Recent purchases - Part II

[brad-t]

Originally Posted by wj4

Uncontrol, if you think "it's marsupialed"...go check out 6speedonline. You simply aren't into cars...that's plain and simple. It would be as 'marsupialed' as other guys trying to comprehend why you wear make up.

except my makeup doesn't cost me like 10k a year

and you're right, i'm not into cars though i do find them cool. but if i was i'd rather just buy one car that i really love and drive it till it dies.

 

[wj4]

Originally Posted by impolyt_one

my friend in LA drives from the valley into LA for work everyday, so he drives his 'beater' BMW - i was surprised he called it a beater but I hadn't seen that dude in 9 years, and back then his e46 was new, lol. He has a black A5 he drives on the weekends I guess. I have forgotten what it's like to have multiple cars, since I live in an apartment that's as big as a regular American garage

and

at arranged marriages

When I first heard about your arranged marriage....reminded me of Jefferson from Married With Children, haha.

Do you plan on moving back to USA, dude?

ROK and Japan are crazy because for their sizes, they do extremely well financially which makes the housing issue even more severe due to the small size. Not to mention the average person makes not so much money.


Uncontrol, it's all good..broham.

10k is a good set of wheels and coilover for car people.
10k is 3 RO leathers for fashion people.

As you probably would guess, my friends with 100k+ cars aren't into fashion. They just wear whatever....Kswiss, Kirkland jeans from Costco, etc.

 

[impolyt_one]

Having one car forever, that is a commitment. I think it's probably harder to do than getting married, because you can easily swap cars if it's getting tired and worn out.

I've been looking at this apartment in Tokyo where it's a 1-room loft, and the garage is the loft portion and it's all glassed in, so you can sit in your room and look at your car all day. It's the ultimate man cave studio apartment. Problem is, you need to have a sick car or it's not going to be worth it. I can't even think of that many cars that go for under a bill that I think would be worthy of putting in a garage like this: http://www.arise-chintai.com/img.php...d=16123&155599

 

[brad-t]

that is beautiful

 

[impolyt_one]

That apartment is surprisingly not too expensive, considering all the factors and the location (and it is prime as hell). There's only one or two of that layout in the building (because the rest obviously don't have the ground floor garage built-in) and I don't know when they're gonna be back on the market.

Still though, I don't even know what kind of car you could put in that garage and want to look at all day like art. I like some obscure cars, but buying and selling cars is a hassle in Japan and you want to keep whatever you have for at least a couple years. You can't be putting a BMW 3 or 5 series in that garage. That **** needs a Lamborghini or an Aston in there.

 

[jet]

Originally Posted by wj4

Depends on the brand and marketability.

Bought a new Accord Coupe V6 for $25,000. Sold it 10 months later for $18,000.
Bought a new Evo 8 (SSL package) for $35,000. Sold it almost 2 years later for $22,000.
Bought a new 335i for $45,000. Sold it almost 4 years later for $14,000. (It was not as marketable as it was a stick, and only options were Sirius, sport pckg, and navi).

I'm all for saving for retirement, but you gotta enjoy life too.

Huge loss on that e90, color combo plus timing of the market fucked you. Cars nowadays no matter what don't have much resale anymore.

Originally Posted by shibbel

^That's actually a program that all the AG manufacturers offer.

Shipping isn't as bad as you might think, and its especially cheap if one is forking over $10K+ above MSRP at home. I remember a long while back I was with my dad in the showroom of Concours BMW in Milwaukee and they had a silver Z8...Tony, the GM at the time told us they were putting it up for auction because they were unable to fill it. While in Chicago, at the same time, the damn things were going for 6-8K above sticker, if not more.

Just euro delivery, my boy did this in 02 with his steel grey/imola m3.

 

[wj4]

Originally Posted by impolyt_one

That apartment is surprisingly not too expensive, considering all the factors and the location (and it is prime as hell). There's only one or two of that layout in the building (because the rest obviously don't have the ground floor garage built-in) and I don't know when they're gonna be back on the market.

Still though, I don't even know what kind of car you could put in that garage and want to look at all day like art. I like some obscure cars, but buying and selling cars is a hassle in Japan and you want to keep whatever you have for at least a couple years. You can't be putting a BMW 3 or 5 series in that garage. That **** needs a Lamborghini or an Aston in there.
I can see someone running catless exhaust and poisons himself sooner than later.

Always wanted to visit Japan. A plane made a stop in Osaka years ago and that airport looked really nice. Wish I could've stepped outside.


Jet, yeah man..I took a big hit. But I don't really buy cars with hope to retain value. I buy them for the enjoyment factor. It's like buying a piece of clothing and not wear it with hope to resell it. Use it to the max. Enjoy it. Replace when the timing is appropriate.

PS are the 6 pages of car talk up yet?

PS if you move to Japan...what will happen to ToJ?

