How did you convince your significant other that buying an S2000 was a good idea?
02-25-2018, 07:59 AM
#41
Registered User
There are lots of priorities in your years of life given the $$ as a constraint, marriage, new born, car, housing, kids' college expense, retirement savings etc. Different people view things differently and thus set the priorities differently. How are you going to prioritize and allocating funding to those items in your life is the key question while at the same time being able to fund your S2K. The bottom line is it is just a toy.
02-26-2018, 04:59 AM
#42
Told her it was slower than my STi. (it is in a straight line)
Told her I was spending less than the STi I was trading in.(not a lie)
Took it home from the dealer to take her for a ride in it. It was located in the driveway when she got home, she called it cute, I knew it was on at that time.
Told her I was spending less than the STi I was trading in.(not a lie)
Took it home from the dealer to take her for a ride in it. It was located in the driveway when she got home, she called it cute, I knew it was on at that time.
02-26-2018, 07:00 AM
#43
There are lots of priorities in your years of life given the $$ as a constraint, marriage, new born, car, housing, kids' college expense, retirement savings etc. Different people view things differently and thus set the priorities differently. How are you going to prioritize and allocating funding to those items in your life is the key question while at the same time being able to fund your S2K. The bottom line is it is just a toy.
Anyway....everyone's case is different. In my case, I got mine AFTER getting married, house and kids. The S2000 is a toy. You will NEVER be able to justify it since it is not something you "need". Because you already talked to you fiance about it and it did not go well my personal suggestion would be is to wait. Contrarily to what you said, I think right now is the WORST time to buy. It is not about the money but you should be focusing on the important things for your relationship which is the wedding and not trying to buy a "toy".
Not trying to be arbitrary, but you'll know when the right time comes to get one.
02-26-2018, 10:17 AM
#44
First point I would make is that an S2000 really isn't that expensive. Lets say you spend $15,000, that is a lot of money to some people, but you can make the argument that it will basically always be worth that same $15,000 and you could sell it for that at anytime as long as you take care of the car. So lets say you end up needing it for a down payment on a house in two years, you can sell it, or kids school expenses or retirement or whatever, you can sell it for what you paid for it. This may or may not be entirely true depending on the economy and whatever, but it should be mostly true for the foreseeable future. So its not like you spent $15,000 on a wild oversees trip or on another hobby where you couldn't really recoup the costs.
Second point, this is a hobby, and a rather inexpensive one at that, see my first point. Many people have more expensive hobbies than the costs of a non-depreciating car. Surely your wife has a hobby? Does she run marathons, go out to eat at nice places a lot, collect purses or shoes, or have some other expensive hobby that she openly or secretly spends money on? If so, justify your S2000 by pointing out that its less expensive than her hobby. (you may need to tread carefully here, depending on your wife's personality)
Third, money in itself rarely brings happiness. An S2000 will make you happier. If $15,000 isn't going to hurt you financially, do what will make you happy. If it doesn't make you as happy as you thought it would, sell it, see my first point.
Fourth, and last, get the 2 seater NOW! You will never use it more than you do NOW! I had my first S2000 as a married 20-something with no kids, even though it wasn't my daily driver, I drove it all the time and the wife rode in it a ton! I sold the S2000 too soon, when we were trying to have kids. I picked up my second S2000 when I had a four year old, I don't get to drive this one nearly as much because of the kid, and my wife almost never gets to ride in it because when I'm driving it the kid is with her. Yes, the kid will grow and be able to ride in the car but I don't think I'll ever drive it as much as I did as a 20-something with no kids. Maybe once the kid is older, I just hope by back and knees stay in good shape as I age, I know too many people who wouldn't own an S2000 or similar low sporty car with a manual because of bad knees and/or a bad back. Odds are you will never drive this car more than you will in the next year or two, get it and enjoy it, before its too late!
Second point, this is a hobby, and a rather inexpensive one at that, see my first point. Many people have more expensive hobbies than the costs of a non-depreciating car. Surely your wife has a hobby? Does she run marathons, go out to eat at nice places a lot, collect purses or shoes, or have some other expensive hobby that she openly or secretly spends money on? If so, justify your S2000 by pointing out that its less expensive than her hobby. (you may need to tread carefully here, depending on your wife's personality)
Third, money in itself rarely brings happiness. An S2000 will make you happier. If $15,000 isn't going to hurt you financially, do what will make you happy. If it doesn't make you as happy as you thought it would, sell it, see my first point.
Fourth, and last, get the 2 seater NOW! You will never use it more than you do NOW! I had my first S2000 as a married 20-something with no kids, even though it wasn't my daily driver, I drove it all the time and the wife rode in it a ton! I sold the S2000 too soon, when we were trying to have kids. I picked up my second S2000 when I had a four year old, I don't get to drive this one nearly as much because of the kid, and my wife almost never gets to ride in it because when I'm driving it the kid is with her. Yes, the kid will grow and be able to ride in the car but I don't think I'll ever drive it as much as I did as a 20-something with no kids. Maybe once the kid is older, I just hope by back and knees stay in good shape as I age, I know too many people who wouldn't own an S2000 or similar low sporty car with a manual because of bad knees and/or a bad back. Odds are you will never drive this car more than you will in the next year or two, get it and enjoy it, before its too late!
02-26-2018, 11:11 AM
#45
Cars are way more expensive a hobby than all the stuff you just listed as comparable hobbies.
Source: I love shoes. I have spent $1005 on shoes in the last 14 months. That got 10 pairs of sneakers (not cheap junk either, stuff often considered "hype").
Conversely I spent: $600 on a set of tires. $1675 on a set of wheels. $950 on an exhaust. $1260 on a lip & canards. $1300 on a seat. $130 on a shift boot. $100 on a shift knob.
