Swapping car's (daily) regularly...

[swak]

So I have a bad habit with getting bored of cars, and constantly am changing cars (constantly in a payment, but whatever)...

That said, while it isn't obviously the most financially sound decision anyways... What would be the ideal time frame to turn around on a new car?

Dealer says the earlier the better... but they're in it for the sales so I don't know if I am leaning to believe what they say...
I feel maybe 2 years?

My last car was 8 months, this one i'm at the 8 month mark again and kinda want to switch from my Focus ST to a RS. Just not sure if it's the best idea or if I should wait on that one a bit.

[max_boost]

all the about the money. are you okay if underwater etc.

what you looking at now?

[swak]

Went from a '15 GTI to a '16 Focus St, looking at a '17 Focus RS, really got sold on the Ford service package benefits and the car overall.

Should be about the same payments, $200 more a month but doable....

[RealJimmyJames]

The steepest part of the depreciation curve is at the beginning. So the earlier the swap the more it costs you. But if you can afford it, why not?

[max_boost]

Went from a '15 GTI to a '16 Focus St, looking at a '17 Focus RS, really got sold on the Ford service package benefits and the car overall.

Should be about the same payments, $200 more a month but doable....

friend has a focus (titanium?) and i gotta say, mighty surprise by them! with that said i still wouldn't buy one haha vw for life.

[swak]

The steepest part of the depreciation curve is at the beginning. So the earlier the swap the more it costs you.

This is what i'm getting at... I don't want to be unnecessarily throwing money away if that's the case.

- - - Updated - - -


friend has a focus (titanium?) and i gotta say, mighty surprise by them! with that said i still wouldn't buy one haha vw for life.

I was the VW for life guy before too lol... and will have one again when I have more of a garage than a parking stall amongst many below my condo lol.
But take a Focus ST for a drive and it'll change the way you think haha.

[max_boost]

best way to do it is buying used and only buy when it's a crazy deal lol otherwise you are almost always gonna be throwing some money away.

i drive a ford tho but it's a 2011 transit connect xlt :rofl:

[Buster]

You can satisfy your bored problem for cheaper by just buying two year old cars... Can do it just as often

[zhao]

The answer is probably have multiple cars, and never buy new if you can't handle keeping something for longer than a couple years. Anyone into cars most likely one day realizes that one car can't really check all the boxes for what you want.

For the last 10 years i've pretty much averaged around 6-7 at any given time. I'm currently down to almost as low as I can tolerate. Summer DD (335i), wife's DD (CT200h), truck for towing (GMC 1500), summer weekend sports car (FD), race car (FC). I'm tempted to add a cheap winter fuck bucket missle DD that I dont care if it gets rock chipped and rusted (was thinking a MR-S or NB Miata).

In the future I'm toying with the idea of weekend toy (911, or 911 turbo), cheap fuckbucket all year round commuter car (i drive about 70-80km every work day at 120kph, so rock chips ftl), wife's DD, race car, and rent a tow vehicle for race weekends.

[Type_S1]

Went from a '15 GTI to a '16 Focus St, looking at a '17 Focus RS, really got sold on the Ford service package benefits and the car overall.

Should be about the same payments, $200 more a month but doable....

I think the answer may be to buy a car that isn't so boring to begin with. Not to hate on your choices but The fords and GTI's are just really underwhelming to drive. I got bored of the each (2016 focus & 2015 GTI) after a day of bleeding them from friends...I couldn't imagine owning one as my "fun" car. Buy a real car and then pick up a fun ricer (240sx, MR2, Supra, etc.) you can tinker on in the garage....would keep most enthusiasts entertained I would think.

[Buster]

The answer is probably have multiple cars, and never buy new if you can't handle keeping something for longer than a couple years. Anyone into cars most likely one day realizes that one car can't really check all the boxes for what you want.

For the last 10 years i've pretty much averaged around 6-7 at any given time. I'm currently down to almost as low as I can tolerate. Summer DD (335i), wife's DD (CT200h), truck for towing (GMC 1500), summer weekend sports car (FD), race car (FC). I'm tempted to add a cheap winter fuck bucket missle DD that I dont care if it gets rock chipped and rusted (was thinking a MR-S or NB Miata).

In the future I'm toying with the idea of weekend toy (911, or 911 turbo), cheap fuckbucket all year round commuter car (i drive about 70-80km every work day at 120kph, so rock chips ftl), wife's DD, race car, and rent a tow vehicle for race weekends.

I'd rather have a smaller number of highly capable cars. But it's definitely a preference thing.

[relyt92]

Like others have said buy a year or two old and let someone else do all the depreciation you're taking. Might be worth looking into shorter leases as well knowing you won't be keeping them long.

