fuel economy. As in reducing bearing sizes, using lighter weight components (not as strong). This might not have a good ending.

I bought a Camry. Quiet, comfortable, dependable, good gas mileage, quick enough, handles and drives well, and drives closer to how I remember Hondas driving years back (minus the road noise).

Honda Fit's are pretty cool. But again, lots of road noise in Hondas. Sound attenuation is not part of Honda's repertoire.
Valuethinker
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Re: Future car purchase - The downward spiral

Post by Valuethinker »

mortal wrote:I will be shopping for a new car some time between 1 - 3 years from now. I'm a planner (read, indecisive). It took me two years to find what I wanted and buy my last car. It's a 2006 mazda miata. I bought it because I wanted something that was everything my ford ranger was not. It's fast, it's nimble, it's a playful little thing but the impracticality and lack of comfort are starting to wear on me.
Maybe I'm getting old :?.

I recently moved to Atlanta for a job. I like the city so far, but the traffic is a bit soul crushingly awful. If I did buy a new car, I think I'd want to get a Hybrid, like prius or some such. That way, even when I'm stuck in 15 mph bumper to bumper traffic... hey, at least I'm still getting 50 mpg!

The thing is, you generally don't buy a hybrid because you enjoy driving them. You buy them to save on gas, save on insurance, and save money. But, buying a car to 'save money' makes no sense. Mathmatically if you were really buying a car to save money, your best bet is to generally go out on craigslist and buy an old beater, or better yet, keep what you have.

So, this leaves me with twisted logic. If I'm going to buy a car, then it should be one that I'd 'enjoy driving', but even this is subjective. Do I enjoy driving a sports car in Atlanta? No. (Though I will say that being able to quickly / safely merge and slot into the flow of traffic is nice.)

Maybe I would enjoy the technical aspects of a pruis enough to overcome the fact that I really wouldn't save any money by buying one. I don't know. I'll see if I can't get an extended test drive when I get serious about it.

Anyone else ever deal with conflicting automotive emotions? How do you balance the rational, smart choice, with the inner urge for something sporty? (No, I can't have two cars :wink: )

Since you are not really going to enjoy driving in Atlanta then I think you should focus on a car which is comfortable to drive in traffic jams. If there are High Occupancy Vehicle lanes you might want to make sure that your car qualifies-- ie you might wind up carpooling.

That may or may not be a hybrid, but the local cab company here uses a lot of Priuses (Prii?) and London traffic is perhaps similar to Atlanta (or at least New York) ie stop and go. They are very comfortable.

Save the sports car for a time/ place when you can really enjoy it.
Cuzz35
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Re: Future car purchase - The downward spiral

Post by Cuzz35 »

I would check out www.fueleconomy.gov. They have a pretty handy website that allows you to see how much you could save on gas by switching to a different car. It will allow you to customize the driving conditions so that the estimate can be pretty accurate.

I bought a new Civic in February and went through a similiar thought process. I was driving a Toyota Tacoma. When I bought the truck I was driving maybe 5-6k miles annually, and my plan was to drive it for around 15 years. But, like you I started working in Atlanta and my commute, 110 miles round trip, told me to think about giving up the truck. I didn't want to spend any money so I used the website above and edmunds to figure out what I could get without paying anything out of pocket so that I could save immediatly. I traded in the truck for the civic, didn't pay a dime, and I'm on pace to have saved $2,500 this year.

I would recommend doing a similiar analysis and figuring out a break even point that you would be happy with. Its unlikely you will save as much as am and you will probably have to spend more to get a hybrid but you should be able to find a point that your confortable with. I would suggest throwing used hybrids in the mix as well and see which options allows you to recover your costs faster.

Goodluck.
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Chan_va
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Re: Future car purchase - The downward spiral

Post by Chan_va »

Get the golf diesel. Good fuel efficiency, but also fun. Or, if in your price range, a BMW 335 Diesel. Awesome car.
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