And on & on. Shoot, my annual insurance on the S2000 alone is almost as much as I spent on my shoe hobby.
Source: I love shoes. I have spent $1005 on shoes in the last 14 months. That got 10 pairs of sneakers (not cheap junk either, stuff often considered "hype").
Conversely I spent: $600 on a set of tires. $1675 on a set of wheels. $950 on an exhaust. $1260 on a lip & canards. $1300 on a seat. $130 on a shift boot. $100 on a shift knob.
And on & on. Shoot, my annual insurance on the S2000 alone is almost as much as I spent on my shoe hobby.
02-26-2018, 02:18 PM
#47
Easy solution find a women who loves cars! My wife was super excited when i told her i wanted another S2000! But just do what you can afford, i mean if its not going to break you then just get it, she will get over it.
02-27-2018, 06:16 AM
#48
Registered User
Thread Starter
Everyone is different. Every relationship is different. So my advice may not apply.
Your money is your money. If you earn it you can spend it. I've never had to pass anything by my wife - she knows I can manage my finances and doesn't question my judgement and nor do I hers. You also sound very young and have plenty of life/time ahead of you to save money for whatever you both want in life. You seem to be good with $ and if she knows you well she should trust your judgement. She should also know what your passions are (I hope) if you're getting married??? I've been married 4 years however been together with my wife 12 - when I was planning on buying my S2000 a year and a half ago I simply told her and she smiled. We now have a 2 month year old and nothing has changed - I'm planning some big upgrades for the S in the spring and she smiled yet again when I told her about those. In fact, when I told her I was planning on shipping the car down to FL to get it supercharged she said "sweet, we can plan a lil vacation around it with the baby!" What makes me happy makes her happy and vise versa and we support each other's passions... it should be no different with you and your wife... Don't start the married with her dictating what you can and can't have when you work hard and are responsible with your money. When she wants to do something that you know she's passionate about you need to then support her too. Life is too short otherwise.
Your money is your money. If you earn it you can spend it. I've never had to pass anything by my wife - she knows I can manage my finances and doesn't question my judgement and nor do I hers. You also sound very young and have plenty of life/time ahead of you to save money for whatever you both want in life. You seem to be good with $ and if she knows you well she should trust your judgement. She should also know what your passions are (I hope) if you're getting married??? I've been married 4 years however been together with my wife 12 - when I was planning on buying my S2000 a year and a half ago I simply told her and she smiled. We now have a 2 month year old and nothing has changed - I'm planning some big upgrades for the S in the spring and she smiled yet again when I told her about those. In fact, when I told her I was planning on shipping the car down to FL to get it supercharged she said "sweet, we can plan a lil vacation around it with the baby!" What makes me happy makes her happy and vise versa and we support each other's passions... it should be no different with you and your wife... Don't start the married with her dictating what you can and can't have when you work hard and are responsible with your money. When she wants to do something that you know she's passionate about you need to then support her too. Life is too short otherwise.
She knows my passions, and I've told her from the moment we started dating that I wanted another S2000.
02-27-2018, 06:25 AM
#49
Registered User
Thread Starter
Thanks everyone for your replies. You make some great points and have some great stories.
Not to my surprise, we are all different. Even though the woman I'm marrying is the one for me no doubt, she isn't the kind of girl who is going to take a ride in a roadster and immediately pull out the checkbook. She doesn't really care about cars, and has more of a view of putting money where we need it, not where we want it. And when our money does go elsewhere, it's typically for vacations and stuff like that. Don't worry, she makes up for it by watching nonstop football on Saturday and Sunday with me during the fall and winter. She also doesn't drive stick, so she wouldn't get to experience it at all.
We had an agreement years before we put our money together that before that time, our money belongs to us individually. We can do whatever we want with no questions. She spent almost $8,000 on veneers around this time, and she did it because she knew I wasn't going to help pay for them. Maybe I should have bought an S2000 then!
Realistically I think we're going to buy a house first, and then go from there. Could I afford an S2000 right now? Absolutely. But if it comes to it, I'd rather use the money to buy a nicer house, and any of you who own a house know that there are tons of expenses once you actually do this. My fear is that we'll want a new kitchen, or bathroom, or roof, or a million other things, and then we're going to have kids, and suddenly the S2000 is even further in the rearview.
But that doesn't sound like a terrible life, and I'd be lucky to be living it. So I think the plan is to keep mentioning the idea of buying it once we buy a house, and hope that she caves at some point within that first year.
Not to my surprise, we are all different. Even though the woman I'm marrying is the one for me no doubt, she isn't the kind of girl who is going to take a ride in a roadster and immediately pull out the checkbook. She doesn't really care about cars, and has more of a view of putting money where we need it, not where we want it. And when our money does go elsewhere, it's typically for vacations and stuff like that. Don't worry, she makes up for it by watching nonstop football on Saturday and Sunday with me during the fall and winter. She also doesn't drive stick, so she wouldn't get to experience it at all.
We had an agreement years before we put our money together that before that time, our money belongs to us individually. We can do whatever we want with no questions. She spent almost $8,000 on veneers around this time, and she did it because she knew I wasn't going to help pay for them. Maybe I should have bought an S2000 then!
Realistically I think we're going to buy a house first, and then go from there. Could I afford an S2000 right now? Absolutely. But if it comes to it, I'd rather use the money to buy a nicer house, and any of you who own a house know that there are tons of expenses once you actually do this. My fear is that we'll want a new kitchen, or bathroom, or roof, or a million other things, and then we're going to have kids, and suddenly the S2000 is even further in the rearview.
But that doesn't sound like a terrible life, and I'd be lucky to be living it. So I think the plan is to keep mentioning the idea of buying it once we buy a house, and hope that she caves at some point within that first year.
