Dream Garage: Lunch Break Edition

"Wobbles the Mind" (wobblesthemind)
06/03/2018 at 16:47 • Filed to: Dream Garage

You have a budget of $25,000 USD and the model year(s) must be 2010 or newer. Your work team typically carpools to lunch during meeting days. You would like to have at least one vehicle that two or more adults will not complain about riding in or be embarrassed to have your supervisor and their boss be driven in.

*Note: If using a vehicle that you currently own, you must purchase that vehicle at current market prices.

Remember that most adults are not humongous and these lunch drives are less than 6 minutes away from work. Handle this real life workplace hassle and, as always, enjoy yo’self!

By the way, 2012 Audi A7s are starting to drop below $20,000. Just an FYI.

DISCUSSION (18)

MM54 > Wobbles the Mind
06/03/2018 at 16:54

2011 crown vic for $5k

Something fun with the other $20k

Interestingly enough, this is similar to my scenario, but much higher budget. We usually go to lunch a few days a week from work and take turns driving. I usually don’t drive because I’ve either brought the RX7 (2 seats) or even if I take the crown vic, certain parties don’t like it because the rear door handles don’t work from the inside. I figured fuck ‘em - I’m shopping for a truck (seats 2) to replace the vic and would like to pick up a beater-ish miata (also seats 2). My cars are for me, not them.

KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time > Wobbles the Mind
06/03/2018 at 17:00

This looks like a job for....

the sporty midsize luxury sedan man!

F10 535i 2012+ , 2010-13 Infiniti M37/M56, Acura TL SH-AWD 2012+, 2013+ Lexus GS350, Cadillac CTS sedan 3.6, 2010 to 2012 E350 sedan.

I assumed one car to do everything. OK beat case spend 20K on the car and remaining 5k on a mororcycle.

interstate366, now In The Industry > Wobbles the Mind
06/03/2018 at 17:02

TSX wagon.

G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3 > Wobbles the Mind
06/03/2018 at 17:05

Kinja'd!!!

If you know, you know.

Wobbles the Mind > MM54
06/03/2018 at 17:11

Hmmm, you just reminded me of this 2012 Lotus Evora with nearly 160,000 miles listed at under $30k that I meant to post.

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/inventorylisting/viewDetailsFilterViewInventoryListing.action?sourceContext=carGurusHomePage_false_0&newSearchFromOverviewPage=true&entitySelectingHelper.selectedEntity=d2058&entitySelectingHelper.selectedEntity2=&zip=87114&distance=50000&searchChanged=true&showNegotiable=true&modelChanged=undefined&filtersModified=true#listing=208038658

Wobbles the Mind > G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3
06/03/2018 at 17:13

YES!

Wobbles the Mind > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time
06/03/2018 at 17:14

Great choices, best superpower I’ve seen this week!

Wobbles the Mind > interstate366, now In The Industry
06/03/2018 at 17:15

Ahh yeahhh!

MM54 > Wobbles the Mind
06/03/2018 at 17:22

I was excited about that until I saw it was an automatic

jasmits > Wobbles the Mind
06/03/2018 at 17:27

OOH I had this. Well not exactly, we rarely carpool anywhere to eat bc my workplace is walking distance from a lot of good places. I just needed a much newer/more reliable vehicle for a new job with a long commute.

But my budget was 30k-ish so I bought a new Tacoma. Mostly because a used one still costs 30k for some reason, and once they get down towards 25k it just seemed worth the extra 5k to reduce the mileage from 150k+ miles to 3 miles. But good news, if I had done it for the reasons in the challenge both my supervisor’s supervisor and my supervisor’s supervisor’s boss have Tacomas(one dailys a Tesla but has the Tacoma bc he’s an outdoorsy guy as we tend to be in the PNW and likes to go places further than batteries can take him, the other is into motorcycles and just wanted a pickup truck that isn’t huge which does not leave one with much choice these days).

Although, if I’m actually doing the challenge we can go with a high-ish mileage 2nd-gen Tacoma. It’s tough but possible to find a 4wd, double-cab manual for 25k. To me, something like this is a good choice because(like my real-world example shows) Tacomas/Jeeps/similar have a way of transcending class. Affordable for well-paid but entry-level engineer and still desirable for people making much more. It’s a tool for weekend adventures that also works acceptably well for any situation encountered in daily life. The problem with our classic Oppo-solution of depreciated luxury cars(in this case) is if you really are taking into account what your boss things of your vehicle, keep in mind that they know exactly what you are being paid but probably do not know that a 2012 Audi A7 has dumped 50k in value since new. If anything they’ll be more likely to assume that you’re wallowing in debt over a car than impressed by your taste in vehicle if you’re rolling around in something like that.

Wobbles the Mind > MM54
06/03/2018 at 17:27

So far this one has been one of my favorites.

Wobbles the Mind > jasmits
06/03/2018 at 17:32

Perfect insights, I couldn’t agree more!

InFierority Complex > Wobbles the Mind
06/03/2018 at 17:32

Looks like you can get into Maserati quatroportes and Ghiblis at that price point.

Cant find one for sale in this dark red at the moment, but I would hold out for it.

Kinja'd!!!

Not a huge amount of room in the back but it’s not like it would be that far.

Wobbles the Mind > InFierority Complex
06/03/2018 at 17:40

Im currently holding out for a 2012 QP (when the time is right). Those MCU QP Vs are very reasonable to own for Italian cars, especially from the days when Maserati produced fewer cars than Ferrari annually.