I'm buying my very 1st new car...maybe. in 2023

I’m falling off the wagon big time. I previously wrote how I overindulged my spending habits last year. I bought two mountain bikes, some rifles, and a gun safe. I still saved a good bit of money, and I gave to my church and charities; I certainly wasn’t living paycheck to paycheck, but it was uncharacteristic of me to be so indulgent. That said, I justified my (partly) irresponsible behavior by claiming next year (2023) would be a year of aggressive saving. Return to my old habits. As Dave Ramsey puts it, “live like no one else now, and you can live like no else later.”

I’m facing a different kind of pressure than I normally faced regarding my fiscal self discipline. When you’re young, your finances are your biggest restriction. You have the energy and maybe even the time to pursue whatever strikes your fancy, but you’re limited by your funds or, more accurately, your parents’ funds. I remember wanting to get into mountain biking with such a passion when I was in 8th grade, but I had to save so long to be able to afford even the most basic bike from a big box store. Not that it mattered as the bike trails adjacent to my neighborhood were paved over for a strip mall expansion shortly thereafter.

No matter, young me thought to himself. When I’m an adult, I’ll have the money and the agency to do whatever I want. If I want to build a stable of mountain bikes, I can. I can even move to one of those mountain bike towns where they have hundreds of miles of trails. “The money problem will be resolved,” I told myself. I was only half right. The problem doesn’t go away as much as it turns itself inside out. Now that I have the money to do what I want, I lack the time and energy or, more accurately, the physical resilience. I find myself so tired at the end of the workday. I have no idea why as I sit behind a desk for almost all of that time. I thought being a gym rat when I was younger would help me retain a youthful vitality into my mid-life. I’m sure I’m better off having exercised so regularly, but I’m now convinced my body only has so many miles in it. Arthritis, tendonitis, osteolysis - they all make themselves felt when I want to be active.

That aforementioned sentiment received an even greater emphasis when I went to my annual physical a couple of weeks ago. Everything came back great, except my blood sugar was a little high. I’m not prediabetic, and I’m quite certain I know those numbers were primarily caused by my baking desserts every weekend. Correction, they were caused by my baking desserts every weekend, then eating them by myself since I live alone. The good news is that I can correct the issue, which I have by cutting sugar from my diet, but gone are the days when I could eat whatever I wanted then burn it off in the gym. Now when I want something, my ability to afford it combined with how I can feel time slipping through that hour glass compels me to give in.

Case in point, I think I’m going to buy a new car. I’ve never actually owned a car I wanted. Being the youngest of 3, hand-me-downs are kind of the standard. I got my first car when I turned 16 in 1997. It was a 1989 Buick Park Avenue bequeathed to me from my mom. It was suitable transportation, but my mom liked what I called “old lady cars,” cars that had no other practicality beyond transportation. Perhaps I wouldn’t have minded so much had my best friend, Greg, not ended up getting his dad’s Toyota 4Runner a few months afterwards. I may not have even minded still had Greg not had all of the humility of a 16 year old, which is to say very little. Of course, parts on my car started breaking soon after I inherited it. The passenger side seatbelt couldn’t be fastened and one of the front arm rests started falling off. The switches to adjust the driver seat as well as some of the buttons to raise and lower the windows broke off, too. Not that it mattered as the power windows took forever to raise and lower, so I abstained from doing so. I was genuinely worried I might not be able to raise them back up. The electrical system as a whole sort of became faulty as I remember the blinkers stopped working for a while. I remember using bicycle hand signals to indicate when I was changing lanes one winter…from those open windows I wasn’t sure if I could close. The adhesive holding the upholstery to the ceiling began dissolving allow the fabric to hang down, blocking the rearview mirror. For comparisons sake, when my older sister turned 16, she got a Ford Thunderbird, and my brother got a T-top Camaro. I suppose my parents really wanted me to have character.

When I went to college, I inherited my dad’s truck, a 1996 Dodge Ram 1500. This was the Ram I held only until last year when I donated it to Cars 4 Christ as it needed too much work for me to justify putting more money into it. I feel a very sentimental affection for that truck. It looked so cool, and it was somewhat practical for hauling my stuff to and from college. It got terrible gas mileage, though, so naturally gas started spiking in the early 2000s while I was driving it.

When I finished college, I gave my dad back his truck and bought from him my mom’s old sedan, a 1997 Acura 3.5 RL. It was a nice enough car, far more sturdy than her old Buick, but it wasn’t anything I actually wanted. It drank premium gas, and while I like the heated seats and the sunroof, it was another one of my mom’s “old lady” cars. Changing apartments always required I make multiple trips, borrow my dad’s truck, or rent an SUV. I was in much the same predicament when I wanted to furnish my living space, or I had to pay extra for delivery and take time off work to receive it.

