My situation. What would you do?
#1
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My situation. What would you do?
So Im a sales guy who travels from place to place. Currently have 94k miles on my is350. I've got some Mods on it. Nice wheels, slammed, lip kit etc. My car is always exposed to the sun, I use AC a lot.
I feel like it takes a beating due to driving in 80-90 miles a day on the freeway and city stop and go. I visit 9 different supermarkets 5 days a week and annoyed of the people who leave their shopping carts next to my car. (ive gotten a few dings from it)
The value of my car is depreciating dramatically
What would you do?
1) keep daily driving the car and keep maintenance up to date?
Use the is350 as my weekend car and
2) Get my moms Mercedes s320 and maintain it. It's a 1997 and needs some work and currently has 160k miles. She no longer uses it but it wastes a lot of gas.
3) buy my friends mr2 for $1k and get everything fixed. Needs a lot of stuff done to it aswell.
I feel like it takes a beating due to driving in 80-90 miles a day on the freeway and city stop and go. I visit 9 different supermarkets 5 days a week and annoyed of the people who leave their shopping carts next to my car. (ive gotten a few dings from it)
The value of my car is depreciating dramatically
What would you do?
1) keep daily driving the car and keep maintenance up to date?
Use the is350 as my weekend car and
2) Get my moms Mercedes s320 and maintain it. It's a 1997 and needs some work and currently has 160k miles. She no longer uses it but it wastes a lot of gas.
3) buy my friends mr2 for $1k and get everything fixed. Needs a lot of stuff done to it aswell.
#4
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iTrader: (1)
Id keep driving the IS as a daily, in my line of work i drive alot as well, and i couldnt imagine a less comforable car. why have something nice to only use it on the weekends? beside the extra money for insurance and maintaining a 2nd car in addition to to maintence, insurance for the IS, will more then likely even out. ive got an 08 with 70k miles on it, drives like the first day it came from the lot. but thats my opinion
#5
Lexus Test Driver
This is tough.. My wife drive the IS more than I do, just because I don't want to rack up a bunch of miles. However, I don't really like your alternatives either. How many miles do you estimate you put on it in a year? The downside to running miles up is obviously resale value, along with parts failing eventually. If you aren't worried about the resale value anytime soon and you don't mind the extra maintenance or occasional repairs...... Drive it and enjoy it!
#7
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Drive the IS. MB will be hell to maintain with that amount of mileage and at least the IS will be reliable for a long time to come.
As a fellow 91 mr2 owner, I would PASS if I were you since you need a reliable daily. These cars tend to become money pits simply do to their age and common neglect. If the MR2 was well maintained by the previous owners and has the 2.2l 5sfe, it could be very reliable. Turbo models are somewhat reliable if maintained properly, but hey it's a 20+ year old forced induction car....expectations can't be THAT high. The good...is that you live in Cali. Parts and owners are plentiful and the mr2 community are always willing to help you out.
As a fellow 91 mr2 owner, I would PASS if I were you since you need a reliable daily. These cars tend to become money pits simply do to their age and common neglect. If the MR2 was well maintained by the previous owners and has the 2.2l 5sfe, it could be very reliable. Turbo models are somewhat reliable if maintained properly, but hey it's a 20+ year old forced induction car....expectations can't be THAT high. The good...is that you live in Cali. Parts and owners are plentiful and the mr2 community are always willing to help you out.
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#9
I'm gonna agree with Silver10 on this one. I used to put 80 miles on my car a day commuting to work. I ended up moving across town to reduce the miles by nearly half, but only 10 minutes off the commute. I loved where I was living originally, and now I'm moving within the area and after one venture, I don't see a comparable place for the price I paid. So in the end, I may end up spending more but driving less. Also, the car is a tank. I have an '06 with nearly 90,000 miles and it's never given me any mechanical issues. It drives like when I first bought it and I think it'll continue to do so for another 90,000. Enjoy the car as much as you can, get as much out of it as you can, and it just might last quite a while.
#13
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reading the question you posed I felt as though I was reading my own story. The only difference really is the IS350. I currently drive an IS250. I too drive almost exactly the same miles 5 days a week, except my clients are car dealers. I sold my 2005 C230 k MB with 115k miles. The Benz gave me great MPG and better than the IS250, but everytime it needed something it was more than my mortgage payment. For me the throttle actuator went out and the part is $1500 plus labor that told me to let the car go. I had an 88 MR2. Great car, but too low to the ground now that I have put on a few years and certainly not what I would consider comfortable. All of your options come with a lot of expenses just to get down the road the first day, then will continue to nickle and $100 bill you to death. I had the same concerns and thought about getting a corolla or civic, but then I have to drive the Hopefully your employer pays you mileage and if so just make sure you put ALL that money towards paying off your car or towards your next one. If you had a different job that didnt pay for mileage you would still have a fuel expense so it would be money out of pocket also.
#15
Lexus Test Driver
Keep your car bro, you invested so much into it, why let it go now? Unless your upgrading or find a cheaper car to commute that wouldnt require much to fix up or eat so much fuel... For example I sold my fixed up G37S to upgrade to an ISF and I use my Civic to the gym and whenever I dont feel like running the F... Its always nice to have a beater to beat up on LOL