Have you ever stopped by a car dealership to test drive a car you know you aren’t going to buy? I’m really considering doing just that.
This all stems from my long term lust of the BMW M3. Since the new version came out in 2001, I’ve found myself lying in bed more than once thinking about how amazing it would be to own one. 333 horsepower. Beautiful design. German engineering. It’s enough to bring tears to my eyes. (Okay maybe I’m slightly exaggerating).
There is absolutely no way I would EVER buy an M3 brand new. Even with no debt and a pretty decent income level, it makes absolutely no sense for me to shell out $60K plus for a car. I must say that the new M3 is even nicer than the 2001 through 2007 but it’s completely out of my price range.
Over the last few years I’ve watched the prices on used ones slowly drop. With no trouble at all, I could find M3’s for $35K that were only 2-3 years old. Fast forward to today and there are 2003 M3’s going for around $20K. Uh oh. I can afford that. Even though it’s well within my price range, I’m not going to buy one. We have too many other priorities to be spending that kind of money on a car that I’d drive less than 5000 miles a year.
Just because I’m not going to buy one doesn’t mean I shouldn’t at least finally drive my dream car around the block a few times. Who knows, maybe I’ll drive it and be so disappointed in how it handles that I’ll completely block it out of my mind. The only risk to this idea is that I’ll be so totally blown away with it that I’ll throw all reason out the window. I’d like to think I’m stronger than that……
A friend let me drive his M3 once (years ago) and well, yeah, they’re pretty darned nice. I couldn’t get the hang of the clutch at first b/c it’s v. different from the other cars I’d been driving. I kept stalling it out!
The WRX STi is 305hp for just under $40K brand new. :-)
What is it about the M3 that you enjoy? Why not get a much more practical and efficient Ford Taurus SHO? It’s big, has 365HP, but is in a turbo (or maybe supercharged?) V6 instead so you get 21% better fuel economy in the city and 20% better on the highway. Plus it’s only 38K new . . . and is all wheel drive. It also puts out more torque at a lower RPM than the BMW. The Ford is a much more practical performance sedan.
Sure it’s not a beemer, but I always seem to think that others see BMW drivers as snob-ish anyway. I know I do.
http://autos.msn.com/research/compare/engines.aspx?c=0&n=3&i=0&ph1=t0&ph2=t0&tb=0&dt=0&v=t108911&v=t109114
I can’t quite describe my love affair with the M3. I think the engineering and design is superior to most other cars. Since I wouldn’t buy one new anyway, I also wouldn’t buy a Subaru or Ford SHO new either.
I guess it doesn’t really matter though since I’m not actually going to buy one. :)
Go drive one! It will be a memorable experience for you, and not much of a hardship on the car salesman who hands you the keys.
I am not rich or a “car person,” but I drive a 2002 325i that I got used in 2003, and I LOVE it! Every time I get behind the wheel, I am reminded of how much fun it is to drive.
Thanks AggieAnn,
We went down to a dealership last week but they only had two convertible M3’s with low miles that they wanted $39K for. I didn’t have the heart to ask them to pull the car out of the showroom area just so I could joy ride. Soon enough I’ll run by a dealer that has one just sitting on the lot and then I’ll take it out for a spin.
My dream car is the Porsche 911 or the new Nissan GTR. those cars are really great.-~;