Having a company car throughout my career has allowed me to buy cars I like and keep them nice and clean and tidy and even keep the drain plugs properly torqued. I would stress over the miles I would put on them, worry about where I parked them, and wind up making car and insurance payments on what were basically garage queens... I did this with a gaggle of 87 Grand Nationals, an '89 TTA, and, sigh, an '08 s2k.

A few months ago I decided I had to have an ISF. I traded the Honda and a pristine '09 IS350 and it dawned on me. I've been pretty car dumb during the past 25 or so years... I did all the work, took the depreciation hits (although I made money on the Grand Nationals. ) The folks that wound up with my cars wound up with some damn nice rides. (Man, how stupid was I to trade the S2000)...

Anyway, I'm driving the dog sheite out of that super Camray and enjoying every mile of it. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't miss the Honda, especially when I see them on the road.

Too bad it took me way to long to figure out that you can keep a nice ride locked up in the garage, keep the miles down, and dream of making some bucks on it when it comes time to move on to another ride. It doesn't often work out that way.

Way too many words to say, from my cheap seat, drive that Honda every chance you get and enjoy it. I met a guy at a Ferrari show a month or so ago who had no qualms about driving his cars... his philosophy is now mine... cars are meant to be driven and enjoyed.

PS.... if I had the greenies and your car was on the market I would be beating on your door to buy it... sounds like you have a nice ride. Enjoy~

 

^^^ wise words, indeed. I've recently seen the light as well, since my fun cars have never been DD's. When I got my recent insurance renewal, I was shocked and pissed off about how much my M3 premium increased. I first thought about selling it, but could never get serious enough to the point of placing an ad, then just figured, WTF? I need to just drive it more!

It's now about a 50% of the time DD, and I'm enjoying it more than ever! I suspect the incremental enjoyment I'm getting out of it will more than offset the eventual loss in value that I'll realize one day.

 

The good news is that if you put another 9k on it in the next 12 months it will still be worth about $18.5k this time next year.

 

Since you're so good at predicting future valuation, how about some stock tips?

 

Good words konaman, there are better, safer investments than buying a car, no matter how special it is, unless it's an ultra rare premium car like a veyron or F1.
Yeah, I think to the average consumer wouldn't pay a premium for a car with 9K vs. a car with 20K, I actually get a little nervous. Why? 20K commuter miles you really need to just worry about parking lot dings and such, 9K, car's barely broken in, harder to believe that a person will take it out on the weekend and drive it to break it in properly, etc. At 9k, you could not change the oil, not break it in properly, not wash the car, and it'll still seem like new after a wash and oil change.

 

Assuming all things equal, I would buy a car with 9k miles much more readily than one with 30k miles.

But I bought mine new in 2007 and am fast approaching 50k miles now. I drive it whenever I feel like driving it and have no hesitation due to miles or condition etc. I bought the car to commute and to have fun in, not as an ornament or an investment.

I'm not "saving it for a rainy day"--the car isn't as much fun in the rain anyway.

 

as far as my personal experience goes: I've lost about $5,000 in depreciation since I bought this car just over 2 years ago with 22,000 miles.... but the 44,000 miles I've driven it in that time have made it one of the better deals in my life....

 

This was based on KBB not adjusting their prices at all for low mileage S2000s. Sometime recently they stopped doing that, so I take back what I said.

https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.ph...T&f=1&t=799493

Not that KBB sets the market, but lots of people want to use that as a starting point for negotiations.

 

On my first S2K, I only put a little over 20k miles on it in 2 & 1/2 yrs of ownership. With my current CR, I've put over 15k miles on it since buying it new in Oct of 2009.
My point is that I felt like driving the S was a sin and it should be treated like a garage queen, until I began to realize that I could die any second of any minute within any hour of any day of any week of any month within any year. I don't want to die knowing that I purchased a car and kept it parked for someone else to enjoy once I'm gone. What's the point of buying a car if you don't drive it?
So I agree with your philosophy on driving a car.

Enjoy it while you can.