as of right now with audi temecula, i'm not losing anything on the x2, i have a 2k worth of equity. the MSRP of the S4 is like almost 67k, let's say that the local dealership is giving me quite the incentive to purchase the vehicle but much less so to lease it and i'm assuming because even though the discount is really quite generous that their profit margin on this vehicle is larger with a purchase.

just now i went into the garage and i was taking a good hard look at the x2 m35i and it's a handsome little hatch/cuv, especially in m35i form where there is no grey or black body cladding which dresses it up nicely.. i did have lowering springs installed (either eibach or h&r, i forgot) and that improved body roll/handling but didn't eliminate it. i'm wondering if buying a set of coilovers would further reduce body roll or if in the process it would also destroy an already firm ride. it's not uncomfortable as it is now, but it is firm and i kinda feel that any lower and thing will ride horribly.

that said, i don't want to be stuck with either the s4 nor the m35i for the next x amount of years, so i'm kinda unsure what to do between the two options that i have to toy with: keeping the x2 or buying the s4. because we were gifted funds unnecessarily really, but were by my SOs parents last night, we hadn't really thought out what we were going to do and i think he might take the m35i and pay it off (i financed about 2/3 of the purchase price) while i'm free to do what i wish and not the other way around because i'm the car nut. alternatively, i could keep the x2 and my SO can buy.

i have an appointment at 2pm tomorrow to see and test drive the car and purchase should i like it and i suppose i could put down 10k? 15k? i dunno. i definitely don't want to buy the car outright because, well, i don't know if i'll absolutely love it.

 

that is one fine 'wrench'. Be careful about tax consequences of such a large gift.

the x2 m35i you JUST got?

so i think you're saying you owe 1-2k more than you can get for trade-in, not that you'd only be losing 1-2k on your purchase of the x2, because there's no way. So you'd also be losing any equity money (trade-in, extra downpayment) you brought to the x2 deal as well. Easy come easy go i guess.

What's wrong with the white that it is?

 

Ah, so that's why you can't make a decision and you're all over the map and you want it 'all'.

Plus you got a free house in a great area. Money for a free new car. You and partner have good paying jobs. Man you're all set. Get what you want and stop agonizing.

Quick side to relate...

We all know last year was a s h 1 t show. I agonized most of the year on getting an LC500. It made ZERO sense. I don't drive a ton. It's not very roomy. Can't really use a lot of its performance on regular roads. But i wanted one. For many reasons. It's a Lexus V8. It doesn't have stupid start/stop, It's got a split personality (quiet when driven normally, and can be loud and snappy when driven abnormally ). It's EXQUISITE in design outside and inside.

But as the year ended, i decided i had to pull the trigger. I don't regret it. i don't drive it a lot, but when i do, it's magic.

I think you've moved around different vehicles because you're trying to find something special without spending a fortune, or your needs are conflicting. Heck, i thought i'd probably get another suv instead of the LC. Instead i bought a clean but used camry for work duty. My clients don't need to see me pull up in an LC.

So my advice, sell a few watches and get an LC500.

 

Idk about davyjordi, but I still need to buy watches. Also a millennial, here. However, it does sound like that financial situation is well-sorted. Though, wife and I are selling our house at the moment, and, uh, it's a seller's market. Though it'll probably go straight to the "future home" fund as we relocate.

Anywho, I definitely feel the pain. My GTI only stayed in my stable for 9 months before I hopped into the GLI. Hard to know what you want without trying. I only lost about $1500 on the trade - similar to your negative equity situation - so it seemed worth it. I discovered I preferred having a newer, more basic car I could afford over having a fully-loaded one that had unknown history and weird issues. Lesson learned. I used to be judgmental about people who frequently swapped cars, but hey, I have been there multiple times now.

 

That paranoid part of me forces me to buy new. I won't ever buy used ever again because i want to know the history of the car. I don't judge people who have the car disease...i am well aware of that impulse to switch cars

 

I won't use any names, but, Folks, seems like our role, here in the thread, is to help davyjordi make a credible decision on a new vehicle, in a world full of marketers competing for our $$$$$, where there are a number of good (or at least adequate) potential choices, and not to criticize him for hesitating to make a quick, snap decision on how to fork over well into five figures.....maybe 50K or more. That's not something you just do at the drop of a hat. For example, I thought long and hard about whether I wanted to replace my Lacrosse or not, given the set of driving conditions I was faced with today. And, for those of you who knew Russ (rdgdawg) here on CL, you'll remember that he sometimes also had a difficult time making up his mind......particularly when he went out to look at Corvettes, Shelby Mustangs, and other American muscle-cars.

