There is a particular house that I see every so often when I go to 1 particular place. The house is small, run down, unkempt, and you may even call it dilapidated. But in the driveway are two tricked out pickup trucks. I would assume that the original value of the pickup trucks exceeds the value of the house.
The point is that if you want to spend a lot on vehicles, then you there is an opportunity cost to spend less on other things, such as housing, retirement savings, travel, etc.
When I was younger, I had small cars for years too, including a Chevette, an Escort, and a Civic. I drove them because they were cheap, not because they were “fine”.
Nobody 6’5" fits fine in a Corolla. At best, it is just tolerable, even for a young guy with a limber spine (two characteristics I don’t share). Just saying this is as silly as saying “My son’s feet are 14 inches long, but he fits just fine in a size 9 shoe.”
There are 38.3 inches of headroom in a current edition Corolla. If you are 77 inches tall, you are going to have a torso longer than 38". That means you have to slouch and/or lean the seat back. That kills passenger room for the guy behind the driver. Also, if you have broad shoulders, now the door pillar takes up lateral seating room when the seat is reclined. I promise you, if he is “fine” in a Corolla, he would be ecstatic in an Avalon.
Do you have hard wooden chairs as the only seating option in your living room/family room? After all, you are saying an uncomfortable seat is “fine”. Or do you have a sofa and/or an easy chair?
The issue is that the cold air has nowhere to go. It’s kind of like a closed vent on an air conditioner. I find myself leaning forward to let some of the air out to cool the seat down. They’re less awesome than I’d figured they would be.
But it’s definitely better than not having the ventilated seats.
My current car was paid for with a portion of my bonus that year. Well probably do something similar for the next car.
I voted 6 months, thinking in terms of wages in general. However, as a “seasoned actuary”, I think even 3 months’ wages would be excessive for my tastes.
As a “seasoned actuary” 3mo is not too much for my tastes, just too much for my budget! I am not sure where the worry about a very valuable object exposed to the danger of the road exceeds the enjoyment of the car, but is much higher than I can afford. Early in my career I did lease a car that was on the order of 9-10 mo.
Could be ideal buying conditions in early 2023. The chip shortage is easing and automakers will be dumping inventory that has been setting around waiting for chips into a market with receding demand due to increased borrowing costs.
OK, I am shopping hard for a new car. Dealerships are empty. I literally walked out of a Subaru dealership on Saturday as the 2 cars that they had when I got there were sold while we still there. They asked if I wanted to counter bid other customers at the dealership, but I shied away from a bidding war. I wasn’t blown away by the Forrester. I thought the engine was lacking in power.
Subaru was asking for sticker + $2000 on the 2 cars they started with (which were like 30k and 35k stickers to begin with)
The Nissan dealer told me the 7 cars they had were all sticker + $3900.
A Toyota dealership a few towns away told me they would take an order with deposit for a new car at sticker + $0 but I would have a 6 to 9 month wait. I think I am leaning this way.
It really cheeses me that all the dealership websites around me (all of them) say they have inventory that in reality they do not have.
