What car do you drive? Did you lease, purchase/finance, or pay cash?

[panda]

Mercedes CLA is the entry level Mercedes in 2014 with a base price of $29,900. I love the sporty design but after test driving it the interior looks so cheap and drives worse than a Honda Civic.

Sometimes for fun and to sharpen up my negotiation skills, I like walking into a Mercedes dealership and just start negotiating with the manager. I started to negotiate the money factor, depreciation fee, financing fee, and residual value. I got the lease payments down to the bare bones. When you have all your calculations and numbers in your head, you can't lose. The best I was able to negotiate was $1700 off on the MSRP for the sports package CLA. I was planning on buying this car with cash, but just couldn't move forward with it as I knew that within 10 minutes I would get tired of this car and interior looks so dang cheap.

Back to square 1... Buying CLA is no longer an option.

Should I buy a brand new 2014 Hyundai Genesis with 100% cash down or a 2011 Mercedes E Class with 30k miles on it? Such a tough decision.

2014 Hyundai Genesis, in my personal opinion drives better than the 2014 Mercedes E Class.

 

[irvinehomeowner]

Are you tired of your Sienna? Or you need something more upscale to drive clients around in?

 

[panda]

I absolutely love my sienna and plan to keep it for another 9 years. After 1 year of driving it i still appreciate the mini van.

I am currently shopping for my business car.

 

[irvinehomeowner]

I'd go for the Genesis... more bang for the buck.

 

[Coleman]

Are you tired of your Sienna? Or you need something more upscale to drive clients around in?

Good question...  Panda - Do you feel that your clients in Georgia want you to be in a nicer car as it elicits success, wealth, and prosperity? 

Interest is pretty low these days so it seems like buying a great condition 2-3 year old model is a great buy.

Friend just picked up a 2011.75 model car with like a good amount of factory warranty left for a great deal.  Car lost like 40% value since new.  He will drive it for a couple years and fair not too bad on depreciation from his purchase price.

Right now I am wavering between getting a 2011 model this summer after the release of the newest version of the car (praying for a bit more depreciation) or getting a more collector type of car that has pretty much been wrung out in terms of depreciation and keeping my hoopty of a daily driver for ikea trips and other purposes that involve carrying stuff.

 

[panda]

I know man right? Iho. My mind and heart tells me to a buy 2014 genesis... but I may lose all my johns creek korean clients if I do. What to do???

This is one side of being a broker/agent that is not me.

 

[irvinehomeowner]

I find it funny that you would lose your Koren clients for buying a Korean flagship car.

But yeah... if you're going for the realtor ambience... MBZ or BMW. Go EV, get a B-Class or i3.

 

[eyephone]

High baller realtors drive the flashy cars.

 

[panda]

Interesting question Coleman.

In my first year of running my brokerage, most my clients are investors and don't really care what car I drive as we have similar mindset and values. Most of my time is spent feeding my clients the analysis and the deals, not driving clients around in my car. Many of my investor clients are Indian , Chinese and a few white investors. If I was doing the classical real estate agent model where I was actively picking up listings and driving buyers around, I think the type car you drive matters to these clients, particularly the Korean demographics.

Coleman, I think it is really smart to buy 2011 car for 40% less with cash. When you buy brand new, you lose 40% of its value in 3 years. I think that this is the direction to go when purchasing a car.

Are you tired of your Sienna? Or you need something more upscale to drive clients around in?

Good question...  Panda - Do you feel that your clients in Georgia want you to be in a nicer car as it elicits success, wealth, and prosperity? 

Interest is pretty low these days so it seems like buying a great condition 2-3 year old model is a great buy.

Friend just picked up a 2011.75 model car with like a good amount of factory warranty left for a great deal.  Car lost like 40% value since new.  He will drive it for a couple years and fair not too bad on depreciation from his purchase price.

Right now I am wavering between getting a 2011 model this summer after the release of the newest version of the car (praying for a bit more depreciation) or getting a more collector type of car that has pretty much been wrung out in terms of depreciation and keeping my hoopty of a daily driver for ikea trips and other purposes that involve carrying stuff.

 

[irvinehomeshopper]

I don't know why Homer drives a Lamborghini when he drives it at Irvine speed and I could beat him walking along Sand Canyon. That Darth shield he's wearing is so cool!

 

[usctrojancpa]

High baller realtors drive the flashy cars.

I have the anti-realtor car when I do my rounds as a realtor.  A lot of my clients get a kick out of having of following a street legal track car to the next house.  Heck, I even got some of the guys at the new home sales offices asking me if I track the car.  haha

 

[homer_simpson]

I don't know why Homer drives a Lamborghini when he drives it at Irvine speed and I could beat him walking along Sand Canyon. That Darth shield he's wearing is so cool!

My car is chick magnet and not a guy magnet.. I have to drive it at irvine speed so the ladies can catch up to it 

 

[panda]

Thank you for the 15 people who have voted. I am very happy to see how this poll is turning out as 33% of the voters have selected option #2: Purchase a 2011 $60k luxury car w/ 30k miles, negotiate it down to $30k and pay cash - Dave Remsey style  which is the option I am now leaning towards.

For the 5 people who have voted for option #2. Would you please care to share the following 5 questions:

1) model and year of your vehicle
2) MSRP value of the car if bought brand new
3) Miles on the car when purchased
4) Purchase price of your vehicle
5) Are you happy and satisfied with decision with option #2 today?

Thank you.

 

[paperboyNC]

Thank you for the 15 people who have voted. I am very happy to see how this poll is turning out as 33% of the voters have selected option #2: Purchase a 2011 $60k luxury car w/ 30k miles, negotiate it down to $30k and pay cash - Dave Remsey style  which is the option I am now leaning towards.

For the 5 people who have voted for option #2. Would you please care to share the following 5 questions:

1) model and year of your vehicle
2) MSRP value of the car if bought brand new
3) Miles on the car when purchased
4) Purchase price of your vehicle
5) Are you happy and satisfied with decision with option #2 today?

Thank you.

I talked to a guy who bought a $65K Mercedes brand-new for $42K. That's real baller.

 

[eyephone]

Dave Ramsey style - don't buy a car, if your car still works. Buy a used car if you need to buy a car.

His main philosophy - pay down debt by any means. Set a budget and live by it. Make sacrifices to achieve the GOAL. (don't go out, eat at home)

 

[usctrojancpa]

Dave Ramsey style - don't buy a car, if your car still works. Buy a used car if you need to buy a car.

+1 BINGO!  My dad taught me to not buy brand new cars and buy used from private party sellers since you'll be able to negotiate with them more than a dealer.  Let me first owner take the big depreciation hit.  The late model cars with low mileage that I bought over the years were purchased 25-30%+ below sticker price. 

 

[usctrojancpa]

I don't know why Homer drives a Lamborghini when he drives it at Irvine speed and I could beat him walking along Sand Canyon. That Darth shield he's wearing is so cool!

My car is chick magnet and not a guy magnet.. I have to drive it at irvine speed so the ladies can catch up to it 

My car caught your eyes (and ears) when we were driving on Irvine Blvd. 

 

[OpenSky]

>

 

[usctrojancpa]

Dave Ramsey style - don't buy a car, if your car still works. Buy a used car if you need to buy a car.

His main philosophy - pay down debt by any means. Set a budget and live by it. Make sacrifices to achieve the GOAL. (don't go out, eat at home)

Or OS style -- buy far less house than you can afford so you can enjoy life, drive to a nice restaurant in your newly leased car and not have to listen to Dave Ramsey all day.

Or just work harder and pay for everything in cash. haha

 

[OpenSky]