At Home Mechanic

Dave Darling writes:

I would have a tough time buying any new car, frankly. I'd rather have something that has already experienced the major hit of depreciation, and something I can understand and work on. Which pretty much rules out everything new.

I'm partial to small two-seaters that are lightweight and have phenomenal handling. Most of which are staggeringly impractical (which is why I really like my CRX--it's the practical two-seater!). My vote for a new car would likely be a Lotus Elise. It's pretty much the acme of the "not practical" car, though.

The Lotus Elise is a dream come true, a slick little roadster with world class performance straight off the dealer's lot. I could feature myself carving corners in that car which looks to my eye like a 5/8's scale model of the FORD GT (if you put the hard top on, stand back about 50 feet and squint a bit). But it really small with little room to change your mind let alone a change of clothing for a weekend trip. And there are about 40 thousand good reasons with pictures of dead presidents on them that I will not be buying that car. However, if I match six lucky numbers I would certainly add a Lotus Elise to my stable of dream cars.

Dave also makes a good point about taking a hit of instant depreciation on a new car, losing something like 30% of its value as you drive it off the dealer's lot. The longer you hold a new car, the greater amount of time you have to spread that depreciation out. But I am reaching the crossover point of holding the car any longer will not justify the savings in lost depreciation.

I have been told that the "smartest" play in the auto ownership game is to purchase a one-year-old Mercedes that has come back in on a short-term lease. The first driver of the car has paid for the instant depreciation so there is little risk in holding that one-year old car for a year or so and then selling it before it begins to depreciate rapidly.

Bryce adds:

If you like sedans, and liked previous Accords, the Acura TSX might be good to look at. I'm a fan of it. It's the European and Japanese Accord. It's smaller and lighter than the Accord, while being far nicer to be in. I like the idea of a rev happy 4 cylinder with a 6 speed too.

I'd just about sell a kidney to get a Lotus Elise. It's not practical, but it calls to me like the Sirens to the Argonauts. If I had enough money to get one, I would not be able to resist buying one.

Bryce, I am with you all the way. The Lotus Elise is worthy of a selling a body part for. And it is interesting that you have the same taste in cars as Dave Darling and me. I guess birds of a feather, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. But as I said before, it is too expensive and too small to be a daily driver for my purposes.

I like your suggestion of the Acura TSX, it is a more handsome and slightly smaller version of the Accord. Maybe I can find a slightly used version to beat the depreciation penalty. I have a few weeks to mull over the decision, I expect to be car shopping at the car buyer friendly Christmas season (few people buy cars when they are taking on the expenses of the holidays).

Keep those comments and suggestions coming in!