My wife said no!

jginnane

Sorry I missed your post in all the "lifestyle" chatter.

No, a Hyundai isn't the same. But it's relatively affordable for where this person is at this moment in life -- and maybe, just maybe, that's good Enough.

I'd be real happy if he could comfortably swing the Z, but it looks like he's right at the edge of being able to do it. There's no safety margin -- which he needs for the thousand other things in life beyond having a nice car. I don't want to see his dream car showing up in our "trading post" forum in six months or a year because some random unexpected thing happened.

And -- do you think he's even budgeted routine stuff like brakes and tires? The Z isn't an exotic car by any stretch, but the treadwear rating on OEM treads for both base and sport models says you'll be buying new shoes before 2 years (24K). Most of us will gulp and take it -- I know my base/touring will go to Goodyear F1 Eagle A/S, when the time comes. People with the sport package will pay quite a bit more. But if you're in this fellow's place, you don't have an extra thousand floating around for something so routine and obvious like that.

Inspector71

I appreciate your frankness. I did some checking and it is not $554 for 72 months but for 84 months. Give or take, that comes out to around $42,210.00 dollars for a $31,000 dollar car...a 7 year loan. I could pay it off early by sending in more than the payment but I need to really think about this.

Inspector71

Thank you very much for an excellent post. Naturally it is not what I want to hear but need to read. I am definitely reflecting on what you have said and having second thoughts about whether the time is right. Again, I really appreciate you taking the time to offer very wise advice. Also, I too was wondering about the cost of tires and so forth. The Pathfinder is in such good condition it looks brand new. I baby everything I own which is why my Rx7 is going strong and its an 86...

E-Licious

$554 x 84 months = $46,536. It's also equal to "not worth it"