[A4] Prospective A4 Buyer

[docwyte at comcast.net]

Mortgage payments aren't stupid, as a house (in general) is an appreciating asset.  You're making money on that house while you're making payments vs losing money on the car while you're still paying for it.

I agree that it's a personal choice and a very prevalent one.  I was just making a purely financially based argument against leasing.

I think buying (especially leasing) a car on payments falls under the "want" category vs the "need" category.  We don't need to get a new car every three years, but we want to.  We don't need a $35k+ Audi, but we want it!  

I've been trying to resolve the need vs want by cherry picking cars on my "lust" list that are 15 years old or so.  That gets me my porsche turbo and Audi turbo quattros for reasonable prices that I can easily pay cash for.  Cars that have basically depreciated as far as they'll go and I can sell for very close to what I'm paying for them.  Obviously you have to be patient and buy the right car that's been maintained well and taken care of and you have to be willing to get a little dirty working on it yourself, but you end up with some very fun steeds in the stable, for far less cash than a new Toyota Corolla costs...

-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: "Nicholas Stock" <nickstock at gmail.com> 

> Doc, you're right car payments are stupid...but so are mortgage 
> payments...they're a means to an end in a capitalist economy. I would 
> have to save for several years to afford my expensive Audi, but in the 
> years it would take I'd have missed out on the chance to enjoy this 
> fabulous car...I also got a VERY low interest rate on the loan, and 
> coupled with the trade in for the old Audi it was affordable (for me). 
> I suppose what I'm trying to say is different people do different 
> things for a variety of reasons. If you buy secondhand that also has 
> it's own set of issues (not getting ripped off, buying a lemon, 
> warranties...etc..etc). Most of the people on this list probably 
> wouldn't be too scared of that as we're reasonably mechanically minded 
> and could spot trouble or ask for advice (thanks guys and gals..). I 
> agree with your points on the lease. 
> 
> more of my 2 cents... 
> 
> Regards to all, 
> 
> Nick