Multi-topic thread on retirement and second car

[FLYARMY]

I retired about 2-3 years early from my cop job of 28 + years. I've seen alot of messed up stuff in my life , that no one should ever have to deal with. It did make me stronger person. It was definitely time to go. My wife getting sick and surviving made it easier. I don't go to bed until 2am and then I wake up around 6am, take a leak and go back to bed until at least 10am ! At least I am not taking a leak AND THEN waking up !! I am loving it ! I am just so happy that I listened to people smarter than me and made plans for my retirement when I was 27 years old. As long as the economy doesn't crash, I am financially set for life on my own pension and investments. Between family real estate holdings, that I am 20% owner , home equity and inheritances (not realized yet), my kids will get a nice headstart also. Not to mention later selling off my car and coin collection for some bonus income.
I have truly been blessed.

 

[BimmerFan]

Today marks the one year anniversary of my last day at work. If I had known then what I know now, I would have retired several years earlier. Retiring at a relatively young age (I'm 61) is by far the best decision I ever made. I love being the CEO of my own destiny...

BimmerFan -- Congrats on the Supra!

Thanks, and happy anniversary!

 

[ArgentWing]

Sounds like I need to win the lottery so I can actually do this.

- the 30 year old guy.

It's all about planning my friend. I know it probably seems a long way off right now but it goes by much quicker than you can imagine! You have plenty of time to save. Don't buy into the YOLO mentality. There's nothing wrong with living in the now if you can afford it. Just make sure you're putting enough away for later. I'm only offering this advice because a wise co worker shared similar advice with me when I was your age and I had the good sense to listen.

 

[BimmerFan]

I didn't want to start a new thread but I did want to share, since we are all (or mostly) car guys and gals, and it was a somewhat atypical experience, buying the Supra. Apologies in advance for the lengthy wordy post, but I am technically working today, and annoyed with work stuff right now so I need a break, LOL.

So, I found a used one locally that I could test drive, and I did, and I like it a lot. The Supra is built by BMW and it is 97% BMW so nothing was unfamiliar to me, except that Toyota did a better job on the shifter than BMW does. The dealer (convicted criminals) was asking MSRP for a 2023 w/3500 miles, and although the salesman was pushing me to make an offer, I knew they wouldn't go for a reasonable price, and I wasn't crazy about the red color anyway... so I started shopping.

Déjà vu all over again from Blackwing pricing, as no dealer in this area even has a new car in stock, although several across the country do actually have a manual transmission car in stock, most want MSRP. The ones that don't, want over MSRP (as high as $5K over) and all of them have added port-installed or dealer installed crap on them. One dealer was at MSRP but agreed to discount it by $1500. I asked for a buyer's order to confirm all pricing, and they did in fact discount it as promised, but put another $1800 in fees on top of that, plus $495 for "paint protection" which means that the prep guy slopped some wax on it. So I said no thanks. He kept pushing, I pushed back, and eventually they dropped all of that.

So, the car was black (I'm OK with that) and the interior is tan. Eh, I showed it to the wife and she said "no". Now, it's my car, but her opinion is important because otherwise I'll never hear the end of it, LOL. So I looked for more pictures online, thinking that a better picture might change her mind, and I found this:

Aside from that not-very-attractive steering wheel, I had also done a web search and a forum post popped-up questioning the difference in door cards between the driver's door (tan) and passenger (black). Apparently that is a thing, and in RHD countries, they swap the sides. That makes no sense to me at all, and now I can't un-see it, so I had to pass on the black one.

I found a blue one that I liked, not too far away (about 5 hours drive) and that's my wife's favorite color, but they wouldn't budge on the price, plus it had some extra crap on it.

I found a white one in Ohio with no extra trash on it, and they agreed to knock off $1500. Then the buyer's order didn't show state sales tax (I'm in NC) so I questioned it, and they said that I'd have to do the NC title work myself. Fine, I said, then knock off the "doc fee" since I'm doing the docs. And they did! You all know how usually hard that one is to get taken off. The car was "in transit" when I started, by the time we had made our agreement (Wednesday) it had landed at the dealer.

