Buying a new car; any suggestions?

[Gurm]

My apologies. Of course they are also motivated by the $$$.

- Gurm

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Listen up, you primitive screwheads! See this? This is my BOOMSTICK! Etc. etc.

[The Rock]

I'm still slobbering over the BMWs, but I have now decided to wait until I do 2 things:

a) save up a $10,000 down payment
b) get promoted at work

I should have both of these things done by late September or early October. Just in time for winter to begin.

Bart

[Johnny Ray]

The Rock,

Yep...whatever you do, don't go drive one. My friends warned to NOT testdrive one, because I would buy one on the spot.

Here's how my purchase evolved. I knew what I wanted....a 330 sedan (personally I think they look better, and a little more practical for me) with a stick and sports package. As Gurm pointed out, a sedan with a sports package is tough to find, and even a sedan with a stick is a tall order. My plan was to go see one in the color I wanted (orient blue), then order it online. I found one in the color I wanted at a near-by dealer (most dealers in California have their inventory on-line). It was described as an automatic and a little too pimped out for me (leather seats, moon-roof, xenon lights, etc.). I saw it and loved it. The car dealer saw me lusting over it, asked if I wanted to testdrive. Surprisingly it DID have a stick. I drove it just around the block and that was enough; I couldn't believe it. I really wanted the sports package and didn't want to pay for all extras, but I also didn't want to wait for 3 months for the delivery of a new one from Germany. I was able to negotiate $3000 off the price, thus basically getting all the pimp-daddy features for free. I wrote a check for $20k and drove the damn thing off the lot 30 min later.

I really love it. I checked Carpoint (online auto seller) and I paid $1500 less then what they would have sold the same car for with a 3 month wait.

I'm enjoying it much more than I thought I would.

John

[agallag]

Damn, I want that car. I mean I really want that car. I can't see myself getting one for a few years though.

For one, I have a year and a half left on the lease on my protege (which has a manual and is therefore still a lot of fun). For another, I just got my motorcycle license on Sunday, so I'll have to drop a pile of money on one of those now too. I think the bike will hold me over while I'm waiting to buy a bimmer.

Of course, eventually, I'll want both vehicles to have those three wonderful letters on them, but unfortunately I don't make $200k/year yet

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Andrew
Carpe Cerevisi

[Wombat]

I had a bit of a reality check myself. Onces I started putting into a 401k and a bunch of other things, my car budget is now deciding between the Sentra SE and the Protege ES 2.0

hrm.

[Greebe]

Andrew, please be ultra super careful if you're going to ride a bike! Most (98%) of all drivers don't see motorcyclists! I know from many years of experience. Just ask my back, neck, tibia (and the 10"long plate in it) and my hip that's now bolted together!

All are from different accidents caused by blind drivers.

[Alec]

Yes, and the remaining 2 percent of the motorcyclists don´t see drivers! LOL

[Gurm]

I was always a Volvo man. But they stopped making rear wheel drive cars. I had never driven my friend's BMW, and it was the base model so when I rode in it I wasn't terribly impressed.

I had $12k to drop on a car. Practicality urged me to spend it on a brand new Kia or Hyundai with one of those super-long warranties (so when it DID break, as it inevitably would, I could afford to get it fixed).

Well, I drove a BMW on a lark. It was a 1994 318is. A little 4-banger. I scared the sales guy half to death when I pegged the rev limiter in every gear... and then again when I tested the ABS.

DAMN. I was hooked. Ended up buying my car - a 1993 325is with sport package and spoiler (the spoiler wasn't a big draw, but the price was right and it looks worse taken off - little holes in the fenders...).

Since then, I've bought:

- New rims and tires (well, used but the new sport 16" double spokes): $1000 for 5 tires delivered and insured.

- New muffler (they go): $325 installed

And the total maintenance has been:

- New water pump, Oxygen sensor, thermostat, and fan clutch: $400 (not necessary repairs, but preventative - the old pumps used plastic impellers and they can shatter and destroy your radiator)

- Brakes all the way around: $500-ish

- Spark plugs ('cuz the Bosch platinum +4's that the car geeks all swear by got EATEN in 1000 miles by my engine): $15 + $75 fee for the dealer to figure out why the ignition system was failing while I was on a TRIP. ARGH!

Now next week I'm putting on new shocks and springs ($250 for the shocks and $200 for the springs). This car is getting to be an expensive habit, but it's not bad considering I _knew_ it needed most of this when I bought the car.

People who haven't driven a BMW don't understand. They're just so... so... *sigh*

- Gurm

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Listen up, you primitive screwheads! See this? This is my BOOMSTICK! Etc. etc.

[Indiana]

And never, never ever test-drive a 330Ci open in a country where it's not f*cking cold all the time. You're going to get one (or at least a 323Ci).
And yes, it "races" quite well...

[The Rock]

WOOHOOOO!! Our government and the public servants union agreed to a strike-avoiding salary deal, meaning my starting salary when I get promoted will be about $5000 more a year than I thought! Plus I get a nice retroactive paycheck along with a current raise. How much are dem 330s?

Bart

[Johnny Ray]

Bart,

Congrats on the job stuff. Time to celebrate with a new 330. I put 400 miles on mine over the weekend just driving around.

John