Woops, Bought Some New Wheels/Rims

Mmm... wasteful

There is a very, very good reason why this post is showing up in the middle of the night.

Maybe I’ll get less heat for buying this.
Maybe I can delete this post before anyone reads it.
The picture from the previous post is creeping me out.

Last year, I tried to buy some new rims for the car. The deal didn’t pan out, so I just sort of pretend I never wanted the wheels in the first place. All was well until the tire tread on my Bridgestone Potenza RE950 started wearing out.

And so, after some tough decision making while in the bathroom, I decided to buy some new wheels along with the new tires. My justification? Uh… I can save some money by putting them both on the car at the same time? Hah.

Of course, the wheels were delivered to my house after I left Southern California for Northern California. I never got to put them on at the same time.

Here are some reasons why this purchase was stupid:

The wheels are still NOT on my car. They’re 400 miles away, sitting at home.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the original wheels on my car, other than them being “ugly” steel wheels with hubcaps.
Car accessories tend to depreciate in value, along with the already depreciating car (kindly noted by dforester in the previous post).
Did I mention I bought something that I’m not even using?

Other than those reasons above, they’re pretty cool. Cost a little bit under $400 for all four. About 12 pounds each at 15 x 6.5, 4 x 100, and +38 offset.

Can’t wait to put them on the car one day… heh.

Related Post:

hejustlaughs Says:
June 25th, 2007 at 4:19 am

Ain’t nothing wrong with treating yourself from time to time cap. You only live once.

Cap Says:
June 25th, 2007 at 12:31 pm

woot! you just won the favorite reader of the year award. congrats!

I keep getting comments from friends about buying this. But yeah… I figure if I’m driving my car for the rest of its life, I may as well make it an enjoyable drive (by putting on a part I won’t see and feel while I drive. hah!)

But yeah, I really want some affordable lightweight alloy wheels. Lets hope these don’t suck.

Elissa Says:
June 25th, 2007 at 3:57 pm

Ummm… where’d you get those? Heh.
I’ve been meaning to buy new hubcaps for my car for a while, but I have no idea where I should buy them from (other than auto stores, but I don’t do in-store browsing, unless I’m shopping for clothes or shoes). Now I’m thinking maybe new wheels are the way to go… but then again, probably not.

triple-e Says:
June 26th, 2007 at 6:53 am

Sell them now, get some of your money back. your old rims are obviously fine, and for the 3 teenage boys that will be impressed with your new rims, is it worth the 400 dollars? I would have to say that these go in the “crap” pile.

Golbguru Says:
June 26th, 2007 at 11:40 pm

Woah … $400? I am inclined to repeat what triple-e says above – get your money back and buy some S&P 500 or VWO (emerging markets ETF) shares.

I think alloys are hot and trendy, but I think $400 is hotter. :)

Anyways, crap is a lot of fun when it is affordable. ;)

Special Ed Says:
June 27th, 2007 at 5:03 am

$400 bucks for wheels? Definitely crap. Your car didn’t come with wheels? Get your money back and invest it @ around 10%:

$400 today = $400
$400 in 10 years = $1037
$400 in 20 years = $2700
$400 in 30 years = $7000
$400 in 40 years = $18,000

Barry Says:
June 27th, 2007 at 12:43 pm

Being newly married, I am understanding what it means to be thrifty. We pinch every penny we can. However, even before I was married, I knew buying new rims for your car was an expense best avoided. What function does it serve? Maybe you’ll get street cred. You can always let your car go and get it redone on MTV’s “Pimp My Ride”.

hejustlaughs Says:
June 27th, 2007 at 4:38 pm

To everyone that commented that thinks he should’ve invested the $400. I believe in being thrifty and socking away money… but he’s still alive today. If he’s saving a reasonable amount of money, he should be able to go out and buy whatever he wants that he enjoys, crap or not. I’ll trust that cap will be fine by retirement whether he buys the rims or not. Plus, if you really are driving this car for the long run, the lightweight rims do increase your mileage ;)

Elissa Says:
June 28th, 2007 at 2:11 pm

I second hejustlaughs’ comment. Doesn’t make much sense to have money if you’re not gonna spend at least SOME of it.

Cap Says:
June 29th, 2007 at 10:25 am

Yeah it’s a bit too late to return it. If you guys think $400 is a lot, you should see the prices on other lightweight wheels.

I honestly will save some mpg too (probably 1-2 mpg). As each wheels are about 8-12 lbs lighter than stock wheels.

And as others mentioned, I’m pretty sure I’ll be okay without this $400, whether now or in the future.

Either way, I do agree that it’s an unnecessary buy, hence the post.

Elissa: I bought it online at a most-likely-fly-by-night online retailer (lol). I have a feeling they won’t be in business in a few years, as it is a very competitive field.

If you want hubcaps, they’re fairly cheap IMO.. $20 – $40? Just go to Wal-Mart, Autozone, or Pep-Boys. Most hubcaps are all the same, as far as I can tell.

Crowman Says:
July 6th, 2007 at 4:50 am

When is it OK to buy crap?

There must be some point at which you can treat yourself to something you do not really need but would be fun. For me that point is when I am cash flow positive, and the crap in question is both fun and relatively insignificant to my income. So while I do not have a yacht, I did treat myself to a $300 skateboard. Necessary, no; Fun, absolutely.