Every decision has many variables that have to be considered. Check out this guest write up from Mark Martinez, owner of http://www.zhpmafia.com. Mark is a great client who has become my friend over the past year or so and this story really made me laugh on the inside because I remember how life changed for me once I had children. If you know me, you know that Algebra is not my strength, but I can definitely find the X in this equation.
“In July, I sold my BMW 330ci ZHP.
When I first bought the ZHP I didn’t have a child (he wasn’t even conceived yet) and I thought the car would get driven. A month later, my wife was pregnant and I no longer needed to drive into work. Not surprisingly, the ZHP didn’t get much use, sitting idle for long periods of time. It was a no brainer to ultimately sell it.
Being BMWless for the first time in 11 years felt odd. Very odd. In an effort to combat that feeling, I immediately started looking for something to replace the ZHP. The search for a Porsche was on!
The Porsche 930, an icon, was the first car that popped into my head. My wife blessed the decision and I was off and running. My budget was $50K or less. That gave me a lot to work with. I wouldn’t be able to buy a museum piece (with 20,000 miles or less) but I would be able to find something with between 40,000 and 50,000 miles. Winning.
After a few weeks of searching, I decided that I wanted a Porsche 993 instead. I promptly notified the wife that I was changing the focus of my search. The budget, meanwhile, would have to be upped as well: to between $55,000 and $70,000. Winning? Uh, no. Not quite. More like losing.
My wife, with baby in tow, sat me down and laid it out in no uncertain terms. It was one thing to buy a car for $50K or less (which still perturbed her, since the car was not going to get driven) but it was really something else when I upped the price to as much as $70K. That was a non starter. And it effectively ended my quest to buy a Porsche — at any amount. (Word to the fellas out there: don’t push it. When you have a deal in hand, don’t push your luck.)
Now that the baby is here, we’ve got a lot more responsibility, the wife astutely pointed out. Our Jeep, which is getting long in the tooth, needs replacing. If we can afford a car that will sit idle for weeks (or months), my wife reasoned, I should have no problem getting her and the baby a new car, too. Ugh. What kind of car, I sheepishly wondered. Something newer. Something with less miles. And something that I’d feel safe putting the baby in.
I’m smart enough to realize that the Porsche was out the window at this point (I couldn’t afford to get two European cars; I knew my wife would want a BMW for her and the baby). The wife was employing the M2 Gambit. And she was playing it masterfully. I quickly changed gears, knowing I had already lost. Maybe I could still make lemonade out of lemons.
Dear wife, I said, I see your point. I see your position. You’re right. I lost my head there for a second. (Guys, don’t lay it on too thick here; you’re transitioning into a new game plan.) I am not going to get a Porsche, I said, so let’s figure out what we should get for the family. She smiled. I smiled too (inwardly), knowing I still had a chance to grab a car that I’d like to own.
How about an E39 M5? I asked. You loved our E39, I said. You always liked how big it was, I continued. It’s four doors. It has plenty of power (400 HP) and you know it’s safe. I have to tell you, I thought she’d go for this. Apparently I was wrong. While she loves the car, she told me, it wouldn’t make a great car for her to tool around town in. She’d be shopping at malls and doing all kinds of things that would put the M5 into harm’s way. It just wasn’t utilitarian enough for her.
Okay, fine. How about another ZHP? There is a ZHP — a sedan! — for sale right now with just 14,000 miles on it. I’ll put in an offer on it. She said I could put an offer on it but she didn’t believe that it would be big enough for the family. Feel free to make an offer, she said, but I don’t think I’ll drive it a lot. Hmmm. I made an offer on the ZHP but realized that the car search would not end there. Even if I got the ZHP, I’d still have to buy another car for the rest of the family. I put an offer in and continued a parallel search for the wifemobile.
Babe, I asked, what car would make you happy? (See, guys, at this point it’s time to throw all of your support behind the spouse. You already know you’re going to lose. Do not resist when you know you’re going to give in anyhow. Score some points here by gladly getting behind the decision.) It couldn’t be a sedan, she said. It would have to be an SUV. In particular, she said, I really like the newer X5s. It’s a BMW. It’s safe. It’s a good, logical decision for our family. I didn’t marry a dumbass. She had me dead to rights.
Sounds good, sweetheart. Perhaps you wouldn’t mind if I had some input on the features of your new car? I asked. Not at all, she said. (While we’re figuring out which X5 to get, my offer for the ZHP gets rejected. I thank the seller and tell him that we’re likely moving onto an X5. As such, I lower my offer and tell the seller that my offer is on the table until he sells the car to someone else or until we get an X5. We eventually find an X5; I tell the seller that I’ve withdrawn my offer.)
The X5, if that’s the direction we’re going, must be a 4.8. That’s my only requirement, I tell my wife. I’ll leave everything else up to you. She agrees. We’re now on the hunt for a newer X5 (E70). We find a few that we like but we don’t like the prices that are being sought. They’re unreasonable prices that we won’t bow to.
After hours of searching, I eventually find a 4.8 in Los Angeles. It has 12,000 miles on it. It’s being sold by a BMW dealer. It has CPO until 2014. The only negative was that it was black on black. Since this isn’t going to be a garage queen, we can live with it. I start negotiating. After two days, I get my price. We agree to buy the car.
When we get to the dealer, I ask about another X5 that’s on the lot. It’s fully loaded. It’s space gray metallic. It might be a very good fit for us (my wife and I already knew we wanted this one more; we talked about it the night before). The car is not available for sale yet, the dealer says. My wife shows her disapproval and says that she won’t test drive the first X5 (we’re in negotiation mode here; if the second X5 cannot be made available, the dealer will have to reduce the price on the first car even more to get a sale from us). My wife is playing her role beautifully. I couldn’t be more proud.
At this point, the sales guy is scrambling. He asks us to hold tight. He’ll see what he can do. After a few minutes, he comes back and says that he’s still trying to track the car down (it might be on another lot they have; he needs a few more minutes). Fine by us, we say. See what you can do. We wait a little longer. The sales guy, ten minutes later, offers us something to eat and something to drink. No thanks, we say. My wife and I both understand reciprocity when it comes to negotiations. We’re not taking anything! LOL. We’re hungry and we’re thirsty, but we’re not going to accept any “gifts” from our sales guy. We wait a little more. Eventually, the car is made available. My wife test drives the car. She likes it (she holds her enthusiasm in check, though, so that she doesn’t weaken our negotiating position).
I head back to the sales guy’s office and start negotiating. The car was already a steal at its current price, so I didn’t try and beat the guy up. However, I did notice a small imperfection on the car’s front, right bumper (a very small scuff that no one would notice). I use it as a bargaining chip. I chisel the price down a bit and close the deal.
About an hour later, we’re on our way to Manhattan Beach, where we will meet our good pal, John Randolph (johnrando), for lunch.
I didn’t get the car I originally wanted but that’s OK. The family will be safe. The decision was a smart one. And I still have one of the best marriages extant.”
cwithersmedia 