Mercedes E300, 1988
it has been loyal to me for the past 4 months since i bought it for use in US. my singaporean exchange friend sold it to me - it was passed down from singaporean to singaporean on exchange.
(in USD)
Purchase price - 1100
Repairs - 1000
Parking permit - 123
Insurance - 67 x 4 = 268
Gas - no idea.. usually split with friends.
Total = 2491. lets round it off to 2500USD
My faults
- bought it without consulting my dad
- agreed hastily to my friend thinking it was so cheap, without covering my ass on what the condition was
- trusting my friend because of his background rather than being objective
- fell victim to the idea of "herd instinct" - agreed because i thought it would be great
- didn't think of other alternative. could there be a better plan B?
For the past 2 weeks i've been listing this car on several websites for sale. A couple of people called, but didnt get back to me again.
Reasons why
- nobody wanted a mercedes, everybody was more interested in a Honda or a Jeep
- it was 1988. which means its 22 years old and probably going to cost high for maintenance
Things which are so common sense yet did not occur to me at all when i agreed to buy the car.
called several dealers, they were willing to buy it for USD200.
disgusted at their offer. utterly.
called my mum today. she said:
"just sell it for $200. you have no choice. that time when u told us you bought the car, we couldnt say anything cos u already bought it. so now it's like that, you should have expected like this. daddy also didnt want to say anything since you've already made your decision that time. Either daddy will give the car away to his friend in US, or u can just sell it for 200. try to bargain to 300, then sell it off. OK."
i put down the phone, and cried.
I thought about how i was so determined and happy when i told them i made the purchase. how "everything will turn out fine" how i could have sensed my parents' disagreement about the car, yet still respecting my decision and keeping quiet about it. how they so wanted to help me, but let go when i had the mentality of "hand's off, i got this".
and how much, it resembles God. how God is an awesome respector of our free-choice, that he'll let go when we guard things. and only takes care of things when we agree to let go, and let God.
Now this is costing me. at a heavy price. that my dad was willing to bear the cost of my mistake, and laugh it off. not my mum though, she is the only one who is honest enough to tell me the whole, harsh, truth. my dad would just tell me to 'have fun with that old car".
this lost of USD2500 - USD 200 = USD 2300 is so costly, i am crippled, maimed, beaten, crushed.
i had the wisdom and advice of my parents to tap on so readily, yet i relied on my stupidness and others to cloud my objectivity.
I'm actually currently reading books on trading and finance, about behaviour and patterns of trading. how emotions must never get the better of you, no matter how certain you are about the trends of where the market is going; that you must always protect your position and set a margin of safety.
this, in conjunction with this car issue, made me think that im a real shitass idiot when i fall into these very traps that so plagues many investors. - screaming out to the reader (me) not to do this, and i did exactly just that.
i died today. painful, expensive lesson.
i'll pledge 50% of my first 6months of salary to my dad.
:'(((
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