I just can’t shake the PF mentality!
September 11, 2008
A friend posed this hypothetical question to me recently, and the ensuing bickering reminded me that I don’t play hypothetical money games well:
If your car was completely totaled and someone gave you a lump sum, say, $30,000, to buy a car, what car would you buy? (And you have to spend ALL of it on the car.)
*grimace* Eh. That’s too much to spend on a car, for me. Even given the hypothetical donor, even given the no-strings-attached, even given that the money’s not coming out of my pocket, I couldn’t really get all that enthused about the idea.
Honestly? I like my car. I like the mileage, I like the size, I’m comfortable in it, I like that it’s not brand new anymore (except for those little “personality quirks” she’s developing). If she was *sob* destroyed, I would … want the same car. Boring? *shrug* Yeah. But they don’t make her anymore, so I’d have to get a used version, which is fine, I’m D-O-N-E with new cars, new car insurance, new car registration and all that being oh so careful where I park because I’m driving a new car.
Admittedly, there’s a bit of me that still likes the MiniCooper, the Mazda 3, and remembers that I did say I wouldn’t be buying any more two door cars so getting the same car wouldn’t make sense but …. uh, let’s just say that all the fun of asking me a hypothetical question like that was long gone.
So how about it, folks? What would you get with a $30,000 (to replace your destroyed vehicle) budget? And yes, same parameters: If I had to spend it all, so do you! š
i couldn’t blow the whole thing on a car, either. especially now that i’m taking baby steps into investing and i’m so behind in my retirement savings. but i think i would buy a 2005 (or is it 6?) honda cr-v. it’s the same car i have now, just two (three?) years older than the one i own, and one year before they messed up the cute sporty design. i’d get the deluxe model too – the one with alloy wheels, leather interior, hard shell tire cover, tinted windows, and a moonroof, which my car has absolutely none of. LOL!
oops, i meant younger than the one i own. sorry.
Well if I have to spend the whole 30k on one vehicle, I guess I would replace the totaled vehicle; an SUV. Which I really like…hey if I’m ever homeless, the dog and I can sleep in it. I had wanted one for years and when I totaled my truck, I used the money towards the SUV. Sometimes, I wish I had just replaced the truck but now it’s paid for so…
sistah ant: I have to agree with you about the newer cr-v models, I liked the older one as well. Haha, but hey, looks like the cash would come in handy for all those extras you want š
karen: Transportation and shelter all in one, makes sense! My car isn’t practical at all for my dog, so I should take that into consideration for the next car I buy.
Hmmm does it have to be a new car? If so, I guess a Ram charger? Though I don’t think that’s enough. Hubby loves ’em. Ideally, we’d get enough for a (used) mustang. But ostensibly this is having our one car wrecked. So… we’d need something a tad more mundane.
abigail: It can be any sort of vehicle you’d like, including a John Deere! You just had to spend the entire 30k. So you could grab yourself a used Ram Charger, what with the economy and huge inventory of trucks for sale. Ahem. Like mine. š
I’d go with a Prius or look into a hybrid SUV. Anything that didn’t get spent would go into a car accnt for maintenance, b/c it’s still being spent on the car that way.
sara l: Hm, I’m not sure if the auto savings were part of the parameters but I’ll allow it. With a hybrid, though, would you have anything left over?
Ha! This cracks me up because, when my 2-door Dodge Stratus was totaled, I wanted the exact same car. That baby kept me safe! My next car ended up being a 4-door Stratus in a newer year, but I can’t imagine owning anything else. And I’m also less-than-excitable about cars. When we had to shop for the car to replace my totaled Stratus, it was hell. As long as a car has working A/C and a radio, I’m a happy driver.