vania-janet/multiturn-rag-retrieval-data huggingface dataset:
Personally, I buy newer luxury cars for two reasons.   1) Status symbol Newer cars have the latest looks, performance, and features like heated side mirrors and sensors that adjust cruse control speed when in heavy traffic etc.   2) Older cars have more wear and tear. No one has spent any significant amount of time in the car before and therefore you know the history of what the car has been through, like buying a new pair of pants.  You know that no one has pissed in them ;). After I have pissed in and tore up my now older luxury car, I sell it off and get a new one.  Cars wear out and as they get older, they need parts replaced.  My brother's Mazda, for example, just blew the head gasket after buying the car new and driving 130k miles over a four year period.  Part of the luxury for owning a new car is the luxury of time, not having your car spend any significant amount of time in a garage being worked on, unless you buy a Land Rover of course ;).
I wouldn't give it a second thought. I'd get rid of the extra car and do everything I could in the following months to repay the emergency fund. Even without the interest payments, I'd consider getting rid of an unused car due to the very nature of a car being a depreciating asset that has insurance expenses and annual registration fees on top of that depreciation. The one exception to the above would be a classic car that was purchased for an investment that is always garaged and doesn't need to be registered for road use. I take it for granted that most people who can afford such investments don't need my advice about when to sell.
Choice: Insurers are typically going to make the decision for you about whether a claim is repairable or not, and in my experience are reluctant or refuse to just give you the cash amount of the claim. (See also, moral hazard.) Do it yourself and you can choose whether to live with it, make a smaller or larger repair, or replace the whole vehicle with a second hand one or a brand new one, or indeed perhaps do without a vehicle. A distraction: Hopefully by the time you've been working for a while, a vehicle is not a really large fraction of your net worth. If you lose 10% of your net worth it's not really nice but - well, you could easily have lost that off the value of your house or your retirement portfolio in recent years. What you actually need to insure is genuinely serious risks that would seriously change your life if they were lost, such as your ability to work. For about the same cost as insuring a $x car, you can insure against $x income every year for the rest of your life, and I think it's far more important. If I have a write-off accident but walk away I'll be perfectly happy. And, obviously, liability insurance is important, because being hit for $millions of liabilities could also have a serious impact. Coverage for mechanical failures: If your 8yo car needs a new transmission, insurance isn't going to help, yet it may cost more than the typical minor collision. Save the money yourself and you can manage those costs out of the same bucket. Flexibility: If you save up to replace your car, but some other crisis occurs, you can choose to put the money towards that. If you have car insurance but you have a family medical thing it's no help. I think the bottom line is: insure against costs you couldn't cope with by yourself. There are people who need a car but can just barely afford it, but if you're fortunate enough not to be in that case you don't really need comprehensive insurance."
How can I find out what these 'additional' costs will be when looking to buy a car? If you know what model you're interested in buying you can try out Edmund's True Cost To Own calculator. This will estimate the depreciation, taxes and fees, financing costs, fuel costs, insurance premiums, maintenance, repairs, and any tax credits for owning a certain model for various periods of time. You can improve the accuracy be substituting your own calculations, like if you already have an insurance quote. Consumer Reports has a useful chart to demonstrate how much each of those additional costs will add up, percentage-wise. They also list the most and least expensive cars to own.
"IMO it's usually not worth it and here's why. There's a statistical distribution of how likely a unit may fail depending on its age. Probability is high for a short period after the unit comes into use because there are parts that were not thoroughly tested and manufacturing defects. Then all those defective parts fail and get replaces and the unit likely functions without faults for years. Then it reaches it lifetime end and again probability becomes much higher - parts wear out and start failing one by one. Every unit comes with a manufacturer warranty of one to two years already and that warranty will likely cover any defect causes by materials and manufacturing defects - the period when fault probability is initially high. ""Extended warranty"" only covers the unit for two-to-five years and most units have lifetime of about ten years. This means that the ""extended warranty"" is in effect when it is least useful."
Dealerships make a lot of money in the finance department.  One of the thing they play upon is your emotional reaction of purchasing a new vehicle (new to you in this case).  They perform all sorts of shenanigans, like adding undercoat, selling gap insurance, or extended warranties.  They entice you with a promise of a lower interest rate, but really what they are trying to do is back you into a payment.   So if you can fiance 20,000, but the car you are buying is 16,000, then they will try to move that figure up to the 20K mark.  In your case it sounded like some borderline (at the least) illegal activity they used to fool you into paying more.  It sounds like you regret this decision which puts you a step ahead of most.  How many people brag about the extended warranty or gap insurance they got included in the sale?   As mentioned in another answer the best bet is to go into the dealership with financing in place.  Say you were able to get a 3% loan on 16K.  The total interest would be ~1600.  If you avoid the finance room, you might avoid their dubious add ons that would probably cost you more then the 1600 even if you can get 0%.   If you are going to buy a car on time, my advice would be to not fill out a credit app at the dealership.  The dealership people through a conniption fit, but hold your ground.  If need be get up and walk out.  They won't let you leave. One thing I must mention, is that one feels very wealthy without that monthly pain in the a$$ payment for a car.  You may want to try and envision yourself without a car payment, and make steps to making that a reality for the rest of your life.
