Fed Financial

I need EMERGENCY financial advice!!!!!!!?

After months of searching I found a used car I want to buy: 2001 Mercedes Benz E320 (leather, sunroof, 90k miles, warranty) asking only $8000 by a reputable dealer. Original asking price was $14000. I want to buy it, but my parents are saying NO. They say we're in a recession and that spending money on a luxury car isn't a good idea and that I should save the money for a rainy day. I do have a car right now, a 2002 Honda SUV that my dad "gave" me but it gets horrible gas mileage (18mpg), rattles and squeaks like crazy, has 150k miles and doesn't even have a CD player. I really want to buy this car and I think that if I buy it and economy gets worse, I can eBay the car and recoup most of what I paid since the car is under wholesale. So what do you guys think?

Public Comments

1. What do you do for a living? How secure do you feel in your job? How much money do you have in the bank? How much are you going to put down on this car? All those things go into determining whether you should do this or not.
2. Listen to your parents.
3. I have 5 kids and none of them had a car as new as yours to drive. You want a status symbol that will do nothing except get you into trouble. And wait until you see the repair cost on a Mercedes that will set you straight. Check my profile I've been there done that. Val
4. i think you should listen to your dad. Car is a liability not an asset. it is not wise to 'invest' in cars. once you buy the car, it depreciates in value. As long as you have a car to get you to places, you should be satisfied with it. unless you have tons of money to spend, like you are a millionaire, then you can spend your money on luxury cars.. till then, make the most of what you have. furthermore, the car you mentioned is a used car. certainly it must have some disadvantages that prompts the previous owner to sell it off at such a cheap price in the first place.
5. Most people do not actually know what a recession means. Your parents couldn't be more wrong by telling you to save your money. What you need to do right now is spend, spend, and spend some more. Here's what will happen if you save your money: We are, without a doubt heading for a recession which means the value of the dollar is going to drop like crazy. Once this happens, all that money you have in the bank is going to be worth half as much. However, if you have alot of assets such as cars, jewelry, artwork or anything of intrinsic value you are much safer than having a bank account full of money that is worth nothing. Money is going to become of lesser and lesser value, but the value of your possessions will not change. If this recession is as bad as experts predict, your money will have very little value. Here is an example of this theory: After World War II Eastern Europe was destroyed and their economy was in ruins. The dollar became so devalued, the government began printing extra money which made things even worse. People would find themselves with wheelbarrows full of money going around to stores with handfulls of bills just to buy a loaf of bread. They would come out of the store to find their wheelbarrows missing, and their money floating around everywhere. This is because the wheelbarrow was worth more than the piles and piles of money that occupied it. Please take my advice...dont save your money. Im not necessarily saying you should buy this car (as it sounds like you will have problems with it) But try to explain to your parents the need to purchase items with INTRINSIC value. Look that word up in the dictionary for further reference. Good Luck!
6. Keep the SUV. Your payments on the Benz will outweigh the money you are spending on the gas. Take the money you were going to spend on the benz and get a tune up and install a CD player and some new speakers. 150k is not a lot for a honda. A Benz costs a LOT to keep up. I don't think you understand just how much the service costs on one. As for the guy who says spend spend spend ... whatever. If you are going to spend. Then do it on American goods. where the money stays here and helps our economy.
7. don't buy the car. don't listen to the guy who said spend spend spend, we will not be in a recession forever, the dollar's value will go back up and it would be better to have money in the bank when it does. also it may get worst before it gets better and you should always have money set a side just in case. also did you call the insurance company and ask them how much it would be to insure that car? in most cases if you're planning to get a loan you have to carry full coverage on the vechile. you may not even be able to afford the insurance payments.
8. It does seem like you saved about $500. Parts for it actually aren't that expensive-very reasonable. What I did was tell my dad a few things. 1) It was safer than a SUV 2) That I would pay the difference in insurance and eventually pay him back for the car with payments with the job you have. At this time there is a glut of used cars You will probably not be able to e-bay the car. It sounds like a great price, but in an economy like this, going worse everyone can understand your father. Your father helped you with your first car. That normally is more than what most parents do. Beautiful car. When the full weight of the recession hit, we will be able to buy this car for $2500 less. give it one year. By then, you will have your own money saved to by it and will not need to rely on your dad. My guess is, he has paid his last dollar toward your car