The chimera of new-car ownership

I was listening to the radio yesterday on my way home from work, and they were talking about how there's a promotion going on with Ford this month where they give you a $2500 rebate on a new Ford Focus - which, considering that Focii start at $13K, is a pretty significant chunk of the price.

Now, I might or might not have mentioned it here, but one of the things I've been keeping an eye out for is a more fuel-efficient car. Mine runs fine and is a great car, but it's a little on the heavy side and only gets about 20 MPG. Decent, but not great. So I do some calculations and figure it's about $300-$350 a month for a payment, and think, "Hey - here's an opportunity to get a brand-new car with nifty gizmos like heated seats and mirrors that's almost twice as fuel-efficient as mine. I've got a good-paying job, I can make payments, it shouldn't be too hard, right?"

This is until I enter in the information at Geico.com, where they inform me that if I want collision and comprehensive coverage on a new Focus (which is generally required if you're financing), they're charging me about $950 every six months (and that's with the maximum deductible).

Considering that there's very little chance I'm going to have that kind of cash in the near future, and if I took the monthly payment option it'd be something like $520+ monthly for the insurance and car payments combined, I think I'll just stick with Marian and her $300-or-so payment every six months.

I'm kind of sorry, though...as cool as it would be to have a new car by itself, I have a friend who I'm (slowly) teaching to drive, and who can't afford a car of her own (old catch-22 - to have the kind of travel flexibility to find a good-paying job, she needs a car, and to get a car, she needs a better-paying job). I would have liked to give her Marian, especially since I know she's a good reliable car. But that's how it goes, I guess.

The chimera of new-car ownership

I was listening to the radio yesterday on my way home from work, and they were talking about how there's a promotion going on with Ford this month where they give you a $2500 rebate on a new Ford Focus - which, considering that Focii start at $13K, is a pretty significant chunk of the price.

Now, I might or might not have mentioned it here, but one of the things I've been keeping an eye out for is a more fuel-efficient car. Mine runs fine and is a great car, but it's a little on the heavy side and only gets about 20 MPG. Decent, but not great. So I do some calculations and figure it's about $300-$350 a month for a payment, and think, "Hey - here's an opportunity to get a brand-new car with nifty gizmos like heated seats and mirrors that's almost twice as fuel-efficient as mine. I've got a good-paying job, I can make payments, it shouldn't be too hard, right?"

This is until I enter in the information at Geico.com, where they inform me that if I want collision and comprehensive coverage on a new Focus (which is generally required if you're financing), they're charging me about $950 every six months (and that's with the maximum deductible).

Considering that there's very little chance I'm going to have that kind of cash in the near future, and if I took the monthly payment option it'd be something like $520+ monthly for the insurance and car payments combined, I think I'll just stick with Marian and her $300-or-so payment every six months.

I'm kind of sorry, though...as cool as it would be to have a new car by itself, I have a friend who I'm (slowly) teaching to drive, and who can't afford a car of her own (old catch-22 - to have the kind of travel flexibility to find a good-paying job, she needs a car, and to get a car, she needs a better-paying job). I would have liked to give her Marian, especially since I know she's a good reliable car. But that's how it goes, I guess.