Well I've ordered a new car for the first time in my life, been saving and waiting for a long time for this one. Going to pay cash. The car will be ready in 6 weeks, or 10 weeks if I choose to upgrade to the 8 cyl.
Anyhow, this car is a mid sized sedan that's available with 2 different 6 cylinder options and one 8 cylinder option. I'd like the make and model of the car to remain irrelevant because it would really help me for this discussion to give me guidance on the 6 vs. 8 decision: only, and not to devolve into the merits of this car vs. that car.
If the group would indulge me in this, here goes. I really want the 8 cylinder because I am a car fanatic, I would love the performance, and it is the car I have been waiting for. It would be the last v8 I will likely own. It would cost a little extra over the 6 cyl model. The 6 cylinder is the more prudent choice, even though I'm spending way more on transportation than needed to meet my needs.
I think it comes down to 2 areas of concern.
1. Fuel economy; and
2. resale.
Fuel economy:
The 8, according to fueleconomy.org gets 16 CTY/ 24HWY/ 18 Combined. A little worse than our Honda minivan, plus this car needs premium. Those are EPA numbers and people aren’t really doing much better. Although, this is an enthusiast car and they’re not keeping their feet out of the throttle is my guess.
The 6 gets 19 CTY/ 29HWY/ 23 Combined. Those are EPA numbers and people are doing better. Really quite good.
If I plug in the peak prices for fuel we saw about 2 winters ago, I think the difference in fuel price is about $1,200 year. What worries me is that fuel's going to go up, by how much I don't know.
Resale
The 6 cyl has way better resale than the 8 cyl model. I think this is because used car buyers are economy minded, and the 8 cyl model is less economical. On the other hand, the 6 cyl used to have almost the same performance as the 8, and was available in AWD where the 8 wasn’t. Now that AWD playing field has been leveled. I have ordered and would get the AWD either with the 8 or the 6. The v8 now blows the 6 cyl out of the water from a performance standpoint. So you do actually get something for putting up with the fuel economy penalty from the 8.
The difference in fuel won’t make an impact on our family. Resale has been suggested to me to be a 4% difference after 3 years. I keep my cars a long time. This is a once in a lifetime purchase for me, so I intend to keep this one at least 8 years. My next car will likely be something more sensible like a nice Accord V6 or an Acura TL once they’re no longer hideous. That being the case, I’m leaning toward not worrying so much about depreciation, and since this is a once in a lifetime purchase, to do it up right and get the true dream car – the V8.
On the other hand, I’ve been very prudent financially all my life and it’s killing me to make the less financially prudent choice to buy the v8, when I’m already buying a car that’s a big deal for me. Not to mention the fact that the 6cyl version I’ve already ordered is a very good performer by any measure.
I’d really like to hear some thoughts on the case for and against both of the 6 cyl and the 8 cyl. Bear in mind that this is not just a “transportation” purchase, but it will be my daily transportation for 8 years or more.
Fire away, I'd sure appreciate some thoughts here.
Anyhow, this car is a mid sized sedan that's available with 2 different 6 cylinder options and one 8 cylinder option. I'd like the make and model of the car to remain irrelevant because it would really help me for this discussion to give me guidance on the 6 vs. 8 decision: only, and not to devolve into the merits of this car vs. that car.
If the group would indulge me in this, here goes. I really want the 8 cylinder because I am a car fanatic, I would love the performance, and it is the car I have been waiting for. It would be the last v8 I will likely own. It would cost a little extra over the 6 cyl model. The 6 cylinder is the more prudent choice, even though I'm spending way more on transportation than needed to meet my needs.
I think it comes down to 2 areas of concern.
1. Fuel economy; and
2. resale.
Fuel economy:
The 8, according to fueleconomy.org gets 16 CTY/ 24HWY/ 18 Combined. A little worse than our Honda minivan, plus this car needs premium. Those are EPA numbers and people aren’t really doing much better. Although, this is an enthusiast car and they’re not keeping their feet out of the throttle is my guess.
The 6 gets 19 CTY/ 29HWY/ 23 Combined. Those are EPA numbers and people are doing better. Really quite good.
If I plug in the peak prices for fuel we saw about 2 winters ago, I think the difference in fuel price is about $1,200 year. What worries me is that fuel's going to go up, by how much I don't know.
Resale
The 6 cyl has way better resale than the 8 cyl model. I think this is because used car buyers are economy minded, and the 8 cyl model is less economical. On the other hand, the 6 cyl used to have almost the same performance as the 8, and was available in AWD where the 8 wasn’t. Now that AWD playing field has been leveled. I have ordered and would get the AWD either with the 8 or the 6. The v8 now blows the 6 cyl out of the water from a performance standpoint. So you do actually get something for putting up with the fuel economy penalty from the 8.
The difference in fuel won’t make an impact on our family. Resale has been suggested to me to be a 4% difference after 3 years. I keep my cars a long time. This is a once in a lifetime purchase for me, so I intend to keep this one at least 8 years. My next car will likely be something more sensible like a nice Accord V6 or an Acura TL once they’re no longer hideous. That being the case, I’m leaning toward not worrying so much about depreciation, and since this is a once in a lifetime purchase, to do it up right and get the true dream car – the V8.
On the other hand, I’ve been very prudent financially all my life and it’s killing me to make the less financially prudent choice to buy the v8, when I’m already buying a car that’s a big deal for me. Not to mention the fact that the 6cyl version I’ve already ordered is a very good performer by any measure.
I’d really like to hear some thoughts on the case for and against both of the 6 cyl and the 8 cyl. Bear in mind that this is not just a “transportation” purchase, but it will be my daily transportation for 8 years or more.
Fire away, I'd sure appreciate some thoughts here.