[swak]

I think the answer may be to buy a car that isn't so boring to begin with. Not to hate on your choices but The fords and GTI's are just really underwhelming to drive. I got bored of the each (2016 focus & 2015 GTI) after a day of bleeding them from friends...I couldn't imagine owning one as my "fun" car. Buy a real car and then pick up a fun ricer (240sx, MR2, Supra, etc.) you can tinker on in the garage....would keep most enthusiasts entertained I would think.

Haha good advice but what's a real car in your opinion ?

[TomcoPDR]

Haha good advice but what's a real car in your opinion ?

Probably along the lines of Ferrari

[dj_rice]

Probably along the lines of Ferrari

:rofl::rofl::facepalm:

[NissanFanBoy]

What's the problem? Lol...as long as you don't get into financial trouble, keep on doing it. Lots of great cars out there and life is short, we're all enthusiasts and this is our hobby. It's like dating, maybe one day you'll settle down lol and find your forever car, I'm 37 and I'm still searching, I've had my Z for 6 months but I just don't see a long future as my daily, maybe as a spare car but ya, it's not "the one"...

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

I used to do the same thing but with lightly used, leased or quite used vehicles. I'd switch in as often as two weeks and keep them as long as 1.5 years. I got tired of it after about 25 vehicles in four years, and got tired of fixing the older ones hence why I am in a cheap $0 down lease now and absolutely loving my car and actually saving considerable money.

You'd be better off keeping what you have and buying $3-10k fun cars for a short time to minimize depreciation on them, that way you can experience more vehicles and hopefully lose less money.

[roll_over]

I'd rather have a smaller number of highly capable cars. But it's definitely a preference thing.

Word...

[ExtraSlow]

I guess one way to give yourself a reality check is to look at your current payment and compare that to what a person walking in off the street would get for the same car.
I know some people who roll negative equity into each new vehicle and convince themselves its not a bad financial decision even though they end up with ridiculous payments fairly quickly.

If you want the judgemental assholes of beyond to do it for you (like Me) post that information.....

[Type_S1]

Haha good advice but what's a real car in your opinion ?

911, C63 AMG, M4, GTR, RC-F, etc. Can get most of them a few years old for great prices.

If you like smaller cars you can get a new TT RS at a decent price. If you like ford grab a GT350.

If those are out of the budget you could consider something like an RS4. You can pick them up now for the mid 20's and is one of the funnest "raw" driving cars I previously owned. The only thing you have to worry about is brakes - expensive as hell to replace.

[born2workoncars]

Went from a '15 GTI to a '16 Focus St, looking at a '17 Focus RS, really got sold on the Ford service package benefits and the car overall.

Should be about the same payments, $200 more a month but doable....

Stop focusing on payments and start understanding total price/cost of ownership, and you'll realize how much money you lose on new cars. You sound like the IDEAL customer, FWIW.

If you really enjoy your car hobby, learn to be a shark and buy used off kijiji. If you buy the right vehicles and flip them quickly enough, you can even turn your hobby into an income. Know your niche!

[bjstare]

Stop focusing on payments and start understanding total price/cost of ownership, and you'll realize how much money you lose on new cars. You sound like the IDEAL customer, FWIW.

If you really enjoy your car hobby, learn to be a shark and buy used off kijiji. If you buy the right vehicles and flip them quickly enough, you can even turn your hobby into an income. Know your niche!

:werd:

[NissanFanBoy]

Stop focusing on payments and start understanding total price/cost of ownership, and you'll realize how much money you lose on new cars. You sound like the IDEAL customer, FWIW.

If you really enjoy your car hobby, learn to be a shark and buy used off kijiji. If you buy the right vehicles and flip them quickly enough, you can even turn your hobby into an income. Know your niche!

I was going to say this but we really don't know his financial situation, some people can actually afford to lose all that money and if they choose to its their prerogative right? Sounds like OP is into nice newer cars, can't really do that in Kijiji as very few people in there can just buy $30,000+ cars with cash.. So OP would have to start driving sub $30k cars... I've gone through so many cars in the last 10 years using Kijiji and only losing a minimal about of $ for the most part but they've always been between $5,000-$20,000 which I think it's the sweet spot for getting decent cars (by my standards) but still having them being "liquid" as in I can easily sell it back for cash on Kijiji a few days.

[zhao]

^ the obvious math is every time he flips a car on trade-in they can keep the payments the same as long as they extend the term. Eventually people go to do trade in #4 or #5 and find out the dealership can't do it because they owe 80k on a car they just bought for 50k that is only worth 30k on trade. Then they find out their trade-in days are now done and the car they currently have is going to be their 'forever car' for the next 5-7 years. Maybe he's stupidly baller and doesn't care about losing 10-15g a year more than he needs to, but then if you're that baller why not buy a car that checks more boxes and you might keep in the 100k range.

