NEVER fall in love with something that can’t love you back, ESPECIALLY if it has the word “Audi” stuck on it someplace…
For all your education, you haven’t learned much…
If the day comes when we no longer want to sleep in a tent on vacation, we may buy an all wheel drive van big enough for a mattress and our other camping gear. And, if our horse hobby gets to the point where we buy a couple, we will need a half ton diesel pickup to pull their trailer. However, if your taste runs to TTs (the new model was on my short list), driving a van or truck will feel like running with concrete blocks tied to your feet.
I rented a Dodge Grand Caravan last week because that is all Avis had. I felt dumb driving it, but was impressed with the amount of room and the ease of folding the seats. When I handed it back I told the clerk that’s what I’d buy if I had 5 children! We owe it to Lee Iaccocca to offer the most space for the money with good gas mileage. However, like Craig58, I would not personally own one.
Minivans.
Yes perhaps minivans are in the future, if I had a family. Right now, not so much. After bouncing all over the country with this car for 15 years, and a lack of responsibilities besides myself, a prettier car that I drive forever sounds nice. I was just reading about the resale values of various car companies and Audi did quite well. I think I’d get a station wagon myself if I were going in that direction
A couple folks got a little testy about my original question. For the fellow with the PhD, thank you for your comments, but the sentence you jumped on was an attempt at humor. I was in the lab until 8 PM on monday and I am grateful for the opportunity my university has provided.
With regards to the love advice, it is quite sound. However, given that I was asking the forum about a potentially rash car choice, and that I had delayed for at least two years, making judgements about how ‘intelligent’ I am is, at the least, needlessly negative.
Feel free to ignore some of the more “troll-ish” posters, I guess they just don’t like to see anyone have more fun than they do. A TT isn’t exactly “rash,” we’re not talking about a $150K used exotic, we’re probably talking about $30K for a good used one. Some people spend more than that on their car’s paint job. Personally, I would also take a look at the late model cars from the other three manufacturers in that class (Boxter, SLK, and Z3/Z4), just to make sure you don’t decide you like one of them better. They are all in about the same price/performance range (although the TT is probably the least “chick car” of the four), it’s just a matter of personal preference.
As you pointed out, these cars have pretty decent resale. So, what’s the worst that can happen; you buy a used TT and decide it’s too much of a PITA after a year, then you resell it and get most of your money back? Big deal. There will always be plenty of folks to tell you what you can’t/shouldn’t do, just politely ignore them. You can always buy that mini-van when you’re 80 (well, maybe 90).
And if you look at the European roadsters, take a look at the Honda S2000. You’ll have some fun testing all 5. The worst that can happen is that you’ll have a difficult decision to make.
Thanks for the comments Craig58. One of the things that makes spending this much money on a car somewhat okay to me is the knowledge that I will probably either drive it into the ground, or end up trading it in if I ever attract one of these ‘chick’ that you referred to.
I agree with JoeMario, generally the replies in this thread have been really helpful. I looked at some of the cars folks suggested and, for what it is worth here are my thoughts.
Saturn Sky:
I think for the right person it would be a fun car. For me, it looked a little shmushed.
Pontiac Solstice:
I haven’t seen it yet in real life. It looks good in photos
Mazda Miata/MX8:
For whatever reason this car doesn’t do much for me. It is kind of ubiquitous.
350Z:
If I could get over the diminished resale and the higher insurance, then this car would look like a cheaper copy of the Audi TT, nice car, blah interior
Infinites: G35 is so so, G37 is a prettier car. My mom pointed out the G37 to me…maybe in a year or two when there are good used ones out there.
Lexus: I didn’t find these cars as pretty.
Porsche: These are pretty cars but the Audi is the ‘bargain’ in their class.
SLK: nice car, I can’t complain, it is surprising to me how many of these coupes have boring interiors
Honda S2000: I hope I spelled that right. Nice car, blah interior.
