Traded in my 2012 Z.....

Akmcmahon

You have to remember that what I paid for the first year is what you pay for any car you own the first year. You can't just say the first year payments are a loss since you drove the car and got a years worth out of it. If I paid a year and never drove it, then I wasted a year of payments. But I got my years worth on the 2012. So now I'm starting over with the 2013. Does that makes sense? In the end it worked out for me to get into the car I actually wanted for not much more. I would have had to buy new tires which was the down payment. So for the same amount, I got a new car and a reasonably higher payment I can live with. So maybe I tricked myself into thinking it made sense or it actually does somehow, doesn't matter. Haha, I'm happy.

CDepp

No. You haven't wasted a year, they're stricken from the savings because it's all interest-payments. If you owe 5,000 over 5 years, and pay 1,000 in a year, you still owe over 4,000 for the remainder of the 4 years. I did a simplistic interest free math for you. Realistically, if you paid $540/mo on a 5yr/$30,000 car, and owned the car for 1 year at 3% interest, you still owed about $25,000 on the car.

You're not even close to the same amount. To have the same amount, you would literally have had to buy a ~$19,000 to $21,000 (guess/est.) new car. If you had to make a d/p that would have cost the savings from buying new tires, add back in the $2000 I marked as savings. This is ONLY money talking, not preference nor personal value of the car at this point.


I think you did, BUT, in your shoes, I think I would have done the same. Honestly. My fiancee would have stabbed me repeatedly for it, but at the end of the day, I'm an enthusiast. I love all cars and I love driving. I would never even come close to this type of decision on my mortgage or any other purchase, but I can see myself doing it with a car I loved!


(NOTE: my fiancee and I would both work up the payment tables and we would both notice the loss, but I would justify it as you did with the personal value I've gotten out of the car, the depreciation drop, and the value of a reset odometer and warranty. That's when the stabbing would begin)


Enjoy it!

__________________
-CDepp-
2011 MB Base+S M6 | Invidia Exhaust | TommyKairaHebiBeibi | H&R Spacers 15/20 | GTR Start | 305hp/240tq