I know a lot of people here are younger, and will 'graduate' from the TC to more expensive cars, etc.

This is typical human behavior, and we all naturally think this way. I have done the exact opposite, coming from more expensive cars, to the TC. And it's not for lack of money or because i lost my job or anything like that (knock on wood). I am luckily making more money now than I ever have before, so don't chalk this advice up to anything material related, just take it for what it is.

Let me tell you why I have done the reverse.

After owning expensive cars for the last 7years (audi, porche, lexus, you name it, yes I changed my car every 2 years or so, both owning and leasing), i've come to realize they are just a waste of money. The insurance, the depreciation, the tires! It's awful how much money is blown when you drive an expensive car, even if you just hold on to just one, and don't swap them around... still a waste! I don't care if you make 500k a year, it simply isn't worth it. It is money lost.

With just a little investment in upgrading the TC, you can have 85% of the great experience of owning a more expensive car. The handling, the feel of the accelleration - all of the aspects of driving that are considered fun, can pretty much be experienced with the TC, without the expense and worry of owning a higher end vehicle.

The last 15% is basically comprised of better performance, and quieter ride, with better fit and finish. Of course more expensive cars are better at the 'details', but in reality, they are never 300% better than a Scion would be, yet their prices are at least that much greater. Not to mention they are a complete pain in the ___ when something goes wrong. And something ALWAYS goes wrong. The simplest thing going wrong on a pricey car always becomes a pain point.. no matter how acute it is.

You are not going to have your Audi S4 serviced by Jiffy Lube (not that i would EVER take my TC there either, but you know what I mean). You are pretty much chained to the dealer, and this further screws you over. Ever try changing the oil on a Porche Boxster? You basically can't. Oh crap, the windows don't work on the Mercedes again... Just try taking the door apart to figure it out yourself. A) you dont want to, because if something breaks, its $500 for the replacement part. B) you realize once you take the door apart what a crappy electrical system the car has, and it never works right again anyway.

I don't know why i'm posting this, but I guess I just wanted people to know that you can save yourself a lot of money over the years by knowing that the grass really isn't much greener once you've spent enough time on the other side of the fence. If I can help one person realize that expensive cars are nothing more than just an unecessary expense, before they make that mistake, then I would be a happy man.

People will reply and say "well now i drive XXXXXXX, and i'll never look back." This is always true, for a while.. but trust me.. spend enough time in expensive cars and sooner or later you'll realize that they are just that. Expensive. And not really worth it.

It's obviously not ALL gravy... The hardest part of giving up expensive cars is knowing that it will change how people initially perceive you. It's probably more so because I live in So-Cal, but I definitely notice a difference when I pull up in my TT-R, vs when i pull up in my TC. But this is a double-edged sword. Not really a good or bad thing, just different. Some people take you more seriously in an expensive car, some people hate you more, so it can really go either way.

If image really really bothers you, maybe its worth it to you. But people who are impressed with expensive cars probably have never owned one... (at least not for any length of time to realize what this post is about), nor are they worth impressing. Either that, or they have no concept of the true value of money. Either way, they are a complete waste of your time.

If nothing else is learned from this post, at least remember this next line (this is the ____ing truth, and trust me, i've learned this first hand):

The people worth impressing are the ones that wouldn't care about your car in the first place, so do yourself a favor, and put $500/mo into an investment account instead.

Happy driving! Scion TC, FTW!

 

Image is prob'ly one of the largest parts of buying a BMW or Mercedes.

 

LOL, it's cool, there are people here who can relate. I tend to agree with your sentiment, as I could afford practically anything on the market at this point in my life, but the tC makes the most sense at this time. Driving a tC instead of a Boxter or Viper is helping me ensure I retire before age 50, and it sure is a decent compromise.

 

Amen, brother!

And when you do retire and decide that you just HAVE TO HAVE that expensive car to complete your life, go with the boxster (s version) over the viper... trust me on that one.

 

I’m glad someone sees this my way. I mean yes I would love to have a 2 door G35 but the cost and everything else is just too damn much. Hell if I made enough to get a G35 I would rather get a tC and upgrade it (turbo, etc) to be as good as the G35 and still pay just about half the price (assuming everything was done right and the engine doesn’t blow).

It just doesn’t make sense you're (like with most things - clothes, shoes, etc.) just buying a name and with the reliability with Audi, BMW, and Mercedes that's all your getting.

 

I couldn't agree more with smakusdod and nodsetse. Rather than spend $45k+ to get many of the same features, I'd rather spend less than $20k and use the money I saved on a better suspension package. Past that, I have everything I want except for RWD/AWD, but it doesn't matter as much as when I see my monthly banking and investment statements.

Where I work at I park next to high-end Euros and exotics, but more people stop to check out my tC... and that's priceless.

 

How about this.

You let yr family memebers buy the sweet rides and drive those on the week-ends


uh yeah I'm smart :D

 

Great advice that's very well put.

My friend bought a 3-series BMW coupe at age 19. Soon after, he waived goodbye to his paychecks to pay for overpriced insurance, overpriced parts, and sub-par reliability. He's curently trying to sell it. Man am I happy with my tC.

 

I like this point of view - thanks for the insight.