There is no way someone trades in a nothing special car every 1-2 years and isn't losing big.

I used to own a dealership and I would agree the sweet spot for liquidating a car without being able to offer financing is under 20g (15g is probably a better top), and there is nothing under 5g that's not fucked somehow, so if you're going to go through cars like underwear, i'd agree stick to that price range, and dump the car within 3-6 months and move on to the next one. If you get it for a decent deal you'll likely be able to unload it for what you paid for it. If you hang on to it for a year you'll likely start losing money.

[NissanFanBoy]

10-15g a year, lots of people spend that on booze and eating at fancy restaurants and clothes easily though...

[ExtraSlow]

If he's comfortable spending that much it's fine. But a couple of his comments make it sound like he's hoping to reduce his total vehicle expenses. Or maybe we are reading too much between the lines here.

[swak]

If he's comfortable spending that much it's fine. But a couple of his comments make it sound like he's hoping to reduce his total vehicle expenses. Or maybe we are reading too much between the lines here.

I don't want to go crazy on prices, no. A new 911/M4/RS4 is out of my price range at this point in time. But negative equity on my cars is not something I want to get into either. Right now I am not in the negatives.
I got a really good deal, and tbh I made a bad deal I think buying the ST, but whatever. Not gonna lament over that.

Just looking for when the best turn around time I guess is.... And 8 months clearly isnt it haha.
Just want a fun car to drive though, an ST is more fun than a ford edge or a chevy cruze... Clearly is no viper ACR though either.

[NissanFanBoy]

Why are you looking for American only??

[dirtsniffer]

because nissans are terrible

[swak]

Why are you looking for American only??

haha i'm not.
Have always been a VW guy, just comparing my car choices to crappy american cars... in that a Focus ST isn't the worst choice ever imho

[shakalaka]

911, C63 AMG, M4, GTR, RC-F, etc. Can get most of them a few years old for great prices.

If you like smaller cars you can get a new TT RS at a decent price. If you like ford grab a GT350.

If those are out of the budget you could consider something like an RS4. You can pick them up now for the mid 20's and is one of the funnest "raw" driving cars I previously owned. The only thing you have to worry about is brakes - expensive as hell to replace.

To be honest, I wish the reason was the OP not buying cars that are exciting enough. At least for me anyway. Coming from a C63 (1.5 yrs), E92 M3 (9 months) and F80 M3 (7 months), having exciting cars wasn't enough for me to not get bored. I do agree with another person who mentioned having a couple of cars might be the way to go. If I had 3-4 nice cars that may help avoid the issue of boredom.

[tawheed]

I'm on my 84th vehicle.. I too suffer from this sickness, however I like to do it all in cash because I'm debt averse.

[Team_Mclaren]

1. start buying 2-3 year old cars, owning it for 6 month likely wont lose you too much money, you might even make some if you luck out. (i did that with a 550I, drove it for 8 months and basically broke even)
2. look for lease takeovers that's <1 year in length, if you are okay with the payment, once the lease is up, dump it back.

[Aleks]

I have had good luck leasing new cars and being able to have them transferred quickly. I drove an STI for 3 months and recently a new Ridgeline for 4 months before transferring each. So all I was out was the monthly payments and half the transfer fee. (Never put anything down on a lease). The key is to get a lease deal that's better than an average customer can get. Things like loyalty rates and knowing which dealer does CCC + 1% helps. But this can limit you in your choices as a lot of vehicles don't lease well.

[Disoblige]

swak, RS FTW. It's one of the most fun cars I've driven and something I'm not afraid to daily.
Plus, not one of those cars you see everywhere. I've only seen one RS in Calgary on the streets, and never once have I crossed paths with one yet while I was driving mine.

[SkiBum5.0]

What cured my habit was getting a truck to use as an appliance, and then building a car. You put so much effort and time into the car, that selling it is tough, and plus you will never get your money back. You need to build some sort of emotional attachment to the car, otherwise it is just a car.

[Rocket1k78]

^ the obvious math is every time he flips a car on trade-in they can keep the payments the same as long as they extend the term. Eventually people go to do trade in #4 or #5 and find out the dealership can't do it because they owe 80k on a car they just bought for 50k that is only worth 30k on trade. Then they find out their trade-in days are now done and the car they currently have is going to be their 'forever car' for the next 5-7 years. Maybe he's stupidly baller and doesn't care about losing 10-15g a year more than he needs to, but then if you're that baller why not buy a car that checks more boxes and you might keep in the 100k range.

There is no way someone trades in a nothing special car every 1-2 years and isn't losing big.



