My Home About Me

After my last accident I needed a new car, and I finally got around to buying one....my new (used) black 1999 Lexus GS 300.

WHY A LEXUS?
I was thinking of buying another Toyota Camry because it was such a great car, but I decided to step it up a notch and go with a Lexus.....same great quality with a little more luxury. The rational thing to do was buy a relatively cheap new car for the same price, but many times the rational thing isn't the most fun! I've saved up a bit of money over the years, and I was prepared to drop around $16k on a car.....which doesn't exactly by the nicest of new car.

I decided I wanted a used 1998+ Lexus GS 300 with under 100,000 miles. Research showed me this is a very long-lasting and reliable car....not to mention Lexus has been the consistently rated the 1 most reliable car for years.

On a very superficial level, your car says something about you. I wanted to go for the young professional look (not sure how professional I am) but I didn't want to spend $45,000+ on a BMW or new Lexus.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

SEARCHING FOR THE PERFECT CAR:
Perusing Craigslist, AutoTrader and Yahoo Autos for a few weeks made it clear that all the good deals on private party Lexus' in Texas were in Dallas which is about 3 hours away from Austin.

I passed on a few deals I shouldn't have because they were in Dallas, but finally I found a good one and rented a car to Dallas. Patience was key here. I was getting a little hasty at first because I just wanted to get this whole car thing over with. I'm glad I waited a little bit longer for another good deal to come along.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

RENTING CAR, WITHDRAWING CASH:
I got a one-way airport-t0-airport rental car from Austin to Dallas, so I could ditch the car if the deal went through and had to drive the Lexus back from Dallas. Since I'm under 25 there was a fee, there was also a fee for one-way drop off, and I also got upgraded insurance (juuuuust in case) which brought my total to $113 for the entire rental car, plus a $30 tank of gas in the end.

The night before the car rental I went to my local Bank of America and withdrew $15,000 in cash. That $15,000 involved a lot of hard work and savings over the years, yet it fit snuggly inside two small envelopes. I just HAD to play around with it!

$15,000.....Not as impressive looking as it sounds.

Money smells funny.


I couldn't pass up the opportunity to do this!

Years of saving and hard work = Half inch stack of paper.
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

BUYING THE CAR
I finally met up with the guy in Dallas after visiting several Lexus dealerships and viewing some other private party cars around town. Did a quick test drive, went through my check-list of things to look for and decided to seal the deal. In the end it came to $15,000 in cash even.

Sitting pretty on the driveway. 1999 Lexus GS 300 with 65K miles.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

BEING FORCED TO GET A LOAN
I wanted to pay for this car in cash, and I did.....however I DON'T want to miss this opportunity to put a loan on my credit report. Therefore I've already arranged to have a $10,000 loan taken on the car from a Federal Credit Union. All I have to do is transfer the car title to the credit union for collateral, they write me a $10,000 check and I make monthly payments which looks good on my credit.

I wish the whole credit system worked in favor of people who pay off their cars in cash, otherwise I would never take this step.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

INSURANCE
I've got GEICO insurance which was a pretty pleasant experience, and since I was in two wrecks in the last 3 years (My fault or not), my insurance for the Lexus is $1,080 for 6 months....yikes. The original quote they gave me was for $650 for 6 months....until that pesky little driving record was pulled up.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

So I finally get to cross "Buy a new car" off my to-do list. So far the car has been wonderful, and I'm very glad I bought it. For some reason the most fascinating part of this whole experience.......I have seat warmers!

Biotech HOLDR (BBH)   relative strength trading   Technical chart patterns   support/resistance levels   ETFs (exchange traded funds)   Deron Wagner   Emini's Nas 100   emini's S&P 500   economic data   day trading   gap   climatic   Fixed-income (bond) ETFs   Oil   Inflation   Earnings   Paul Hogan   Crocodile Dundee   ATO   Australian Taxation Office