daverea.com

Every few months (or, in some guys’ brains, every few minutes) conditions line up just right for me to go car shopping. Sometimes I’m just “being a car guy” – strolling the lots on a Sunday afternoon, with no interest in actually buying (or even pricing) anything. Other times, something on my car will break or malfunction, and I’ll start wondering (again) if it might be getting close to trade-in time. Yet other times (like tonight), I’ll visit an auto show or see some juicy tidbit of automotive news, and it’ll send me browsing on autotrader or running GM employee price sheets…

But any time I do get serious enough about car shopping to calculate prices and payments, that’s usually where the fun – and the shopping experience – ends! I’ve got a nifty little spreadsheet that allows me to punch in a bunch of information – from the price of the car I’ve got my eye on, to the rate and term of a car loan – and spits out a nice little table of down-payment amounts versus monthly payments. Yes, I’m already aware I’m a geek, no need to remind me…

Now I’m just gonna throw something out here: Call me crazy, but I think it’s a little nuts to spend $300+ per month on something, for five years, that will be worth nowhere near what you’ve spent on it when you’re ready to sell. OK, OK, I realize we’re talking about cars here and not mutual funds… And I realize that this is just the way the car world works… But… Geez!

I already know what many of you (OK, well, at least 2 of you) are probably saying: just buy a cheaper car, Dave! And I’m sure I could get a nice low car payment (probably under $100/month) if I took out a 60-month loan on a Chevy Aveo. The problem there is, when I buy a new car, I’d sorta like it to actually be a bit of an upgrade from what I’m driving now. And while a brand-spankin-new Aveo would probably be more reliable than my big Oldsmobile sedan, it just doesn’t measure up in my eyes. I want a smooth ride, a reasonable dose of performance, comfortable seats and minimum wind noise. My Olds already has all this stuff, and I’m even willing to overlook its quirks and gremlins to keep my butt in a comfy leather bucket seat.

No matter how you slice it, the proposition just isn’t worth it to me. If I get a cheap car, I exchange comfort and luxury for reliability. If I lease a nicer car, I exchange ownership for a low payment. If I buy a used car, I give up a long warranty in exchange for lower cost. And if I just hang onto my Olds? Well, I get to sock away $300 in savings each month!

And this is pretty much how my thought process goes each time I get the urge to price out cars. And this is why, every time I set my cruise control just to find it’s not working today, or every time my transmission goes on the fritz, or every time my climate control decides to go braindead, I just tell myself: I’m getting paid three hundred bucks a month to drive this car!

And then I keep on motoring down the road…