Guitarman

Well, after about 4 months of waiting and saving and visiting here and learning from all of you, my wife and I went to a guy with a real good reputation and asked him to find us a '98 GS4. He's a used car dealer in Orlando that only sells pristine high end cars with low mileage, that's his rep. He's known for his pickiness, and the cars on his lot do reflect that.
We told him specifics on what we want; mileage not as important as condition, pearl and silver were our color choices in that order, and Nav is a priority, at least initially. He said he thought there were very few '98's with Nav, and seemed to dissuade me away from that, but I told him to just try for a month and if it didn't seem possible, I'd lower my expectations. Also, 17"rims preferred, though I know they’re more doable to replace aftermarket if that's how it turns out (getting 16"'s on a sweet car with everything thing else intact I mean ). If I did get the 17"'s it's unlikely I'd change them out.
Problem is, we may still NOT have enough $$$ to get the right car, and I get worried. I don't want junk...We told him $27K tops, but that has to include taxes title and his broker fee, which, stupidly I forgot to ask about. I did email him back and mention that we didn't know what that would be, hint , hint...He did take a (refundable ) deposit.

We asked him if he thought we'd be in the "ballpark" for a nice loaded GS at the auction for that price, and he seemed to think so, as he looked in his black book. I know some of you have purchased these cars at that or even less, but how did you afford the taxes and extended warranty etc.? Did you roll it into the loan, pay cash? Credit card it? We will be depleting our savings pretty much to get this car, so the monthly payment will have to include as much of this extra stuff as is possible.

We are in a good position though, in that we CAN wait, and save more cash. We're putting down about $10k and taking a loan for up to $17k. I want a low monthly payment that is real easy for us. Any feedback is appreciated.

He mentioned to me that a car with a partial remaining warranty is cheaper to purchase an extended warranty for. True? Who has purchased a 100k aftermarket warranty? Is $1500 ballpark? We CAN put that on our credit card , so if we can't fit that into the purchase, we can deal with it.

He said a HUGE Lexus auction is due on March 12 with over 400 cars. We'll see what happens. I WANT ONE OF THESE CARS!!!!!

Do you guys see this as possible? Tell me straight, I can take it.If not, it’s bustin’ our butts for a couple more months I guess.

Hohlraum

You did look on autotrader.com right? I see over 320 used 98 GS400's listed. I also noticed that the average advertised price is 30k. So you might be _alittle_ low on the 27K limit by maybe 1500 or so but you should beable to find something.

mooretorque

well, I would hate to rain on the parade, and it is your money........BUT.........have you considered costs of maintainence here? You post that $27k will exhaust your savings and then some, since you are financing 17k, and you are going to put the extended warranty on your credit card ($1.5k is about right, btw, maybe even a couple hundred on the high side). Maintainence is not cheap on these vehicles. And if you are going for high performance rubber for 17" or larger wheels, you are looking at more than $1k EVERY time you get to replace all 4, which will be relatively often if you buy sticky shoes commensurate with your car's handling abilities (and if you don't, you'll wonder why you ever heard the car had a reputation for good habndling......tires are of immense importance in this regard).

It seems to me that you are financially hanging your *ss out on the line. I'm not sure your planned course of action is wisest, though it is your money. I'd at least save a bit more so you might not completely zero your savings.

But that's just me, and I'm kind of an old guy who's gotten more conservative in my outlook. Plus, free advice is worthless by definition, so take it for what it's worth..........

Good luck!

Guitarman

Welp, I appreciate the feedback, and I do understand what you're saying, but it's really not as bad a $$$ situation as maybe I made it seem. My wife and I just want a REALLY easy payment of around $300 a month , give or take a few. This will still leave us about $1200 a month AFTER all our bills are paid, so having money for maintenance isn't a worry for us, and we can also build our bank account back up pretty fast this way. We're just kind of used to having a lot of extra money around each month, and would rather spend a bit more in downpayment / term and interest and continue to breath easy. In effect, we're spoiled, lol.

I presently drive a semi-high perf. car with 17" wheels and 255-45 zr tires, so I know the costs and wear issues of thatkind of vehicle and always go with synthetic oil and name brand stuff for upkeep.
I'm prepared for the maintenance, and I'm not exactly a youngster myself at 44 (just sound younger perhaps due to my excitement. heh).
I just wanted to know if anyone else got a nice one for about that amount. I have scoured Traderonline for MONTHS now, but i'm not crazy about buying a car on a seller's say so, and having it shipped. There are currently no sweet ones in my area at dealerships, in my price range anyway. This broker told me if I really didn't like that car he found, he wouldn't hold me to it, so at least I have some margin for error here. Make sense?

I should also mention that I have NEVER before bought off a dealer, always private owners, but the GS4's are few and far between near me. (I'm near Daytona Beach, about an hour from Orlando ).
I will reflect on the comments though, and I appreciate the feedback. Dan H

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

Dan - I'm with mooretorque on this... especially if you're in your 40s, you probably shouldn't be depleting savings significantly unless your retirement nest egg is in good shape and the 'savings' aren't really for the future or a rainy day or you expect to work for a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time.

But I know what it's like when you really want something. But my advice would be to see if you can really save the $1200 (or a good portion of it) for 6 more months at least, then your down payment might be $16000 instead of $10000 plus the car will be cheaper. It will make things a LOT easier financially.

I find a good way to hold off a car purchase is to get the one you have detailed and serviced! Sounds strange, but you then find new appreciation for what you have.

Guitarman

Makes sense really. This isn't our retirement savings at all, we'd never touch that for a car anyway... yet...I think i'm gonna wait a bit longer UNLESS I/ he can find something that allows me to keep a couple grand available.

These cars are worth waiting for if everything I read is correct. Thanks for all the advice.I'll keep you posted.