car choice

bvl

I had a similar decision this year. DINKWADs that have worked hard for years. I keep cars a long time, so my DD is 2002 WRX and I had a very nicely modified classic miata.

My dream car is an NSX: I just like it. Not the fastest, not the best value, just something *I* really admire from an engineering and classic perspective.

However I couldn't justify spending more money on a used car vs. the 2010 ZR we picked up slightly used (also looked at Boxster's, Caymens).

Unless I owned my house outright, I personally cannot justify over 50K towards a car...its a bloody car, and its not a wise financial move.

100K ain't what it used to be thanks to our lovely tax system...but 50K out of pocket for a piece of metal with 4 tires is a lot of scratch.

So IMHO, I like option 3 which is to get a used fun car, share it with the wifey, and you each have a fun/practical DD for 10 years at a clip as cars
do last quite some time. So you are replacing a DD every 5 years lets say, and you put 5K/year away for that DD...25-30K should get you a very nice CPO car.

All the while, the 70K you didn't blow on that exotic pays down your mortgage, which is a real ROI you can count on (vs. the pathetic interest rates of today).

- b