The Saleen STA Is For Sale. Low $30s Range Details Inside.

[David Roll]

Sorry to hear about your mother-in-law, and there is never a good time to have kids - it just becomes a good time when you do. Life is a river and you are caught in the stream, sometimes there are dangerous rapids, and other times, nice peaceful curves and bends. Either way, you only get to ride it once, so go for it.



When I havd my 1st son, I sold my 1979 Vette for a Taurus wagon. After a very short time, that car just bugged me. Finally I was able to take my wifes Grand-Am and got her our 1st Explorer. That made the driving much more enjoyable and the rest is Sport-Trac history. I would just suggest that you make sure you are driving a vehicle that you can feel comfortable in, and hang on for the ride!

:banana:



Good luck.

 

[Gavin Allan]

Changing vehicles every 6-months is hardly ever a good proposition. You lose so much money on depreciation, taxes, licensing, and insurance fees. Also, I see people selling their nice cars to buy a lesser vehicle to save money, and they quickly get sick of the cheaper vehicle and want something nicer. The buy/sell yo-yo is so expensive and doesn't help them achieve their goals.



Better to figure out a more long-range plan, purchase a reasonable vehicle that you can afford and that you will enjoy driving for a while. Buy it, take care of it, and focus your efforts on living your life. rather than always buying and selling, buying and selling.

 

[Gavin Allan]

doublepost

 

[Carey Frennier]

Gavin,



I couldnt agree with you more.



That's why my wife and I had a plan. In case you missed the opening post, this slow decline in her mothers health has really scared her. We talked about the rational and irrational. In the end, what made my wife most comforted is the path I went down and I do not regret that for a minute.



I want my Saleen STA. I do not want a 12 Sportage SX AWD.



The new loan is for less than my truck. Lower interest, shorter term, $100 less a month, $200-250 a month less in fuel and it's faster than a stock Adrenalin V8.

 

[Carey Frennier]

And if life throws me another cure ball and I can't sell it in a few years, it has a decade of warranty.



Im in no way tied to buying vehicles where I work. In fact, since I've been here, I've bought 6 vehicles and only two were from here.



I work hard hours and I buy whatever I want.



This time around, the SX Sportage was, by far, the best bang for the buck. Had the Ford Veratrack been out...this could be different.

 

[Carey Frennier]

I really wanted to just lease it but I drive way to many miles and I had way to much equity to make it worth it in the long run.



Had the miles not been a factor I would have just leased for 15,000yr and put the huge chunk of equity into the house.



I tried a base Sportage but I didn't like the very low power output so I went with a turbo model for the very reason Gavin mentioned. Had I not, I would hate it just on power alone. I love the rest of the Sportage though.

 

[Supercharged SVT]

so, did you choose KIA?

 

[Carey Frennier]

I did. Best bang for the buck and that's the franchise I sell most!



2012 Kia Sportage SX turbo w/ SX premium pkg. nice little rig.

 

[Carey Frennier]

Sta's $31500. New owner picking it up on Wed.

 

[Supercharged SVT]

Makes a guy wonder what I could get out of mine -

 

[Carey Frennier]

Well....if you had similar mileage ....and sold in the spring....probe a couple grand or so more than mine. Red sells better. Your truck has more eye appeal and that looks great on eBay.



My buyer loved the power, color and price. He didn't really care about the blower but he did say that it added to the mystique of the adrenalin.



The biggest problem with the truck was the price point and second was the logistics. Most of the interested parties couldn't do the shipping.



The more performne experiance buyers were worried about the tune and how different their area was. Some of them asked me if I could have an area start up tune made for them and so on.



I had several people try to get financing for the buy it now price. I was even on the phone with their bank myself...helping them calculate the %advance. Most of these people couldn't get a secured loan even though the LTV was only 80%. Most them them looked into personal loans and couldn't get the job done.



In the end it was "Fred" who was the most honest. The guy is tough and very skilled. He was disciplined, factual and direct. He was the first to make me an offer and he was fine with waiting to see if I could sell to someone else for more. He was very realistic. He is also very close by. Only 5hr away.



I thought it spoke volumes about his character, in that he waited and respected me for trying to max the profit on the truck. Lessor people would have been insulted.



In the end, I got what I wanted and the Saleen STA is going to a good home.

 

[Gavin Allan]

Good luck, Carey. You do not have to justify your actions to anyone else-- you just have to please yourself (and your wife!).



I've been down a similar road several times over my 50 years on this planet, and it took losing a bunch of money to finally figure out that I need to slow down and try to figure out more for the long term. Am I perfect? Far from it. I still do stupid stuff all the time. However, I am slowly getting smarter, and at the rate I am going, if I can live to be 250 yrs old, I might have half a chance in this world. I am starting to realize that everything in life is a compromise, and it isn't realistic to think that I shouldn't settle for perfection. However, I also am slowly learning that I have considerable influence in the results of my life, and my decisions, even little ones, have effects that I will have to live with for a long time.



I learn a lot from folks on this forum. I also see folks struggling to learn. I also see several folks who seem to have things figured out real well. I long to have the personal dicipline that many of them have.



In the end, we all do the best we can. What is important is that we try to keep learning and improving.



It sounds like you have some significant things happening in your life. Some things may be changing, both for the good and not so good. I wish you well and luck on all of this, and I applogize for my offensive words here. I am not a good person much of the time.

 

[chargedtrac]

I'm glad you found a buyer in these challenging times and that things are progressing along for you. I'm hoping in the near future black ST's are in demand. :grin: