Car or cash? Or a compromise?

Message

pphilipko · #1 Post by **pphilipko** » Sat Jul 30, 2005 2:35 pm

My parents are offering to buy a car for me ~50,000 - 85,000 range as a graduation gift. However, they're offering the cash if I don't want to get a car. What do you guys think?

I wanted to buy the mercedes C55 AMG, but the cash (for university) is pretty nice too...

I'm going to be attending UPenn, and since I'm international, I have to pay around 30,000 a year.

#2 Post by **AlphaKilo470** » Sat Jul 30, 2005 2:44 pm

I'd take the cash, say you're buying the Merc so they give you the full however much thousand, then buy a Ford and pocket the left over cash and keep it in a savings account with a good interest rate.

Man, I wish my folks were rich enough to offer me 85 grand for a car.

#3 Post by **JaneL** » Sat Jul 30, 2005 3:12 pm

Check the finance forum at http://www.fatwallet.com and see what they say.

#4 Post by **jdhurst** » Sat Jul 30, 2005 5:35 pm

Cars depreciate - *fast*. Cash, properly cared for, appreciates. ... JD Hurst

#5 Post by **GomJabbar** » Sat Jul 30, 2005 8:42 pm

I only wish I had such a conundrum!

Navck · #6 Post by **Navck** » Sat Jul 30, 2005 9:52 pm

Cash can make more cash, invest in bonds, or put in bank.

JHEM · #7 Post by **JHEM** » Sat Jul 30, 2005 10:19 pm

pphilipko wrote:My parents are offering to buy a car for me ~50,000 - 85,000 range as a graduation gift. However, they're offering the cash if I don't want to get a car. What do you guys think?

In all honesty, I find the concept of such an extravagant gift for graduating from high school obscene.

pphilipko wrote:I wanted to buy the mercedes C55 AMG, but the cash (for university) is pretty nice too... I'm going to be attending UPenn, and since I'm international, I have to pay around 30,000 a year.

It's more like $45K a year at PENN!

As a freshman, you won't be able to keep a car on campus, which is beside the fact that you don't want to keep anything other than a beater in downtown Philly.

Regards,

James

leoblob · #8 Post by **leoblob** » Sat Jul 30, 2005 11:31 pm

JHEM wrote:In all honesty, I find the concept of such an extravagant gift for graduating from high school obscene.

Man, is that the truth!

pphilipko, you should tell your parents you want BOTH the cash and the car. That would seem to be congruent with the values they are teaching you.

pphilipko · #9 Post by **pphilipko** » Sun Jul 31, 2005 12:03 am

Well, they did strongly recommend me to take the money and invest it..

However, unlike most parents, they always give me a choice (which can both be a blessing or a sin). As they put it, "Learn it right from the beginning. You make the decisions. We can only guide you."

I was somewhat torn in the beginning, but in the end, I'm probably going to take the money. A car is, after all, just a car.

Thanks for all your opinions. As JHEM said, a car wouldn't be much use to me at all in the first year. I'll just follow my parent's advice, as usual. Only with my parents' guidance was I able to be accepted into such a fine university.

#10 Post by **AlphaKilo470** » Sun Jul 31, 2005 12:07 am

Choosing your parents advice after they gave you a choice does seem as an act of trust and loyalty. It also shows the parents have done good as the son would be willing to trust them. Still, maybe we're getting a little too deep here.

My opinion: good choice, to take the cash. In about a year or two, that Merc would be worth half as much as it is today. I'd say buy the cheapest car that suits you then put the rest in a high interest bank savings account.

JHEM · #11 Post by **JHEM** » Sun Jul 31, 2005 8:43 am

pphilipko wrote:Well, they did strongly recommend me to take the money and invest it.

Buy some property near Whistler! Or something waterfront out on VI near Qualicum Beach.

What will be your major at PENN? You're expected to live in campus housing for your freshman and sophomore years as a minimum and you'll want to take advantage of this until you learn your way around Philly.

See you in a month for orientation!

Regards,

James

pphilipko · #12 Post by **pphilipko** » Sun Jul 31, 2005 11:53 am

I'll be majoring biochemistry. How about you?

JHEM · #13 Post by **JHEM** » Sun Jul 31, 2005 12:05 pm

pphilipko wrote:I'll be majoring biochemistry. How about you?

Pre-med or straight biochem? Philly/NJ is certainly the place to be a biochem major, heart of the pharma industry.

How about me? I could be one of your instructors in environmental engineering, although I normally only teach at the "lost Ivy", Rutgers.

Regards,

James

pphilipko · #14 Post by **pphilipko** » Sun Jul 31, 2005 12:34 pm

JHEM wrote:
pphilipko wrote:I'll be majoring biochemistry. How about you?
Pre-med or straight biochem? Philly/NJ is certainly the place to be a biochem major, heart of the pharma industry.

How about me? I could be one of your instructors in environmental engineering, although I normally only teach at the "lost Ivy", Rutgers.

Regards,

James

Premed. At first, I thought you were a student!

#15 Post by **GomJabbar** » Sun Jul 31, 2005 12:39 pm

Why do I keep getting this mental image of Professor Charles W. Kingsfield, Jr.

JHEM · #16 Post by **JHEM** » Sun Jul 31, 2005 1:21 pm

GomJabbar wrote:Why do I keep getting this mental image of Professor Charles W. Kingsfield, Jr.

Nah. He's a softie!

Regards,

James

#17 Post by **GomJabbar** » Sun Jul 31, 2005 2:30 pm

JHEM wrote:Nah. He's a softie!

Which one

EDIT: Never mind, I think I know.

Car or cash? Or a compromise?

Car or cash? Or a compromise?

Re: Car or cash? Or a compromise?

Re: Car or cash? Or a compromise?

Who is online