So do you make the smart financial decision or the fun one?

[momofkhm]

He asked me about spending money to buy a fun car.  No, we don't have the money.  What car?  a '99 Mazda Miata.  Convertible.  Talk about a fun car.  We go back and forth about whose it would be.  I think we decided on mine - dh already has a motorcycle which is a fun vehicle.  But still, we don't have the money.  And then he pipes up with, actually we do.  But it's supposed to pay for college.  

 

So the smart decision - pay for college?  Or the fun decision - buy the car?  OR pull the "I'm working now and it would only take 36 weeks to pay for it" card.  I only work 10 hours a week so it would take a while to pay for a car.

 

 

[Forget-Me-Not]

I wouldn't take that kind of risk on a 14-yo used car.

[TXBeth]

The smart one.

[Ravin]

Unless it's more fuel efficient than what you drive to work now, replacing another commute vehicle so it's not a big hit on insurance increase, no.

[Moxie]

I'm not a car person AT ALL, so I say the smart decision.

[Dandelion]

The thing about going with the "fun decision" in that scenario is that the fun wears off after awhile.  It's a 14 year old car.  The likelihood of it needing (potentially costly) repairs in the near future is pretty high.  Then it's not fun anymore.

 

Rent a convertible for a weekend.  Have your fun and pay for the kids' college too.  ;)

[OrganicAnn]

So if you don't use the money for college, then you child(ren) will have to borrow that much more?     

 

I would feel guilty every time I drove it, knowing that it was originally for my kids college.   

 

Also I think of cars as transportation, so it wouldn't really be something that would appeal to me.  

 

I think test drive a new one every year would be a better choice and save your money.

[sparrow]

I typically make the smart decision. The "fun" decision never seems fun for long enough.

[JenC3]

You have an 18 yr old going to college right? In this case college is the only option:) Sorry buy a car when your kids are out of college.

[Murphy101]

For a car? No.

 

For smart vs fun it varies. I don't think a life entirely of either is particularly good.

[Parrothead]

For that car? No way.

 

Now ask me if I cleaned out what was left of my mutual funds to pay for a home gym so we can work on getting healthier. You betcha, I did.

[regentrude]

I would definitely not buy the car.

My priorities would be college before all else (bar medical expenses)

 

Btw, until all the kids have moved out, I would also not replace another vehicle with a frivolous car that seats only two.

[Julie Smith]

It's a car. Therer is no such thing as a fun car.

 

Smart choice.

 

(so not a car person)

[PeacefulChaos]

In this instance, the smart one.

Granted, if the 'fun' one was a trip, vacation, etc - I'd say the fun one.  :)

[Halftime Hope]

In a family that has owned two Miatas, no. It's a two seater. Unless it is yours or dh's cheap commute (good gas mileage and all that), no.

 

They are not that much fun. Unless you are petite and thin, they are not comfortable; it's a bit like trying to fit into a sardine can in the passenger seat.

 

Dh loves driving his, it's his commuter vehicle.

 

He drives against traffic, but if he had to drive with traffic everyday, the stick shift would be a nightmare in traffic. And even with keeping up with regular tire replacements, he had to take it all apart and put sound dampening material in, because the road noise and vibration of the new car (2008) was wreaking havoc on his middle aged vertebra, shoulder, and the hand that goes on the steering wheel most of the time. He also had to modify the cushioning in the seat so he wouldn't hit the top of the roofing fabric, and he's only 6' tall.

 

Furthermore, the '99 is going to have all those problems in spades (older, looser suspension, more vibration) without the improvements of the newer model year. (There were quite a few.)

 

about maintenance: we've loved the Mazdas for their maintenance record (owned 4 so far), but when his '93 Miata hit 8 years old (not a tremendously high mileage, but I don't remember what it was), it had some trouble that would have required about $3K in repairs, so we sold it and replaced with a Mazda 6. The Miata was only worth about $1500, so that would have been lost $, and with a family that was roughly where yours is, and knowing we'd need more family vehicles for teens to drive, we got rid of the two-seater.

 

So, having btdt, NO. But, I like the idea of renting one for special occasions. : )

[Jane in NC]

Boy, in this case it seems to me that the decision is between the responsible and the irresponsible!

[elegantlion]

Skip the Mazda and wait for the BMW Z3. 

 

 

No, seriously, college then the convertible. 

[Pawz4me]

I'm not against fun at all, if one has the cash to spare.  But raid the kids' college money for a 14-yo car?  No.  No way.

[Mom0012]

That kind of purchase would only make me happy for a week, tops. So, definitely the smart one.

[Sparkle]

Exactly what Valerie said. I have 2 SILs and a friend with Mazda Miatas - and yes, they are cute, sporty cars. But uncomfortable as heck and absolutely no cargo space.

 

And there is no way I'd use college funds to buy myself a car.

[Halftime Hope]

I guess this is part 2, something I had forgotten.

 

Miata #1 nearly ruined dh's hip. Remember I said it's a bit like a sardine trying to wedge into a can on the passenger side? It's worse than that on the driver side because of the steering wheel. Dh was having hip pain that was just agonizing. He didn't have any specific event that seemed to have caused it, there was nothing wrong on an MRI, joint condition was fine, etc., etc. It wasn't until we were gone on vacation for two weeks that it healed enough for him to realize that it wasn't degenerative pain, it was caused by something he was doing in everyday life. Turns out it was the awkward mechanics of getting into and out of the Miata. He has modified how he gets in, and it's fine, but he looks like a granny. Literally, he goes in butt first, sits, then turns. His words: sit and swing. On the passenger side, its not the getting in that bothers me, it's that the engine compartment extends into the space where my legs are, if I'm sitting with my legs aligned with the way the seat naturally aligns them. It's not too bad for short hops, but it's the wrong car for a couple's road trip.

