A Different What Car Thread

So I already know what I need vs. want but I have three ways to achieve it. The reason I am car shopping is here: https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/thank-you-audi-and-cg-lock/151602/page1/

Option 1: CPO VW GTI. Meets all my needs but may be a bit snug for a rear facing car seat and a front passenger. Will cut my car payment by 1/3 or more.  Still fun to drive and comfortable for my daily grind. I'll lose some of the nicities of the A4.

Option 2: Try and replace my 1 of 4 (rare option combination) 2015 A4. This car was absolutely perfect for my daily grind and needs. I have found cars close but not all of the options mine had.  Payment would go down a bit due to depreciation but maintenance may start to creep up. I owned my car since 11k miles so I pretty much knew everything done to it.  Lowest mile cars now have about 30k miles for same year.  I really loved this car and will miss it.

Option 3: 2015-16 S4. Payments will go up a bit but not much and time to payoff will be a bit longer. Get the benefits of the A4 with more POWERRRR and bigger brakes.  I've found some well optioned lower mileage ones. CPOs are more expensive but out there. They are known to be reliable when properly maintained. F-it, I only live once?

I have a couple of weeks to decide. One thing that is looming is potential layoffs at my company so I won't be doing anything until after 4/1 and I'm more secure about the job. If I'm let go all these options may be out the window. 

WWGRMD?

I like the looks and somewhat rareness of the VW CC. Is it available in a config that meets your desires? 

S4 with the sport diff is the way to go here. You'll love it even more than you loved your A4.

I know that you said you'd wait until after surviving the potential layoff before any decision was made, but if you're in an industry/company that is anticipating a downturn/slowdown severe enough to warrant layoffs I'd be looking to skip the car payment entirely. It's not uncommon to have multiple rounds of layoffs, and assuming that 1 round of layoffs will be the end of it could be optimistic.

Car sales everywhere are slowing. Manufacturing companies across multiple industries are forecasting a slow down in demand late this year or next. Real estate markets are cooling in many areas. I wouldn't want to be locked into a few hundred $$/month for a depreciating asset at the moment, but I just be an alarmist.

STM317 said:

I know that you said you'd wait until after surviving the potential layoff before any decision was made, but if you're in an industry/company that is anticipating a downturn/slowdown severe enough to warrant layoffs I'd be looking to skip the car payment entirely. It's not uncommon to have multiple rounds of layoffs, and assuming that 1 round of layoffs will be the end of it could be optimistic.

Car sales everywhere are slowing. Manufacturing companies across multiple industries are forecasting a slow down in demand late this year or next. Real estate markets are cooling in many areas. I wouldn't want to be locked into a few hundred $$/month for a depreciating asset at the moment, but I just be an alarmist.

This is exactly what I was going to say.