My Current Dilemma
Moving out to Las Vegas nine months ago has finally put me in the market for a used car. (Amazing that it's taken this long, really.) I don't know if you've noticed, but it's a great time to be in the market for a used car. The auto industry has been flushed down a shittier hole than that giant stinking pile of liquid crap the Slumdog Millionaire kid jumped into. With the world economy in freefall, people have stopped shelling out thousands of dollars for something newer and shinier than the old beater that's been serving them faithfully for the last seven years. That has made auto dealerships more amenable to moving cars off the lot for less money than they would otherwise prefer.
Of course it's not as easy as just walking onto a lot, naming your price, and driving away in a solid specimen of automobile. If it was, I would have bought a spiffy little number tonight for about half of the sticker price. Cars still have an intrinsic value. Getting a dealership to part with one for little more than a smile and a song is less likely than becoming poker's next "it" boy. That leads us to my dilemma.
I have an excellent idea of the make and model I desire. Where I'm stuck is the crossroads between (1) buying a somewhat newer, lower-mileage car for a few thousand more, and (2) buying a somewhat older, higher-mileage car for a few thousand less. The practical side of me would point out that I won't be commuting to a job in this automobile. The half of the time that I'm home, the commute is the distance between my upstairs bedroom and the downstairs bedroom-behind-the-garage-turned-office. The car would be used for tooling around town, running errands, getting down to the Strip to play poker or see friends, and the like. That points to the older car.
The less practical side of me would say that if I'm going to make a major purchase, I should make sure I'm happy with what I get. Splurging a little won't break the bank. And something newer with less mileage will be less likely to have significant mechanical problems any time soon. That points to the newer car.
It helps that I have no set timeframe within which I MUST buy this car, but it will become significantly more of a pain for me starting next Friday.
Armed with all this information, what say you, rabble-rousers of Comment Land? Do I take Avenue (1) or Avenue (2)?