Fall started a week ago but you wouldn’t be able to tell with the temperatures here hitting 92º. I’ve been playing kickball for a few weeks now for the season with the new team. We had a really good set of games yesterday, 14-5, followed by 7-2.

Dealing with an extremely annoying health issue caused by GERD. It has been causing me to need to clear out my throat / cough fairly frequently. One of the medications I was on for blood pressure made it worse. Then I went through 2 different antibiotics and it still didn’t go away. Trying to avoid a lot of the common triggers people have and eat more veggies. Day one of making the change and already seeing some improvements. I haven’t had alcohol in 2 weeks and the last time I did was the first time in a month. I’ve lost a few pounds too through better eating choices and hoping to keep the momentum going.

The stock market has been through a bit of a downturn with the biggest drop coming from my 401k. I was contributing 100% to the S&P 500. Now I’ve changed future contributions to 60% S&P500 and 40% bonds. I might switch to 100% bonds or start putting dollars in a high yield savings account if I see more declines in the market.

	10/1/23	9/1/23	Difference	% Change
401k	$195,147	$202,892	-7,744	-3.8%
Roth IRA	$28,748	$30,299	-$1,552	-5.1%
M1 Account	$1,277	$1,374	(-$96)	-7.0%
Cash	$3,234	$3,150	+$84	+2.7%
HSA	$2,140	$2,170	-$30	-1.4%
Total	$230,547	$239,886	-$9,339	-3.9%
Credit Cards	$115	$814	-$700	-85.9%
Auto Loan	$5,368	$6,350	-$982	-15.5%
Net Total	$225,064	$232,721	-$7,657	-3.3%

Coming up on a year since I bought my car and full transparency I’m not really happy with it. Considering a few alternative options:
1. Honda Accord Hybrid – Ride is a lot quieter, and gets way better fuel economy than the 29mpg I’m going. 46 city / 41 highway. If the economy goes south or gas prices go up this is the more financially responsible option. However Honda still makes it and I shouldn’t reward a company that gave me one bad product by buying another one.
2. BMW 330i / M340i – RWD, luxury and sport. The 340i has a turbo Inline 6 with a ton of power on tap. Reliability has improved a lot the past few years and according to consumer reports is close to Lexus quality. Overall maintenance is still going to cost more than a Honda. I’ve seen a range of prices, as low as around $28k for ’21 330i with a clean title (less than the current value of my Integra) to as high as $48k for an M340i with $5k+ in options added.
3. Audi A4 – Great interior but less reliability than BMW. Expensive maintenance too. Friend has a Q5 outside of warranty and it’s needed thousands in engine work.
4. Lexus ES300h – Vetoing this option because so many old people drive these and the design is stale.
5. Nissan Maxima – I could buy one again but this is the last model year before they go electric in 1-2 years. Really don’t want to go with the same car I had for 6 years though.
6. BMW 2 series – Lot cheaper than the 3 but also a more cramped interior and less storage space. The option for looking cool on a budget. The M240i has gobs of power too.
7. Acura TLX – Not sure I want to give them any of my money though the TLX is a huge upgrade and the SH-AWD models have amazing handling. Suspension setup is better, better noise insulation. People with TLX models who drive Integra say it feels cheap and I agree.

Posted to an online group I’m a member of.
Anyone else buy a car and have buyers remorse? Got my 2023 Acura Integra last year. On a plus side the car looks nice, paint really shines and the car handles really well. It’s also super easy to park and I love the digital dash. These cars are also not super common in my area so there’s a bit of novelty. I only owe $5800 on it, under 8k miles so may be smarter to just drive it till the wheels fall off. Kinda feel like a slightly bigger car would feel more luxurious because this thing feels cheap. I’ve been looking at Accord Hybrid, BMW 330i, used current gen TLX. Def not a Tesla or a Prius though. Do you think I’m being unreasonable. I also earn a good salary so with current equity financing any of these cars would be a small portion of my income.

Problems – 1. Fuel nozzle cap needed to be replaced under warranty for evap leak, took months for the part to come in. Caused check engine light to come on and remote start to not work during winter. 2. Remote start shows a keyless access system problem message on the dashboard. Brought it in, dealer couldn’t reproduce it. 3. Fabric attached by clips on the back of the seat is unclipped. Dealer hasn’t been able to clip it back after 2 separate trips, said they can order a new seat cover but sometimes the creases / fabric don’t exactly match factory. 4. Speaker grills rattle without any audio playing driving on a normal road. They buzz badly when you crank it up, the loaner I got also was just as bad. 5. Excess road noise on the highway, many say changing tires makes a huge difference. 6. Less than impressive fuel economy around 29mpg on premium since I don’t do a lot of highway driving. 7. Not so comfortable seats, they hurt my back on longer drives, need to buy a cushion. 8. A/C is slow to get cool. No big deal but we had one of the hottest summers on record and I would be sweaty before the interior would cool down. Also no rear vents. 9. Tiny buttons, like okay for a 13 year old with small fingers but not so great for a beefy guy like myself.

I could always go to my Acura dealership tomorrow and complain to them since it’s under warranty. Just not sure I want to. Seeing all the flooding in my home state and my little issues really help put everything into perspective. It’s really not that serious. Choices.