Facing a mild dilemma next year

"InfinityAero" (infinityaero) 08/09/2016 at 14:27 • Filed to: None

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I’ve spent the last 8 months driving my Xterra— the first time since high school I’ve been relegated to a truck for daily driving duties. It’s been.... boring. I’ve got Project Wannabe Abarth (‘77 Fiat Spider), which should be running within a month, but I’ll never feel safe driving that around the maniacs in the DC Metro, especially now that I’ve removed the bumpers.

I’m hoping to get a new car next year. The goal is to get something that has (fairly) simple and straightforward maintenance requirements and expenses, that will either hold its value or accumulate. I can probably pretty easily get a loan through my bank or my fiance (soon to be wife’s) bank for up to $30K with a good interest rate. 2 is the agreed upon limit to vehicles I can have at the house....

I’m thinking of the following cars as options:

1) First or Second Gen Dodge Viper - $25-30K, 10-60K miles

2) First or Second Gen Acura NSX - $25-35K, any miles (I think it’s a year too late to find them at these prices)

3) Honda S2000 - $10-15K, 60-150K miles (fallback option #1)

I’ll have to think of other options, because a lot can change in 6-12 months.... second fallback might be to say screw it and Daily Drive a 350+HP 60s muscle car I can snag for $6-10K.

Whatever I buy, I’ll have to dump either the Xterra or the Fiat 124 Spider. It’s going to be a tough choice... The truck, I could rent a truck when I need a tow vehicles. The car... not sure it’ll be where I wanted the project to finish, not sure how reliable it’s going to be (not very I’d guess).... it’d probably be the way to go, but I’ll miss out on the appreciation the vehicles are sure to go through now that they’ve released the new ones.

Ah.... decisions, decisions...

BringBackTheCommodore > InfinityAero 08/09/2016 at 14:48

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How about a truck that doubles as a muscle car?

‘79 Li’l Red: http://www.cars-on-line.com/77795.html - $19K

‘78 Li’l Red: http://www.cars-on-line.com/82198.html - $17.5K

Or, conversely:

Here’s a 2001 SVT Lightning for $19,991.

There’s a 2004 Ram SRT-10 for $17.5K .

‘78 Elky for $3,400 ; can be modded with tasty things like an LT-1, or, conversely, drop in a drivetrain from a Grand National.

At any rate, these decisions are never simple, but they are a lot of fun!

InfinityAero > BringBackTheCommodore 08/09/2016 at 14:52

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Haha, I like the idea! I’m looking to get something that will put down some power and also rip my face off from lateral Gs in the twisties. Not sure how private loans work— but a UTE (El Camino or Brat) with an LS Swap and resto-modded suspension/brakes would be insanely awesome, totally up my alley, and capable of towing up to 2500lbs, no problem... That may be fallback (2); if a loan can be used to *build* a car. I suppose it would if I got pre-approved for a lump sum...

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > InfinityAero 08/09/2016 at 14:52

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Not sure, as long as everything has been sorted and is maintained, 124s are actually not that bad, reliability-wise.

The Viper would be awesome, but I imagine the gas mileage would be dire with that epic V10...

With my sensible shoes on, the S2000 or NSX. With my “yay” shoes on, Viper. :P

BringBackTheCommodore > InfinityAero 08/09/2016 at 14:56

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Basically, with a private loan vice an auto loan, you’ll pay a higher interest rate, but you’ll be able to use the money as you see fit. If you go that route, you’ll definitely want to write out a budget and parts list and stick strictly to that, as it’s easy to see spending run away.

Also, for what it’s worth, I’ve bought a motorcycle with a credit card (it was a 2008 Kawasaki Versys back in 2008), so there are other routes to go.

Basically, it comes down to number crunching.

InfinityAero > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 08/09/2016 at 15:11

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I know the Viper is not sensible... but.... I mean....big engine bay, American parts, hand wrenching... low miles... 10>8... rare... 14 year old wet dreams... beautiful...now “slow”... it’s the most ridiculous, and potentially the most profitable choice; they’re never getting any cheaper. I get 15 mpg in the Xterra already... may as well start paying 50% more for premium :)

Honestly it’s more the safety aspect with the 124... it’s made of soda-can thickness sheet metal with some soup-can thickness patches I put in, weighs 2K lbs, and the hood is lower than your average lifted Jeep... it’s death waiting to happen— the wreck I got in with my Genesis Coupe would have been death. I loved that car... but it wasn’t a good car, I had myself convinced I was going to “make it” a good car but losing it was likely a blessing in disguise. Maybe I’ll end up with an undeniably *good* car.

How crazy is it that the NSXs are so stupid-reliable that they’re now labeled as a “sensible...”. Wish I’d bough one in 2004 when they had dropped to $12K for a 120K mile ‘92 example.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > InfinityAero 08/09/2016 at 15:35

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Whatever you choose mate, good luck....looking forward to heRing about it! :P

Truck-wise, unless you haul a lot of stuff so the time, there’s not much point owning one to me...then again, I am a car guy. Could always get a classic muscle wagon for the best of both worlds...?

InfinityAero > BringBackTheCommodore 08/09/2016 at 15:38

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Roger— I’m at the point in my life I could use that money for a (current) future classic... or make something stupid fun and only half my friends and family would disown me. I feel like the embodiment of ‘Murica.

The one thing for sure is that I won’t stumble into a new car loan again— never again.

Textured Soy Protein > InfinityAero 08/09/2016 at 15:48

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I’d want something that’s not too terrible for the inevitable sitting in DC traffic, and of the cars you listed, only the NSX would really meet that requirement. The Viper and S2000 are both way too claustrophobic inside and the clutch on the Viper is super heavy. But you’re not going to get an NSX for the price range you’ve guesstimated.