Palo Alto is an amazingly expensive to live in; to put it in perspective (because I know you're up north), Bellevue is about half the cost of Palo Alto. For everyone else, Bellevue is the home of Microsoft and a standard bare-bones house is a half-million dollars roughly.

 

Doesn't change anything. If you are not making enough to buy a home where you work, you need to buy on the outskirts and commute (plus that area has good mass transit). If you are working just to pay your rent and living paycheck to paycheck you are doing it wrong.

 

This is the dumbest thing I've ever read. OP, I'm assuming you're smart enough to ignore this. If not, ignore it. Buying a home is not everything. And you don't need to buy one tomorrow, especially in an overly inflated market. For most people, home ownership does not make sense financially. Anyway...

FWIW, I'm an attorney. I live in San Francisco. I have a nice studio in a good neighborhood. Im not moving to Vallejo to buy a house and commute. I'm good at my job. Doesn't mean I get to show up to work in shorts and a t-shirt. Unfortunately, image matters in certain professions. It'll change, one day. But it takes time. I cover up my tattoos. I dress like my clients think I should dress. If you're entertaining clients, Evo may not be the best option. Some clients will think it's cool, others won't. How important are those other clients? Other superiors in charge of your retention/salary/promotion? It's a game. Play it how you like. I'm a big fan of knowing the rules, exploiting them to my benefit, and when I'm in charge/super valuable, then I'll say **** it. Feel free to ignore all of this too. Also, don't do any of this for a woman. Job, sure. If your girlfriend can't get behind your hobbies, get a new girlfriend.

 

Me thinks we are being revved up so this thread will now get outtttttt of control big time and the OP might never appear again..lol

 

Sounds like you are at odds with yourself. Are you sure you like your job or even your current situation?

Well said! To add to the house thing, a lot of people I know in Hawaii who have decent paying careers buy a house or even a condo and are pretty much living paycheck to paycheck. I don't think you can call that making a living when you're stuck with a mortgage for the next 30+ years. Play your cards right. Don't try to keep up with the Jones'.

 

No, I should be ashamed to bring a l.a.w.y.e.R. into the family.

 

If you are not building wealth through equity in a home, then you should be investing in some other way. Go talk with a financial adviser and see what they recommend.

If you are paying rent, you are paying someone else's mortgage for them.

 

Sometimes I question why I have my Evo also. I have a debadged RS. Why don't I have power locks? Why do I have to unlock the door in the front with a key, and then reach back to let my son, who is 4, in the car. How come I didn't buy an M3, or something more refined? Why do people my age (33) stare at me at a stoplight, from their Mercedes because you can hear the cam lobes from 200 feet. My car is pretty obnoxious, and my wife basically has a 20 minute time limit in it, but it's mine. It fits my personality. I work in a blue collar industry so that doesn't matter. Everyone thinks it's a 200hp Honda. I do not care what people think, and my 4 year old thinks Daddy drives a racecar. I enjoy it, and that's what matters. If you are questioning that, then it's possible it's time to move on. It's like a relationship with a woman, if you're unhappy, then it's probably time to break up.

 

That may or may not be the case, but either way, housing is just really expensive here. My 1 bedroom 650ish sq ft apt I was living in was costing me 2300 a month. OP's probably cost a little bit more. Paying for an evo (unless heavily modified/problematic) is no biggie to someone who can afford to pay rent/own a home in some of even the moderately priced places in the Bay Area, let alone the more expensive ones

By the way OP, I got rid of my phoney baloney real estate car (2014 Lexus es350) after just 9 months because it was just too damn boring! I can't afford both a fast AND nice car yet, so I choose fast, couldn't care less what anyone thinks. It doesn't make as much of an impression, but that's just because people are ignorant anyway. Especially in my example, because a new X's MSRP is as much as my Lexus, except for the fact that I put a huge down payment on my X while my Lexus was leased just so I could put up a front for a while, but nobody would be able to tell that...

Any mature, substantive person worth acquainting with (IMO) will know right off the bat, that you simply can't know enough about a person by what they drive, their housing, their clothes, things, etc., because there's just too many factors and related payment options/structures. You just don't know about someone unless you actually know

When I make certain decisions that make me concerned with what the audience in my head would think (99% of the time this audience is made up), I ask myself what would I choose if nobody else existed, what do I wholeheartedly choose?

/rant.. lol sorry for the long post guys, this thread just struct a chord with me because I can relate, and this whole image thing is definitely something worth talking about

 

lol if you come across anyone who thinks
it's a Honda, they don't know **** about cars and arnt even worthy to talk to. I hate that comparison. our cars look nothing like Hondas..wide body fenders, intercooler, brembos, hood slots, show me a Honda with similar bumper cut outs, much classier/aggressive tail and headlights, large exhaust tip, not to mention the whole freaking chassis is geometrically different! recaros, momo wheel and the list goes on.

These are the same people that would see no difference between a r34 gtr and and gts or 335i and m3 which is basically like comparing and evo to a lancer (same differences). So who cares what they think! most manufactures make an economy predecessor to our type of cars. it's normal. so you'd be clueless to think it's a base lancer too.

 

oh and id like to add when I first got my evo 8 rs years ago stock with no wing and not lowered, my neighbour came up to me and said, "hey that's one of those Mitsubishi evolutions, it's a rally car right?" her name is Dianne and she drives a sienna and knows nothing about cars. So you'd have to be an idiot on top of a car newbie to think it's a Honda. rant done. point made. hahaha

 

"I love my evo, however it doesn't convey responsibility, practicality, maturity, wealth management and I look like I'm fresh out of the fast and the furious."
Sell it and get a BMW. Leave the Evo for someone that doesn't give a **** about what others think and enjoys the car for what it is.

 

I work in the tech industry We all have quirky car hobbies. If you work somewhere, where image matters (I couldnt do it. I dress like I did in high school and get paid decently to take care of a data center), then act accordingly or never be treated seriously. Maybe pay the evo off and get a pedestrian sedan like an Accord. That will convey practicality.

If you are just getting self conscious and you want to get something more grown up then thats another subject altogether

 

Thank you everyone for your responses. I currently have some issues with my car, not sure if exhaust leak or spun rod bearing, or failed lifters. I will likely just sell the car as is and either get a 535i or Audi S3.


I drove the car a lot this past week down to LA and I felt like I just got out of the washing machine. My body ached so bad. HKS coilovers with 14k/12k springs. I think you are right that I will need to get into something slightly more comfortable. Hopefully I can resist the urge to mod the next car.

I know, the cheapest house in Palo Alto will run about 1.5M, and I was talking with a commercial real estate broker and he said Bay Area has plateaued and to keep an eye on the job market as this will be a good indicator of demand. CSCO, QCOM, MSFT have all been laying off employees. You are right, I just need to play the game.

Good advice, thank you!

Yeah, not so comfy for my passengers. I have enjoyed the car a lot, I racked up an average of 25k miles/year during ownership.

 

If your car is so uncomfortable, change the springs on the coil overs? Is it worth selling just because of an easy fix? People build 'race cars' use them on the street and then are unhappy because no back seats, or the ride is too hard, etc. Don't build the car in such a way that your building yourself into a corner, so instead of a 'multi-use' car, into a once a month driver, only to sell it because she is now a 'garage queen' for lack of use...I have coil overs that work for the street, and track, and have the back seats, etc. to take my daughter and her friends around.

My Evo, and my Starion are with me for the long haul, never to be sold. Starion I bought new in 11/1988. Build your cars for your reality, not for a 'fantasy'.