Also because people might only admire the car, not the driver.
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Ford Focus 2019 worth ~29k, 15k km a year for 3 years, no downpayment and only 324.- /month (saving rate 55%).
The key in the negotiation for me was to increase the residual value of the car because I know I donât want to buy one and I will just continue to lease another car every 3 years. I also purchased it in July, which is often a good time to make a purchase.
It was easily twice cheaper than a similar Golf or Audi A3, and the best is that I donât need to pay the CO2 tax as it is below the 130g /km and consumes only 5.4L/100km.
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This! Itâs seems it is your dream, so why not fulfilling it, especially that it may not be the same in a few years (electric, auto pilots) and you seem to be able to afford it without borrowing the money, etc.
FYI - I have an (entry-level) AMG (bought brand new with 28% discount). I donât regret the decision of buying it, on the contrary, every time I get in the car there is a smile on my face 
.
Everyone values something else in life. Even in cars - for some it will be acceleration, for others driving super-modern computer on wheels or sporty cornering. For me itâs the soundâŠand Iâm not an asshole waking up all my neighbours ;). Even though while on Switzerland the only moment I can really push the car is while joining the highway (and only when nobody is in front of me), the feeling of driving it is just great. Ask yourself if it may work the same for you or you will rather be more happy knowing that the amount you would spend on it is invested and (hopefully) growing.
2015 BMW 650iX Gran Coupe, bought in 2019 for 46k, 6k downpayment and financed 40k over 24 months at 4.7% p.a., 1â736.- /month. Completely paid off since a couple months now, and plan to own it for another 5+ years.
I am very much a car enthusiast and bought a high-end BMW for personal enjoyment. It was not a frugal move nor was it a sound financial decission, but I love driving the bloody thing. Plus, luxury cars heavily depreciate in the first 2-3 years, so I made the somewhat sensible decision to buy a second-hand car after the inital owner burned trough >120k depreciation in 4 yearsâŠ
If itâs a conscious decision and adds enjoyment to your life - go for it. I would just recommend to:
- buy a slightly used model with warranty (2-3 y/o, <50k km), as these models are often still in almost-new condition and heavly depreciated
- if you can get cheap financing (<2-3% p.a.), use this facility and invest the capital instead.
- if you lease, be mindful about leasing contracts where they want to screw you over (e.g. have the right to buy the car at the end of the contract, max km per year, penalty payments for normal wear and tear when returning the car, etc.)
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Yes I think that having a charging facility somewhere in your surroundings (being at home or at work) is as of now nearly a âmustâ in order to avoid regretting the choice. I have a charger at home but for work related reasons I have to use a lot of express charging (DC).
Moreover I have to charge once a week at a âslowâ (AC, 11 kW) public charger which takes approx 4h and is at ca. 300m walking distance (but I take it as an opportunity to walk a few mins, which I wouldnât probably do If I wouldnât be âforcedâ by the car).
So all in all good choice for me (having duly considered the pros and cons before making the step); might not be the same for someone else.
Iâm probably going to sound like a boomer, but anyhowâŠ
Kind of like buying the car on margin?
In my opinion, thatâs a crazy concept.
Isnât leasing borrowing?
âaffording itâ used to mean paying it in cash, I feel.
These days it has become âbeing able to pay the monthly installmentsâ, heck, for some it isnât even borrowing any more.
Maybe this could also just be semantics, what does one mean exactly.
I wouldnât bat an eyelid, if this were on a Car-Forum, but to read such comments on a Mustachian Forum, it surprises me.
And it worries me, about what will happen in the next crash, from which markets may(nobody knows) take years to recover.
To everyone his own, really!! His own car, his own definitions, etc Iâm just sharing my definitions & principles (which may be way outdated 
)
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Sure, it is (mine was bought with cash). I kind of assumed he has enough funds to buy it, but he just prefers to go with leasing to have the rest invested. I should rather have written: if you are able to afford it without borrowing money and by using small percentage of your fundsâŠ
well, itâs about opportunity cost (and your personal risk tolerence). Assuming you have the cash, and your expected return investing this capital in the stock market is higher than the interest rate on a loan, it makes sense to invest the capital instead. Of course there is always the risk of a recession for the time frame in question, but on average, one would expect a net positive outcome. Itâs similar to the rent vs. buy real estate discussion, just with less capital.
