Time to buy a new car

The lease on my car ends on Sept. 4, so its time for me to start considering options for my next car. With a lease, it should be pretty easy: give them back their car and get a new one. Well, here's the catch - due to some unforeseen client assignments (before I became a management type and started working in NYC) and a 5 month relocation to Washington DC a few summers ago, I'm a bit over my mileage allowance. By a bit over I mean about 18,000 miles over. This translates into about $2700 in mileage penalties. Here's the other catch - interest rates have gone up a bit since 2002 when I got my current car (an Acura TL Type-S), so the monthly payment for a new version of the same car will go up about $200. Now that I work in the city, it's hard to justify paying $550 a month for a car that I drive 15 minutes a day. Especially when I have to pay $300/month on top of that for a train pass. So basically I need to sit down with my friendly local Acura dealer on Saturday to see what I can work out because on the other hand I'd really like a new car. Don't get me wrong, I really like my current car, but I get bored very quickly and feel like its time for a new car. The irony is that by "new" car, I mean a new TL, but it has been completely redesigned since I got mine and no longer looks like an overpriced Honda Accord. I've also looked at other cars (BMW 3-series, Infiniti G35 coupe, Audi A4), but the BMW is very overpriced (for the same features as a TL, it would cost about $10,000 more), and I know people who've had problems with the Infiniti and Audi. Everyone I know with a TL loves it, myself included. So there is some method to my madness.

Now I think the comic Ron White summed it up best when he said "the worst part about buying a new car is that you have to talk to a car salesman....nobody else sells cars." I am not really looking forward to dealing with the salesman, but it's got to be done. I'll be sure to give you the update this weekend.