EEK! That's so exciting!!! Hard work pays off :) Congrats!

Sweetness! Happy car hunting. How exciting. :)

I'm an American Caddy gal all the way, just love mine, plus all the service work even the oil changes are free at the dealership

We have been looking into convertibles. We plan on purchasing one next summer, and we want a hard top. We checked out the Volvo C70 and really like it. BMW also has the 3 series with the hard top.

Good luck in your search! I want to see pictures when you get it :D

We went back to the Lexus dealership yesterday just to let them look at my car (an Accord) and took the car back out for a spin. The car is SWEET, no doubt about it. They came back with a 36 month lease, $2600 down, $678/month with an option to buy of $31,000 at the end of the lease. I did the math and I'd be paying out $58k for a $50k car. Thats kind of crazy. I did not try to haggle or talk them down at all since I still have more cars to check out in the next week or two before I decide to do it or just to keep my car. I am disappointed that they started THAT high though. I see a $550 a month car payment, everything else the same, as feasible. I'd be paying about $53500 for the car that way, which is still 6.8% more than the MSRP.

What do you think is feasible on a car like that?

I would LOVE a BMW convertible:rollingey:dribble::hands:. You can get two and hand one over to me!!!:D:D:D

One of my friends checked both the Lexus and Audi and was disappointed in the high monthly lease payments. He went to the BMW dealer which was offering the 2011 328Xi at $475 a mth -- 26 mth lease, service included! He called for my advice and here's what I said "Do not pass up that deal because it's significantly LESS than I am paying for the same car!". He went with the BMW.

Car shopping is no fun but stick with your budget and GOOD LUCK!

Oh wow... now $475 is right up my alley! :) Did that include a touchscreen Navigation system do you know? (gosh I sound spoiled! LOL)

BMW navigation is not touch screen but YES, the iDrive is included, with sunroof as well and the cold weather package -- heated steering wheel and heated front seats. I love BMW's navigation -- the 3D feature is especially cool when I drive into NYC.

I'm on my second 3 Series BMW and will go there again. I just love it.

If it were me, living in NH I would not get a rear wheel drive car. I get a lot less snow here, but I always have front wheel or all wheel drive. Just my opinion.

Tried to test drive an Audi A5 tonight. Dealership was not all that friendly. We went to Volvo and drove the C70 convertible. It was nice, but makes me think I'm maybe not ready for this yet. I may need to save more money. I loved the Audi, wish I could have ridden it.

Well sbgooljar, you will be glad to know..... I leased a BMW 28iX. I got it at $465 a month for 30 months. It does not have navigation, but it has everything else. It's a 2011 Executive car, so it had 12,000 miles on it, but it was never titled, so it sold at a used car price, but I was able to lease it. I have a 30 month lease for 25K miles, however, if I think Im going to go over the mileage on the lease I can do a mid term mileage adjustment and pay only 16 cents per mile. I don't anticipate going over the mileage at all though. Actually it's been pouring here and I haven't even driven it more than 20 miles since I got it saturday morning! All service is included except tires and I pay for the state inspection fee. Inspection costs $29 which was funny to me and I told the guy that we own a service station and the state inspection fee cost is only $8. He seemed surprised to hear that, said he had no idea, but I can't imagine he didn't know that. It's black with off white & black leather interior. It has the cold weather package, the convenience package and many other packages.

I loved how it felt when I sat in it, and I love how it drives. I think I am going to be VERY happy with this car! :) Oh and when I called my car insurance for a quote, my new insurance went down $400 a year with this car. I was sooooo pleased! I went from a 2007 Accord to a 2011 BMW and my yearly car cost went up by less than $800 a year. Even I'm still kind of in shock about that!

WOW and CONGRATULATIONS! I can't wait to see the pictures and you will LOVE, LOVE driving that car....

Its been raining so hard here, pics are no good. I'll try to get some when the rain clears out in a couple days. :) yeah, I already love driving it. I loved the test drive. This car was pretty amazing all around and then cost of ownership.... the decision was made for me! :)