Car/Financial strategery

As I've posted on the $2011 board, I'm selling my BMW winter/halfsies in good weather driver.

Those who commented before that I was not being wise in getting the BMW were correct. I really needed more wrenching skills to have made it worthwhile.

I have my "baby" 350Z, and I can say that it has been a truly enjoyable car to drive. I have visions of it growing into an Street Prepared car that's competitive locally.

The Z is practically paid off. BMW was paid for in cash. Wife's car is in good condition, not paid off. Have a few student loans paid ahead by several years. House note is fairly cheap. No credit card debt.

So, I have several strategies that I can pursue:
1. Sell the BMW, get something cheapish to replace it. Z stays put. Cheapish car may wind up being craptastic and I repeat the cycle next year. I do NOT want to repeat the cycle next year.
2. Sell the BMW, get a loan. Z stays put. I go more into debt (debt load is something I'm sensitive about, trying to reduce in general), but I get a more reliable, newer car.
3. Sell the BMW and the Z. I can get a dual-duty type car that I can expect to run another 100k, and have money left over to pay off the wife's car completely. It may be a LONG time before I can afford another sports car.
4. Sell the BMW and the Z. Get a commuter car (eg Focus) and a cheap sports car, eg Miata.
5. Fix the BMW. I'm really done with the BMW. I'm not sure if this is a real option for me now. It's exhausting to worry about it.
6. Sell BMW. Drive Z in winter. This scares me. I really want to preserve the Z. It has only driven with salt on the roads a handful of times, and afterwards the salt was washed off ASAP. I feel like ground clearance is an issue, too.

scardeal wrote: 1. Sell the BMW, get something cheapish to replace it. Z stays put. Cheapish car may wind up being craptastic and I repeat the cycle next year. I do NOT want to repeat the cycle next year. 4. Sell the BMW and the Z. Get a commuter car (eg Focus) and a cheap sports car, eg Miata.

I'd go with one of these. Get something boring and reliable if you go down number 1. I'd be looking for a Subaru.

Sell the BMW and get a 1000xx beater. I was thinking about getting a fusion, but the zx2 is just too easy to maintain. Something cheap, easy and possible to drive in the winter. I have a trick for the snow, but there is no way I'm driving my 240 in bad weather, hence, the Escort.

EDIT: Competition was between a Subaru and an Escort for me.

Where are you located, and what's the problem on the BMW? (I can help if you're in S. Ontario).

I LOVE having an appliance as a DD. If you love the Z, I'd try to keep it. In ontario, I'd suggest a $2500-3500ish DD. This will get you a low mileage, clean older Corolla/Focus/Civic or similar. Having a beater will make you appreciate (even more) how nicely the Z drives, and you'll look forward to having it back on the road in the spring. You don't want to get something too old, or you'll be back at square one.

That all said, in a similar situation I sold my (parked for the winter) M3 sedan to get a better commuter...I REALLY miss that car.

First off, it sounds like you've got most of the basics covered (low debt, low mortgage, paying off student loans ahead of schedule), so I think you're far ahead of most people. I think the big question is how important is it for you to have a fun car? Along that same line, would something like a WRX satisfy you in situation #3?

Recently I've come to the conclusion that if I'm not going to drive a car on a frequent basis, it doesn't make financial sense for me to maintain it, pay taxes, pay insurance, etc. If I were in your shoes, I think a lot would come down to how often you can drive the Z. If you can drive it daily through the spring, summer, and fall, it might make sense to hold onto it and pick up a winter beater to get you through the next few years. If it's a garage queen, it might not make sense to hold onto it while taking the depreciation hit, paying taxes, insurance, etc. The danger in keeping a car for a future project is that by the time you're ready to dust it off and prep it for auto-x, you may have lost interest, or have other priorities (kids did it for me).

A general rule I've tried to have a solid DD first, and then if I have the ability, get a fun car. That way if I track it and crash it, it won't strap me financially, and I can still get to work in the morning. Or, if it's down a month for a project, it's not the end of the world. You're currently in a situation where your toy car is newer/nicer/(presumably) more reliable than your DD. That means that you're carrying a lot of extra expense (depreciation, maintenance, taxes, insurance) for something you're not using often. From a strictly financial perspective, that's not ideal. However, life is all about balance and it looks like you're coming into this situation from a good financial perspective. I would say that all of your options seem financially responsible, so I think that no matter what you choose, you'll be fine.

Good luck with the decision!

I was in similar situation and here is the route that I took.
I keep the wife in a reliable driver but cheap. She likes new and that is fine with me. She had a Nissan Versa when those were new. It met her needs for high mpg and highway cruising maners.

At that time I switched out of my '97 240sx auto that I commuted with and replaced it with a 1995 Volvo 850 wagon, 5 speed. The utility was fantastic. With 106k, dealer maintained miles, I paid $4k for the car. I bought it with one of those credit card style checks. This made the buying simple. I paid off about half immediately and then paid off the rest within the year and reaped the benifit for the promo percentage rate. That wagon met my needs for 3.5yrs.
All this while, I had a Miata that remains in the garage in the winter months.

My recommendation is:
1. Sell the BMW, get something cheapish to replace it. Z stays put. Cheapish car may wind up being craptastic and I repeat the cycle next year. I do NOT want to repeat the cycle next year.
But... spend more than the $1,000 craptastic that will only meet your needs for a year and spend a few years worth now on a better car.
Somewhere in the middle of choice #1 and #2 but keeping the debt as low as possible.

scardeal wrote: 4. Sell the BMW and the Z. Get a commuter car (eg Focus) and a cheap sports car, eg Miata.

I recommend this tack. When I first started out I tried to have a reasonably-priced DD that I could also autocross. It was OK for getting my feet wet and finding out if I enjoyed autocross for the first couple seasons, but it was never going to be competitive in its class even if I ever do learn to drive. I would have needed to invest in wheels, R-comps, and suspension even to stay in Stock class, and a suspension setup that handled the cones would have been unfun as a daily family hauler.

I opted to have an almost-no-compromise autocross/track beater (Miata) and I will just keep the other car for a daily and only spend money on maintenance for it. Both cars are ultimately better suited to their jobs than any compromise car would.

The joy of having an autocross car that you're not worried about beating on is quite liberating - if you're babying the Z that much (and it is a nice car, no argument) I think you'll get more enjoyment out of having a dedicated weapon for the weekends and a decent commuter for the daily stuff.

Further thoughts:

Wife recently miscarried, we're trying again for a(nother) baby. Commuter will have to serve as occasional daddy-mobile, so functional A/C and reliability are higher priorities this time around.

We have a healthy emergency fund.

Nothing to do with cars, but my condolences on the miscarriage. Been there, done that, and although it is usually for the best, it's still not even the slightest bit of happiness. For what it's worth, we hit the first try, missed the second, and went on to hit the third time.

What about (3), but agree with the wife that you're going to put x months of both of your car payments into a 'fun car fund' and use that to buy a few ks worth of Miata or similar?

Related question: Can an RX-8 easily accommodate an infant seat in the back?

If I sell the Z and the BMW, I have a friend selling an RX-8 (with a set of snow tires).

start watching the Atlanta CL.... find a Suby for cheep ....don't wait, the prices start up pretty soon... in the meantime sell the BMW... drive the car home ... you've got all the winter car you'll need for yrs to come and you'll still have the Z