It's all relative I suppose...I'm sure someone making minimum wage and cannot afford a car thinks trading in a car every 4 years and losing $20,000 in depreciation may have the same reaction to many folks on this board.
...so I consider depreciation simply as part of the cost of ownership, like gas and maintenance.
Quote from: TopGun on July 08, 2008, 12:40:06 pmIt's all relative I suppose...I'm sure someone making minimum wage and cannot afford a car thinks trading in a car every 4 years and losing $20,000 in depreciation may have the same reaction to many folks on this board.Your point's well taken, but it makes no sense to me why ANYONE does that. Trading in cars in every couple of years just because is pretty stupid IMHO because that's when they depreciate most - you might as well burn that money. I've always kept my cars for a long time to get the most value from them and only traded them in when I really needed to, so I consider depreciation simply as part of the cost of ownership, like gas and maintenance.
Your point's well taken, but it makes no sense to me why ANYONE does that. Trading in cars in every couple of years just because is pretty stupid IMHO because that's when they depreciate most - you might as well burn that money. I've always kept my cars for a long time to get the most value from them and only traded them in when I really needed to, so I consider depreciation simply as part of the cost of ownership, like gas and maintenance.
"The ability to park a $150,000 vehicle in his garage ... and show people he has the money to do it."That's not good value for me, but I guess if you can light a cigar with a hundred dollar bill, it is worth it. But that's getting into "things are relative". Isn't there a term that can be applied to such a material possession? The word just escapes me for the time being.
$60000 is a huge expense even if you are a multi millionaire. Perhaps if you can write off part of the vehicle it can offset this a bit. Then again some people spend tens of thousands of dollars on golf and other of life's luxuries. Like others I would snag a 2-3 year old model and appreciate the savings. For others the allure of a brand new luxury auto built to their requests is a Siren call that cannot be avoided.The funny thing is that many of these folks will be the same one beating me up over a few dollars on a medical device I am trying to sell them or cross shopping a TV to save a few $s; then lose tens of thousands of dollars in depreciation!
Forget Paris?
Surely if you can afford it why not? Everyone has a different perception of what is expensive and what is not. For some having a brand new SL is worth the loss when it comes to selling it. When you buy a new model brand new, you see very few on the road, it's the exclusivity that people pay for.
Quote from: Canadian Bob on July 08, 2008, 04:17:45 pmSurely if you can afford it why not? Everyone has a different perception of what is expensive and what is not. For some having a brand new SL is worth the loss when it comes to selling it. When you buy a new model brand new, you see very few on the road, it's the exclusivity that people pay for.This year, I blew a few hundred dollars on a video game system and video games. They have catastrophic depreciation and no redeeming social value. Some would see that as a total waste. But so what? It's my money, I could afford it, and it was fun for me. This is the same thing, for someone who has a lot more money.