Here is a little story.
Ever since I bought my first car with my own money, every subsequent car has been faster and more luxurious, and of course more expensive. Started with a Polo 1.6 Classic and worked my way up to my current Mercedes C350 Avantgarde. When I left my parent's house 14 years ago I was given a beat up and dented Ford and had endless hassles with it. So all those years ago I told myself that every car from now on would be relatively new and therefore reliable. This meant cars which were no more than 5 years old, preferrably with some sort of Motorplan. No reliablity hassles, and spend a few bucks extra to get something nice because I'm a car guy - sorted.
So now the time is coming to start the search for a replacement car. The logical progression would be something like a C63/S4/M3 or thereabout. So I started doing some sums. Now I did do my homework with the Merc initially, got it for a decent price, put down some deposit, and financed below prime, nothing silly. Also insurace is decent, had a few comparative quotes done and nobody could beat what I am currently paying. Happy, or so you would think. You see the car still costs a little over R7,000 every month. So over the two or so years that I've had it thats R170,000 with quite a bit to go.. This got me thinking.
As nice as the ride is, and it is an awesome ride. Is it worth all the money? The whole point of having something reliable has long been missed. How different would my life be now if I had the R170,000 extra in the bank? There is so much of the world I still haven't seen. And now it seems like I'll be spending even more on a car. Owning a track car has filled my need for speed, and I no longer have a point to prove on the road. And having the badge hasn't really changed my life much either, other than the odd cougar checking me out. So what.
Basically I think I have reached a point in my life where I actually couldn't be bothered with car payments at all, and no longer see the value of spending ridiculous amounts of money on the latest and greatest. So I decided to break the cycle and instead of upgrading did the opposite; downgrade.
The Merc is now traded in at a significant loss, around R60,000/year. End of motorplan was coming fast and I can only imagine how little it would have been "worth" out of plan. The replacement is a 2008 Volvo S40 which arrives on Monday. Managed to find a T5 Auto with low mileage at a good price so went for it. Had to borrow some cash to be able to cover the car but hopefully by this time next year I would have done away with monthly car payments altogether.
Think I will be keeping it this way for the time being.
Anyone else no longer seeing the point of financing R400,000 to R600,000K on a new car, when an older model for well under R200,000 does the job just fine?
Here's my new daily:
![[Image: 601.jpg]]()
Oh and because I am still a petrol head I couldn't resist the Polestar Performance Package which puts this car at 184KW and 370NM.![Bluebiggrin]( "Bluebiggrin")
Comments?
Ever since I bought my first car with my own money, every subsequent car has been faster and more luxurious, and of course more expensive. Started with a Polo 1.6 Classic and worked my way up to my current Mercedes C350 Avantgarde. When I left my parent's house 14 years ago I was given a beat up and dented Ford and had endless hassles with it. So all those years ago I told myself that every car from now on would be relatively new and therefore reliable. This meant cars which were no more than 5 years old, preferrably with some sort of Motorplan. No reliablity hassles, and spend a few bucks extra to get something nice because I'm a car guy - sorted.
So now the time is coming to start the search for a replacement car. The logical progression would be something like a C63/S4/M3 or thereabout. So I started doing some sums. Now I did do my homework with the Merc initially, got it for a decent price, put down some deposit, and financed below prime, nothing silly. Also insurace is decent, had a few comparative quotes done and nobody could beat what I am currently paying. Happy, or so you would think. You see the car still costs a little over R7,000 every month. So over the two or so years that I've had it thats R170,000 with quite a bit to go.. This got me thinking.
As nice as the ride is, and it is an awesome ride. Is it worth all the money? The whole point of having something reliable has long been missed. How different would my life be now if I had the R170,000 extra in the bank? There is so much of the world I still haven't seen. And now it seems like I'll be spending even more on a car. Owning a track car has filled my need for speed, and I no longer have a point to prove on the road. And having the badge hasn't really changed my life much either, other than the odd cougar checking me out. So what.
Basically I think I have reached a point in my life where I actually couldn't be bothered with car payments at all, and no longer see the value of spending ridiculous amounts of money on the latest and greatest. So I decided to break the cycle and instead of upgrading did the opposite; downgrade.
The Merc is now traded in at a significant loss, around R60,000/year. End of motorplan was coming fast and I can only imagine how little it would have been "worth" out of plan. The replacement is a 2008 Volvo S40 which arrives on Monday. Managed to find a T5 Auto with low mileage at a good price so went for it. Had to borrow some cash to be able to cover the car but hopefully by this time next year I would have done away with monthly car payments altogether.
Think I will be keeping it this way for the time being.
Anyone else no longer seeing the point of financing R400,000 to R600,000K on a new car, when an older model for well under R200,000 does the job just fine?
Here's my new daily:
![[Image: 601.jpg]](http://s27.postimg.org/i74mkyxlr/601.jpg)
Oh and because I am still a petrol head I couldn't resist the Polestar Performance Package which puts this car at 184KW and 370NM.
Comments?