Category: 
Today was time to take my car into the dealer for its annual inspection and 95,000 mile service. The latter was scheduled to be a simple oil change. $620 later out of a suddenly discovered $1700 repair bill, I think it’s time to buy myself a new car. Last year that miserable hunk of tin cost me over $4,500 in maintenance.
The question, however, is what to do.
Do I get a relatively inexpensive incredibly boring new car like a Honda (sorry Honda owners, but they’re just completely fucking horrible to drive) and get myself a new Ducati 848, or do I get a slightly more expensive new or used car and compromise on the motorcycle by delaying the purchase or rather getting myself a newer used motorcycle?
Speaking of cars, here are my options:
A new VW GTI:
A new Infiniti G37s:
or a used Audi S4:
And then, if I do that, what to do about the motorcycle?
Do I get myself this:
Or, do I buy myself this:
What I’d really like to do is get a new S4 and a new Ducati, but the budget won’t allow that. Sadly it won’t allow a used S4 and a new Ducati either.
Decisions, decisions …
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This entry was posted on Thursday, February 14th, 2008 at 8:44 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
Forget about the car. I want this. But mine will have to be custom. Why don’t they make fetish wear in size XXS?
What size would you like me to get for you? You’re a little short for the small so a custom fit would probably be better …
Would that go better with the S4 or the G37S?
Oh, and I think it, or more precisely you in it, would look incredibly hot on the back of the Suzuki …
… and everybody knows you have the fuck-me boots to go with the outfit …
I guess I’ll comment again that it is great that Kerry has been saving all that gas with the Insight all these years. That S4 Audi gets the same fuel economy of a Chevy Suburban. Get an A4 2.0T Avant with a sport package, it is fast enough, has much better fuel economy and you can fit your bicycles inside it. If you really need to go fast get on one of the motorcycles…..
Whatever you decide, you need to remember …
… “high-performance” = “high maintenance”.
I guess that statement could apply to both women & cars.
Shorty, yeah the S4 is a tiny bit of a gas guzzler. The Insight makes it look obnoxiously wasteful. For some reason I just can’t abide station wagons … If I’m going to go the 2.0T route, I’d rather go for the GTI because it is smaller and lighter - I currently have a MKIV 2.8l GTI, but the whole reason I’m looking at something else is that VW’s reliability for me has left a lot to be desired. Of course that leaves the whole issue of why I’m looking at Audi.
The problem is, there isn’t much difference in price between a new GTI (I won’t buy a used GTI because of the reliability issues I’ve had with mine) and a used S4, and the S4 is so much more fun to drive. Given that the motorcycle is more a toy for me and that I have to drive the car more regularly, I was leaning towards compromising on the bike a little more and getting a used UJM to replace my curent UJM …
Michael, you know that there is no way in hell I can say anything other than:
Since
Kerry == high performance
and
Kerry == low maintenance
therefore
high performance != high maintenance
So I guess by that reasoning I’ve convinced myself to get an Italian sports car. They’re not high maintenance at all, no. Ferrari here I come. Woohoo! Sorry Kerry, I just can’t bring myself to drive a fuel-sipping environmentally-conscious hybrid.
That’s it - we’re through.
I’m gonna go find myself a goatee sporting, tree hugging, hybrid driving, bike commuting, tofu eating, birkenstock wearing, hackey sacking, pot smoking, Phish listening, earthy crunchy activist to spend the rest of my life with.
My biggest issue of the day is what to wear and what flavor hummus to eat with my carrots.
I wish I had your problems…
Kerry, honey, gorgeous, sweetness, light of my life (note the whiny tone here),
I can grow a goatee. I’m happy to hug trees. I’ll be bike commuting in the spring, summer and fall. I love tofu, am willing to try pot just for you, will play hackey sack and listen to Phish if you’d like, but pleeeeze can I drive a gas-guzzling, environment-polluting, luxo-barge?
And I think you should wear the navy blue top and have the cracked chili peppers hummus.
andy…
get a TDI - go talk to a few friends of mine and it’ll be way faster than that GTI… and if you put good fuel in it and good oil and listen to it…
it’ll be reliable…
and fast
and good for this silly planet…
run it on some % of biodiesel and you can get all smug that your car kicks all those “hybrids” ass…
but…
i might
just
be
a
little
biased
I’ve been out on travel the last few days and not checking the blog. Looks like it has been entertianing! If you buy the used Audi it will be just like having a uesed VW for maintenance except it goes a whole lot faster and costs more to keep it going. If you are going to drive german cars, it is best to have a new one and get rid of them when the warranty is up. I’ll sell you my used A3 if you want. It even has some warranty left on it. I’m ready for another A4 wagon. It was more fun to drive. The A3 also has 4 doors just in case you need to fit a child seat…
LOL, you won’t believe the fun and games we’re having with blogs and persecution here. Suffice to say that my earlier rant was very prophetic.
As to the cars: right now I’m about to wind up with a used S4. I got a deal that seemed pretty good and hopefully everything will check out.
I’ve had something like 4 VWs over the past several years and this last one has far and away been the most unreliable one I’ve ever had.
‘course I’m going to have to answer to HRH Litka for the gas-guzzling luxobarge purchase …
The more I read, the more I just laugh about that “Live free or die” slogan you people have up there in NH. It is a bummer she’s getting jerked around.
I imagine you are getting a deal on that S4 because the last owner couldn’t afford the gas.LOL What year are you looking at picking up? Will it be part of the certified pre-owned program and have a factory warranty? I’m surprised your not getting a RS4. It’s a fair bit faster with 80hp extra and about the same fuel consumption. I imagine if you turn up the satellite radio and switch on the heated seat the queen will forget all about the fuel consumption. This will soften her up for your next purchase of a Citation X….
The last owner looks like a young kid who couldn’t afford the payments. Yeah, its a CPO car and has a factory warranty. I’d love to get an RS4 but the budget won’t allow for that - even used those things are still going for about $55k, and the Citation X fund will take a severe battering were I to go and do something like that.
I owned a 2006 scion tc and loved it! Great car lots of fun-loaded it up with toys and lowered put sticky tires (gforce) on it and drove it like a bat outta hell! Only thing is I decided to buy a ‘08 gsxr 750 (black with silver R) Rode it all summer. After that I realized that every car would never be the same or even comparable.
The bike makes me feel totally liberated and free. I have a new sense of identity and uniqueness I can’t get with a car.
I learned how to ride on a ‘02 cbr 954 and I have ridden other bikes since. This one is by far the best. The confidence you get can only come from a super car I’m sure I’ll never afford the chance to drive but who cares cause I got my bike!
Get the cheapo little gas saver- do the environment good, your wallet good, your conscience good. And it will help you get through the impracticalities of a bike.
As it turns out I found a great S4 that was too good a deal to turn down. Right now I’m drooling over an Aprilia RSV 1000 Factory …