The car ladder?

fred990

Hang on don't be coy, wasn't the M140i brand new? You 'gave' something like £30k or thereabouts? That's a big chunk of money including the others? 
Silly me, you decide here don't you.....

Mercdriver

fred990 said:

Hang on don't be coy, wasn't the M140i brand new? You 'gave' something like £30k or thereabouts? That's a big chunk of money including the others? 
Silly me, you decide here don't you.....

If motorguy can afford it, why not?  I could if I wanted to, but with a new baby, that wouldn't necessarily be the best use of resources, plus I'm not that much of a petrolhead in any case, not that I don't appreciate what a good car is.  Is it MSE? Depends on context.  Life would be boring indeed if we only spent money on what we needed in order to just survive.  Crippling oneself with debt one cannot afford is of course not to be recommended and that is something that neither of you Freds can accuse Motorguy of recommending people do.  He has given plenty of decent advice to people without having to duplicate his identity.

fred990

Mercdriver said:

fred990 said:

Hang on don't be coy, wasn't the M140i brand new? You 'gave' something like £30k or thereabouts? That's a big chunk of money including the others? 
Silly me, you decide here don't you.....

If motorguy can afford it, why not?  I could if I wanted to, but with a new baby, that wouldn't necessarily be the best use of resources, plus I'm not that much of a petrolhead in any case, not that I don't appreciate what a good car is.  Is it MSE? Depends on context.  Life would be boring indeed if we only spent money on what we needed in order to just survive.  Crippling oneself with debt one cannot afford is of course not to be recommended and that is something that neither of you Freds can accuse Motorguy of recommending people do.  He has given plenty of decent advice to people without having to duplicate his identity.

And here's mini-me...
I'm sure he really likes you as his obsequious sycophant.
Nice try. 
There's no duplicate identity weirdo, its only in your imagination. 

Mercdriver

fred990 said:

Mercdriver said:

fred990 said:

Hang on don't be coy, wasn't the M140i brand new? You 'gave' something like £30k or thereabouts? That's a big chunk of money including the others? 
Silly me, you decide here don't you.....

If motorguy can afford it, why not?  I could if I wanted to, but with a new baby, that wouldn't necessarily be the best use of resources, plus I'm not that much of a petrolhead in any case, not that I don't appreciate what a good car is.  Is it MSE? Depends on context.  Life would be boring indeed if we only spent money on what we needed in order to just survive.  Crippling oneself with debt one cannot afford is of course not to be recommended and that is something that neither of you Freds can accuse Motorguy of recommending people do.  He has given plenty of decent advice to people without having to duplicate his identity.

And here's mini-me...
I'm sure he really likes you as his obsequious sycophant.
Nice try. 
There's no duplicate identity weirdo, its only in your imagination. 

If the cap fits.

motorguy

Mercdriver said:

fred990 said:

Hang on don't be coy, wasn't the M140i brand new? You 'gave' something like £30k or thereabouts? That's a big chunk of money including the others? 
Silly me, you decide here don't you.....

If motorguy can afford it, why not?  I could if I wanted to, but with a new baby, that wouldn't necessarily be the best use of resources, plus I'm not that much of a petrolhead in any case, not that I don't appreciate what a good car is.  Is it MSE? Depends on context.  Life would be boring indeed if we only spent money on what we needed in order to just survive.  Crippling oneself with debt one cannot afford is of course not to be recommended and that is something that neither of you Freds can accuse Motorguy of recommending people do.  He has given plenty of decent advice to people without having to duplicate his identity.

Thanks yes, thats exactly it.  The M140i is our daily driver.  Cost less than the equivalent Honda, SEAT, VW or Ford for that matter.  We used advice and tips from MSE and elsewhere to ensure we got it for the best price we could - which is after all the point of MSE - ensuring you get what you want and can afford at the best price 

My wife and i are car enthusiasts.  We like cars.  Thats not bragging.  Its a statement of fact.

motorguy

fred990 said:

Hang on don't be coy, wasn't the M140i brand new? You 'gave' something like £30k or thereabouts? That's a big chunk of money including the others? 
Silly me, you decide here don't you.....