So, I flew up there Saturday. My flights were great, no issue with connections or crazy people or parts falling off of the Boeing, they sent the lot boy to pick me up at the airport and he was bang on time, I got to the dealer and they were almost ready to go, the paperwork took 3 minutes, no hard sell on warranties and protection plans and other nonsense, and off I went! 8.5 hours later, I got home, a little tired, a bit stiff from not moving (other than 7 pee stops, 2 food stops and one gas stop) and quite enjoying the car.

I still haven't fully made up my mind on the retirement thing yet (although currently leaning for June), but I am planning to track this car a little bit, and enjoy it while I can.

 

[5VBW Nick]

Does Toyota offer your first free oil change after you hit a thousand miles, like BMW? The car looks nice, enjoy!

 

[jbawden]

To further distract you (and me) from work, what is the driving experience like?

I think the Supra is a bit over styled (too many accentuated bulges and creases), but looks good in white as it tones that down some.

 

[668LT4]

I didn't want to start a new thread but I did want to share, since we are all (or mostly) car guys and gals, and it was a somewhat atypical experience, buying the Supra. Apologies in advance for the lengthy wordy post, but I am technically working today, and annoyed with work stuff right now so I need a break, LOL.

So, I found a used one locally that I could test drive, and I did, and I like it a lot. The Supra is built by BMW and it is 97% BMW so nothing was unfamiliar to me, except that Toyota did a better job on the shifter than BMW does. The dealer (convicted criminals) was asking MSRP for a 2023 w/3500 miles, and although the salesman was pushing me to make an offer, I knew they wouldn't go for a reasonable price, and I wasn't crazy about the red color anyway... so I started shopping.

Déjà vu all over again from Blackwing pricing, as no dealer in this area even has a new car in stock, although several across the country do actually have a manual transmission car in stock, most want MSRP. The ones that don't, want over MSRP (as high as $5K over) and all of them have added port-installed or dealer installed crap on them. One dealer was at MSRP but agreed to discount it by $1500. I asked for a buyer's order to confirm all pricing, and they did in fact discount it as promised, but put another $1800 in fees on top of that, plus $495 for "paint protection" which means that the prep guy slopped some wax on it. So I said no thanks. He kept pushing, I pushed back, and eventually they dropped all of that.

So, the car was black (I'm OK with that) and the interior is tan. Eh, I showed it to the wife and she said "no". Now, it's my car, but her opinion is important because otherwise I'll never hear the end of it, LOL. So I looked for more pictures online, thinking that a better picture might change her mind, and I found this:

View attachment 28445

Aside from that not-very-attractive steering wheel, I had also done a web search and a forum post popped-up questioning the difference in door cards between the driver's door (tan) and passenger (black). Apparently that is a thing, and in RHD countries, they swap the sides. That makes no sense to me at all, and now I can't un-see it, so I had to pass on the black one.

I found a blue one that I liked, not too far away (about 5 hours drive) and that's my wife's favorite color, but they wouldn't budge on the price, plus it had some extra crap on it.

I found a white one in Ohio with no extra trash on it, and they agreed to knock off $1500. Then the buyer's order didn't show state sales tax (I'm in NC) so I questioned it, and they said that I'd have to do the NC title work myself. Fine, I said, then knock off the "doc fee" since I'm doing the docs. And they did! You all know how usually hard that one is to get taken off. The car was "in transit" when I started, by the time we had made our agreement (Wednesday) it had landed at the dealer.

So, I flew up there Saturday. My flights were great, no issue with connections or crazy people or parts falling off of the Boeing, they sent the lot boy to pick me up at the airport and he was bang on time, I got to the dealer and they were almost ready to go, the paperwork took 3 minutes, no hard sell on warranties and protection plans and other nonsense, and off I went! 8.5 hours later, I got home, a little tired, a bit stiff from not moving (other than 7 pee stops, 2 food stops and one gas stop) and quite enjoying the car.

I still haven't fully made up my mind on the retirement thing yet (although currently leaning for June), but I am planning to track this car a little bit, and enjoy it while I can.

View attachment 28446

Nice car!! I flirted w a white 24 manual about 4-5 months ago at a dealer in OK. MSRP, but they wanted $1500 or so for their film and tint. I told them no way, I have my own local guy. The car was in transit and so they agreed. But after driving a used one locally (automatic), I felt too couped up. I'm only 5'-7", but I felt trapped. I guess I'm just too used to my 5 Blackwing.

