i just love the center speedo and steering wheel tach-only. :smile:

if there was a way to swap...

 

Um... not really. It would be a HUGE undertaking and require a very motivated and knowledgeable technician.

Either way, I've sent you a PM with some more info.

 

I have to say my new mini has nav and I think its awesome! And you can do this http://www.motoringfile.com/2005/06/30/mini_video_input

 

I bet the new iPod with video would be sweet for that setup!

 

You know, I hadn't thought about that... hmm... definitely a good long term idea.

 

The video really looks incredible. And the video out to a tv looks great as well. I think it would be stellar for this setup. Its the perfect marriage

 

Thats finance 101. You WANT to pay for a mortgage because your assets increases in value and you can write it off. Unless, your really loaded and can pay cash for the house. Most everything else is money thrown out the window. Your $25K car really costs maybe $40K (or whatever with interest).

 

Chow - can you do better than that?

Why is it that paying cash for a car is bad? Unless you can make more investing (which entails risk) the cash that is spent on the car than you pay in interest/fees, why does it not make sense to pay cash?

It's generally a good idea to have home mortgage because:
1) the tax writeoff - the gov't essentially pays 1/3 of your interest
2) leverage - I can put 20% down, but the asset increases based on it's entire value. Thus my house can increase at 1/5 the value of another investment (say a stock) and I get the same return.

Your statement of 'unless you're really loaded' makes no sense - you still don't get leverage, and you still don't get a writeoff. The opportunity cost (investing the money elsewhere) is still there.

Car interest is not deductible - no benefit.
Leverage - nope - it's a depreciating asset.
So why finance it? (assuming you have the option)

 

I never said that. IanF said:

Originally Posted by fsuscotsman
And if at all possible, my last car loan
NEVER pay cash for a depreciating asset.

I've heard differing opinions on this. Care to give more than a blacket statement?

I said ... Thats finance 101 ... Your $25K car really costs maybe $40K (or whatever with interest).

Maybe you confused the statements. Your agreeing with me. Same on the house. I agree, get a mortgage. However, if you are really "loaded", then the little bit of deduction will be chump change and your accountant will find better writeoffs. (Finance 201).

I think your agreeing with what I said and are confusing the previous posts

 

Of course it is also true that the $300,00 house really costs $650,000 fully financed at 6% for 30 years.

Having any depreciating asset financed or not makes no sense unless that asset is producing income that exceeds the cost.

Most financial experts will say about cars that it makes most sense most of the time to buy a car that is at least two years old. Most cars suffer most of the depreciation in the first two years.

We all (all or most of us with the financial means anyway) do things that constitute a "luxury" - more than we really need. Which brings me back to my original point of we tend to do what we want and our needs or wants are sometimes more or different than just financial needs or wants. Which brings me back to my first point which is I personally don't want to run my life like everything comes down to what a banker or accountant would do.

I'll give an example. My ex-father-in-law did not have a mortgage and he was proud of that. I once tried to explan to him that if he went out and got a mortgage and used that money to buy rental property he could deduct the mortgage interest and save on taxes and he could have a renter essentially paying him enough to cover his mortgage payment and taxes and maintenance etc on the rental property. It would in effect cost him nothing. Then he would be gaining appreciation on two properties instead of just one. I then extended my demonstration further and said what he could do is get a $200,000 mortgage on his house and put $50,000 down on four $200,000 properties with $150,000 mortgages on each one. Again I projected how rent could cover all of the mortgages and other costs and assuming a 5% annual appreciation rate he would be gaining $50,000 per year in appreciation instead of the $10,000 or so he was gaining on just his residence. Then there is the tax benefits of the interest deductions, depreciation deductions etc and as the mortgages were paid down, in time even more equity would build.

But my father-in-law hated credit. He couldn't sleep at night if had these mortgages. He eventually retired comfortablyat age 55. So this is an example on the other end of the spectrum of someone who did not run his life based on what the financial experts would have him do and he was happy and it was right for him.

My example of my ex-father-in-law is also a good demonstration of how the credit reporting system is designed as a tool for the credit industry only and for the purposes of encouraging the use of credit. Someone with the same income, same house and cars as my ex-father-in-law but who had a mortgage, a car payment and a credit card debt would actually have a higher score than my ex-father-in-law. But who really would be the better risk? Credit scoring is ridiculous.

 

what about this?

http://autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?ca...00&cardist=263




Everything i want, but the mileage is kind of high.

 

and i checked insurance on it to get an idea... it's going downnnnnn

 

There you have it. The cost of whine is 20,000 miles. :smile:


WRT to your new sig, shouldn't it rhyme? Maybe "Once you go small you'll never go tall"?

 

Someone's already looking into getting it... but the guy said he'd call back to let me know how that goes, and to give me more info on the specs

 

it's gone

he said if for some reason it didn't work out, he'd call. i'm not holding my breath

 

Don't shed too many tears, SB - heck, you haven't even DRIVEN an S yet, right? Go to your nearest dealer and at least drive a few pre-'05 S models. They shouldn't handle very differently, and you can see just how much quicker (or not) it feels.

Until then, when you want to hear that whine while driving the MINI, just listen to yourself wanting an S. <ducks and runs>

 

Wait a minute, are we in the 'traitor' thread or the OT Singles thread?

 

I only drove an 05. But i've only ridden in 02-04's.

punk. good thing you live in CA

 

One trip to the dragon and TSB turns into a "Whine-O"

What all did you people hit her with?

 

Like Samantha said in another thread, what happens at Fontana stays at Fontana!

She got to experience the Dragon with some of the best slayers around....


Clover

 

SB... Leif just (this summer) dropped his savings on a down payment for his accessible dream car -- a Z4 3.0. He loves it. Has an absolute blast with it and, to my knowledge, does not intrinsically regret the purchase...

Except when bills are due... and he has to cough up his share of the rent... and buy food... and has no savings to fall back on when the oil men want $500 for 3/4 tank...

Since it seems you're already relatively decided, I hope that you have factored in average rent / mortgage and renters / home insurance and utulities and food, etc. before strapping yourself with a car payment for something that's going to be ALOT of fun... until you sit down to Quicken each month.

 

You got that right!

 

Yep. I'm confused.

I wrote, "And if at all possible, my last car loan" Which means I hope to pay cash for my future cars, new or used, and avoid a loan.

And you responded, "NEVER pay cash for a depreciating asset."

Which to me reads, "Don't pay cash for a car," unless I'm... confused...

 

LOL!!! That's what I do... Although I do get to roll the windows down occasionally and listen to some sweet, TDi turbo-whine and pop-off-valve noise.

 

i love loud blow off valves.