First, don't owe (much) money on a car that's out of warranty.  If you have an engine blow up and repairs will cost the lion's share of the car's bluebook value, the entire car loan immediately comes due because the collateral is now worthless.  This puts you in a very miserable situation because you must pay off the car suddenly while also securing other transportation!  Second, watch for possible early-payment penalties.  They are srill lokely cheaper than paying interest, but run the numbers.  Their purpose is to repay the lender the amount of money they already paid out to the dealer in sales commission or kickback for referring the loan.  The positive effects you want for your credit report only require an open loan; owing more money doesn't help, it hurts.  However, interest is proportional to principal owed, so a $10,000 car loan is 10 times the interest cost of a $1000 car loan.  That means paying most of it off early can fulfill your purpose. As the car is nearer payoff, you can reduce costs further (assuming you cna handle the hit) by increasing the deductible on collision and comprehensive (fire and theft) auto insurance.  It's not just you paying more co-pay, it also means the insurance company doesn't have to deal with smaller claims at all, e.g. Nodody with a $1000 deductivle files a claim on an $800 repair.  If the amount you owe is small compared to its bluebook value, and within $1000-2000 of paid off, the lender may be OK with you dropping collision and comprehensive coverage altogether (assuming you are).  All of this adds up to paying most of it off, but not all, may be the way to go. You could also talk to your lender about paying say, 3/4 of it off, and refinancing the rest as a 12-month deal.
Every car model/type has a know interval when things need maintenance or replacement. This info comes mainly from the manufacturer and the rental companies use these info to determine how long and at what rate a car should be rented (I mean in total, not rented to an individual) This is easiest calculated with a long term rental (3, or 4 years time. Leasing business) But is also used for short term rental.  There is a point in time were a car gets to have more maintenance and replacements then before. The rental company will always try to sell the car just before big replacements or maintenance are necessary. Of course your local mechanic can also now when those big 'events' need to take place. So he can know what to expect the next kms. I'm talking about foreseen replacements and maintenance (like every x km replace drive belt, replace oil ... I'm not referring to the exceptionals. These latter are the risk the rental companies take during the rental period.
Well I love Tesla, and 8 years / Infinite Miles...sounds good, but it is also about the same as many conventional vehicles which come with a 10 Year / 100,000 mile drive train warranty. (which does work out to be 7.1 years with a typical annual mileage of 14k)
They start at a higher price and repairs are more expensive than with a standard car. From my experience, many luxury cars get too expensive to keep after about 10 years due to increased maintenance costs.
It's extra work for you to purchase a vehicle that has an outstanding lien on it. It's not uncommon, but there are things to take care of and watch out for. Really, all it means is that the vehicle you're trying to purchase hasn't been paid for in full by the current owner. Where things can get dodgy is ensuring that all outstanding debts are paid against the vehicle at the time you take ownership of it, otherwise the owners of those debts could still reclaim the vehicle.  Here's a good article about making this kind of purchase.
Generally speaking, buying a fancy new car out of college is dumb. Buying a 3 year old flashy car with a 60 month loan is going to eat up your income, and when the thing starts breaking down, you'll get sick of buying $900 mufflers and $1,000 taillights pretty quickly. Buy a car that nobody wants for cheap and save up some money. Then buy yourself your dream car. Edit based on question update. You're posting to a Q&A site about money, and you're asking if spending over $30k (don't forget taxes) on a luxury car when you're making $60k is a good idea. You have car fever, and you're trying to sell this transaction as a good deal from a financial POV. At the end of the day, there is no scenario where buying an expensive car is a good financial transaction.  For example, since you're planning on driving too many miles for a lease to make sense, the certified pre-owned warranty is a non-factor, because you'll have no warranty when the car breaks down in 4 years. The only reason CPO programs exist is to boost residual values to make leases more attractive -- luxury car makers are in the car leasing (as opposed to selling) business.
How does the system deal with a new car?  Granted Tesla isn't super new any more, but when the Model S first came out they needed to use some existing (group of) vehicles to estimate the cost of insuring it.  The article makes it sound like they now have better data and are adjusting accordingly.
