i’m so glad you picked apart the reporter’s mistake on the article that was written. the reporter fixed it: http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2009/autos/0904/gallery.car_buyers/8.html

Yes, it was an incredible deal for this car. The point that was supposed to be made was that i had a 2002 A4 that was off warranty and i did not want to put more money into it. I therefore traded it in for the Eos (why? because that was the car i WANTED), and got an awesome car with a 5 year warranty (3 yrs free maintenance and another 2 year certified warranty on top of that). Now, THAT’s a great deal. And, how would you know how much I’m paying? Suppose I put money down on top of the trade in? Suppose i am paying more than the basic payment to pay it off quickly? I’m so glad you jumped to conclusions without thinking first.

Kristina

Kristina,

I guess it is the reporters’ “fail” then. :)

As far as the car payments: I just did a simple math equation: 24.000 dollars you said you paid for the Eos (since a new EOS is 32.000 I did not assume this price might be incorrect) times the interest for 5 years, which is 1.299% which equals a total of ((24000/2) * 0.01299) * 5 years = 779.4 in interest payments. So the total would be 24779.40 dollars. Divided by (5*12)=60 months = 412.99 dollars per month (maybe a little more in the beginning, and a little less at the end). I did not assume you put any money down since the article does not say so. But actually that is besides the point.

The reason I pointed this out is because you say you do only drive this car “for fun”, and I personally could come up with a lot of things that are “fun” and do not have a 24.000 dollar price tag with a 5 year commitment attached to it. Don’t get me wrong: it’s a nice car, but why buy it if you do not have the money for it outright? Who knows what happens between now and 2014. It seems so… risky… for “fun”. It’s fascinating to me.

However, if you really love this car, and you really think it is awesome, and the 24k is worth it to you: great! You win, VW wins, and the person who bought your Audi wins. Be happy. Be super happy. No need to defend yourself. Enjoy!

Auf wiedersehen,
Niek

In response, I did have the money to buy it outright, and could pay it off when i want, if i decide to. I just chose not to because the financing was very good, and i’d rather keep my money invested (yes, even in this economy – you know how cheap stocks are right now!?). I have a good financial advisor and it’s important to me to put my money where it will have the greatest return, and i can get a higher return by keeping my money invested in the right places. I know, as you probably do too, that cars are always depreciating assets….so, i buy what i want, so that i can have fun. If you only knew the insane hours i work, you’d know that a $24k car for “fun” is well worth it. :) Also, $24k spread over 5 years is only $4,800 a year (without even bringing that down to present value, which is taken into account by the interest rate). So, for $4800 a year, it’s definitely worth every penny, including the interest.

I don’t understand what the big deal is. People who work hard for their money should be free to spend their money any way they please, even if it is for a car for “fun.” In a society where people buy goods they never use or waste money on alcohol, it does not seem to me to be totally unreasonable for someone to buy a car when they feel as if they are getting a good deal.

Also, the idea of the girl in the profile not having money to buy the car outright is a not a big deal. People buy goods on credit all the time and get financing. Surely this is not nearly as bad as the people who bought mansions on subprime loans.

In fact, one would think that consumer spending now is better than no spending at all

if you don’t want a german car why don’t you buy a BMW convertible or an Opel?

or a mercedes

I love how you finished with “Auf wiedersehen” Niek. You’re awesome. Also, I got that snapshot of the Feminism poster. Very funny (and true).

Well, I guess Kristina has got her finances way more in check than CNN let’s you believe. Also, in contrast to the CNN journalist, she actually does know, VW is German. Wunderbahr!

And for Jonathan: YES, people should do whatever they want with their money, including alcohol. However, because “people buy goods on credit all the time”, does not mean that is fine. It is the reason for many bankruptcy cases, which is not good for them, but most of all, it ends up costing “the rest of us” money.

If you ask me, those mortgage backup sub prime loans made way more sense (at that time!) than car loans. The assumption was that the house could only go up in value, and therefore a “loan default” would have been no problem. With a car however, you are ALWAYS upside down in your loan. (Owe more than car is worth) because of depreciation. Sub prime loans were taking by many frugal and cautious people who were told that it would be risk free. Big risk-avoiders would not take out a car loan, they would drive a piece of junk.

I recently purchased a car also. I got a 2008 Honda Civic Coupe LX for 12,900. That price happens to be much below it’s value as the dealership was trying to get rid of it. So if it were to get stolen or if I got in an accident I would get a check from my insurance for more than I paid. That would be awesome, but I really like my car.

Hey Marcus – that’s an INCREDIBLE price for the honda civic coupe!! my friend bought one of those a year ago, and it’s a great car. She loves it…i considered getting one too, and totally would have if i were able to get that deal you got. Great job carbuying!