Expensive Electronics Lust

[llcoolvad]

So I'm having a seriously weak moment in my resolve to spend very little.

My friend Jenn, who buys a new car every two years or so, just got a shiny new Toyota Prius. She showed me all the bells and whistles a couple of weeks ago and since that day I've been having enormous car-envy. They're so damned cool! I have never lusted for a car before in my whole life. The closest I got was when the new Beetle came out — I had a few moments of daydreaming, but nothing serious. They're jolly and round and candy-like, but I was able to resist. And I am totally fond of the Mini Coopers, too, but I like a bit more heft in my cars. But the Prius? Cool, environmentally friendly, seriously high tech, lots of gizmos....ooh. Teh shiny! WANT!!

I'm actually in the market this year for a new car, and since I live with Mom I could totally afford the Prius. But SHOULD I afford it? I'm living here to kill off the rest of my debt, not take on a lot of new debt. And Prius' are $23k, minimum. I have just about talked myself out of it.

I've pretty much decided that I might indeed buy a brand new car (although I've never done that before either. My last car was 1 year old when I bought it over 10 years ago), but that I will probably buy more on the budget end of things. A Sentra, maybe. Not sure yet. I really like hatchbacks and it seems that the budget hatchbacks are scary (like the Yaris and the Fit and the Versa — I mean, what ARE those?).

I confess: part of what's driving that decision is the shiny new iPhone. I currently have a two-year-old Treo that I have thoroughly appreciated, but I've never deeply loved. And the iPhone seems like something I could deeply love. It's ... it's ... shiny! And girly-pretty! And all the things that irritate me about my Treo, like the browser, are solved! And I love the touch screen! And there's an on-screen touch keyboard! There's a 20 minute tour here, if you're interested. Way cool!

The only thing I don't see is the ability to add additional software. Like games. Wouldn't games make sense? I have Freecell and Sudoku on my Treo. I might miss not having them! The reason I have been a loyal Palm user is all the available cheap software. I love adding new apps.

And the iPhones are $500! That's a lot of money for a phone. If I save $10k on a car I might be able to talk myself into buying the shiny phone. Maybe.

In reality I probably will dither about this until my car actually dies and I have no time to make a reasonable decision, and I will postpone getting a phone for another year or so. But today? My mouth is literally watering for the damned shiny tech.

Comments

[ozymandiasism.livejournal.com]

You should get the 2007 civic with navi. WAY cool! LOL :) The only thing about the civic is that it can get a little hard to get out of for some people on the passenger side. But if you're the car owner, you wouldn't have to worry about that.

A friend of mine just got a Versa, and he said it's a confortable car. It is the most roomy vehicle in the same class of all the recent budget hatch. I believ he has all that shint gadget stuff as well... I know for a fact he has the AUX jack in the car.

Yes, the iPhone is all shiny and stuff... but would you really buy it NOW? I would highly recommend waiting at least a few onths before they fix all the bugs. From what I heard, the iphone has SLOW web loading time, horrible battery life (although they promise 9h of talk time), and it's huge. They use glass covers instead of plastic (sit on this!). AT&T has still yet to disclose service plan info. Also, there is a mandatory firmwire update AT THE STORE on Friday when you purchase the iphone (yes, you need to dfo this before you leave the store). Also, I heard something about the iphone are primarily for mac users? I like the iphone, but I'm waiitng to wait.. and you know other cell manu. are now designing cool phones.... I'll wait for one from verizon. (source: TwiT)

[llcoolvad.livejournal.com]

No, I wouldn't buy the iPhone now. I completely agree about the bugs and whatnot. Although they claim it's for both Mac and PC users, so that's ok...

[llcoolvad.livejournal.com]

And the Civic with Navi? Is $21K! (http://automobiles.honda.com/models/specifications_descriptions.asp?ModelName=Civic+Sedan&Category=EX) Might as well get the Prius!

[ozymandiasism.livejournal.com]

I perosnally wouldn't get the hybrid just because of the price. You might save some on gas but you need to drive the car for a long period of time to get the money back from paying for premium price for the car. Besides, you don't drive that much, so having a prius might not be the best saving option in the long run.

You can get the 2006 civic if you want (which I have). The ONLY thing different between 2006 and 2007 is that 2006 is XM ready and 2007 is XM installed. Also, you don't need the NAVI is you don't think you need it. It's cool to have for sure, but you don't need it if you're looking to save money.

[llcoolvad.livejournal.com]

Well, my current car is a 1996 Civic and I still love my car, but brand loyalty isn't getting me past how much Civics have gone up in price the past xx years. They have the top safety rating (oh I can't remember, and I am too tired to practice my advanced google-fu, but I know they're safe) and they're certainly solid. But I am angry that the lowest level Civic is still about $15K. That's ridiculous. Honda has a touch of the Toyota arrogance now. So if I'm going to overpay for a car I feel like I should go right to the source, y'know?

As far as the gas mileage thing goes, I am trying to be proactive about the future. I don't buy cars that often, so I figure that in a couple of years, when I move into my new place probably in the wilds of New Hampshire, I will undoubtedly still have whatever I buy now. And since I'll probably still be working in the Boston area, I might actually HAVE high mileage. As it is right now, I would save about $400 per year in gas costs if I bought the Prius. (10,000 miles per year at 50mpg rather than the 30mpg I get now). But of course the difference in my payments would amount to more than that per year. But then again I'd have the car I lust for. It's a dilemma!!

Anyway, like I said I'll probably put it off for a while.

[ozymandiasism.livejournal.com]

well sounds like you have put in a lot of thoughts and calculations to it.... so I'm sure you know what to do.

but I don't think they actually get 50mpg. I would imagine 40 would be more realistic.

[livingdeb.livejournal.com]

In your situation, I would get the Prius. But I would wait until the Prius is old enough that I can afford to buy one used with cash. This plan only works if your other car lasts that long.

Hey, maybe you can buy Jenn's Prius in two years when she gets her next new car.

(And ever since my first electronic organizer, the best one in the whole world, died just because of a little rain, and then I bought one used online and then it died too, the love is gone, gone, gone.)

[llcoolvad.livejournal.com]

I would absolutely buy one used. Except you can't find them used! Hottest car in the country or something like that. From what I understand you can't even bargain at the dealership. Eeep!

[ozymandiasism.livejournal.com]

you can't even bargain a civic really either actually because of its popularity... well... only a little bit.

[llcoolvad.livejournal.com]

And HA! Maybe Jenn will be interested! She drives a LOT tho, so mileage might be kind of high.

[p-j-cleary.livejournal.com]

The Prius, I think, would make sense because you keep your cars for such a long time and as you said, you'll be driving a longer distance at some point in the future.

The iPhone...wait on it. I'm sure there's going to be a ton of glitch reports after they're sold, and I hate the idea of only one service plan available. Plus, I know it's supposed to be the "actual internet", but how quickly does that load? And with the touch-screen, how do you keep from clicking on every link when you're trying to optimize a window or something?