 

[tween_spirit]

I've had pretty good luck with not losing money (read: sale price higher than purchase price) on more niche cars. in high school I had an e36 m3 that was my baby (eventually got stolen, only reason I didn't lose money on that one but I still miss it. bought a 99 m-coupe (s52) for a song from my cousins friend who was moving out of the country and waited too long to sell so he accepted my lowball. other car (my favorite) was an '87 190e 2.3 16v cosworth that I sold to a guy that bought it and drove it to California to race the sold it to a guy who bought it and drove it to Boston lol

 

[bdeuce22]

Does Dayton manufacture cars?

 

[BB1]

Originally Posted by nahneun

A car is easily recognizable as a status symbol and as a measure of wealth. Clothes, not so much. You can be lower-middle middle class and buy nice clothes with considerable more ease than you can an Aston Martin, Lambo, etc. Not sure why this is so difficult to figure out.

Originally Posted by Meis

That's completely the opposite of what the argument is about. The point is that people think of the 40k+ car as sensible and not as much of a luxury as the purchase of the $500 shoes. It's that they don't think of the 40k+ car as extravagant but think the shoes are.
Relative to Europe (or even Canada) Americans find elitism distasteful. Most Americans tend to believe in (or perhaps hope for) a society with no social classes where the main measure of success is financial wealth. We are also taught that this ideal can be achieved by anyone, regardless of class. The car succeeds at representing this belief system since it can be readily used by anyone to display financial success without appearing elitist. Everyone from the boardroom to the bingo hall has been "educated" that a BMW is a very fine car indeed. Furthermore, anyone whom has the money can buy one and drive it. No prerequisite education, skill, or upbringing is necessary-- everyone is equal in capabilities. The only difference between the BMW driver and the Hyundai driver is that one has more money than the other, thus this display is largely not elitist or even inequitable by American standards. If anything the BMW driver is to be celebrated since he represents what we are all supposedly to aspire to become some day: wealthy. But clothing is not like this. Clothing differences seem to strike into the heart of the very thing Americans find distasteful: signs personal difference and class. Unlike the car which is largely impersonal and can be used by anyone to display wealth, clothing is personal and more closely aligned with social class. As many of the first time visitors to this forum amply demonstrate, success at clothing is likely unattainable to those without the proper education, effort, or upbringing. But success by means of a car largely requires no effort, much like watching the great equalizer called TV. Subjects such as TV shows, cars, or sports are an impersonal lowest common denominator language that bind all classes together. But clothing is personal and frequently viewed as distasteful when used as a means to highlight such differences. This is why Steve Jobs used to dress like a dandy with his bow ties and preppy clothing, yet today he wears a generic jeans outfit as if to present himself as being no better than anyone else. Mr. Jobs knows that egalitarianism is more easily obtained using a bottom up approach as opposed to a top down one. Anyway, this is why McCains $500 shoes are "elitist" yet his $80,000 car is not.

 

[impolyt_one]

Originally Posted by wj4

I can see someone running catless exhaust and poisons himself sooner than later.

Always wanted to visit Japan. A plane made a stop in Osaka years ago and that airport looked really nice. Wish I could've stepped outside.


Jet, yeah man..I took a big hit. But I don't really buy cars with hope to retain value. I buy them for the enjoyment factor. It's like buying a piece of clothing and not wear it with hope to resell it. Use it to the max. Enjoy it. Replace when the timing is appropriate.

PS are the 6 pages of car talk up yet?

PS if you move to Japan...what will happen to ToJ?

As a car lover, you owe it to yourself to take a week trip to Japan, just to jaunt around Tokyo. Tokyo on a nice weather day is the absolute **** for car lovers, so many great obscure cars one after another. Housewives in Tokyo drive white E63 wagons to the supermarket. Great cars, good food, beautiful women, the only downside is that the houses are so f'ing small. lol. I'm ready to make taht trade if I move there, but we'll see.

TOJ is all locked down, we operate mostly independently anyway. If I move to Tokyo I plan to come back to Seoul to confer with dizzhizz about monthly or so, but beyond that we've got it all figured out by now that it's pretty easy to do over iPhones and iPads. I can design the piece on scrap paper, and I know the textile markets like the back of my hand, so I will just send along the drawings and the shopping list to dizzhizz, who orders all that up and conveys that to the workshops making the clothes and tells them all the fine details I need, it's easy going.

Originally Posted by tween_spirit

I've had pretty good luck with not losing money (read: sale price higher than purchase price) on more niche cars. in high school I had an e36 m3 that was my baby (eventually got stolen, only reason I didn't lose money on that one but I still miss it. bought a 99 m-coupe (s52) for a song from my cousins friend who was moving out of the country and waited too long to sell so he accepted my lowball. other car (my favorite) was an '87 190e 2.3 16v cosworth that I sold to a guy that bought it and drove it to California to race the sold it to a guy who bought it and drove it to Boston lol

This is the way to do it. Hard to lose much money this way if you play your chips right. Gotta buy used and buy niche stuff, but you can get out of cars for what you pay for them if you pick them right.

