<FONT COLOR="Black">Toby - The car market is one that is difficult to predict. The hope is that you don't take it in the shorts too bad, but you never know. The reality is that the price of the thing only matters twice, the day you buy it and the day you sell it. All of the prices in between just affect your mood if you let it. If the Viper prices dip too low and that bums you out, shove another tank of gas in it and you will quickly forget about that!
It is tough to mentally put such a huge amount into your entertainment and self-indulgence bucket. If it fell by half in value in 10 years could you deal with that? Two years?
Here's how I got over this (I am a noted tightwad). A few years ago I had a co-worker that survived a round with an "incurable cancer". After months of experimental treatment and all of that she came back to work. We had lunch the first week she was back.
She told me that at one level she was grateful for the experience. "Huh?", I offered intellectually. She said, "I learned something important. I learned that this is not a dress rehearsal. I have lived my life like it is a dress rehearsal and it isn't."
Those words hit me hard. Try to balance those thoughts with the need to secure the future. The question to ask yourself is, "if not now, then when?"
Buy the right car for you, the one you want. Enjoy it. Your kids will love it too. Mine sure do.
</FONT c>