Premium vs. Regular Gas.

#11

"dulles" <jf (AT) barada (DOT) com> quipped:

Quote:

I've got a 2001 GS300. On the open road on premium (usually Shell) I can
get ~27 MPG and on rare occasion, 28 MPG. I live in Texas, so not many
hills.
-d

...as compared to what? What you posted is pointless unless you can
compare that with your mpg with 87 octane.

#12

If you are having that much trouble about the gas you probably can't really
afford the Lexus. Get yourself a Honda. A Lexus is for people that can
afford a luxary car.

<success_ny (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote

Quote:

Are there any luxury cars (Audi, Lexus, Acura, Infinity, BMW, Mersedes,
etc.) that run on regular gas (i.e., designed to run just fine on
regular 87 gas without problems)?

I see that even the cheapest models like Acura TSX and Lexus IS 250
require premium gas, which means expensive maintenance considering the
price of gas nowadays...

#13

"Elmo P. Shagnasty" <elmop (AT) nastydesigns (DOT) com> wrote

Quote:

...if you want to maximize your car dollar, do buy a Lexus--a used
one. Let someone else eat the depreciation that's inherently bad in
luxury lines, and you end up with a much better built car for the
price
of the Accord. And it will depreciate slowly, keeping the value up
over
time much better than if one bought a new Accord.

If I couldn't afford a new Lexus, I would buy a new Camry or Accord.
Even cars with great reliability ratings start to have repair problems
after a few years. New cars have far fewer problems and are covered
under warranty.

Also, I just like having a new car. Not someone else's used car. You
never know where it's been, who used it, or how.

Further, new cars have features old car don't, like navigation, etc.

#14

"Elmo P. Shagnasty" <elmop (AT) nastydesigns (DOT) com> wrote

Quote:

Even cars with great reliability ratings start to have repair
problems
after a few years.

"Repair problems"? Or just need repairs?

Same thing, as far as I'm concerned.

Quote:

Run the numbers. Repairs are no big deal. If you pay significantly
less for the car, you can easily afford the repairs. And you end up
spending less on the car plus repairs than on a new car.

How much are you including as the value of your time to attend to the
repairs? Probably nothing. Is that the value you place on your time?
And while you're doing the math, throw in something for aggrivation.

Quote:

I have a 94 Lexus. I pay about $750/year in repairs, in addition to
oil
changes and whatever maintenance it needs. Call it $70/month, even,
on
average. So what? How does that compare to a car payment?

That's $70 a month more than my car payment.

Quote:

Buy a 4 year old Lexus where the huge depreciation has been eaten up,
pay what you'd pay for an Accord, pay your $50 to $70 monthly
maintenance costs, and have a car that's far better than any new
Accord--better built, better features.

Also, I just like having a new car.

Well, that pretty much sums up your life. You like paying that
depreciation.

No, I like driving a new car. I value that more than the cost premium.

Everything has a market value. If everyone had the same value
judgements, the marketplace would be pretty uniform and boring.

Quote:

Further, new cars have features old car don't, like navigation, etc.

I am in the process of buying an 03 Acura TL Type S with navigation
for
around $17,500. 40,000 miles. It has huge power, great features that
you can't even get on an Accord today, and it costs less than a bottom
end Accord today--including whatever maintenance a 40K Acura might
need
now and down the road. And realistically, I'll have it at least as
long
as any 06 Accord would last.

As an example of features: Honda still, to this day, insists that
memory seats are reserved for the Acura line, and are not to be
installed on the pedestrian Honda line. Screwy, but there you go. I
can pay $28K for an Accord and not get memory seats; on the other
hand,
I can pay $17.5K for the TL and get memory seats.

If that's what makes you happy, go for it.

Quote:

Thank you for insisting on buying new and paying that depreciation.
That's what keeps folks like me from spending stupid amounts of money
for an item you spend less than an hour a day with, on average.

So are you saying that anyone who buys a new Lexus is "stupid?"

#15

Quote:

Thank you for insisting on buying new and paying that depreciation.
That's what keeps folks like me from spending stupid amounts of money
for an item you spend less than an hour a day with, on average.

So are you saying that anyone who buys a new Lexus is "stupid?"

Pretty much. They're being stupid about their money.

I don't understand the argument that if you buy an expensive car, you
should expect to pay more for gas. Call me naive, but I don't
understand why should all luxury cars run on premium gas. How are the 2
concepts - luxury and premium gas - related? I guess it stems from the
fact that they try to put turbo-charged engines in those cars. But
Honda Accord V6 produces more power than Mercedes C 230 without
requiring premium gas.

