Looks like Jenny's going to have to sell the iX :(

[Joey Link]

Pshh, why would I sell my car? This is Jenny's situation. I only drive it like 50 miles a week, and it gets 16 city/27 highway.

[Jand3rson]

Pshh, why would I sell my car? This is Jenny's situation. I only drive it like 50 miles a week, and it gets 16 city/27 highway.

Dude, don't you have like 3 E30's? :D

[325Projectz]

Dude, don't you have like 3 E30's? :D

Whats wrong with that?

[Joey Link]

Yeah, what's wrong with that?

[B0ND]

Allow me to throw in my 2 cents about this. We'll compare a 318is ('90 or '91), Golf TDI (mkIII), and Civic (early to mid 90's).

Assumptions:
Miles driven per year: 25,000
Maintenance costs are all the same (oil changes, repairs, tires)
Initial Purchase price:
318is - $3000
Golf - $11000
Civic - $3000
MPG of each (driven on the freeway at a reasonable speed):
318is - 33 mpg
Golf - 50 mpg
Civic - 35 mpg
Price of fuel:
318is - $3.00/gal
Golf - $3.20/gal (diesel tends to be a little more expensive)
Civic - $3.00/gal
Depreciation of each per year:
318is - $400 (probably less)
Golf - $1500
Civic - $400
Insurance per year:
318is - $700 (not worth it to get collision insurance)
Golf - $1500 (Car is worth more, need collision insurance)
Civic - $700 (again, no collision)
Assume you must finance the balance of $8000 to purchase the golf, interest costs of $1000

Cost of ownership for 2 years (for things that differ):
318is - $9745
Golf - $21,200
Civic - $9486
Cost of ownership for 3 years:
318is - $13,118
Golf - $25,800
Civic - $12,729

Operating costs per year:
318is - $3,373
Golf - $4,600
Civic - $3,243

Residual value of car after 3 years:
318is - ~$2200
Golf - ~$6500 (maybe more?)
Civic - ~$2200

VALUE OF NOT BEING IN DEBT: $1000000000

Edit: I've got it all in a spreadsheet if you want me to email it to you so you can rearrange certain values how you see fit

[FredK]

B0ND, you must have more free time on your hands than me! :mrgreen:

Thanks for doing the calculations. I wasn't sure of the insurance laws in OR, but I know in many states, comprehensive / full collision is required for cars that have a loan out on them.

For non-ideal credit, the interest paid over the course of the loan starts to approach $1500 to $1600.

[B0ND]

B0ND, you must have more free time on your hands than me! :mrgreen:

Thanks for doing the calculations. I wasn't sure of the insurance laws in OR, but I know in many states, comprehensive / full collision is required for cars that have a loan out on them.

For non-ideal credit, the interest paid over the course of the loan starts to approach $1500 to $1600.

Those were all very gross approximations, the calculations took maybe 5 minutes...the right up was what actually took time. And no, I probably don't have much more time, but you know how it goes when you have crap you don't want to do.

[express_wagon]

As soon as I let my Pathfinder sit for a month, it went down the tubes. Same with my first e30. If you drive a car everyday, it seems to run better. Sure wear items are going to break, but its not good to let a car sit for long periods of time, use it, then repeat.

That's how my E30 behaves. I let it sit for a little bit, thing goes back into crappy idle and my electrical system goes haywire, again, after it fixed itself!