The car sure is visually exciting. I wish the interior was done better. I want to add a coupe to the garage and am tuned in for a future MR2 and or Celica.

Enjoy it Bimmer!

 

[BimmerFan]

But after driving a used one locally (automatic), I felt too couped up. I'm only 5'-7", but I felt trapped. I guess I'm just too used to my 5 Blackwing.

The car sure is visually exciting. I wish the interior was done better.

Enjoy it Bimmer!

Thanks. The interior (mine is black) can be a bit claustrophobic, I concur. The windows are small, there is no visibility out the rear except for straight back, it is not a large car so the seats are tight, the console is close to you and you sit kind of low (which is good because there's plenty of headroom for helmets). Compared to the BW, yeah, big difference.

Does Toyota offer your first free oil change after you hit a thousand miles, like BMW? The car looks nice, enjoy!

BMW does a 1200 mile break-in service only for real ///M cars (not badged versions) and then all cars get 3 years of free annual oil changes. Toyota gives you two free changes. Quite frankly, I trust the BMW dealers, but not Caddy or Toyota, so I don't take advantage of their free work.

To further distract you (and me) from work, what is the driving experience like?

I think the Supra is a bit over styled (too many accentuated bulges and creases), but looks good in white as it tones that down some.

When I first saw the Supra, I felt the same way. It is very busy outside, many bulges and such, but I've grown to like it. Washing it yesterday gave me more appreciation for some of what they did, and some head scratching on others (like the doors). You can't configure the instrument panel like we can on the BW, and it just doesn't tell you important things like oil temperature, that's only available on real M cars. Stupid. The HUD is excellent, but again, limited in configuration (you can turn on/off the nav, that's about it). The car has the older (version 7) version of BMW's iDrive, which is good because version 8 sucks.

The engine is very good, the quick revving Inline-6 (the BMW B58) which I believe is rated at 370 HP but is generally considered to produce more actual horses, is really a dream engine. It is very linear, lots of low-end torque and overall just great. It also doesn't shake and rattle you at idle like some <cough> cars do, LOL. The steering is light, a bit over-assisted at lower speeds and like all current BMWs, it doesn't communicate very well. I haven't tried the "sport" setting yet, but I generally don't care for those, they feel artificially stiff. The Supra comes with two suspension settings, "comfort" and "feels like a BMW" which is rather stiff and which they call "sport". However, on a bad/challenging corner that I take (as fast as I can, LOL) on the way home, it does well. It's about 120 degrees, off-camber with a couple of large dips in it. My former M2 would hop over it and was quite unpleasant. The CT5 takes it well, but with 4000 lbs. it wallows just a bit (in comfort mode). The Supra does it well, no hopping, no drama. The car feels lighter than it is, turn-in is sharp but not too sensitive and although you can't see the front end or even much of the bumpers because of the styling and low seating position, it shouldn't be too difficult to place the car where you want it at an apex.

Like all manual BMWs, first is geared too low, probably for good 0-60 times, but that means before you can look up to see how fast you're going, you need to shift into second. The clutch is great unless you're trying to race or set times, in which case the delay valve will mess you up (many people remove it). I used to remove the valve years ago, but now I just don't care enough to bother, and shift slowly, almost like a grown-up adult-type person.

As I mentioned, visibility sucks. The brakes are still hydraulic, and they are a bit touchy and over-boosted, but nothing that you can't adjust to. The seats are phenomenal, as many adjustments as the BW has but just a little firmer (less padding/springy) and a quite bit narrower. Getting in and out of the car requires attention and planning to avoid whacking your head, as I have done 3 times now. The hatch space is small, and storage compartments are non-existent except for two tiny places in the door that fit one of those travel packs of tissue, and that's all.

It's a BMW, so fit & finish are excellent. It comes with Michelin Pilot Super Sports. They are noisy and probably won't last long, but they handle well and break away very progressively. Yeah, it was more of an "oops" moment than me really trying... LOL

The "stereo" overall, sucks, but again, BMW.