In my personal scenario, I did not lease but took out an unsecured loan, as I wanted to own the car afterwards, and didnât like the implications that come with leasing.
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One point that may be relevant for folks making decisions: Last time I checked margin loan interest and personal loan interest are deductible from taxes. Interest on car leasing is not.
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We are actually thinking about that⊠currently own a BWX X1, leasing ends in 6 months⊠now that leasing is available for the Model Y it is interesting for us⊠we do not have a chraging station yet, but my father has one and he is about 10mins drive away from us⊠still dont know if its worth⊠i was test driving one and wow, it is a fantastic car⊠
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Even if you have to install a charging socket (Iâd still recommend a CEE16 socket instead of a wall charger) itâs unlikely that youâd ever go back to a gasoline car after a Tesla.
I am not super frugal but I think new cars are really the worst decision you can make. 68k? get out of here!
Buy second hand directly from the owner. This way at least you can have an idea of the usage it was given before. In my case I bought 6 years ago a diesel BMW X3 2.0 from 2009, 90k km for 14k CHF with Winter tires. The car was in pretty good shape and still is. We changed a light, the battery and the break pads so far. The car was from the wife of a man in his 60âs, went his home check it out, and it was done.
Itâs not the most convenient of course but I think is well worth the effort to save many 1000âs of CHF.
And donât hesitate to negotiate of course.
In any case I think you need a middle term. Right now you are at 8 (Mazda 2 with a family, really? ) and now you want to go to 80 (brand new medium high tier).
Good luck,
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Yeah i guess once an electric car, alway an electric carâŠ
Still doing some calculations to see if its worthâŠ
Currently: BMW X1, Leasing, 5 Months to go and then payed 48 months / 450.-
Buying price is 25â900.- (it has only 34â000 KM). I guess the best would be if we buy it and then sell it, because i think its worh more than 25â900.- (more towards 30-35â000).
This money could then be used for the downpayment for a Tesla Model Y. Still, the monthly rate would then be 628.- instead of 450.- now⊠donât know if it would be worth thoughâŠ
Problem is: I already had a testdrive with the Tesla and WOW - the car makes such fun
Teslas are still the nicest pure EV cars out there. Itâs not only the car, but the ecosystem (OTA software updates, charging network, family-like feeling). And yes, âonce an electric, always an electricâ; I would never switch back!
But believe me, you will get weird looks when you drive one. People have a lot of misconceptions, and some will despise you. I try not to notice it or worry too much about it. Nevertheless, there are still idiots that will damage cars of ârichâ people (or maybe theyâre just anti-EVs).
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Why buying a car? Check the long term rent option from Carvolution.ch
The monthly rate inclued everything except gas and parking. Better invest your money where you will get something in return.
Spending money for a car is the same like burning your money.
I went for buying on credit (at 4.7%) over leasing, since leasing rates for used cars are not that great, so there was not that much of a savings effect. Plus, leasing contracts have lots of conditions and limitations which are IMO a bit problematic. If Iâd do it again, I would probably use IBKR margin loans (at 1.5%), but you need to use a safe loan-to-value ratio, not to go into a margin call.
The advertised leasing rates of 0.9% or even less are usually only for new cars when the dealers want to move inventory. As we already established, buying new is not a smart move. There might be a deal to be made from time to time, but generally I would be carefull with those.
People who own a car for image reasons do not want a car older than 5 years. 
With leasing, insurance and all running costs (tires, service, etc.) are added to the installments, with Carvolution all these costs are included in the rental price. Exact calculation is required in any case.
If you compare to that, just reasonable leasing + covering the rest yourself, would still be likely better âworthâ.
If you have fleet discount from your company talk to your fleet manager. He should show you the agreements for each brand/model. For example I can get 28% with Ford Mondeo but only 10-15% with Skoda Superb.
Possibly you can get for a significant lower amount of money a full equipped decent looking car.
I exactly know this feeling, I love cars - and after 15 years without a car I ordered one, a plug-in hybrid M model - to drive to work (cancelled my monthly bus/train ticket).
I liked the electric piece of it so much that I swiched to a full electric after one year. I drive it for free because my wallbox only charges the car when my solar panels produce overcapacity (obviously taxes, etc I have to pay).
If you can, go for electric - BMW does this quite well⊠and built quality is better than Tesla 3.