 

thank you, mike. you hit the nail on the head and i really appreciate this message. the decision isn't something that i'm taking lightly, but my financial situation is very secure and there isn't need to discuss what i should or should not be doing with money. i think i've made it clear that we have money to play with, so if i want to purchase x, y, or z -- cars in this case, i'm asking for advice on the potential car purchase, not financial advice. we are doing very well. '

as for the lc600, bit - i knowwww but i don't want to buy a used one because if i'm buying an lc it has to be new but i also don't want to buy a brand new one because i heard the gas mileage is horrible. it is something to think about, though. bit, read past the post you quoted as i had laid out aa few more options that we discussed last night. i'm definitely NOT selling watches lol. my watches and i are inseparable!

i'm still sitting here on the fence on whether to buy this thing or to just either keep the m35i or have my SO keep the m35i and have him pay it off and me use the remainder of the funds to help buy the s4. i just don't darn know. i have a headache.

ps arentz, you need to get into mechanical watch collecting - they are so cool!

 

Seems like Lexus is hinting at an IS500 F-Sport coming out late this year. If you can wait that long...

 

i hate the way the new IS looks. i think it was styled horribly. i know a lot of members here think it's good looking, but i prefer the pre-refreshed look of 2017-2020 far, FAAAAAR more. i'd never buy the 'new' IS even if they shoved the 5l V8 into it.

 

As bit was saying, this is not how you calculate how much you're losing on the x2. The equation is total amount paid for the X2 (including tax, title, license, dealer fees, aftermarket add-ons, etc, BEFORE any down payment or trade-in), minus the trade-in value you're now being offered. I'm guessing this will be a five-digit number. In fact it has to be, since if I've followed correctly, you put $12k and 1.5 paid-off cars into your current car, and can now get $2k back out of it.

And your experience here with Audi is quite typical. They tend to lease horribly, although you are starting to see some leases pop up on the volume CUVs that are less insane than in the past. But it's almost always better to buy an Audi rather than lease. I think our Q7 would have been like $1300/mo if we had leased. That's S-class money.

 

Do the math... if gas mileage is horrible vs decent, the cost difference just isn't that huge.

12000 mi. @ 12mpg is 1000 gallons.
12000 mi. @ 24mpg is 500 gallons.
diff is 500 gallons @ $3 is $1500.

The lc500 mpg varies widely (probably about between those two numbers above, lol ) depending on how it's driven.

I won't be driving it 12000 mi. a year so gas is just a non-issue for me.

 

Interesting. I may be in the minority, but I feel the styling was one of the few things I liked about the "new" IS when it was revealed. Obviously the lack of powertrain updates is a shame, and I am also a little disappointed that it was merely a refresh and not a full redesign. The V8 would make the car a lot more tempting since it'd be net-new to the platform.

Curious if you ever considered the C 43 AMG? Not sure where exactly your price range ends but it feels like a direct S4 competitor. A friend of mine had a C 450 AMG back in the day before it was renamed to C 43, and I thought it was fantastic back then. Granted this was over 5 years ago lol.

 

i did actually! i like the way the audi is styled more than the mb and i also know that the new c-class is about to be revealed. price range is up to 70k that i've limited myself to. it was originally 60k but i upped it because i didn't find anything that i liked within that price range. the extra 10k makes a difference.

bit, you may be right, buttttttt i don't want to up my self-imposed limit even further or else i'll get out of control.

 

Just from an outside observer what Im seeing is you're restraining yourself to buy cars that are less than what you really want and thats causing you to get dissatisfied with them and trade out of them after a short time. The net cost of this is HUGE, and you could drive a much more expensive car that you would be satisfied with for longer. My advice would be, bite the bullet and get what you want.

 

what did i state very clearly prior? that i do NOT want financial advice. i know what i have in the bank, what i disposable income i have, what i have to allocate to keep the estate running and everything ancillary. i do not that i could have made it clearer. please do not offer any financial advice as that's not what i'm asking for and it's not polite when it's unsolicited. if i wanted to spend 10k on twinkies and i were able to, then so be it. you deal with your finances, which are clearly different than mine and i'll deal with my own.