 

ETA: our idea of a fun convertible is one of the now discontinued, updated Thunderbirds. At $54K, that wasn't happening...

[ThisIsTheDay]

Another vote for the smart decision.

[Kaleidoscope]

In this case for me I'd make the smart one.

 

But in general I don't necessarily go for smart or fun... I go for healthy.  Sometimes my health needs me to make the fun decision.  Other times the smart one is healthier.  It just depends on the big picture.  

[PinkyandtheBrains.]

Well, if you have quite a bit saved for college (good for you!) then I'd say the smart decision. Especially if your children have worked hard to get into college, and are also putting effort into financing via scholarships, part time jobs etc.

 

 

 

 

But I say that more because the car is quite old. It may be fun, but it isn't likely to be for long.

[Jackie]

I've often made the fun decision in my own life. Working on changing those habits now.

 

However, I see the solution in your post. You say that working for 36 weeks would buy a fun car. That's less than a year from now! So pay the tuition bill and start putting your work money in savings until you have enough for a Miata. They're not rare cars, so you'll be able to find one when you have the money with just a bit of work.

[skeeterbug]

Wait...is this a topic we are all in agreement on?

 

Ack! My computer might explode!

 

:leaving:

[Melissa in Australia]

I have only ever done the practical and have never done the fun choice. that is why I am completely debt free, with a beautiful house plus investment properties and am not quite 40

[DawnM]

That wouldn't even cross our minds as parents. It would be an immediate NO. Now, if we had the money for something they wanted, like a car, it would be a reward for finishing college, not a pre-college or instead of college gift.

[lynn]

If my house was paid off and a 6 month + emergency fund was established I'd go for something fun.

[Pegasus]

I do some of each: smart financial decisions and fun ones.  The fun ones are always saved for and paid in full.

[Catwoman]

I am a car person, so I love getting new cars, but I would never buy one that I couldn't pay for in cash, without having to sacrifice something else. In other words, it would truly have to be extra money, not money I was taking away from paying for something we needed as a family.

 

And as others have said, the car you're interested in is pretty old, and car repairs aren't cheap, so that would be a huge strike against it -- and you'd have to pay for insurance, etc. on an ongoing basis as well, so it's not a one-time expenditure.

 

I'm sorry I can't encourage you to buy the car -- I'm sure it's a gorgeous little car, but it doesn't seem like a sensible choice for you right now. :(

[Catwoman]

I just thought of something else.

 

How much use would you get out of the car? We have had 2-seater sports cars for years, and we've never managed to put more than around a thousand miles a year on any of them, because although we plan to use them for fun, we usually end up taking a bigger car instead because my ds will be with us -- or if one of us goes out alone, we often need to stop at a store or something, and storage/trunk space in a sports car is pretty limited.

 

Just something to consider!

[Lizzie in Ma]

Having made bad decisions in the past left us struggling really hard for the 5 years it took to become debt free except for the mortgage, I tend to go with smart.

 

That having been said, I told my kids from birth that they will be paying for college themselves if they choose to go.

I did, dh did and we think it has a great deal of merit.

So if I had money out aside and could get my 67 Impala, I would do it in a heartbeat. :driving:

[momofkhm]

Ladies, this was never a serious question!  DH and I would never do it.  But it was fun to fantasize about getting a fun car.

 

FWIW, it would be a commuter car and seems like it would get better gas mileage than my current minivan.  Even if it's not a lot better gas milage, it would keep miles off the van so it would last longer.  It would be cash - the money is sitting there in the bank.  

 

The surprising thing is the number of you who would put aside everything to pay for college.  So you aren't planning on having any fun while paying for college?  NO we won't be buying this car, but if we find one that is a good buy, we may.  Even if it's a 2 seater.

 

 

[DawnM]

It would be helpful if you could put a smiley face or a wink in your future joke postings.

 

We don't know you well enough to know if this is a joke or not, so we answered the question as it was asked.......as a question to be answered.

 

Dawn

 

Ladies, this was never a serious question!  DH and I would never do it.  But it was fun to fantasize about getting a fun car.

 

FWIW, it would be a commuter car and seems like it would get better gas mileage than my current minivan.  Even if it's not a lot better gas milage, it would keep miles off the van so it would last longer.  It would be cash - the money is sitting there in the bank.  

 

The surprising thing is the number of you who would put aside everything to pay for college.  So you aren't planning on having any fun while paying for college?  NO we won't be buying this car, but if we find one that is a good buy, we may.  Even if it's a 2 seater.

[Annie G]

Our middle daughter decided after 2 years of community college that she was done with school. We had money put aside for her to finish her education and when she announced she was done, we bought a Corvette. Yup. Even though we had 2 more kids to put through school, we took that money and bought a fun car. It's been 7 years and we don't regret our decision.   

 

Over the years we've discussed where the line is between being responsible savers and spending a little to have some fun.  It can be a tough call. A month after we bought the car, dh had a heart attack and as a result has 8 stents in his heart. Thought I was going to lose him- and was so glad we at least had that month with our fun car. When he finally got his stents (Took three tries in three different hospitals before they were able to stent him), the car became our way of coping with everything- both of our mothers fought cancer at the same time, his job was super stressful, etc.  

 

Now the younger kids are in college and we're cash-flowing the tuition payments not covered by scholarships. I'm so glad we didn't pass on buying our car.  Oh, and about buying an older Miata- our Vette is a 1995, and we've had no car troubles that dh couldn't fix. Repairs on our two daily drivers  cost way more than  our old Corvette. 

 

Even though you weren't seriously considering spending college money on a fun car, I wanted to put a plug in for balancing fun and responsibility.   I think every reply was trying to convey that - balance is the key and that line can be in a different place for each of us.