BMW Z3/Z4: Talking to someone at work about these cars sparked the whole interest in another car. I’ve been leaning against a convertible like the Z3 because of the road noise, increased insurance cost, added potential maintanence problems, and poor insulation during winter.
I think I forgot to look at the Acuras that were suggested.
BMW started building a Z4 coupe in 2006. Check it out. I like it better than the roadster.
You can also get a removable hard top for the roadster (I believe), it you don’t like the cloth top.
My favorite is the Z3 style M3 roadster, it’s pretty quick.
G35 is so so, G37 is a prettier car.
I am picking up my G37 tomorrow. It won out over Porsche Cayman, 911 and 911 Turbo, Audi A4 and new TT, and BMW 328i coupe. If I had not started shopping until next summer, I would have looked hard at the BMW 128i.
If you test drive both of them, you will find that the G37 is similar to, but more refined than, the G35 coupe. It is quieter and more comfortable, has a better interior and rides better, but doesn’t sacrifice the performance and handling of the G35. After a couple of years, there should be a few used G37s available. But you can’t have mine. I plan to drive it until I’m too old for anything but a wheel chair.
The Z4 Coupe is interesting.
I think I should also look at a chrylser crossfire.
I also looked at the Acura RSX and the other one. They didn’t do much for me.
Corvettes are bit pricier for the same year as a used Audi. They are pretty cars but I don’t know if I would want to go that way.
I guess when it comes to these cars there is an order I am going for choosing: exterior, interior, dependability, cost, performance.
The exterior of the 128i didn’t do much for me.
The Crossfire is based on the 320SLK. I think that the last year is 2007. I had one as a rental once. The trunk is almost nonexistent with the top down. There was barely room for my briefcase and 22" rollaboard suitcase if I jammed them in. I’m sure you will prefer the SLK. It’s more expensive because it is a better appointed version of the car.
Out of curosity I looked at the G35, the Porsche Boxster, tht TT 250, and the BMW Z4 Boxster.
I added up the used prices and five year predicted cost to own for each.
The G35 came out lowest at ~71399 dollars.
The TT was about 7189 dollars more to run.
The BMW Z4 Coupe was about 9509 more to run.
The SLK was about 12,000 dollars more to run.
The Porshe was about 17,000 dollars to run.
If you believe the numbers, and you ignore performance, the G35 is the best deal.
The TT and BMW Z4 are probably about the same to run in the end.
So, from the cheap direction maybe I should skip the Porshe and SLK.
Based on the brands, that cost ranking is about what I would expect. These are all pretty expensive toys, the TT (which is what you originally wanted) is only $1500 more per year. You have to decide if it’s worth the cost difference. Have fun.
Oops,
Edmunds does something weird with financing. I subtracted out their financing cost and redid the values for the five year cost (this includes buying the vehicle from a private party):
The G35 came out lowest at ~65000 dollars.
The TT was about ~6500 dollars more to run.
The BMW Z4 Coupe was about ~8300 more to run.
The SLK was about ~10700 dollars more to run.
The Porshe was about ~15000 dollars to run.
For frame of reference, the fanciest 2006 Toyota Corolla would cost you about 44,000 using the same website. That is a 21,000 dollar difference to the infiniti.
This may be my last update.
The Audi TT, version 1 has been known to have electrical problems (class action suits, etc) in the intrument panel (that probably isn’t the name but good enough) supposedly due to a microprocessor from Italy.
Before they stopped making this car, they changed that system. When? Starting in Mid 2004. So…that means if you want to get one mid 2004- 2006 is a safer bet.
I’ll probably get the four wheel drive one for the safety factor in bad conditions.
Oh, and after I played with the numbers, I realized that, after you pull out initial cost, and depreciation, the Audi TT isn’t that much more expensive to run for five years than the high end Toyota Corolla.
So, for me, it will come down to this car, the Infiniti 37, or the BMW Z4.