 

I really like my tC, but every day I drive my new ZO6 it justifies what I spent on it. Ive had Vipers, Porsches etc and NOTHING compares to this car in terms of hp/torque per pound, brakes, handling. I didn't buy it to impress others....I did it for the sensations it gives me each mile I drive it. At a little more than the tCs weight it has 600hp and gets 27mpg on trips. If I had invested the $75K instead of buying that car, then all I would have is more money and I'd be without the biggest thrill I've had in more than 60 cars. My 21 year old son keeps reminding me that you only live once (or sometimes he tells me I'm almost dead...) and he cautions me whenever I'm about to make a conservative decision. 99% of you on this forum are younger (at least by birthdate) than I am, so I'm not offering this as good sound financial advice to all.
A day at the track can cost me $500 in brakes (20 pads on the car) and $1000 in tires, but the hours at 170 mph are priceless.

 

I agree in part with what this dude is saying. I don't agree with the image part. Sorry...not all of us are concerned about what people think of us when we "pull up", and yes I live in Miami, one of the shallowest places in the world. I didn't buy my car to impress people, I bought it because I had a lot of fun during the test drive and saw the potential for more fun later.

If I could afford a Z06, I'd definately go with that over a tC. It's performance more than justifies the price, to a person who ENJOYS driving cars, and doesn't buy them to impress people they don't even know.

When you're in that category of car, practicality becomes something to be left in the rear view mirror. No one buys a ***** to the wall sports car because it's practical, they buy it because it's a ***** to the wall sports car.

I see your point friend, but I can't agree with you 100%

 

^^Wait until you hit 30 and we'll see if 'image' isn't important to ya...

That is if you're still single and don't have 3 kids and a wife that orders you to take the BMW SUV to the dealership to get the oil changed.


(I keed, I keed!)

 

To really enjoy the z06, you'd have to be at a track... no way you can reach the capabilities of that car on the open road (safely, anyway). This doesn't invalidate your point, but you have to admit having over 500 hp at your disposal is kind of pointless when driving on the legal streets, unless you are trying to impress people

I just completed the first phase of this driving school... i recommend you do that before you buy your z06:

http://www.springmountainmotorsports.com/

You'll become intimately familiar with the car, and really push it to your limits. You probably won't reach the car's limit, until you become a pretty accomplished driver

As far as the 'image' part of the post, that is there because many people identify with that, myself included to a certain extent. I'm glad you are above it... and i do not mean that sarcastically. Many people never reach that point!

 

I like that there are few 'older' people out there getting as much enjoyment out of the tC as I am.

Nooomoto, I think his point is thoroughly valid here in Orange County, where it may not always be the case, in all areas. Most of the population here is in debt up to their eyebrows trying to keep up with a certain image, and no matter how little you care about image, it gets to you after a while of living here.

I think it also depends on your particular personality. You just might be more 'immune' to social pressure, if you can be around affluence and wealth without having it get to you even just a little.

Although, you are right: if you enjoy driving a performance car enough that it's worth the cost of owning one--go for it, and more power to you--as long as you're responsible about it!

 

i agree pretty much with all that. my dad has a porsche cayenne s, and he hate it. the dealership wants 210 an oil change, but he found a place that will do it for 90. it has so many bells and whistles that keep sending warning and broken messages to the onboard computer.

one time the battery went dead, i wanted to jump it, but i couldn't find the hood release. so i gave up, but the key was stuck in the ignition and wouldn't release without power. i looked through the owners manual to find out how to get it out. turns out i needed to get a special screwdriver in the rear under the cargo floor. no problem right? wrong, the rear liftgate is power only, no power, no open. i tried to reach it from the second row, but i couldn't. so i went back to looking for the hood release which is extremely well hidden along the interior trim of the driverside footwell, and i mean literally like camoflaged. so i finially got the hood open and needed another 10 minutes to locate the battery and make 100% i am connecting to the correct terminals and finially get it going.

later on, he got rear ended and i took it to the dealership to replace the bumper. and let me tell you, toyota/scion dealerships are awesome, central florida toyota has donuts in the morning and sandwiches in the afternoon, fitzmall in gaithersburg have plasma screens tv's and internet access and both had nice comfy waiting rooms. the porsche/audi dealership had a half dozen uncomfy chairs centered around a 17 in cathode ray tv locked on cnn with archaic vending machines nearly empty or with food and sodas with wrappers from before the turn of the century. after waiting for two hours, they didn't even have the right bumper, there were like "the bumper has five mounting points evenly spaced across it, but your porsche has only four evenly spaced mounting points, so they don't line up, the computer says we ordered the right part and porsche is telling us that it is, we don't know what is wrong?" so i get to bring it back when they figure it out. if i had chosen my dads suv, it would of probably been the infiniti fx45. which at 55 grand, does everything his 70 grand porsche does better.

i love my tc, and it is a great car, but i have made an oath to myself that my next car will be rear or all wheel drive. so a lan-evo, wrx sti, 350z or g35, is350, or if toyota makes the supra, or if scion ever gets a sweet awd or fr car, i'd get that.

 

wow no one cared about my joke lol

 

lol, actually your joke is a pretty good idea in real life. I routinely trade cars with my siblings and my parents, but its more out of utility than enjoyment.

It's a lot easier going camping in a 4WD SUV

 

don't worry, most people don't care about what i say either and i think i'm hilarious.

 

HA. Well we can laugh at each other then.

smakusdod - Yup, I grab my mom's Rav4 when weather is very bad, my twin's rolla when weather is bad, my car when weather is good (still got the Stock tires)

 

Since when is a Corolla a "sweet ride"?



(I keed, I keed #2)
(I was only making a reference to the cars listed by your avitar.)