Can I afford it? new car

[gzz]

I had a first gen Lexus IS for 10 years and loved it. I also purchased a CPO and only had one issue the whole time: O2 sensors needed replacing which cost $350. Otherwise, nothing but $60 synthetic oil changes every 5K and $1000 for the 60,000 maintenance.

It was not expensive to insure. I think the last year was about $500 for $150K of coverage.

There are certain places I miss it since I now have a weaker car. One spot is the ramp onto the 15 by the Aero Drive Frye’s that you go from a stop to a steep hill to the highway. I used to floor it up the hill from a stop which was a lot of fun.

The great handling also let me go on curved ramps faster than I can do now. It took a couple sad months to adjust.

You can’t compare it to a Miata or non-lux sport sedan as it comes with a lots of lux features standard.

The driver and passenger seats both adjusted 30 ways electronically, there was a compass in the mirror, and the leather seats used good leather. The stock stereo system was also really good.

Random fact: the first gen IS (up to 05) and mid 2000’s Lexus SC were the last production cars to come with tape decks. I had an iPod in 2004, so tape decks were several generations out of date at that point. However, I find that the tape deck to audio adapter works better than FM adapters my friends were using to play their ipods. Now of course cars have Aux.

[gzz]

As for the economics:

Buy car for 40K with 20k miles
Drive 10 years end with 70K miles (he says he doesn’t drive much)

An IS 350 F Sport with with 70K miles and 12 years old will be worth about $18,000 in 10 years.

So 22K over 10 years is $2200 a year. Not too expensive. Also he is not depreciating his other car by the miles he puts on it, so that reduces the $2200 a year by some amount, maybe to $1800. Then add in the lost interest on the 40K cash and that brings this up to about a $2500 a year luxury.

I think an IS would be fine for one young kid too. Lots of safety features even though the back seat isn’t huge.

I have been on long rides in the back, it is fine.

I have also had three adults including tall males in the back seat. It is tight but not uncomfortable for a 15 minute ride to a restaurant, often I did this when five adults went out to eat rather than take a 2nd car. I also did not get any complaints on a long road trip with four adults, the two average sized women (120 and 150lbs) looked pretty comfortable.

[joec]

I really find it hard to believe any 12 year old Lexus will be worth 18k…no matter what.

I don’t know what they go for new so maybe it’s just me, but that sounds insanely expensive for something that is that old…and maybe just “Lexus”.

I think as for cars, I’m sure flu can attest that it really depends what you are used to…

Someone who drives crazy handling cars getting into any sedan is going to feel like the thing is a boat…

I autocrossed in the past and remember even things like old tires, heavier/taller cars, etc and you’re just waiting there in turns, what not for the car to finally catch before you can steer again.

If I were to win lotto or something crazy, I’d probably rather opt for a light/crazy handling car and just race it regularly rather than the expensive halo car that would get trashed at a track (too much of a pain to baby it),do that whole tape the front thing…Bleh…too lazy for that.

[Coronita]

[quote=joec]I really find it hard to believe any 12 year old Lexus will be worth 18k…no matter what.

I don’t know what they go for new so maybe it’s just me, but that sounds insanely expensive for something that is that old…and maybe just “Lexus”.

I think as for cars, I’m sure flu can attest that it really depends what you are used to…

Someone who drives crazy handling cars getting into any sedan is going to feel like the thing is a boat…

I autocrossed in the past and remember even things like old tires, heavier/taller cars, etc and you’re just waiting there in turns, what not for the car to finally catch before you can steer again.

If I were to win lotto or something crazy, I’d probably rather opt for a light/crazy handling car and just race it regularly rather than the expensive halo car that would get trashed at a track (too much of a pain to baby it),do that whole tape the front thing…Bleh…too lazy for that.[/quote]

Every car has a purpose. And as such, when you purchase your car, you can’t make a “bad” decision as long as you understand what purpose that car is meant to fulfill. Lexii are reliable and I’m sure the IS-F is a pretty good car. But the lack of a dual clutch or proper stick is a deal killer for me. And I would not want to use it on a track.

There’s going to be tradeoffs for every car. What’s good for an autocross would be not so good as a daily commuter or on a real track. And what’s good on a real track wouldn’t be necessarily good for autocrossing either.

I would love to have an M car or Porsche to throw around a track or autocross, because we’ll it’s just different. It takes a lot more skill and a lot more control to get those cars to well. But, that comes at a huge cost that frankly, I don’t want to afford.

The principle I have behind a good autocross or track car is that it should

1) Cheap to fix
2) Cheap to fix
3) Not weigh too much.
4) Enough power for your skill level.

For me, #1 and #2 and #3 screams Miata or FRS for me. As far as #4, what I have now is way more than I can properly handle.

As much as I would like to thrash a late model porsche or BMW around a track or autocross, I’m not ready, and if I were too, that would be an extremely expensive proposition for me to, since I would be eating through tires, brakes, and maintenance without really benefiting much from it. Perhaps if I had deeper pockets, I wouldn’t mind. But the thought of going through $1500-2000 every few months for tires and brakes just makes me cringe. In a conversation with a few M car guys, I remember saying something like “Man, I’m screwed I need to get new tires for my miata.. I’ve only been able to get about 6 months of continuous autocross out of them, and they’re going to eat into my budget of $500/set including balancing and install”…. Dead silence, followed by “fvck you and your cheap miata”…Though, really I wish I had the pockets to be trashing that M car or Porsche.

[Myriad]

Yeah, hard to believe a Lexus IS 350 F Sport will be worth $18k at 12 years.
I thought the problem with the IS-F was the extra weight compared to M4 and that M4 has a better torque profile.
There’s a lot to be said about lighter cars. I have a 135i as a weekend car and it’s fun to drive, but it’s still pretty heavy. Plenty of power for normal driving and normal+ driving on local roads.

What I find crazy is people driving M3/M4s and similar cars as daily commutes. So you get to spend all the maintenance associated with the car yet be limited to 50-60mph on non-freeway with all the traffic.

[Coronita]

[quote=Myriad]Yeah, hard to believe a Lexus IS 350 F Sport will be worth $18k at 12 years.
I thought the problem with the IS-F was the extra weight compared to M4 and that M4 has a better torque profile.
There’s a lot to be said about lighter cars. I have a 135i as a weekend car and it’s fun to drive, but it’s still pretty heavy. Plenty of power for normal driving and normal+ driving on local roads.

What I find crazy is people driving M3/M4s and similar cars as daily commutes. So you get to spend all the maintenance associated with the car yet be limited to 50-60mph on non-freeway with all the traffic.[/quote]

Many people that drive new BMW’s and Porsches don’t really own them. They are on a 3 year lease. For BMW’s, they don’t end up paying maintenance at all, except maybe tires at the end of the lease.

[Myriad]

True, but there are a lot of people that buy those cars used. And the used cars don’t usually have as good service coverage as the new cars.

[Author]

Posts