Quote:
Originally Posted by jphughan
OP, I mean this in the best possible way, and I can definitely relate to an M3 pulling at your heartstrings, but if you're struggling just to come up with half of the purchase price of the car, you may regret buying an M3 and grow to resent it because of what it costs to maintain even over a 335i, never mind over a "regular" car. Keep in mind that no matter what purchase price you find for an M3, you'll always be paying the maintenance costs of a $70K car. I would also argue that an M3 is not a great first car to own, and if you'll just be DDing it on city streets and freeways, a lot of the value of the M3 that you're paying for is going to go untapped since I'm assuming that your budget doesn't currently factor in any track events.
Which leads me to my next point that's already been made by people earlier in this thread. If your heart is set on an M3, then even though a 335i is an absolutely outstanding car for DD duty, sporty back road driving, and even the occasional track day, YOU probably won't be happy with it. You'll feel like you settled, and every time you see an M3, something will eat away at you on the inside.
Which leads me to agree with the others on here: Buy a fun, much less expensive car and enjoy that until you have the means to cover the total cost of ownership on an M3 yourself. You're lucky to live in an era that's chock full of fun, fairly inexpensive car options: Civic Si, BRZ, Miata, Golf GTI/R, MazdaSpeed3, Ford Focus/Fiesta ST (yes, seriously), Mini Cooper, LanEvo, WRX or STi, Mustang GT -- the list goes on. Any one of those will bring you a ton of smiles per mile at a MUCH lower cost.
|
Agreed and I'd also add a 350z, Infiniti G35, Cobalt SS or Honda S2000 to that list too.
OP, neither car is a good choice for you. As mentioned by others, those cars can cost an arm and a leg to fix and maintain, and German cars are not exactly known for their reliability. Case in point, on the E9x M3 the throttle valves are opened by two electric motors called throttle actuators. They are notorious for failing and needing replacement. The cost of each one of them is over $900 not to mention the labor to replace it, unless you know how to fix cars and can DIY it. Both of mine failed within less than a year and I fixed it myself at a cost of $2000.
Insurance is also very expensive on those cars. And don't get me started about fuel bills. A 335i is at least not absolutely terrible in that regard. The M3 is, very badly. You can easily spend $300-$500 per month in fuel alone.
Cars are a money pit. If you can barely even put together the purchase price of one, that means you can't afford the other costs of operating it. Never stretch yourself out financially for a car, any car. No car is worth it.