Yesterday has been a very eventful day. I purchased a car -- 2005 Honda Accord LX with 28,000 miles on it.
I have done much research on www.edmunds.com and decided that I want a Japanese car and specifically Honda Accord. I could have gone after smaller vehicles such as Prius or Civic, but driving larger cars is so much cheaper in US compared to Korea, I thought "why not" and went with Accord.
If anything, I like Accord's name and design, it is spacious. Since it won't die on me (very unlikely) in the next 10 years, I decided I may as well go after a family car. People talk all the time about gas mileage. With my simple calculation, it is not that much more costly.
For example, consider the fact that Accord goes 31 mpg (but let's say 30 mpg) and that Civic can probably go 36 mpg (but let's say 35 mpg). If you are savvy with numbers, the assumptions are made on more conservative side and it only results in larger difference in cost so you can trust me.
My home-to-work is 18 miles rounded up (17.5 miles to be exact). Make it conservative by adding 2 miles, and on a round trip I get 40 miles.
I will work 50 weeks/year, and there are 5 days/week = 250 days of going to work/year.
That's exactly 10,000 miles. Let's add extra miles over the weekends and say I will drive about 13,000 miles/year.
Now get conservative gas cost: $4.50/gallon (right now it is $4.05 here).
With 13,000 miles, and with 30 mpg, I spend $1.95k for one year.
With 13,000 miles, and with 35 mpg, I spend $1.67k for one year.
Difference is $280 dollars. I think I can handle that much difference for a more spacious and more horsepower (a very important thing to guys), don't you think?
Anyhow, so I got a 2005 Accord. I got a used car because they are much cheaper (by about $7k), cheaper to insure, and they will still last longer than I need the car for. I got a certified used car and that means I got power train covered for up to 100,000 miles.
The color is Dark Green, a color very limited in numbers. It is very pretty in my opinion. I am saddened that I can't drive it yet due to my not having insurance and registered the vehicle yet. Very soon, I will be in it. The test drive I had convinced me that I would love the car till it dies on me.
The only thing I believe I got cheated on throughout the dealership experience is the extra warranties I purchased from the financing guy. At the moment, I was lulled into thinking they are worth it, but upon talking with my parents I realized that I got robbed of $2,000 dollars.
For example, 4 years extra of bumper-to-bumper coverage costed me $2,000 dollars. Though it felt cheap at the moment, it's $500/year and Japanese cars won't break for that much per year for 4 years. It's much cheaper to fix whatever that breaks than to pay for that $2,000 warranty.
I was so upset afterward I couldn't sleep and had to do some research on if I could cancel the extra warranties. Turns out, I can cancel without any repercussions within 60 days of purchasing the warranties!! Now I feel so happy about my purchase I can't express it fully with words.
I will upload some pictures of the car once I get hold of it. :)
I have done much research on www.edmunds.com and decided that I want a Japanese car and specifically Honda Accord. I could have gone after smaller vehicles such as Prius or Civic, but driving larger cars is so much cheaper in US compared to Korea, I thought "why not" and went with Accord.
If anything, I like Accord's name and design, it is spacious. Since it won't die on me (very unlikely) in the next 10 years, I decided I may as well go after a family car. People talk all the time about gas mileage. With my simple calculation, it is not that much more costly.
For example, consider the fact that Accord goes 31 mpg (but let's say 30 mpg) and that Civic can probably go 36 mpg (but let's say 35 mpg). If you are savvy with numbers, the assumptions are made on more conservative side and it only results in larger difference in cost so you can trust me.
My home-to-work is 18 miles rounded up (17.5 miles to be exact). Make it conservative by adding 2 miles, and on a round trip I get 40 miles.
I will work 50 weeks/year, and there are 5 days/week = 250 days of going to work/year.
That's exactly 10,000 miles. Let's add extra miles over the weekends and say I will drive about 13,000 miles/year.
Now get conservative gas cost: $4.50/gallon (right now it is $4.05 here).
With 13,000 miles, and with 30 mpg, I spend $1.95k for one year.
With 13,000 miles, and with 35 mpg, I spend $1.67k for one year.
Difference is $280 dollars. I think I can handle that much difference for a more spacious and more horsepower (a very important thing to guys), don't you think?
Anyhow, so I got a 2005 Accord. I got a used car because they are much cheaper (by about $7k), cheaper to insure, and they will still last longer than I need the car for. I got a certified used car and that means I got power train covered for up to 100,000 miles.
The color is Dark Green, a color very limited in numbers. It is very pretty in my opinion. I am saddened that I can't drive it yet due to my not having insurance and registered the vehicle yet. Very soon, I will be in it. The test drive I had convinced me that I would love the car till it dies on me.
The only thing I believe I got cheated on throughout the dealership experience is the extra warranties I purchased from the financing guy. At the moment, I was lulled into thinking they are worth it, but upon talking with my parents I realized that I got robbed of $2,000 dollars.
For example, 4 years extra of bumper-to-bumper coverage costed me $2,000 dollars. Though it felt cheap at the moment, it's $500/year and Japanese cars won't break for that much per year for 4 years. It's much cheaper to fix whatever that breaks than to pay for that $2,000 warranty.
I was so upset afterward I couldn't sleep and had to do some research on if I could cancel the extra warranties. Turns out, I can cancel without any repercussions within 60 days of purchasing the warranties!! Now I feel so happy about my purchase I can't express it fully with words.
I will upload some pictures of the car once I get hold of it. :)