There is no spare tire, but you do get some goo and a pump. A spare would fit in the hatch, but then you'd have no space for luggage.

 

[668LT4]

Thanks. The interior (mine is black) can be a bit claustrophobic, I concur. The windows are small, there is no visibility out the rear except for straight back, it is not a large car so the seats are tight, the console is close to you and you sit kind of low (which is good because there's plenty of headroom for helmets). Compared to the BW, yeah, big difference.

Congrats again. I'm sure you will get used to the cabin. The performance is outstanding at any cost, but happens to be a great deal here, IMO. And that double curved roof... man, I love it. I am very intrigued with the manual Z4 in the green color, but still prefer the looks of the Supra.

 

[albertw]

I was interested and sat in one when they first came out. The mirrors were an absolute no. There was no seat height at which either the rear view mirror or the left side mirror blocked my view of important areas (cross traffic from the left or the actual road in right turns). Has that been fixed, or does this not bother you?

 

[savethemanual]

For me the biggest issue with the supra was me hitting my head thrice(On entry and exit) on the extended test drive with carmax. Its a very weird roof/cabin position.

 

[Roadhawk]

Back in the mid-late 90s at some point I had occasion to drive a friends heavily modded (850hp?) 1992 Supra that to this day is the fasted car I've ever driven. I pushed it hard for an hour+ and boy was i sold. As much as I wanted one I ultimately decided that the cabin was just too cramped for me to live with so (somewhat regretfully now) passed on the idea.

This new (BMW) Supra is certainly a different animal entirely....but in many ways shares the same dynamics. Its a great car - congrats - you should really enjoy it...but again, for me....not sure I could live with it as I'm a big guy and I think the interior would be a bit cramped and claustrophobic.

I have to say the new MT BMW Z4 440i (Supra's sister car) is really intriguing for me. I'm not in the market....but if I was it would be a car I would highly consider. Still...if I would be going 2 seater I would probably go with a Caymen or Boxster. My wife heavily nixed that idea last year so I ended up with the CT4 V BW....and I have to say no complaints....though sometimes I wonder if the last gen M2 comp would be better suited (a car I seriously considered purchasing)... But the CT4V has the practicality of a sedan (even with somewhat cramped rear seats) and is plenty sporty enough in all the right ways and is likely a much better daily and road trip car then either the M2 or various 2 seaters would have been. Also - for me - a better choice than the Supra...that I never really considered....perhaps feeling too old for the styling but also concerned about interior space. Your choice of the Supra though makes perfect sense already owning a BW (or did you sell it...I can't recall....).

 

[Z51L9889]

I didn't want to start a new thread but I did want to share, since we are all (or mostly) car guys and gals, and it was a somewhat atypical experience, buying the Supra. Apologies in advance for the lengthy wordy post, but I am technically working today, and annoyed with work stuff right now so I need a break, LOL.

So, I found a used one locally that I could test drive, and I did, and I like it a lot. The Supra is built by BMW and it is 97% BMW so nothing was unfamiliar to me, except that Toyota did a better job on the shifter than BMW does. The dealer (convicted criminals) was asking MSRP for a 2023 w/3500 miles, and although the salesman was pushing me to make an offer, I knew they wouldn't go for a reasonable price, and I wasn't crazy about the red color anyway... so I started shopping.

Déjà vu all over again from Blackwing pricing, as no dealer in this area even has a new car in stock, although several across the country do actually have a manual transmission car in stock, most want MSRP. The ones that don't, want over MSRP (as high as $5K over) and all of them have added port-installed or dealer installed crap on them. One dealer was at MSRP but agreed to discount it by $1500. I asked for a buyer's order to confirm all pricing, and they did in fact discount it as promised, but put another $1800 in fees on top of that, plus $495 for "paint protection" which means that the prep guy slopped some wax on it. So I said no thanks. He kept pushing, I pushed back, and eventually they dropped all of that.

So, the car was black (I'm OK with that) and the interior is tan. Eh, I showed it to the wife and she said "no". Now, it's my car, but her opinion is important because otherwise I'll never hear the end of it, LOL. So I looked for more pictures online, thinking that a better picture might change her mind, and I found this:

View attachment 28445

Aside from that not-very-attractive steering wheel, I had also done a web search and a forum post popped-up questioning the difference in door cards between the driver's door (tan) and passenger (black). Apparently that is a thing, and in RHD countries, they swap the sides. That makes no sense to me at all, and now I can't un-see it, so I had to pass on the black one.

