I hope that BMW was not new when you bought it. Most people do not know the true cost to own a car, I cringe when I know how much people lost due to depreciation for 5 years on any new cars, at least half value of the car is gone. For BMW, that's like $30k lost, or about -$6k/year.
If you put $6k a year or $500/month in stocks for 30 year, you would have gotten $751,000. Would I choose to drive a new BMW every few years or $750,000 in 30 years? You bet I'll pick the later. Heck for $500/month, I'd eat out every day like a king...
no problem, I already did the research
1.) owning a car costs money, it sucks, but it's true. The only way I found to get out of it, is to drive a car w' ads all over it, but there's a long waiting list to get one.
2.) the biggest cost associated w' ownership is depreciation, followed by maintenance, followed by gas. everyone seems to put all their emphasis on gas, but that doesn't matter if you don't lose money on its purchase price.
ex. I bought an 18mpg toyota tacoma back in 2007 for $8k, and sold it in 2008 for $12k when the frames were prematuraly rusting out. I made $4k on the deal...did I care about gas mileage? no. I followed up with a 2001 corolla for $6.5k...I sold it or $3.1k 3 years later...yeah it got 30mpg, but I still lost over $3k in depreciation....not worth it!!
so how does this apply to the bmw?
per blogspot.carsabi.com...
website said:
If you're broke like us but still really like performance and leather interiors, consider getting a luxury car that's 5-6 years old. More luxury owners want newer models than older ones leading to a pretty steep depreciation for the first few years; the average new E320 loses about $12k per year no matter the mileage (112 datapoints). Compare this to the depreciation curve for a Camry: the car holds value like people *want* to drive it into the ground. Crazy! (1,523 datapoints).
a 5-6 year old BMW depreciates as much as a 5-6 year old camry. Out here in southern california, a 5-6 year old BMW and a 5-6 year old camry costs the same. I can then drive the BMW 3-4 years, and sell it for about the same amount as a same year camry.
So what did I do? I bought a 2006 BMW 325i in 2012...w' 60k miles. Not only that, but I bought it private party, and haggled the crap out of the girl. I got it for less than what a dealer would pay at an auction. So even if I drive it 3-4 years, I can likely sell it for just a couple thousand less than what I bought it for. Plus, it's SoCal...everyone here wants to fit in and drive a BMW, but can't afford it new...so used ones that still look newer (read: 2006 and newer) still sell for a pretty penny. And while maintenance/repairs are expensive, I found a certified BMW tech who does work on the side, and gets the parts discounted through work. I do oil changes, brakes, filters/headlight/wiper changes myself. I switched from $800+ run flats to $372 non-run flats and I carry a plug w' air compressor in the car and I have AAA roadside service.
so don't worry...I didn't lose my dollars or sense buying this car...and I still drive a BMW!