 

[nahneun]

Originally Posted by BB1

Relative to Europe (or even Canada) Americans find elitism distasteful. Most Americans tend to believe in (or perhaps hope for) a society with no social classes where the main measure of success is financial wealth. We are also taught that this ideal can be achieved by anyone, regardless of class. The car succeeds at representing this belief system since it can be readily used by anyone to display financial success without appearing elitist. Everyone from the boardroom to the bingo hall has been "educated" that a BMW is a very fine car indeed. Furthermore, anyone whom has the money can buy one and drive it. No prerequisite education, skill, or upbringing is necessary-- everyone is equal in capabilities. The only difference between the BMW driver and the Hyundai driver is that one has more money than the other, thus this display is largely not elitist or even inequitable by American standards. If anything the BMW driver is to be celebrated since he represents what we are all supposedly to aspire to become some day: wealthy. But clothing is not like this. Clothing differences seem to strike into the heart of the very thing Americans find distasteful: signs personal difference and class. Unlike the car which is largely impersonal and can be used by anyone to display wealth, clothing is personal and more closely aligned with social class. As many of the first time visitors to this forum amply demonstrate, success at clothing is likely unattainable to those without the proper education, effort, or upbringing. But success by means of a car largely requires no effort, much like watching the great equalizer called TV. Subjects such as TV shows, cars, or sports are an impersonal lowest common denominator language that bind all classes together. But clothing is personal and frequently viewed as distasteful when used as a means to highlight such differences. This is why Steve Jobs used to dress like a dandy with his bow ties and preppy clothing, yet today he wears a generic jeans outfit as if to present himself as being no better than anyone else. Mr. Jobs knows that egalitarianism is more easily obtained using a bottom up approach as opposed to a top down one. Anyway, this is why McCains $500 shoes are "elitist" yet his $80,000 car is not.
I'm honestly not sure how you're framing your understanding of American culture, but you're wrong. Having discrepancies in financial wealth automatically assumes differences in class. I don't know why you think America dreams of becoming a Marxist utopia. If anything, America celebrates individualism more than any other modern country.

 

[wj4]

Originally Posted by impolyt_one

As a car lover, you owe it to yourself to take a week trip to Japan, just to jaunt around Tokyo. Tokyo on a nice weather day is the absolute **** for car lovers, so many great obscure cars one after another. Housewives in Tokyo drive white E63 wagons to the supermarket. Great cars, good food, beautiful women, the only downside is that the houses are so f'ing small. lol. I'm ready to make taht trade if I move there, but we'll see.

TOJ is all locked down, we operate mostly independently anyway. If I move to Tokyo I plan to come back to Seoul to confer with dizzhizz about monthly or so, but beyond that we've got it all figured out by now that it's pretty easy to do over iPhones and iPads. I can design the piece on scrap paper, and I know the textile markets like the back of my hand, so I will just send along the drawings and the shopping list to dizzhizz, who orders all that up and conveys that to the workshops making the clothes and tells them all the fine details I need, it's easy going.



This is the way to do it. Hard to lose much money this way if you play your chips right. Gotta buy used and buy niche stuff, but you can get out of cars for what you pay for them if you pick them right.

It's good to see the gray bags will still be coming my way.

I do want to visit Japan badly

Wagons are the shizznit. I would rock an E63 wagon in a heartbeat. Work will only let me take a 2 week vacation so I don't think I can stop by this summer. Perhaps in the winter or something.

As for recent cops...I bought those painted white MMMs like probably 10 others from Yoox. Also bought the blue 'stripe' MMMs from Yoox too. Feeling bad this spiraled out of content.

 

[impolyt_one]

Originally Posted by nahneun

I'm honestly not sure how you're framing your understanding of American culture, but you're wrong. Having discrepancies in financial wealth automatically assumes differences in class. I don't know why you think America dreams of becoming a Marxist utopia. If anything, America celebrates individualism more than any other modern country.

I agree with this. +1 billi. Americans overvalue housing and cars, undervalue clothes, food, art, but the American free market is the most diverse in the world and Americans are free to buy anything, which they do.

 

[Lane]

I agree with BB1 wholeheartedly. In fact his posts usually get me all giddy. Americans have a distaste for fashion past H&M because its assumed that you are "flaunting" your wealth. People have a great distaste for others who are "greedy" even in our "free market society." So seeing someone wearing good clothes comes off as really greedy, and showy. Not to mention superficial!

A car does accomplish the same thing, but it depends on the car. I think people are more forgiving when someone owns a BMW over someone owning a designer label pair of shoes. Since one is not perceived as luxurious or esoteric. I think with fashion, especially when it comes to the labels we talk about here. You have to be someone in the "know" plus you have to have the money. With cars you are bombarded with ads everywhere about how you are gonna rock everyones world with your gigantic 4-door SUV!!