I found a blue one that I liked, not too far away (about 5 hours drive) and that's my wife's favorite color, but they wouldn't budge on the price, plus it had some extra crap on it.

I found a white one in Ohio with no extra trash on it, and they agreed to knock off $1500. Then the buyer's order didn't show state sales tax (I'm in NC) so I questioned it, and they said that I'd have to do the NC title work myself. Fine, I said, then knock off the "doc fee" since I'm doing the docs. And they did! You all know how usually hard that one is to get taken off. The car was "in transit" when I started, by the time we had made our agreement (Wednesday) it had landed at the dealer.

So, I flew up there Saturday. My flights were great, no issue with connections or crazy people or parts falling off of the Boeing, they sent the lot boy to pick me up at the airport and he was bang on time, I got to the dealer and they were almost ready to go, the paperwork took 3 minutes, no hard sell on warranties and protection plans and other nonsense, and off I went! 8.5 hours later, I got home, a little tired, a bit stiff from not moving (other than 7 pee stops, 2 food stops and one gas stop) and quite enjoying the car.

I still haven't fully made up my mind on the retirement thing yet (although currently leaning for June), but I am planning to track this car a little bit, and enjoy it while I can.

View attachment 28446

Congrats on picking the car up! Sounds like the buying experience was really good. Which dealer in Ohio did you use, and where are they located?

 

[BimmerFan]

For me the biggest issue with the supra was me hitting my head thrice(On entry and exit) on the extended test drive with carmax. Its a very weird roof/cabin position.

I had the same concern, and posted/asked about it on the Supra forum. Apparently it's not an issue for very tall people, even old tall people, even older, taller than me people. So I figured, if they can do it, I can do it. And yes, I can do it if I think about it, no problem. It's just when I don't think about it, WHACK!

I was interested and sat in one when they first came out. The mirrors were an absolute no. There was no seat height at which either the rear view mirror or the left side mirror blocked my view of important areas (cross traffic from the left or the actual road in right turns). Has that been fixed, or does this not bother you?

I have not noticed that, per se, but I did notice that there were instances in which my visibility was impaired. I'll pay more attention next time.

Every car has drawbacks, some worse than others. I'm sure if I think about it, I'll come up with some drawbacks on the Blackwing, not that it bothers me so much, but there's the atrocious fuel economy, small gas tank, road noise, stupid turn signal stalk, rough idle, stiff transmission, lousy paint for some of us and the price. Oh, and the occasional launched engine. LOL

 

[BimmerFan]

I have to say the new MT BMW Z4 440i (Supra's sister car) is really intriguing for me. I'm not in the market....but if I was it would be a car I would highly consider. Still...if I would be going 2 seater I would probably go with a Caymen or Boxster. My wife heavily nixed that idea last year so I ended up with the CT4 V BW....and I have to say no complaints....though sometimes I wonder if the last gen M2 comp would be better suited (a car I seriously considered purchasing)... But the CT4V has the practicality of a sedan (even with somewhat cramped rear seats) and is plenty sporty enough in all the right ways and is likely a much better daily and road trip car then either the M2 or various 2 seaters would have been. Also - for me - a better choice than the Supra...that I never really considered....perhaps feeling too old for the styling but also concerned about interior space. Your choice of the Supra though makes perfect sense already owning a BW (or did you sell it...I can't recall....).

I owned the OG M2, hated it. Way overrated IMHO. The new one is too ugly to consider.

Z4 is a convertible, and I can't track it, so it was never a consideration. And it got beat with the ugly stick too.

I still have the BW. I love that thing.

Congrats on picking the car up! Sounds like the buying experience was really good. Which dealer in Ohio did you use, and where are they located?

Walker Toyota, Miamisburg, which is about 30 minutes south of Dayton. I mentioned in the Supra forum what a good deal I got, and someone stated that they tried to buy a Camry there and was quoted MSRP+++ so maybe I got lucky, or they just didn't want the Supra in inventory in Winter?

