Quote:
Originally Posted by BrokenLinkage
Welcome back!
Been wondering what happened to you and your second (yellow) boxster...
Did you stick with your educational plan?
How did you find the time for your automotive adventures?
Any thoughts on the comparisons between the Fiat and the Boxster?
And since you now have an excess of capital... can you say "3.4 or more"? Or has your training just reinforced the financial foolishness of such a decision? (I think it is ok as long as recreational expenditures from discretionary income are not conflated with necessary work/travel or investment expenditures. But by now you know more about that than me.)
Anyway, glad to hear from you again!
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Thanks for the welcoming return.
1. Finished up college in December. Two degrees in three and a half years. Economics B.S. marketing B.S and a minor in political and legal theory. Graduated magna cum laude
I came out with ultimately two dual degrees though due to the dual nature of those degree programs. A data analyst sort of qualification thanks to lots of marketing analytics and research classes as well as classes in advanced econometrics etc.
Plus a dual degree in sort of human behavior. Thanks to the social science aspects of economics and lots of work in consumer behavior. Of course you have to factor in my liberal artsy minor focusing on moral theory.
This tilts me to be well set up for politics. And I actually had an offer to work with the council of economic advisors but turned it down.
Instead I rolled it out all up and treat it like an MBA. I’m now working in project management/ consulting as related to mega scale electrical engineering projects. Lots of private data center/ energy/ and DOD type work. Thank god I graduated in December. Most of my friends who are graduating in May have had offers rescinded regardless of their personal merit.
2. Sadly I haven’t had a ton of time for automotive passions. I’ve enjoyed a lot of road trips. Having the Abarth while at an internship in Charleston SC was a joy and my now wife went to a different university and lived about 90 mins away so it was actually pretty fun for those highway miles I was making pretty often.
3. The fiat was definitely lighter than the boxster. It was extremely nippy at low speeds (like litterally around parking lots and stuff). The 6 speed was really nice and the interior had a great build quality. It’s the sort of car you can easily floor between lights without being too illegal but still has similar pull to the boxster between 60 and 90. Above 90 the boxster had way more power. Handling was tight and nimble bit less fun in sweepers. It has 205s while my boxster had the large 18s. I’ve become a little comfortable and used to my Bluetooth and using calls through the fiat. It had really good audio. Bose speakers integrated into the seats. The trunk was surprisingly useable (carried enough for me and my wife to spend a week at Disney and to pack light to live in a hotel for my full internship in Charleston). The abarth has 22 lbs Of boost from the factory, this means turbo lag for sure. But it was actually pretty fun to play with. Plus the exhaust was very animated without being artificial which was fun. I had zero reliability issues... as I should have. Planned to keep the car longer and had a lifetime Powertrain warranty on it but once I was out of negative equity it was time to move into something more grown up and start focusing on student loans instead of car payment.
Having the Mercedes E350 coupe is actually a pretty good compromise. The interior is fantastic. Despite being a 2012 the infotainment is on par with the 2018 abarth. The steering is smooth and despite weighing way more it handles great. The car is the first year of direct fuel injection and has over 300 hp. It’s really nice to be back in something Naturally aspirated and I’m realizing I’ve really missed that. The only issue is. It’s an automatic. However the 7 speed in the car is really nice. It has an amg package giving it more hugging seats, larger wheels for more grip and pretty responsive paddle shifters. It’s a really smart auto and I find myself never fighting it wishing it was in a different gear despite it not being a DCT.
4. I’m thinking if it’s worth going in there. It may be worth the 3.4... but that would probably requiring waiting a bit to be a worthwhile financial decision. A 3.2 however I’m thinking is attainable now.
Honestly what I’m asking here is how much would I be looking at? Labor and engine plus whatever what’s left of my engine is worth. How much trouble will it be to fix the fact the car has sat? New tires.. what else?