I drove that 1997 Acura until 2015 when my Dad died. I gave my car to my niece, and I took my mom’s old 2003 Acura 3.5 RL. Maybe I should call it my Dad’s old Acura. My mom passed in 2005, so my dad inherited her car, then I inherited that car from him. I also reacquired the aforementioned Dodge Ram. By this time, that truck was beat up to Hell and back. Dad wasn’t much for doing aesthetic maintenance on his cars. He never washed them, or waxed them, or cleaned out the interiors. He was an old farm boy, and the conditions of his automobiles very much reflected that fact. The Acura wasn’t in as bad a shape, but after 12 years and effectively two owners (my mom wasn’t the most careful driver, either), it was in far from pristine condition.

That 2003 Acura is the one I’m driving now. I don’t know what happened, but about a month ago, I developed a fixation on buying my first new car. It’s probably be more prudent to wait; the market doesn’t favor buyers right now, but I want my own car, not a beat up hand-me-down. I’m firmly in my 40s, if I can afford new car and buying one doesn’t hinder my financial future, why shouldn’t I buy one? I purchased a Consumer Reports subscription several weeks ago began my research. I don’t need or want anything particularly ostentatious. I really just want something that’s gets decent gas mileage, can be purchased for around $30k, and can transport my bike in the boot (in other words, not a sedan). My research narrowed it down to the following three options, all of which have Consumer Reports recommendations.

Subaru Forester (MSRP $34,700): This is at the very top of my limit price wise. It’s actually beyond my limit, but it made the cut because the CR gave it such a high rating, and I could put any of my mountain bikes in the back without even having to remove the front wheel. It also has a sweet panoramic sunroof that makes it feel almost like convertible. It also gets great gas mileage: 27 city, 33 highway. As for its drawbacks, while the size makes it very versatile, it also makes it cumbersome to navigate parking and more likely that someone is going to dent, scrape, or scratch one of the panels. It’s has AWD as a standard feature, and while that grants it spirited riding, I don’t really care for the extra maintenance and insurance costs associated with such a powertrain. While the gas mileage is good, it uses premium fuel. The size is also a double edged blade. While I appreciate the load capacity, washing and (especially) waxing would take more time than a smaller vehicle.

Kia Soul GT Line w/ Tech Package (MSRP $26,450): This is the most affordable vehicle I’ve considered, yet it’s the highest trim of its respective model. I don’t really care for bells and whistles, but there are a few inherent on this trim line that woo me over the S, LX, or EX models. Most notably, the heated seats, steering wheel, and LED headlights, taillights, fog lights, and running lights. It gets excellent mileage while only requiring basic unleaded gasoline. City mileage is 27 and highway is 33, but owners on Fuelly.com have reported numbers as high as 38 with conservative driving habits. The powertrain is FWD, making maintenance cheaper, and insurance is just $50 a month even as a new model car. Its interior feels much bigger than the outside suggests. Having a smaller body would make detailing it quick and easy as well as less likely to accumulate dents and scratches (hopefully). As an added bonus, I could load my bike inside it without pulling it out of the garage. That said, I’ll have to remove its front wheel to carry it in the boot space; however, I could potentially keep the front wheel on if I move the front passenger seat all the way forward. In the event I take a road trip to one of the mountain biking towns here in the south east, I could outfit it with a roof rack bike carrier if I need the interior space for luggage. I might even be able to attach a trailer hitch for a hitch-style bike rack. The exhaust is below the center of the rear fender, right where the hitch would be, but one of the sales associate’s has assured me I could do so. The muffler tip may need to be removed, but adding a hitch is at least a possibility.

Kia Seltos EX ($28,140): The Seltos sits in the middle of the Soul GT and the Forrester. The model in question comes with AWD, heated seats, and a sunroof. No heated steering wheel or LED headlights/fog lights. However, I could easily install LED lights at some point. It’s no where near as big as the Forester, making it much easier to maneuver and wash, but it’s a little bigger than the Soul with higher ground clearance. It’d be much easier to carry my bike without removing its wheel, but even if I did take it off, I’d just have more space left over. Obviously, I could install a roof or hitch rack, the latter for certain since the exhaust is at the fender’s corner, though I probably wouldn’t need to with the extra interior space. Mileage the weakest of all 3 (27 city/31 highway), but it uses basic unleaded unlike the Forester. One more mark against the Seltos is that the model I observed comes in dark gray as opposed to the other two which are white. I would much prefer a lighter color because I hate getting into what feels like a sauna during the summer.

After a lot of deliberation, I’ve decided to try and negotiate an offer on the Soul. I can definitely pay cash, and I’d prefer to drive a vehicle no bigger than necessary. While I’m hoping it’ll meet my transportation needs for years go come, the small size and affordable maintenance will allow me to be sure I take excellent care of it, so if I need to trade it towards something a little bigger, it’ll be as pristine as possible when I do. Within a week, I may have my very first new car.