 

[CaddyTrack]

BMW does a 1200 mile break-in service only for real ///M cars (not badged versions) and then all cars get 3 years of free annual oil changes. Toyota gives you two free changes. Quite frankly, I trust the BMW dealers, but not Caddy or Toyota, so I don't take advantage of their free work.

Just drive the Supra into the BMW Service dept at all the regular BMW service intervals. I bet they won't argue with you. How could they?

 

[Roadhawk]

I owned the OG M2, hated it. Way overrated IMHO. The new one is too ugly to consider.

Z4 is a convertible, and I can't track it, so it was never a consideration. And it got beat with the ugly stick too.

I still have the BW. I love that thing.



Walker Toyota, Miamisburg, which is about 30 minutes south of Dayton. I mentioned in the Supra forum what a good deal I got, and someone stated that they tried to buy a Camry there and was quoted MSRP+++ so maybe I got lucky, or they just didn't want the Supra in inventory in Winter?

Fully understood. Various reviewers have mentioned that BMW took some lessons from Toyota for improving the stick on the new Z4. Supra will be a better track car for sure. I wasn't critiquing your choice....just expressing what my considerations would be. I don't track (but so tempting....I would like to do a track event maybe sometime in the future...we;ll just have to see)

I've heard the complaints about the M2 and I've never driven one....but I think I would like it. Totally agree with you WRT the new one. The gem of the line is the 1 M IMO....looks better. is a bit more compact (which I like) and w/hydraulic steering rack. Sure, may not be quite as fast....but thats not everything...

 

[BimmerFan]

I don't track (but so tempting....I would like to do a track event maybe sometime in the future...we;ll just have to see)

Aside from the obvious (?) event at Spring Mountain that we get for free (you can also go on your own if you want to pay for it), both BMW and Porsche have dedicated tracks where you can go and drive their cars with their gas, their tires and on their insurance, and have some serious fun flogging the bejeezus out of their cars. With Porsche, it's mostly the sports cars, with BMW it's mostly the ///M cars. It ain't cheap, but it's less expensive than buying an extra car like I did.

BMW does it in Greenville SC and Palm Springs CA, and Porsche is in Atlanta, I believe. I've done the former (several times, both places) but not the latter, although a friend did it and had a blast. Now that I think about it, BMW also added reoccurring events at the Brickyard. So you get the fun of doing it, plus get to drive on a historic track.

The benefit to the manufacturers is that people get to see what the cars are capable of, and often go buy one afterwards.

 

[rubberduck]

Aside from the obvious (?) event at Spring Mountain that we get for free (you can also go on your own if you want to pay for it), both BMW and Porsche have dedicated tracks where you can go and drive their cars with their gas, their tires and on their insurance, and have some serious fun flogging the bejeezus out of their cars. With Porsche, it's mostly the sports cars, with BMW it's mostly the ///M cars. It ain't cheap, but it's less expensive than buying an extra car like I did.

BMW does it in Greenville SC and Palm Springs CA, and Porsche is in Atlanta, I believe. I've done the former (several times, both places) but not the latter, although a friend did it and had a blast. Now that I think about it, BMW also added reoccurring events at the Brickyard. So you get the fun of doing it, plus get to drive on a historic track.

The benefit to the manufacturers is that people get to see what the cars are capable of, and often go buy one afterwards.

I’ve thought about going to Spring Mountain for their Vette class. Much less expensive than buying one.

 

[Z51L9889]

I owned the OG M2, hated it. Way overrated IMHO. The new one is too ugly to consider.

Z4 is a convertible, and I can't track it, so it was never a consideration. And it got beat with the ugly stick too.

I still have the BW. I love that thing.



Walker Toyota, Miamisburg, which is about 30 minutes south of Dayton. I mentioned in the Supra forum what a good deal I got, and someone stated that they tried to buy a Camry there and was quoted MSRP+++ so maybe I got lucky, or they just didn't want the Supra in inventory in Winter?

Small world. I lived less than 10 miles from Walker's location before I moved to Florida. In fact, I bought my G8 from them back when they also had a Pontiac dealership. My experience with them was similar to yours, even though it was over 15 years ago.