New car for me this weekend.

[kandrathe]

@Kandrathe, thanks. 100 miles round trip you drive to work?? Yikes. That's....ALOT.

One of the issues of living in a metropolis is that often the new *BEST* job is not near where you live, and moving from house to house is expensive and exhausting.

Because of my values, skill set and demeanor, I usually end up working for a non-profit and one of Top Workplaces in the Twin Cities. Which means I usually tolerate only reasonable non-fascist employers who understand that it's not only about sticks, you also need some carrots. A big one for me is the flexibility to work from my home office on bad commute days, or when my kids are sick, or if I just feel like it. I reciprocate by being professional in scheduling meetings and showing up, on time, and I don't waste anybody's time.

A couple recent addendums to our departmental social contract are "If at all possible absolutely no meetings after 4pm or on Friday."

But, not to derail the talk on vehicles... My current commuter is a 2013 Kia Forte. I like Kia. I do a lot of research on bang/buck to determine maximal utility, reliability, and quality of life during the commute (noise, amenities).

I'm not faulting your choices as they are your choices. My one and only foray into a brand new vehicle was a fully loaded Nissan Pathfinder (SUV). I leased it (in order to afford the payment), fully intending and planning on buying it from them, so I didn't fret about the mileage limits.



My experience was overall good, but I ended up leasing for three years and then having a four year loan. In the bang/buck analysis it was a fairly frivolous purchase. My reasons were like yours, I never had one, and I was raking in a fortune 500 executive salary.

I know for me now, as different from many of my friends, I don't care about many of the "prestige" aspects since I sort of look as it as a utilitarian object, like a disposable razor. I don't name it, or dress it up pretty with fancy detail kits.

Like I never would be tempted to spend $10,000 on aftermarket kits and customization, like...