yantastic

Anyone bought a luxury car and end up downgrading? Any reasons why? I've been thinking long and hard about downgrading from 4g tl to a civic or something. Here are my reasons being:
1. Out of character. Recently turned 24 with a 43k msrp car, took one year to fully pay off (used)
2. Don't use it much due to a grunt job 9-6 job in manhattan barely putting on 7k miles a year
3. Being young, the money could be better used on investments that appreciate not depreciate
4. Fairly large car with no children to row around

Has anyone downgraded? I'd like to hear stories, thoughts, reasons, and if you were able to stay with a `lesser` car and stayed happy! Any advice, comments are very much welcome as well!!

Moog-Type-S

Sounds like you have good reasons to "downgrade".

Hapa DC5

Okay you convinced us. Sell it and lease a Civic.

dallison

Are you bored with it?

yantastic

Do they do 7k or 8k leases? Isn't it usually 12k or 15k per year


Not bored with it, don't use it enough would be my #1. Wondering if people go backwards cause people *usually* climb up the Car tiers. It would be interesting to hear other peoples perspectives and if they were able downgrade and stay

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

^of course people down grade all the time.

it seems like you have your reasons; and know what you're getting into.

F23A4

My parents downgraded from their Lincoln Zephyr (read: MKZ) to a 9G Impala. The Lincoln showed itself to be fairly unreliable and expensive to repair. (They were actually briefly considering an 8G Accord sedan but opted for the Impala mainly because they just cant bring themselves to purchase a Japanese make.)

Aside from poor fuel economy, they're fairly happy with the Impala which generally has similar creature comforts to the Lincoln (i.e.: sunroof, leather, auto climate control, etc,) but better performance, if not brand cache (for what that's worth with Lincoln. )

VQPower37

i would be careful with this, since u dont use the car that much it will last for a long time in terms of being trouble free, but if u do "downgrade" u will begin to miss some of the features that u take for granted ...

im 24 and drive a 4g tl, it being out of character is subjective IMO, i i were u i would keep it, jumping into another car wont save u money, it may actually end up causing u to lose more money ...

Hapa DC5

Leases can be 10k a year or so as well.

Sounds like you don't have much use for a car, I'd suggest to lease something cheap or take transit.

RPhilMan1

Downgrade to a TSX.

Pocket the rest. And YES to investments! Build a portfolio. When you're a bit older, you'll thank yourself.

MaxMike93

Actually, my grandma wants to do the opposite. Over 3 years, she's gone from a Acura 3.0CL -> Chevy Cobalt coupe -> Toyota Corolla, and now after having the Corolla for 2 years and 8000 miles, she wants to go with my dad tomorrow and look into buying a new Lexus IS250 AWD (not the just announced one, though). She really only drives to the grocery store and to my aunt's house which is about 20 minutes away.

Sarlacc

"downgrading" is a state of mind really...its an ego/pride thing amongst most people. Especially younger people...ie VQpowers reply.

You do what you need to do and what feels right.

Moog-Type-S

You what you need to do.

charliemike

There are so many good cars that are cheaper than the TL that aren't all the way at the level of a Civic.

Sell the TL, buy a used TSX and drive it for a billion years. Same service, same quality, similar features, and it's not going to be as cheap feeling as a Civic.

Leasing, to me, only makes sense if you're the type of person that wants a new car every few years. Right now, you don't seem like that guy.

Bdog

I drive from point A to point B and want to get their safe and reliably. The older I get, the less I want to spend/waste on a vehicle. I'm not out to impress anymore and my family can use $500+ a month in a better way.

VQPower37

i wouldnt be driving an acura if its an ego thing

Sarlacc

So then why arent you driving a honda or a kia instead?

00TL-P3.2

I went from a Mercedes to a Saturn (granted it was an 82 diesel Benz to a 96 Saturn)
96 Infiniti J30 to a 93 Accord SE

The Benz>Saturn was a downgrade in luxury, but an upgrade in power/speed.
The J30>Accord was again a downgrade in luxury, but an huge upgrade in repair costs.

I guess mine have pretty much netted each other out in some way.

I'm in an '00 TL right now & am not sure where I'm going after this one.

KaMLuNg

iTrader: (5)

sell the TL, buy a used 'beater' that is nice enough that you can take out when you need and not something you need to worry about if you need to leave it at the train station to go to work...

I also commute into NYC every day and my two cars sit at home during the week... fortunately, i'm a little further in my life and my cars are all paid off and used anyway...

UKwrath33

If I'm understanding correctly, the 4g is paid off, no? That's money saved you'd be spending on the Civic or whatever. And as someone else said, under 10k a year means that car, which is already a Honda product, will last at LEAST 10 years before anything major is needed, all the while it's paid off. I'd keep it and once you need some of those features or the back room, you don't need to buy a bigger car from the civic, adding ANOTHER car payment to overtake the Civic, you just use the 4g.

