As a child of the 80s and 90s (and still a kid at heart) I was and am a pretty big Seinfeld fan. One of my favorite episodes involved George Costanza buying what he thought was actor Jon Voight’s used car. It turns out it was “just a regular” Jon Voight’s car (I think a dentist who actually spelled his name J-O-H-N) and George’s car was worth only the Kelly Blue Book value. Poor George. Can’t catch a break.
Well it turns out George Costanza was before his time. While it is no Jon Voight (sorry Dane), if you’re in the market for a gently used 2003 Lexus SC 430 and have an extra 20 grand handy you could score what is apparently a fully-loaded 9-year old “fancy pants” car formerly owned by “famous comedian” Dane Cook! By the way, does the phrase “gently used” creep anyone else out or am I just a weirdo? It makes me feel a bit dirty…
It gets better! While I don’t remember if George paid any “Jon Voight premium” over the KBB value of that car, apparently being formerly owned by “famous comedian” Dane Cook actually reduces the value of a car, as the asking price of this one is $130 less than the KBB suggested price in “fair” condition and $2,630 less than an “excellent” condition one. As the listing appears to claim “excellent” is the proper condition (It describes the car as “beautiful” and “simply great.”) it looks like a bargain.
Poor Dane Cook! 
Just kidding of course – I’m sure he’ll be OK… But it certainly begs the question of whether you would buy a car simply because a “famous celebrity” used to own it (and whether Dane Cook is actually a celebrity…). It would certainly make for a fun story to tell, I guess (the first time at least) especially if it’s a really cool celebrity.
I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t “pay up” for a Dane Cook car even though he told a funny joke once or twice. Maybe it would be a tie breaker just for the story – for an extra buck or two. I don’t think I’d pay up more than $5.
Then again, as of this writing he has approximately 2,690,306 more twitter followers than I do. That’s a lot of twitter followers… Maybe he is a celebrity…
What about you? How much more would you pay for Dane Cook’s old car? Assume for this question he used to drive the exact make and model you want. The only difference is Dane Cook drove it. Would you give the seller an extra $20? Is there any celebrity you would pay up for?
And am I the only one who didn’t realize Dane Cook was so popular? Over 2.5 million twitter followers is pretty impressive. I had a lot of fun at Dane’s expense until I checked out his twitter feed – even if the official “Dane Cook News Feed” contains no entries…at least as of this post. Now I feel a little bad for picking on him…
Finally, does this discussion say anything about our priorities? If they were asking for $5,000 more because it belonged to a “famous celebrity” it would annoy the “living daylights” out of me. I guess I have to give props to the seller for keeping the price where it belongs (or below) for what you’re getting. So the fact that the car is still for sale makes me feel a little better.
Until next time, put your credit card down and slowly step away from the mall!
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