Awww - you still stinging?  Bless.

Yup.  £28.2K.  Cheaper than the equivalent Honda, SEAT, VW, Ford, etc, etc.  Hence why talking about owning a BMW is hardly bragging.

The other two are both at the bottom of their depreciation curves.  We dont do big miles in any of our cars so why drive a diesel or a four pot petrol if we dont have to?  

Didnt you (allegedly) buy some £50K Alfa?   Whats it worth now?  £4.50?

motorguy

fred990 said:

motorguy said:

fred990 said:

All three of my cars are 3.0 litre petrol six cylinder BMWs.
Its a nicer sound in a world of four pot turbos.  

I suspect there's more than a few posters wondering if they would be accused of bragging.....

And welcome Freds alter ego!  I was wondering when you would appear.

Two are 14 years old and wont depreciate, and the other cost us less than the equivalent four pot Honda Civic or Seat Leon.

Anyone can drive a BMW, most are nothing special price wise.  We happen to like some of their cars and we've a BMW specialist mechanic just up the road if needs be.

Preference of engine type != bragging.

Just because you've been called out on bragging before doesnt mean the rest of us do it.

Lol,,,THREE 6 CYL BMW's having previously accused others of 'bragging' about their choices! 
What a massive hypocrite. You never 'called' anyone 'out' because you were caught out first saying one thing here (MSE) and the polar opposite elsewhere....funny! 
Did you buy the van also? FOUR vehicles....

Car enthusiast likes cars shocker.

Thats the difference between you and me - my wife and i buy our cars because they impress us.  You admitted yourself you're clueless about cars but (allegedly) bought a £50K Alfa to impress others.

Mutton_Geoff

Here's another thought. If the OP had invested all the money he'd spent on cars in the last three years in a pension instead, say £20,000, HMRC would have boosted that to £25k for him. At historical long term investment rates, by the time he reaches retirement, say 66 in 40 years time, he'd have over £400,000 in the bank. And that's without any further saving.

I wish I had understood the effect of compound interest when I was in my 20's.

If I'd chosen a single stock in my pension, Microsoft, and bought £25,000 worth in 1986 when they went public, I'd be sitting on £40 million today.

Instead I was out buying go faster Ford Capri's and partying too much. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and pension saving sounds so dull when you're in your 20's but I did have the foresight to start a pension at age 29 once I was driving company cars. Just wish I'd done it earlier.

motorguy

Mutton_Geoff said:

Here's another thought. If the OP had invested all the money he'd spent on cars in the last three years in a pension instead, say £20,000, HMRC would have boosted that to £25k for him. At historical long term investment rates, by the time he reaches retirement, say 66 in 40 years time, he'd have over £400,000 in the bank. And that's without any further saving.

I wish I had understood the effect of compound interest when I was in my 20's.

If I'd chosen a single stock in my pension, Microsoft, and bought £25,000 worth in 1986 when they went public, I'd be sitting on £40 million today.

Instead I was out buying go faster Ford Capri's and partying too much. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and pension saving sounds so dull when you're in your 20's but I did have the foresight to start a pension at age 29 once I was driving company cars. Just wish I'd done it earlier.

Yup.

Definitely very worthwhile putting money in to a pension from an early age.  Middle age, and old age come upon us much quicker than we think they will.

Its good to find a balance though.  It doesnt have to be an either (fun and parties) / or (pension).  Theres a lot of very nice, fun cars that can be had that dont break the bank - and in fact if done right dont depreciate much either.  

An M2C might have the brand new car wow factor but you pay heavily for the privilege and theres other potentially better cars available used for less.

Mercdriver

And that's the best bit of MSE there is.  Reduce the costs of what you fancy so you don't have to sell the family silver and be left without a decent pension, or live life with no fun at all and regret it later...