The next car

Well I've just hit 144k miles on my car and I'm averaging...26.2 mpg. Hehe. While I plan to keep it until it wears out, that has never stopped me from dreaming about the next car.
In no order:

2014 Mazda Miata - supposed to be lighter, better mpgs, turbo 4 cyl

NC generation Power Retractable Hardtop. No more fabric tops for me!

Scion FR-S - a "Miata coupe". Premium fuel, boxer four, four seats.

Mazda2 - cheap practical fun

Mazda CX-5 - mini SUV supposed to be fun to drive, manual transmission.

Any diesel, manual transmission car Mazda ends up bringing over here.

First gen Scion xB. The "I need a cheaper than Mazda2, fun used car."

I am still fantasizing about the Scion FR-S and cars in general. Meanwhile, my 15 year old car chugs along faithfully with minimal expense.

Still, what would qualities would I want in my next vehicle? The lowest price vehicle with the following:

Manual transmission
Fun to drive
Good handling and feel
Seat four people in a pinch
Reliable
Reasonable cargo room for everyday items, not for occasional huge cargo
Low (diy or local mechanic) maintenance and costs
Simple, low tech
Lightweight - under 3000 lbs
87 octane
Good mpg - 30 mixed
Solid roof for a rack
Small wheel diameter for cheaper tires.
5-10 year lifespan. I'm guessing after awhile I might get tired of the same car.

What qualities are you looking for and at what price?

My first car design: the pinewood derby

I can't remember anything about Cub Scouts except for the pinewood derby. For those unaware, this event involves scouts and/or their parents designing and creating a vehicle from a block of wood to compete with others on a sloped track, powered only by gravity. It was probably the most fun I had in Cub Scouts.

It was highly competitive then as well as now. There are many books and websites full of engineering strategies to get the most performance out of your car. I would say most often the fathers would take over the projects to have the coolest design or fastest car. I remember being stunned at the works of art that were produced while mine looked like a very fat doorstop.

Despite my present prodigious design and craftsmanship abilities, when I was 9 or 10, as you can tell by the photos I had zero design or engineering ideas and my only carpentry skill was the ability to keep my fingers attached to my hand. Believe it or not, I made this car mostly by myself. I think I had help sanding the mold lines off the wheels and drilling holes to help the car make weight at weigh ins.

There was no design. I copied the generic drawing that was in the included instructions. All the cuts were made with a coping saw which accounts for no cut being straight and no angle matching another. There are visible saw marks and gouges in the wood. I must have only had 60 grit sandpaper because the sanding marks are still visible. The inexplicable Tarheel blue painted body still has fingerprint marks where I handled the car wet. The silver stripe is painted freehand and the painted yellow headlights look like they are dripping. The wheels sport a heavy negative camber. Apparently I couldn't hammer a nail in straight either.

So how did I do? Half the time one of the wheels fell off, causing the entire car to fly off the track. But ages later I still have it. It sure is terrible, but at least I made it myself.

A Recovering Car Addict's and Failed Zen Minimalist's* Guide to Buying a New Car.

(The title of this post was going to be "Buying a Car" but I figured that would give everyone that knows me palpitations.)

A car is probably the second most expensive item purchase one will make aside from a home (I'm guessing the third most expensive single item purchase is a cubic zirconium ring). Anyhow, so a wrong car purchase can adversely affect your finances for a few years if you make a mistake.

Buying a new car:

DON'T

Don't argue with me. Do not buy a new car. I love cars. I love new cars. But I don't plan on ever buying a new one again unless I somehow end up with over $600K in cash. There is no reason for you to pay for that initial depreciation.

I have an answer to all you(r) but(t)s. Here they are in a Zen minimalist 575 haiku:

Febreze steam cleaner.
Carfax history report.
Mechanic's review.

Bam.
Papa.

*everything is about zen minimalism these days isn't it? As the blog says, I'm a failed minimalist but I'm trying.

It's just a matter of time.

Currently I've either matched or surpassed my record for years without trading in my car(s) and buying something else. I've changed cars from as quickly as 6 months to at most 3-4 years. I think I'm hitting 4-5 years right now. The past few cars has been an arms race, trying to "upgrade" to something faster or cooler. Looking back, that determination looks a little more questionable in relation to money spent.

'91 Toyota Celica ST> '85 Jeep Cherokee + Honda Hawk motorcycle > '00 Toyota Celica GTS > Celica plus '04 Dodge SRT-4 > SRT-4 plus '96 Mazda Miata > Miata plus '99 FRC Chevy Corvette > Miata plus Current Car. The Miata has been a dream car of mine since it came out and I prob will never get rid of it because it is so fun for so little money and plus not worth selling.

At this point, I feel like any car I get that I can afford will be a "downgrade" compared to what I currently have. This is a psychological hurdle because really, how much car is enough for the street? I used to buy just with performance in mind.

So what car do I think I would be happy to own for (the next) ten years, aside from the Miata? I'm thinking a '06 supercharged Mini Cooper S or a Subaru WRX STI (hatchback). The goal is long term reliability, minimal running costs, lots of fun and decent performance, and more utility than a two door passenger convertible. Also a solid roof for addition of a roof rack.

Other possibilities:

Mark V VW GTI (reliability?)

2011 Mustang.

Honda Civic Si Sedan (seems to meet all requirements, but perhaps a little dull)

Toyota "FT-86 / Celica"

Any other suggestions?

We will see what happens.

The Best vs. Good Enough

As a consumer and as someone interested in design, I think it is a fun challenge to find my sweet spot for any product category. It is relatively easy to find the best or cheapest of an item, it is harder to find the point of diminishing returns for more money spent.

CHEAP. Want to find the cheapest of some product? Easy - I can go to Wal-Mart and find something for about as cheap as I can get in this country. Most likely it will be made in China and most likely I will wear it out soon. No problem right? Just throw it away and buy another one. Except I'm contributing to a throwaway culture, wasting resources, and often I may be spending as much or more than if I just bought a higher quality item in the first place. I can get some beach sandals for $2 and when that plastic strap breaks toss it in the trash and buy another pair. There is also no satisfaction of using a quality product.

BEST. Finding the "best" of some product is pretty easy too. Spend lots of money! When there is an unlimited budget, it is easy to get the highest quality, top performing product. One can also spend the money to maintain the item.

GOOD ENOUGH. The hard part is recognizing that I can spend more money but past a certain point there are diminishing returns. I first need to define what I am looking for in an item. Hmm, let's use cars as an example. What is the sweet spot in buying a car? I want a daily drivable car that can seat four people comfortably occasionally, a roof rather than convertible in case I want to use a roof rack, as light as possible, reasonable gas mileage (30 mpg hwy), low maintenance, can carry a fair amount of gear, and fun to drive (defined as an involving drive). My current thoughts is that a used 5th Generation four door, manual transmission Volkswagen GTI is the sweet spot. It has the performance, efficiency, and practicality I need. It also has the luxury features found on more expensive cars. The only question mark is reliability, based on VW past performance. ANYONE HAVE A BETTER SUGGESTION? I also like the Mini Cooper S but it is less practical.

Again, the hard part is recognizing that sweet spot and not spending more money.