It completely varies by manufacturer, dealer, and time of year, but in general yes, you can get a (sometimes significant) discount on brand new last year models.  In general though, it comes down to supply and demand. As an example, in April 2016 I was looking at a brand new 2016 in which the 2017 model had come out that week (I thought April was a little early for next year's model but sometimes that's a marketing tool). The sticker price of the 2017 was only $100 more than the 2016, but the 2016 was selling for $3K under MSRP, and the 2017 was selling at exactly MSRP since they only had 2 in stock.
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From my experience, I would only recommend leasing if you would otherwise be buying a new car on a regular basis, and the lease would be less expensive. This is probably the most cost effective way to maintain the highest possible quality, but would cost much more than buying and holding a new car or buying a value used car. I don't see reliability as much of a factor here since the seller will have a very good idea of how much maintenance will cost, but you will pay a premium to be able to pay a fixed cost for maintenance instead of risking a worse-than-average experience. Buying New According to Edmunds and BIGResearch, only a relatively small number of people are ever in the market for a new car at a given point in time. While you do pay quite a bit more to own a brand new car instead of the same car that is 2-3 years old, there are several reasons I'm aware of why people buy new cars: Number 4 is probably the biggest reason, and many people are willing to pay for the certainty of knowing that the miles are correct, the parts are new, the car is in good working condition, etc. Additionally, some makes of cars have much higher resale values than others (such as Hondas), meaning that there isn't as large of a drop in price between a new car and a used car. Many people consider buying a new car the best way to ensure they get the best reliability since they know the initial condition of the car and can care for it meticulously from that point on. This can especially make sense when the buyer intends to keep the car for the like of the car as the buyer will then benefit from having no car payments once it is paid off. Buying Used Buying a used car is the most affordable option, but for a given quality of car the reliability can be a significant potential pitfall. It can be very difficult for a non-professional to tell whether they are getting a good value. Additionally, it is hard for an owner who wants to sell a used car in excellent condition to get the true value of the car, and much easier for an unscrupulous seller to to get the market price by selling to an unaware buyer (the ""lemons"" problem in economics).
Obviously, the best thing financially would be to continue using your present car, unless it impacts you financially on a regular basis. For example, maintenance or breakdowns impacting your ability to work. An unreliable car also impacts your freedom, for example preventing you from taking road-trips you might want to take or taking up free time with maintenance. Give thought to what it is about your present car that you dislike, both to determine the value you gain from a new car and what's most important to you. Anytime you buy a car, you generally lose thousands of dollars simply driving it off the lot. This is the profit which goes to dealers, salespeople, etc... and not part of the actual value of the car. Cars also depreciate over time, with most of the depreciation happening in the first few years of operation. Many of the newer model cars have additional expenses. (For example, replacement $200 keys or electronic systems that can only be repaired at special facilities.) In addition, if you have insurance (other than the minimum third-party required by law), consider the rate increases and add up the long-term impact of that. Imagine you had invested that money instead at 8% interest over the lifetime of the car. If you don't have insurance, consider what you would do in the unfortunate situation where you were at fault in a collision. Could you afford to lose your investment? Even with safe responsible driving, there is always the potential for road/weather conditions or mechanical failures. If you determine there is sufficient value to be gained from changing vehicles, I would recommend that you buy a vehicle with history from someone privately, doing appropriate background checks and consulting friends or family who know about vehicles and can provide feedback. Do research into the models which interest you ahead of time, read online reviews. Every vehicle generally has known advantages and disadvantages which can take years to discover, so buying an older vehicle gives you the advantage of knowing what to expect. I would say there is probably a reasonable middle ground between using a 1991 vehicle you don't like (that's as old as you are) and getting a relatively new model. Look at what you value in the vehicle, consider all the costs, and find the balance that works best for you. Vehicles from 2000-2005 years are quite affordable and still 10-15 years newer than your car.
Other people lie to the companies about how many miles they drive, so they can't take the mileage figures literally.   You aren't specifying whether you want liability only, or more-comprehensive insurance.  Stuff happens when you aren't driving.  Cars get stolen.  Other drivers hit parked cars and leave.  Trees fall on parked cars.   Move to Virginia where insurance is not required.   Just pay $500 a year for not having insurance, and be careful.
