[quote author="irvine_home_owner" date=1246885269]Hey... blame graph for starting the "lame talk" about defining manhood.</blockquote>
Man... what is with you and RC? First you have this bromance with the polls, now you both miss my jokes. You guys are meant to be BFFs, or at least start up a juicy bromance. Just because RC digressed to his love for his Dakar yellow M3, and how he really wishes that he could have a car like that now, doesn't measure manhood. It's cool, at least you are down with bumping Dora the Explorer in your minivan, but RC hasn't accepted this fact. In fact, he has openly admitted he fights the cultural pathology. At least you are not co-dependent on something to help you justify it, er try to explain it, you just roll with the punches and love it. For that, I totally respect you.
<blockquote>While a 3-car family might be nice... not all of us can throw money around for that... especially in this economy with these gas prices. We need that extra dough for diapers, then education and then their own car and then college.
Not having a sportscar isn't the end of manhood... nor is it a sacrifice... once you have kids... you tend to think less about those things. But don't worry, those cravings come back once you hit 50-60+ and become an empty nester. By then I'll have the latest solar/water powered Mercedes hovercraft.</blockquote>
I think this is the difference in you and me, and several others here. My priority is not to have kids after you get married just because that is what society says you do, but to have my financial ducks in a row before I do have kids, if I ever do. I would rather not have kids if it meant a financial or life style strain on me. I want my kids to have the best, but I also want to be financially able to do the things I want to in the process. Selfish? Yes, but it is also very selfless for the kids. I don't want to make sacrifices, or whatever it is you call it when you have kids that you will know only when you do have kids, I want to be able to provide for them/kids and for myself in the process. I'm not just talking about buying an M3, but the car that <em>I</em> want. I'm a frugal bastard when it comes to cars. For example, my buddy bought an 93 E36 for $8k with 100k miles on it, I then went out and bought a 97 E36 for less than $7k with 100k miles on it. I will find a deal for a car that I want, when I want it. I am patient enough to do that. But no matter what, I will drive what I want to drive and feel comfortable in. I spend a lot of time in my car, and probably more time in it to come, and I want to be driving a car that I feel comfortable in and feel safe in. I'm not going to feel that way in a minivan, no matter how comfy the amenities are, or what gawd supposedly tells me.
Manhood aside, being able to buy a car I want, whether the kid trashes it is my goal. I want to not give a fawk, because it is just things. But, I do want to ride in comfort, and the comfort I am seeking is AWD at the moment for under $20k, like this A4...
http://images.autotrader.com/images...9260.263237252.IM1.MAIN.565x421_A.562x421.jpg
Try to get a minivan for $17k, that is 3 years old, with leather, with less than 40k miles, that kicks a$$. I don't care if the back seat is too small for a baby seat, that is what the trunk is for. Have you seen the trunk space in the Audi A4? It's FTW! You can get golf clubs plus two kids in there, no problem.