#16

"Elmo P. Shagnasty" <elmop (AT) nastydesigns (DOT) com> wrote

Quote:

So are you saying that anyone who buys a new Lexus is "stupid?"

Pretty much. They're being stupid about their money.

So, if someone has a net worth of $100 million, you think they would be
stupid if they bought a new, rather than used, Lexus?

#17

I for one am quite glad that a lot of people think they need to be driving a
new car around and ditch whatever they're driving once it gets a few years
old. As far as I'm concerned, the value aspect doesn't really kick in until
the depreciation starts to level off. Let them have their new cars, and
that'll just mean more choices for the rest of us.

I also wear some old Swiss watches from the 60s and 70s that were very
expensive in their day, but are a great value today (although still a bit
pricey).

"Elmo P. Shagnasty" <elmop (AT) nastydesigns (DOT) com> wrote

Quote:

In article <4kruo3Fdiq0fU1 (AT) individual (DOT) net>, "David Z" <me (AT) privacy (DOT) net
wrote:

Thank you for insisting on buying new and paying that depreciation.
That's what keeps folks like me from spending stupid amounts of money
for an item you spend less than an hour a day with, on average.

So are you saying that anyone who buys a new Lexus is "stupid?"

Pretty much. They're being stupid about their money.

But as you said, that's what makes the world go 'round.

#18

"Elmo P. Shagnasty" <elmop (AT) nastydesigns (DOT) com> wrote

Quote:

So are you saying that anyone who buys a new Lexus is "stupid?"

Pretty much. They're being stupid about their money.

So, if someone has a net worth of $100 million, you think they would
be
stupid if they bought a new, rather than used, Lexus?

Sam Walton drove around in an old pickup truck.

The vast majority of people with a net worth of $100 million or more buy
new (as opposed to used) vehicles. Are they all stupid?

#19

It's up to you to do the comparison. Here's a data point on MPG with the
recommended fuel for this model and year.
-d
<amstaffs (AT) home (DOT) com> wrote

Quote:

"dulles" <jf (AT) barada (DOT) com> quipped:

I've got a 2001 GS300. On the open road on premium (usually Shell) I can
get ~27 MPG and on rare occasion, 28 MPG. I live in Texas, so not many
hills.
-d

..as compared to what? What you posted is pointless unless you can
compare that with your mpg with 87 octane.

#20

david,
we are going thru the same decisions right now. we got a price on both a
new and used Lexus; they were $5k apart.

our thinking was 'pay the extra $5000 and drive a new car' (i believe the
used was an '05). i realize the arguments about new car depreciation, etc.
but $5000 doesn't seen like a hugh difference.

but we haven't yet made up our mind.

"David Z" <me (AT) privacy (DOT) net> wrote

"Elmo P. Shagnasty" <elmop (AT) nastydesigns (DOT) com> wrote

Quote:

...if you want to maximize your car dollar, do buy a Lexus--a used
one. Let someone else eat the depreciation that's inherently bad in
luxury lines, and you end up with a much better built car for the
price
of the Accord. And it will depreciate slowly, keeping the value up
over
time much better than if one bought a new Accord.

If I couldn't afford a new Lexus, I would buy a new Camry or Accord.
Even cars with great reliability ratings start to have repair problems
after a few years. New cars have far fewer problems and are covered
under warranty.

Also, I just like having a new car. Not someone else's used car. You
never know where it's been, who used it, or how.

Further, new cars have features old car don't, like navigation, etc.

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Premium vs. Regular Gas.

Lexus Discussions about Lexus cars and trucks (alt.autos.lexus)

Re: Premium vs. Regular Gas. - 08-19-2006 , 08:50 PM

Re: Premium vs. Regular Gas. - 08-20-2006 , 07:38 AM

Buying New vs. Used (Was: Premium vs. Regular Gas.) - 08-20-2006 , 10:25 AM

Re: Buying New vs. Used (Was: Premium vs. Regular Gas.) - 08-20-2006 , 03:25 PM

Re: Buying New vs. Used (Was: Premium vs. Regular Gas.) - 08-20-2006 , 04:26 PM

Re: Buying New vs. Used (Was: Premium vs. Regular Gas.) - 08-20-2006 , 10:36 PM

Re: Buying New vs. Used (Was: Premium vs. Regular Gas.) - 08-21-2006 , 06:12 AM

Re: Buying New vs. Used (Was: Premium vs. Regular Gas.) - 08-21-2006 , 07:38 AM

Re: Premium vs. Regular Gas. - 08-21-2006 , 08:44 AM

Re: Buying New vs. Used (Was: Premium vs. Regular Gas.) - 08-21-2006 , 09:27 AM