[rav1up]

This is my second innings here.

Was too young (19 or so) when I participated first time around. World was very different back then. My views, reasons for online presence was also vastly different. Over the course of last 15 years since then, I've grown, learnt a lot, experienced plenty and in the process remained out of touch from this forum (and of course, forgot all the 10s of email IDs and usernames used per site).

Have been living in the US for last 9 years. It's been a wild ride. Home is calling (planning to return in a year or so), so I'm gradually getting in touch with the one thing that matters a lot to me even now - cars, bike, drives, rides and derived pleasures from everything automotive.

Eager to participate, ask umpteen questions, answer a few questions where possible, share experiences. Will absolutely refrain from passing judgements or my view of every car launch.

For context, this is my ownership portfolio (along with my superwoman) over last 12 years (owned 2 cars at anytime, except once where I had 3, always replacing at least 1 car a year)

2010 VW Polo Highline trim with full design pack (spoilers, skirts) - black. First and best car ever. Mod: touchscreen infotainment with inbuilt navigation sources from China.

2013 Land Rover Range Rover Evoque Prestige trim - white ext black int. Most adventurous drives.

2014 Audi A3 Premium Plus (I think) - black ext black int. Beginners car for my superwoman.

2015 Jaguar F Type R Coupe - white ext black int. Fastest ever on road experience (175 mph). First time tracking a car.

2017 Jaguar F Pace S ( in 2016 ) - red ext black int. Perfect sports car + sport SUV pair for one year with the F Type.

2017 McLaren 570S Coupe - Ventura orange ext black int. 30th BDay gift to myself.

2017 Lexus NX F Sport - Grey ext black int. First leasing experience.

2019 Lexus LC 500 - Red ext black int. First suede interior experience. Shortest ownership at 8 months. Bought to save up for the next one.

2019 McLaren 720S Coupe - Azores orange ext black int. Most expensive car owned. $348k MSRP.

2019 Volvo XC60 T6 RDesign with Polestar - red ext black int.

2020 Land Rover Range Rover Velar R Dynamic S, P340 V6 - Grey ext black int.

2021 Chevrolet Corvette C8 3LT Convertible with Z51 - red ext black int. First convertible. First custom order car. Car built on 9/2/2021, taking delivery in a week or so. Longest wait of 5 months after months of hunting.

2023 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 - in waiting list.

2023 Lotus Emira First Edition - in waiting list.

End of list. For memory, I have 1:18 diecast model of each car.

Add three bikes to the list:
2007 Bajaj Pulsar 220 F - blue. First adopter, most troublesome experience. Bought by dad while I was in college.

2014 Kawasaki Z1000 R - grey and green. First and only litre class experience.

2021 Aprilia RS660 - Lava red.

Would love to write ownership, travel and experience report by car someday when time permits. Each had it's own adventures - from track days to getting stuck in sand, getting stuck in snow, off road experiences.

Have a 2020 Kia Sonet GTX+ iMT white dual tone ext with black int in India. Looking to replace it with Volvo S60 or BMW 220i M Sport or Skoda Octavia this year.

If you have any questions, interested in knowing my strategies, ask away!

Happy to help and be helped.

[Thatautoguy46]

OMG! Thats really crazy
I thought changing cars that quick was possible only in the movies, but I am wrong. I would like to know how are you able to manage the money game. The investment, maintenance and depreciation. Will be happy if you explain me that with a car that you've recently parted ways with.
.
And I have a doubt, how do you feel when the car you've had earlier is more powerful than the car you have now. I know that our choices/priorities change over the period but still, how do you feel?

[rav1up]

I would like to try something similar in India and I believe it would be possible. But not the type of cars listed above.

US market is very different. Volume and competition are key for a consumer to be successful like this. Every single car I had was brand new. So most folks typically shy away from this purely due to depreciation. Almost all cars I've gotten 10% off. For instance, I purchased the first McLaren at 10% off and the next one I leased on June 30 to take advantage of year / quarter end (when dealers make a big push) and got 17% off. This helps soften depreciation hits or load balance it between myself and the manufacturer or dealer. Win win for all parties involved (including banks add they get most interest).

I learnt from a lot of US sites (like leasehackr) the art of negotiation, timing, deal proposals and what is realistically possible. That has saved me a lot of money which goes back into the budget so that I have more car for the money. For instance I got 20% off on the Volvo which made lease payment a no-brainer.

And for most cars, the first year annual service is complimentary. And since my cars don't stay with me beyond 1-1.5 years, other than paying a monthly amount for lease or loan, there is no other outflow. McLarens were outliers in this regard. Naturally, I had highest post purchase expenses associated with them.

Specifically, total cost of ownership for McLaren 720S was just around $3k/month. The car is a steal at that price. So, when I look back at the 1.5 years I had it, I have a feeling of satisfaction - worth what I spent, gave me experiences I wanted and brings back find memories when I look back in time.

When I switch cars, I'm looking forward to that change and what the new one has in store vs being considerate of what I'm giving up. So moving to less powerful or less expensive or lesser of a brand is irrelevant to me. And I already know when I acquire a new one, it has fixed time with me. So I look forward to enjoying it to the fullest.

I go after cars I find have maximum Value for Money, stand out a little in the crowd, make me want to drive them, make me want to look at them. So each car to me is "a 100% worth" what I spent on them.

Of course, all of the above is moot if there isn't income to back it. That said, I represent what a typical 12 year old Software Engineering professional looks like. 10s of 1000s of us in the US. We do not have any business or alternative sources of income to add to our annual compensation. Every single one of us can afford what I described. But priorities of each is different.

