Monday, December 01, 2008

Bargain Bin

In seminary, we used to say, "If you have to explain why you own something to a parishioner, you probably shouldn't own it." That issue came up when I mentioned how much I like BMW and would love to buy one used. The image, however, created of Father, rolling up in his Beemer effectively showed me, at least, why that won't work. However, if this is true, and the car goes on sale, could I have one then?

Probably not; the insurance would be a beast.
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3 comments:

Fr. Dismas Sayre, O.P. said...

I inherited a car in great shape from the previous associate (2006 Honda Civic sedan, non-hybrid). It's probably a little nice than I need, but I hate spending money that I don't need to spend to "look" poor. That never made sense to me. If this car dies, I'm getting a compact or hatchback, hybrid, to try to be the most practical and economical with the people of God's money. Yeah, it may be new, but it'll save money.

Monday, December 01, 2008 10:03:00 PM
WordWench said...

The priest at my former parish inherited his sister's Cadillac Seville after she died (he was her only relative.) it was a perfectly good car (only three years old) and the one he had been driving was a 14 year old clunker. I'm sure some snarky parishioners criticized him for driving it, but I thought he made the right decision in taking it. It was a reliable car, and he didn't have to worry about having to use his limited funds to purchase a replacement for his clunker. as long as something is not ostentatious and ridiculous, I dont' see why a priest should have to justify owning something nice. Priests give so much of themselves that a nice , reliable, comfortable car is not a luxury, in my opinion. Now if it were a Maserati or something, maybe that would be a problem.
I say if you see a good used BMW on sale, get it!

Wednesday, January 28, 2009 1:58:00 PM
Michael McCall said...

You haven't taken a vow of poverty, right?
You get a salary for your work, right?

You should be able to have a nice car...a BMW is NOT overly extravagant. My parish priest drives a Lexus and I say "Good for him!"

Now if you get get a $100,000+ Italian roadster...well, then you BEST take me for a ride!

Sunday, February 22, 2009 1:24:00 AM

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