My Greatest Financial Mistake was Buying a Drop Top BMW at 17 (Spoiler: I Crashed It)

Does buying a luxury vehicle ever make sense? For Shawn it did…until he realized the financial burden.

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I remember when I turned 16, the only thing I wanted was to get a job and begin making money.

It didn’t take long before I got a job at McDonald's and began saving while working part time in high school. I maintained this job for over two years, working full time during the summers.

Everyone Else Was Getting Cars, Why Not Me?

It was senior year of my high school year and graduation was approaching. The majority of students I knew were getting accepted into colleges and getting new cars. I wanted these things as well! Motivated by everyone’s success, I began working hard all senior year. It all paid off when I got accepted into the University of Washington. 

During the final months of senior year in high school, I had begun thinking a lot about my finances. Specifically, how I was going to afford a car and pay for college at the same time. At this point, I had about $10,000 in savings.

Moving from Tacoma, I knew that coming to Seattle would be extremely expensive. But, I could never have guessed just how different it would be.

I was young and ignorant. Tired of the rigid budget I had become accustomed to, I was eager to spend money and more than anything, I wanted a car to reward myself for graduating from high school.

I mean, who doesn’t like a graduation present?

Drop-Top Coupe

Once graduation came and I saw everyone getting cars and taking trips, I became extremely jealous. I grew up in a family where money wasn’t always readily available, so I knew that if I wanted to get a car, or travel, I’d have to pay for those things on my own.

Two weeks into summer, I could not contain myself anymore. I asked my sister for a ride and she dropped me off at South Tacoma Way, a strip of car dealerships. Earlier that morning, I had made a large cash withdrawal so that I could have some cash on hand. You know, just in case I found something I liked. If you’re wondering why a cash withdrawal was necessary at the time, I had no credit, no high paying job, and no cosigner.

The first of many mistakes was convincing myself that I needed a foreign car. It was going to be my first car, so why settle?

I hadn’t even reached the second car dealership when I saw a car that snatched my attention. Let me set the scene:

Imagine a newly waxed, cherry red, BMW convertible. Now, it was parked in such a way that allowed for the sun to hit it just right and the top was down, showing off the cool black interior. They had pulled me in perfectly with the set up; there wasn’t anything like it on the lot.

Then there was me, I fresh high-school graduate with a few thousand dollars in his pocket, ready to reward myself for a job well done. I didn’t stand a chance.

When the salesman approached me, he joked about it not being for sale, saying that he had just bought it for himself. When I got in his office, I knew I was in trouble. On his wall laid over 30 "employee of the month" plaques. I remember getting the feeling that I was making a mistake and I will never forget it. I was at a disadvantage. I didn’t have someone with me that had purchased a car before, or knew how to deal with salespeople — I was all alone.

The car was listed for $6,500 but, with a two year plan, I was to pay an additional $1,500 in interest (a fact, that I did not pay any attention to). I paid the man my deposit and he gave me the keys. As foolish as I felt, I was now the owner of a drop top BMW! It didn’t take too long before I started to second-guess my decision. 

From Dreams, to Nightmares

After buying the car, my life seemed complete for the first couple months…until I started making payments for the car and my many other expenses. Because it was my first time buying a car, it had not crossed my mind to calculate all the expenses associated with owning a car. There was insurance, maintenance, gas, and so on. As you probably know, when you get a new car, you tend to go out more. This often involves you spending some money.

By the time I was getting ready to go to college, my pockets were draining rapidly. Then, college hit, and I realized owning a car was far more expensive than I had predicted. Further compounding my problems was the fact that I had no financial assistance; I was moving out for the first time and my parents weren’t going to be helping me with rent. The adjustment was difficult. In addition to making a down payment for housing, I also needed to start paying for my tuition. Before I knew it, I only had a couple thousand dollars left and still owed over $2,200 for my car.

It was too late once I realized things were getting out of hand. There were just too many new changes in my life.

Jobs were in high demand and I had been struggling to find one. I had never been on my own before and to make matters worse, I wasn’t receiving any income.

Then, I got in a small fender bender and just like that, everything I had saved was all gone. I was no longer financially secure and it really broke me mentally. In a matter of several months, I had gone from saving $10,000, to wondering how I was going to afford rent.

Finally, during winter quarter, I was able to obtain a job. I slowly paid off the car and got back on my feet. It wasn't until a year and a half later that I was finally in a position of financial security again. To this day, I think back to the cherry red BMW and the terrible mistake I made. Maybe I should have waited to get a car; maybe I should have purchased something more affordable; or, maybe it wasn’t a mistake at all. Despite the events that followed, I’m a better person for it, and have learned a great deal along the way.