F23A4

Generally The only folks really conscious of the difference are auto enthusiasts and those who are more epicurean in their pursuits. (and in some cases both, a la yours truly)

All that said, there's just so much overlap these days....especially when it comes to Honda products.

Treblig

Do what makes the most sense for you and your current needs. I read somewhere on these forums "when young, get what you need. When old, get what you want" or something to that effect. You have plenty of time left!

Dymondawg

I would re-rank those as 3, 2, 4 and 1.

That money can certainly be used to generate more vs. wasting away depreciating (slowly but surely). Your young, take risks. That certainly isn't something you're going to want to do when you're older and actually have kids. Hopefully, you're in a better financial position at that point too, where you won't need to rack your brain over these kinds of decisions, because you took that TL dough and turned it into an Audi S7.

StreetKA

iTrader: (8)

i sold mine because it was giving me headache and i needed a better commuter (better mpg)

Bearcat94

Sounds like you need a Boss 302.

MTEAZY

Am I the only one who thinks these are good reasons to upgrade to a sports car? This thread just sounds like a reverse-YOLO.


I would get a used C6, S2000, Cayman, or Z4 M coupe in your position.

charliemike

You Oughta Look Out?

CarbonGray Earl

Another question you might want to ask is what do you want to be driving in a couple of years. If you are okay driving a Civic that's several years-old, then downgrade.

However, if you are the type to be yearning for something better later, might as well make a little concession toward luxury now, and keep the car longer than you would a Civic, maybe even let it become your beater later.

domllama

Bought my 3G TL brand new when I was 22 and paid it off just as quick .. Same with (now) my wife we paid off her Infiniti G35x .. At first it was an ego thing because there were no TLs in KS, now there a little over 13k to drive away a 3G so you see them everywhere, still older people driving them.

I literally owned different civics from 92, 96, 2000, 2004 until I finally got my 3G. I love this car, just a different feeling when driving it. Civics kind of feel plastic, like driving a rental car.

Will I buy another brand new car? Maybe not, have a family now and $1000 in income to car payments is ridiculous now, especially with little added upgrades (what upgrades in new cars lol). Especially with gas prices, we both use premium fuel.

We all have our reasons, but I'm kind of past the fad of having the newest and greatest. Kids come first, investments that don't depreciate are more appealing now.

You'll figure it out.

Ken1997TL

I 'downgraded' from RL's and TL's to a TSX wagon.

charliemike

TL;DR - My kids take all my money

VQPower37

because they dont offer the combinations of features i wanted in a car ... anyway back to the OP, i still personally think u should keep the car considering it has been paid off, keep it for atleast 7 more years, and then get rid of it, it will be low miles and u should get a decent return considering acuras hold their value well, and then get into something more "fitting" at that time ...

Hapa DC5

Should've bought an Infinity.

F23A4

...and Beyond!

gnuts

iTrader: (1)

sell it, but a used corolla or hyundai. Something cheap and reliable that will get you through 5 or so years no problem. By the time you're 30 you'll likely be in a different situation in your life and get a new car then. Use the money saved wisely.
Personally i'm looking forward to some of the new honda engines that will be coming out soon with hybrid sh-awd.

oo7spy

I think a lot of people are ignoring the costs of buying car. Say you do cover the cost of taxes, title, and registration by getting a car that much cheaper than you sell your current one. You keep the other car until it is worth $5k and sell it then. But, your TL would have been worth $7k at that point.

The only way this makes fiscal sense is if:
1) you have a payment with high interest rates
2) your car costs more than average to maintain
3) you are willing to downgrade to a car substantially cheaper than what you can sell your car for

BigPZ

My TL is paid for and my wife started talking seriously about kids...I thought about selling it...then I bought the Viper I always wanted...She'll get her baby, but I got mine first...

yantastic

Thanks for all the responses, I thought i would get flamed but to my surprise, there are some excellent suggestions, experiences and comments. I appreciate all of them as it does help me make a decision in the near future... Keep em coming! It seems that the folks in the 30s+ generally don't care too much about a car because there's other, more important stuff to worry about (family). My biggest predicament is that i bought the car one year ago at 28k (with taxes) and today its worth around 23k ($5k loss). I'm thinking it might make sense to hold it one more year to make it worth it. Thoughts on that?

Real good quote ill keep that in mind !

Wouldn't be able to afford the tickets

You sir, are BOSS!

Hapa DC5

We're boring, old and practical remember?

charliemike

I'm 41 and single. I'm still alive