Personal philosophy that is subjective below, feel free to skip ( this is the best thread to share it than any other thread where I'd rather be objective)
Automotive domain makes me happy. I treat the cars as Return on Investment for all the work I do. So if I spend some time working, then it's equally divided to contribute to my present and future. Cars represent a significant part of my present and future, just like real estate, food, travel, family, social experiences or luxury items do for others.

I have a realistic amount in my mind of what I'll need in future to continue a specific lifestyle. My cash outflow is driven by validating both my present and future equally vs biasing it for future as most folks would do. Since collecting these experiences represents a sizeable portion of both future and present, every $1 lost in depreciation towards car is actually intended investment towards my happiness.

[rav1up]

Some pics of my experience providers.

[rav1up]

SKYROVR - in line to become shortest ownership at less than 7 months.

[GrandTourer]

I don't think I've ever seen such an awe inspiring ownership history in any introduction threads. Hats off to you man and your superwoman. One of the perks of living in US is the access and (relative) ease of owning these monsters.

[Thatautoguy46]

Oh wow! All this sums up to the clarity you have on your spendings. Its really good to know that. Investment = Happiness is clear here. Hope you'll be the same in India. Once you learn the game in India, share your experience here.
By the way, are you from Hyderabad? Saw the Temporary plates on Polo, I remember watching those type of Temporary registration plates only on the Germans during my childhood in Hyderabad.
And what does "Rav1up" mean?

[car_guy1998]

Welcome to the forum and that's an impressive garage you have.

I see you stay at Seattle? Just asking because my maternal uncle also stays at Seattle as well.

[TrackDay]

Wow, what an interesting spread ! Don't think I have come across a McLaren owner on this forum. What is the story behind the name 'RAV1UP' ? From the plates to your user name it seems to be a favorite with you . Also can you share the location of the f-type in the mountains ?

Since you plan on returning, maybe you can give some pointers on this thread:
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shift...-land-106.html (Emigrating to a Foreign Land!)

[rav1up]

Originally Posted by Thatautoguy46

Oh wow! All this sums up to the clarity you have on your spendings. Its really good to know that. Investment = Happiness is clear here. Hope you'll be the same in India. Once you learn the game in India, share your experience here.
By the way, are you from Hyderabad? Saw the Temporary plates on Polo, I remember watching those type of Temporary registration plates only on the Germans during my childhood in Hyderabad.
And what does "Rav1up" mean?

Thanks! May be its terminology, I wouldn't call it "game", rather, I would call it strategy, scoping and prioritization. In software engineering, these principles matter immensely and I'd like to make use of that logical learning in life as well. I'm from west coast of KA state. I lived in Hyderabad for 3.5 years (my first job). Loved the place as it was a breath of fresh air compared to Bangalore (my college) back then. The drive Jubilee Hills Road / Rd No 12 (dont recall exactly), around Hussain Sagar Lake were fun after a dinner and movie. Not so much now with amount of construction and traffic patterns. I flaunted the yellow temp plates on the car for as long as I could - felt they popped. RaviUp = Rav1Up = Short for my name.

Originally Posted by car_guy1998

Welcome to the forum and that's an impressive garage you have.

I see you stay at Seattle? Just asking because my maternal uncle also stays at Seattle as well.

Thanks! Close, I stay in Bellevue. I'm not the "social / party" types - so did not prefer Seattle. And then again, my work place is in Bellevue, so saved on the commute. Seattle lake side is lovely, just the traffic and downtown situation isn't as great now. Bellevue is a lot calmer, and aligns with my preference.

Originally Posted by GrandTourer

I don't think I've ever seen such an awe inspiring ownership history in any introduction threads. Hats off to you man and your superwoman. One of the perks of living in US is the access and (relative) ease of owning these monsters.

Thanks! Indeed, US makes these extremely affordable primarily driven by low or no import duties arising from good trade agreements. Need for vehicle and thereby demand = high volume = even at low margins, a manufacturer can see a path to profitability. I'm all for "Make In Your Country" model, but everyone cannot be Makers and eventually laws of Economics will catch up.

I see you have a Polo TSI as well. I was eagerly waiting for the 1.6 Polo to launch, but the wait and uncertainty around it got the best of me and I cancelled my booking for 1.6 and bought the available (1.2 if I recall correctly). It turned out the wait for 1.6 was much longer and launch back then was just hearsay. This was back in Oct 2010.

Originally Posted by TrackDay

Wow, what an interesting spread ! Don't think I have come across a McLaren owner on this forum. What is the story behind the name 'RAV1UP' ? From the plates to your user name it seems to be a favorite with you . Also can you share the location of the f-type in the mountains ?

Since you plan on returning, maybe you can give some pointers on this thread:
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shift...-land-106.html (Emigrating to a Foreign Land!)

Thanks! Mentioned the Rav1Up part above. The best part about US and cars is you get to pick any 7 letters or numbers for your plates. So, I played around with a lot and eventually settled on RAV1UP as my trademark. The motorcycles were/are RAV. Wife's car was HTTP. Velar is SKYROVR. Its a very subtle thing, but I love the idea and simplicity of implementation vs a boring 4 digit + 2 letters.

That is Mount (Mt) Baker in WA state. WA state is awesome that way - very scenic, places like this are plenty and accessible. I've always wanted to drive the sports cars to mountain regions. Took the FType to Mt Baker, Velar to Mt St Helens, the 720S to Mt Rainier (our flagship mountain in WA state - standard background of all plates in WA has Mt Rainier in it).

Thanks for the pointer, will read through the thread and see where I can contribute.