It's not a midlife crisis, it's where I'm supposed to be
#1
It's not a midlife crisis, it's where I'm supposed to be
Hi everyone, this post is a bit long, but I'm excited and I hope you'll indulge me.
I am a 41 year old married dad who just celebrated 19 years of marriage. Some may say having an 11 year old son and 16 year old daughter can be trying. I might agree, until I figured out the system. What did I figure out? Simply put, a 16 year old girl going to high school is going to need a car. Do I buy her a new car? Nope. She's not spoiled, but she doesn't want for anything. That said, the wife and I agree, a practical safe car, like my 2010 Honda Accord is perfect for her.
So what is a guy like me to do? 41, daughter starting school soon and needs car, but I still need to get to work. I know, I will lean toward something impractical. But before I get to what I think I wanted, here is what I have had:
1977 Camaro
1985 Camaro
1979 280Z
1990 F-150 longbed
1995 Mazda Protege (while sharing wife's Ford Probe-manual)
1999 Honda Civic (while sharing wife's Honda Passport)
2001 Hyundai Sonata (manual)
2010 Honda Accord (wife has 2005MPV van and then 2012 Honda Pilot)
What a list, right? Middle class, middle america, slowly losing all interest in living for the drive and just living for the man.
But when my wife got her Honda Pilot I noticed I missed the speed and feeling of driving and when I could get away from my smooth and sometimes top gear speedy Accord, I would go mostly impractical.
I have the two kids, I might need to cart them around. I looked at Jeep Wrangler, I looked at other sports coupes, even a 350Z. I never thought luxury and me would be a reality. Then...
I decided to convince myself and my wife that anything for around $10K to get me to work should still be reliable. The choices were not great since most mileage and major maintenance was very high, over 130K miles a lot of times.
So I upped the price a bit to ~$15K, then I found the magic search, G35 or G37, under 60K miles, manual transmission (cause I wanted it!!!) and a coupe. It would have a back seat for the small kids, unlike the 350/370Z, and it would have amenities I liked, like bluetooth and possibly satellite radio.
So where did I land after a few test drives? I landed where I'm supposed to be.
Car was just posted day before, no pics on dealer site and I when I made my offer $800 under asking I was competing with someone who arrived from 2 hours away and just got to dealer 20 min after my test drive.
I won.
2008 Pearl G37 Coupe Sport manual with all the packages possible, navi, etc. 55K miles, new tires and brakes, stock car so not overly modified, for $17,290.
Did I do good? I think so (look at attached pics, one with my son's approval)
I haven't accelerated like this in years, and having a manual transmission I am truly connected to my driving experience again, till my knees go out. A few paint chips to touch up, some leather to mend, but man it's awesome. A late model Acura tried to mess with me, but my orgasmic 3rd gear was the last thing he saw as we entered a two lane road approaching the speed limit, so I of course slowed down to let his wounded pride pass me by....
It feels great, looks great, and I can't believe it's mine.
Thanks for reading and look forward to being a proud member of this community as an owner of a G37!
Josh
I am a 41 year old married dad who just celebrated 19 years of marriage. Some may say having an 11 year old son and 16 year old daughter can be trying. I might agree, until I figured out the system. What did I figure out? Simply put, a 16 year old girl going to high school is going to need a car. Do I buy her a new car? Nope. She's not spoiled, but she doesn't want for anything. That said, the wife and I agree, a practical safe car, like my 2010 Honda Accord is perfect for her.
So what is a guy like me to do? 41, daughter starting school soon and needs car, but I still need to get to work. I know, I will lean toward something impractical. But before I get to what I think I wanted, here is what I have had:
1977 Camaro
1985 Camaro
1979 280Z
1990 F-150 longbed
1995 Mazda Protege (while sharing wife's Ford Probe-manual)
1999 Honda Civic (while sharing wife's Honda Passport)
2001 Hyundai Sonata (manual)
2010 Honda Accord (wife has 2005MPV van and then 2012 Honda Pilot)
What a list, right? Middle class, middle america, slowly losing all interest in living for the drive and just living for the man.
But when my wife got her Honda Pilot I noticed I missed the speed and feeling of driving and when I could get away from my smooth and sometimes top gear speedy Accord, I would go mostly impractical.
I have the two kids, I might need to cart them around. I looked at Jeep Wrangler, I looked at other sports coupes, even a 350Z. I never thought luxury and me would be a reality. Then...
I decided to convince myself and my wife that anything for around $10K to get me to work should still be reliable. The choices were not great since most mileage and major maintenance was very high, over 130K miles a lot of times.
So I upped the price a bit to ~$15K, then I found the magic search, G35 or G37, under 60K miles, manual transmission (cause I wanted it!!!) and a coupe. It would have a back seat for the small kids, unlike the 350/370Z, and it would have amenities I liked, like bluetooth and possibly satellite radio.
So where did I land after a few test drives? I landed where I'm supposed to be.
Car was just posted day before, no pics on dealer site and I when I made my offer $800 under asking I was competing with someone who arrived from 2 hours away and just got to dealer 20 min after my test drive.
I won.
2008 Pearl G37 Coupe Sport manual with all the packages possible, navi, etc. 55K miles, new tires and brakes, stock car so not overly modified, for $17,290.
Did I do good? I think so (look at attached pics, one with my son's approval)
I haven't accelerated like this in years, and having a manual transmission I am truly connected to my driving experience again, till my knees go out. A few paint chips to touch up, some leather to mend, but man it's awesome. A late model Acura tried to mess with me, but my orgasmic 3rd gear was the last thing he saw as we entered a two lane road approaching the speed limit, so I of course slowed down to let his wounded pride pass me by....
It feels great, looks great, and I can't believe it's mine.
Thanks for reading and look forward to being a proud member of this community as an owner of a G37!
Josh
#7
Thanks for the comments
Yup, getting a single owner car was a great deal and it was kept up well.
I hope my daughter and son want to drive it, I think everyone should at least know how to drive. manual even if hey don't ever do it.
I hope my daughter and son want to drive it, I think everyone should at least know how to drive. manual even if hey don't ever do it.
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#13
Nailed It!
Honestly, your intro was like I could have written it myself. My 1st car was a Z when I was 14. I drove it into the ground, followed by a '93 Maxima SE. I have now been driving my '02 Pathfinder, which wasn't supposed to be my daily driver, for 5 years, ever since my Maxima was taken out by an accident. We have an MDX for family duty & I wanted something fun again. At 4 & 6, the kids are just the right age to fit in the back of a coupe & not be able to effectively complain. I wanted a stick , however, the AWD was essential given it is wet 98% of the time here in the PacNW. The recent Mazda commercial "Driving Matters" and your Intro really sum it up for me! Nice post, your right, it's not really a mid-life crisis, it's "Getting back to being me". Thanks!
#14
thanks Raindog
appreciate the comment raindog. Love the pacNW, USA should annex Vancouver and Whistler. Then we could drive up and down that route Seattle to Whistler without a border crossing.