2017 BMW X3

This car definitely blends in with most every other car in the Costco parking lot. It is our daily driver. So, instead of elaborating on the car itself- I'll share my thoughts on buying a regular use car. 

Cars are almost always a terrible investment. Yes, I said that.

A good way to mitigate loss is to buy a 2-3 year old car coming off of a lease, and buying that car from the manufacturers dealer as Certified Pre Owned (CPO) vehicle. You save up to 50% off of MSRP, you get a warranty, and some assurance you are not buying someone else's problem.  Another tip-  often the store will buy several to dozens of a popular model car from the manufacturer lease auctions. Even though the MSRP and options packages may vary wildly- they usually end up on the lot priced very closely. Take some time to do research on their website- look for the highest MSRP cars and their options, and look for the lowest milage cars. Often a car with, for example, 31k miles may only be priced a few hundred more than one with 46k miles. That is a year's worth of wear and tear on every part of the vehicle. It's not worth saving $500 over. This X3 had almost $10,000 in additional options, including the bigger engine and all the advanced safety systems, plus 10,000 fewer miles- and I paid about $1,000 more for all of that over the 30 to 40 other CPO X3's for sale at the time. There are exceptions- Jeep Wranglers, Toyota trucks, and a few others depreciate very slowly- and if you are within 15% to 25% of MSRP for a 2-3 years old car, and you plan to hold on to it- then probably better to buy new with a new car interest rate and the full term of the warranty.  My advice on the subject, however I have not always taken my own advice either... hence this website.

- 300 HP 

- 3.0L Inline 6 Turbo

- Curb Weight 4,230 lbs

- 0-60 5.3 Seconds

- Top Speed of 130 MPH