egs21

I'm a finance guy and I got to thinking about the financial benefit of owning a GS after reading about fellow members who have 200k and some with even 300k of trouble free miles on their GS's. I have 89k on my GS300 and took out a small 2 year car loan to purchase it. I drive 10k per year. Assuming I drive the GS to 200k I am looking at a decade of reliable and stylish transportation not to mention 8 of those years being without a car payment. Figure a $250/month car payment over 8 years is $24,000. Granted a small portion of that money will be needed for maintenance, but overall the financial benefits are huge.

I'm sure there are many others on this forum in my situation. Just want to commend all of you for making such a smart financial decision

porn-adkt

iTrader: (37)

huh???? im not following

pheonix72

iTrader: (6)

Me neither;-) but I think what he said is that he would saved $24k over the 10 years. The same situations could be said for anyone who purchased a reliable car and keep it for 10 years. You dont have to buy a Lexus to get this type of financial benefits

Maserati

iTrader: (1)

Well, if you do own the car for that long. you'll save money than going to buy a newer vehicle.

porn-adkt

iTrader: (37)

I see, very well translated from Yoda into English

He could also flip it here on CL for a grip and buy a house I do finance and sell cars

mk2tmr2

iTrader: (1)

I have zero financial benefit to owning my GS. I keep dumping money into it. Better, faster, stronger!

Not sure you can run with the "I'll have a stylish car for the next 10 years" concept. Hell...the car will be a certified classic in the next 10 years. It's already over a 15 year old design. But, I suppose, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

egs21

Sorry for the "yoda financial confusion" :-) It made sense to me in my mind :-)

To sum up my long, drawn out post, yes you can save a lot of money buying a used, reliable car that will last along time. In our case, that car is a the 2nd generation GS.

Never said you "had to buy a Lexus". Was just using the GS as an example given this a GS forum. Certainly you could do this with any reliable car. I just like having something as nice and stylish as the 2nd generation GS. I think its design will stand the test of time.

raytseng

not a good choice for "financial benefit" if that's the only factor you're crunching on.

this engine design is 20years old and will eek out about 20mpg in practice, a newer car can do much better, and save you money that way.

I also don't like the assumption that because someone else drove to 200k miles, you can do so as well.
There are also years to consider.
I would trust a newer car to make it 10years down the line more than even a lower miles 2GS that's already had it's bar mitzvah.

DosyBoy

iTrader: (1)

Lol I'm with u... ZERO!!! Although is being in the negatives an option?

Lexusfam

iTrader: (3)

there is no such thing as "financial benefits" with ANY car. It's not an asset, especially when the mods start.

egs21

I disagree. You have to factor the cost of depreciation of a new car. I paid $10k for my Lexus. A new car would be at least twice that cost if not more if I wanted something comparable to my GS. Sure I would get better gas mileage, but not to the tune of $10k or more in savings. People always make that dumb mistake of buying a new car mainly for gas mileage. In doing so they go back into debt and the cycle of car payments to save maybe $500/year in fuel costs. Only the very wealthy should be new cars as the average person shouldn't take that sort of depreciation hit.

Lastly, miles are far more important than years in a car. My GS is a perfect example. Bought it in July 2013 with on 87k for miles. That is around 7,000/miles per year. Car was garaged when it was not in use. So basically it was driven half the miles of the average car its age which makes a huge difference.

egs21

A car is not truly an asset. However they are necessary for day to day lives of most people who may not live/work in a big city with public transportation. My point is you can make a good financial decision by purchasing a well maintained, used car that is known to be reliable and has taken most of its depreciation. A 2nd generation GS is a good example of such a car.

ttaylor993

A car may or may not be an asset. If you think some cars aren't assets, just ask Jay Leno. He's got a garage full of "non-assets".

There are a lot of factors that go into that determination. For most people, it is not an asset. But for some it is. At some point, after a car's value has reached a certain low point, if it is well maintained, its value will begin to increase as it ages. Generally because there will be fewer and fewer of that model in existence. A possession that increases in net value is an asset.

Its not a cut and dried questioned.

SC4Paulo

iTrader: (2)

Paid $3500, get 13-18mph, dump money into maintenance and mods, I'm broke. :P

aneidiaz

I wouldn't.... In the capitalstic society we live in, these "new" cars with these "warranties" were only made to MESS UP..... NONE of these new PLASTIC cars on the road will last longer then a 2GS model... They're ALL made to keep you coming back to the dealer to repair CHEAPLY made things with your so called "warranty" that always manages to exclude a small cost that will eventually come out YOUR POCKET... Ppl who have faith in these new age cars ARE VERY WRONG..... And I'm a 21 year old saying this... I've worked on them all with my pops... They truly JUST DONT MAKE THEM like they use to. Every year it's more trash... It's Quantity over Quality that's running these car companies nowadays... Maybe with a few exception of HIGHLY EXPENSIVE cars, don't expect too much LONG LASTING quality from these new age cars.