Watch this super late post to a 2009 thread.  Thread Necromancy in action! Yes, it's absolutely worth it to get an extended warranty because electronics just don't last as long as they used to. This is ever more prevalent in the year 2013. Is it a ripoff?  Future Shop (in Canada) and Best Buy (U.S. & Canada) offer warranties that are typically 25% of the cost of the product.  That's a huge mark-up, massive! Yet, to my knowledge they are one of the only retailers that you can walk into the store and just drop it off for exchange.  As opposed to, buying a 3rd party extended warranty that is considerably less expensive, yet it puts the burden on you to mail the product in, wait for god knows how long to receive a refurbished, repaired, or new (their choice) product.   It's a gamble, an expensive one. Yet, if you're spending top dollar on a product, wouldn't you like to have some peace of mind that it will last you at least 2-3 years. Unfortunately as I mentioned earlier, electronics (or anything for that matter) just aren't as reliable as you'd hope. The Xbox 360 gaming console was notorious for being poorly made.  In fact, many people not only had to take advantage of the extended warranty, but had to do so, more than 2-3 times. So make sure you do your homework on a product, before you even think about buying it.  What do I do? I buy at Future Shop, Best Buy or Staples for the convenience of dropping off the product in the event of an issue.  I really don't want to bother with the hassle of applying for warranty service and long mail-in / return wait period.  If the product is $100 or so, forget it..and just buy it whoever has it cheapest and cross your fingers.
"Short answer: Absolutely not, unless you're comfortable with putting years of your labor into a depreciating asset that will incur hefty maintenance costs over its remaining life. i.e. consider your 10K gone forever once you buy the car, and then some. Some comments on your reasons: ""Keeping up with spoiled brats"" is a losing proposition, and is a mindset counterproductive to financial independence. I'd encourage you to find a way to not care about how the spoiled brats live their lives. It won't be easier when you're older and you see your peers driving fancy cars and living fantasy lifestyles that you are tempted to emulate. Break the impulse to ""keep up"" and you'll be in a much better place. A used BMW may not be a piece of junk at first, but once you hit 100K miles, everything will suddenly fall apart and need repair. Been there myself. Still have the car after 7 years, only because very few people want to buy a high-mileage German sport sedan with recurring maintenance issues. See #2. It will be a good drive for a while, then it will own you. This is not so bad when you have a decent amount of savings, but when you have nothing, it's very hard to truly enjoy the car while knowing that any problems not covered by warranty will be financially devastating. Are you prepared to ride the bus for 4 weeks while saving enough income from work to replace a bad clutch? I had to do this, and it's not something I brag about."
"You are still paying a heavy price for the 'instant gratification' of driving (renting) a brand-new car that you will not own at the end of the terms. It is not a good idea in your case, since this luxury expense sounds like a large amount of money for you.  Edited to better answer question The most cost effective solution: Purchase a $2000 car now. Place the $300/mo payment aside for 3 years. Then, go buy a similar car that is 3 years old. You will have almost $10k in cash and probably will need minimal, if any, financing. Same as this answer from Pete: https://money.stackexchange.com/a/63079/40014 Does this plan seem like a reasonable way to proceed, or a big mistake? ""Reasonable"" is what you must decide. As the first paragraph states, you are paying a large expense to operate the vehicle. Whether you lease or buy, you are still paying this expense, especially from the depreciation on a new vehicle. It does not seem reasonable to pay for this luxury if the cost is significant to you. That said, it will probably not be a 'big mistake' that will destroy your finances, just not the best way to set yourself up for long-term success."
Rule of thumb is always BUY, NEVER lease, unless you plan to use it for a business where you can expense the lease payments. Leasing is the biggest scam.  Lease is just a fancy word for renting and the dealerships PRAY that people like us lease. As for new or old, new cars have better warranty but you may get a great deal on a 1-3 year old used car.
I have a colleague who always leases cars first.  He's very well off, has piles of money in savings, owns a home, and the cherry on top, he could just write a check for the car....   He sees the lease as an insurance policy on the first couple of years of the car's life.  If it gets in an accident or he finds something about it he doesn't like, he can give it back to the dealer at the end of the term with no hassle and move on to the next car.  Some people value the fact that a lease is a rental.   If you're leasing a luxury car or something you couldn't otherwise afford, no amount of mental gymnastics will turn this in to a good idea.   Separately, you should never make a down payment on a lease.  If the car is totaled early on, you will not recoupe the money you put down.  The issue here is that while the numbers all work out the same between a lease and a purchase your situation is different.  If the leased car is totaled, the bank gets its money back from an insurer.  If that payment doesn't cover the value of the car, the GAP insurance will cover it.  In either situation, if there's an excess remaining it will be returned to you.  The issue is the excess may not fully replace your down payment.  If you then went to lease another car you would need to come up with that down payment again because you couldn't just simply choose to lease a used car; like you could in the case of a purchase.  Additionally, GAP is generally included in a lease whether you want it or not.  As far as I'm concerned it doesn't make financial sense to mitigate the value of the GAP coverage once you've decided to live in a lease situation.