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Rahulio1989300E · #13 05-01-2005, 06:29 PM

I got into a bit of an arguement with my brother, but in the end he may be right...

He wants to buy a new Volvo S40 for about $30K with all the options, he gets a plane ride to Sweden, a free hotel room, and a limo ride to the Volvo factory. He gets to see his brand new car roll off the finish line, and a tour of the facility.

Then he gets to drive on the Autobahn for 1500 miles until he gets to Frankfurt airport, where he drops off his new car at the Volvo office there for shipment...

He flys home, and 4 to 6 weeks later, he takes delivery at his local dealership.

That is very cool to me!

He beat me down by stating that yeah, he pays $30k now (he is going to buy the car outright, so no stupid finance charges apply...) and he gets 4 years/40K free service for the car, (includes oil changes, brake pads/rotors, all the wear and tear parts.)

So he plans to keep the car for 10 years, he told me that in the end it will cost him about $3200 a year average... 3500 x 10 $35000 for 10 years worth of car...

He told me my 89 300E cost at least $3000 a year has 188,000, 16 years of age and could fail at anytime.... he really got me there....

So maybe he is right, my car has a rougher idle, the door panels shake a bit, and it swallows premium gas.......

But, I told him that when I become a mechanical engineer, I will be making about $40K a year and could never afford a nice S40 Volvo like he can, unless I finance it for like 20 years, and that the only way to get a nice car is to get an older one and progressively make it close to perfect....

He told me that I would not need a Mercedes, and that it is just a luxury, and that a Honda Civic would fit the budget well...

So I guess I am going to get a Honda Civic.....???

O well, I am still enjoying my car, and until it does crap out on me, I will wash it well, repair what I can, and maintain it the best I can......

Then I will see about the Honda....