:thumbsup: If i were a car salesman i couldnt even dream a wet dream this good, guy gets bored quickly because he buys average cars and when it comes time to get a new one hes focused purely on payments lol

[never]

What cured my habit was getting a truck to use as an appliance, and then building a car. You put so much effort and time into the car, that selling it is tough, and plus you will never get your money back. You need to build some sort of emotional attachment to the car, otherwise it is just a car.

This is a good way to force yourself to be attached to a car!

[NissanFanBoy]

because nissans are terrible

Triggered... But I have no real argument just that I like Nissans.

[rizfarmer]

Stop focusing on payments and start understanding total price/cost of ownership, and you'll realize how much money you lose on new cars. You sound like the IDEAL customer, FWIW.

If you really enjoy your car hobby, learn to be a shark and buy used off kijiji. If you buy the right vehicles and flip them quickly enough, you can even turn your hobby into an income. Know your niche!


I was going to say this but we really don't know his financial situation, some people can actually afford to lose all that money and if they choose to its their prerogative right? Sounds like OP is into nice newer cars, can't really do that in Kijiji as very few people in there can just buy $30,000+ cars with cash.. So OP would have to start driving sub $30k cars... I've gone through so many cars in the last 10 years using Kijiji and only losing a minimal about of $ for the most part but they've always been between $5,000-$20,000 which I think it's the sweet spot for getting decent cars (by my standards) but still having them being "liquid" as in I can easily sell it back for cash on Kijiji a few days.


^ the obvious math is every time he flips a car on trade-in they can keep the payments the same as long as they extend the term. Eventually people go to do trade in #4 or #5 and find out the dealership can't do it because they owe 80k on a car they just bought for 50k that is only worth 30k on trade. Then they find out their trade-in days are now done and the car they currently have is going to be their 'forever car' for the next 5-7 years. Maybe he's stupidly baller and doesn't care about losing 10-15g a year more than he needs to, but then if you're that baller why not buy a car that checks more boxes and you might keep in the 100k range.

There is no way someone trades in a nothing special car every 1-2 years and isn't losing big.

I used to own a dealership and I would agree the sweet spot for liquidating a car without being able to offer financing is under 20g (15g is probably a better top), and there is nothing under 5g that's not fucked somehow, so if you're going to go through cars like underwear, i'd agree stick to that price range, and dump the car within 3-6 months and move on to the next one. If you get it for a decent deal you'll likely be able to unload it for what you paid for it. If you hang on to it for a year you'll likely start losing money.

Problem is sub $20k car doesn't get you into anything too exciting unless you are willing to go +10 years old



1. start buying 2-3 year old cars, owning it for 6 month likely wont lose you too much money, you might even make some if you luck out. (i did that with a 550I, drove it for 8 months and basically broke even)
2. look for lease takeovers that's <1 year in length, if you are okay with the payment, once the lease is up, dump it back.


I have had good luck leasing new cars and being able to have them transferred quickly. I drove an STI for 3 months and recently a new Ridgeline for 4 months before transferring each. So all I was out was the monthly payments and half the transfer fee. (Never put anything down on a lease). The key is to get a lease deal that's better than an average customer can get. Things like loyalty rates and knowing which dealer does CCC + 1% helps. But this can limit you in your choices as a lot of vehicles don't lease well.

This is an interesting strategy but easy to get stuck with the car or nailed on the lease return. I just stick to low mile Tacomas if I know I want to flip something and drive it for free haha

[swak]

swak, RS FTW. It's one of the most fun cars I've driven and something I'm not afraid to daily.
Plus, not one of those cars you see everywhere. I've only seen one RS in Calgary on the streets, and never once have I crossed paths with one yet while I was driving mine.

Ya man, a friend is a sales manager at a Ford dealer, so get decent prices... took the RS for a quick drive, and doesn't compare to the ST, albeit the same body/car.

Just probably should keep it over the winter for a bit longer then flip it... Not good with this stuff lol.

[NissanFanBoy]

Problem is sub $20k car doesn't get you into anything too exciting unless you are willing to go +10 years old






This is an interesting strategy but easy to get stuck with the car or nailed on the lease return. I just stick to low mile Tacomas if I know I want to flip something and drive it for free haha

You just pissed off a whole lot of non-baller beyonders, including me. :rofl:

[ExtraSlow]

Yeah but nobody cares what poor people like you and me think.

[zhao]

Problem is sub $20k car doesn't get you into anything too exciting unless you are willing to go +10 years old


I know, but if you go new neither does 50k unless you go with something designed for single 20ish year old guys. Ruling those out, 50k gets you a blandmobile.

[max_boost]

Yeah but nobody cares what poor people like you and me think.

:rofl: