Quote:
Originally Posted by Efthreeoh
This is what I just don't get, "depreciating asset". Why does everyone look at an automobile as a depreciating asset? A car is a transportation tool, not a financial investment vehicle. There are hundreds of other purchases a person makes that are depreciating assets, but no one ever gets concerned over them.
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While I agree with your general sentiment, the reason that people go nuts about the "depreciating asset" labeling for cars is likely for at least one of several reasons: A) people want to sound like they're smart people by throwing out grown-up sounding terms B) there is a proportion of people who are beyond cheap and the idea of losing a lot of money on anything is worse than death C) people legitimize the fact that they cannot, in reality afford nicer, more expensive things. The underlying premise here is that cars are generally the second most expensive thing someone buys, so losing thousands of dollars, which could otherwise be spent on everything else someone would purchase, is objectionable. That someone spends ~$100 on jeans, which are worth far less once used isn't as much of an issue because the actual cost and how they are typically used.
Having said that, I more view cars as a "cost of doing business" for someone like myself who is a car person. I know exactly what I'm getting into and what I could lose. But what else do I want to spend the money on? Why work hard in life? Boosting savings and investments is important of course, but I can't drive my bank account. I can't use my bank account for a track day.
With regard to the question at hand, at the risk of getting banned from this sight, my M3 might be the beater!
We just purchased a brand new Grand Cherokee for shared use, since my SO can't drive a manual and doesn't want to learn how. Selling the M3 for any SUV just wasn't in the cards. So now it sleeps and can be used exclusively for pleasure driving.
Actually none of that's totally true. I suppose we do have a beater car, which would be my SOs vehicle. She has a Hyundai Tucson which is a decent enough car, but it's been destroyed by our dog and it has 143k miles, so it's a great vehicle to take pretty much anywhere. I love it because other than maintenance, I really don't care about it. It used to be the only car that the both of us can drive, but now it's the car we use for everything we don't want to do with the Grand Cherokee.