Can I afford to run these cars?
Discussion
R8Steve said:
The last part of that post wasn't directed at you so apologies if you thought it did, it was more directed at the self certified 100k+ multiple home owners that seem to think Fiestas are dearer to run than the average national wage 
I understand what you're saying and if you don’t feel comfortable buying and running one there’s nothing i can say that can change that nor would i try to.
To give you a rough breakdown of costs for me though
Purchase price - £48k (Traded in a 996 turbo and financed the remaining with a personal loan over 3 years – approx cost £450 pm)
Mileage over 5 years approx 38k, in that time i’ve had to do the following –
4 services (2 minor, 2 major - £300/£650) - £1900
2 sets of tyres - £1600
Front disks/pads - £800
So that’s £4300 total in maintenance over 5 years (i’ve not included fuel/tax/insurance as that applies to any car) so that’s a grand total of £860 a year! Or appox £70pm
Depreciation – Most clean cars going for a good bit over £40k but call it £40k so depreciation total £8k
Total cost of ownership over 5 years - £12300 or £2460pa/£205pm
So to answer the question again – can you afford to run one on £1500 a month? Ummm, yes.
Every so often someone who has had actual experience, not what he heard down the pub or his mate told him, adds considerably to the discussion. It makes reading threads interesting amongst the fantasy, trolls and mundane.I understand what you're saying and if you don’t feel comfortable buying and running one there’s nothing i can say that can change that nor would i try to.
To give you a rough breakdown of costs for me though
Purchase price - £48k (Traded in a 996 turbo and financed the remaining with a personal loan over 3 years – approx cost £450 pm)
Mileage over 5 years approx 38k, in that time i’ve had to do the following –
4 services (2 minor, 2 major - £300/£650) - £1900
2 sets of tyres - £1600
Front disks/pads - £800
So that’s £4300 total in maintenance over 5 years (i’ve not included fuel/tax/insurance as that applies to any car) so that’s a grand total of £860 a year! Or appox £70pm
Depreciation – Most clean cars going for a good bit over £40k but call it £40k so depreciation total £8k
Total cost of ownership over 5 years - £12300 or £2460pa/£205pm
So to answer the question again – can you afford to run one on £1500 a month? Ummm, yes.
So thanks for this.
TIGA84 said:
Jiebo said:
I totally agree.
I'm not bragging in anyway, but I'm 30 with a salary of circa £120k and even I wouldn't touch any of these cars at this point in my life.
These things make sense when you're in your 40s, having paid off most of your mortgage, have a nice pension, possibly have another house and have enough in the bank where spending £40k shouldn't need a loan.
Just my opinion. But if you've got loaded parents that have bought you a house, go for it.
Jesus Christ, this place is really full of total I'm not bragging in anyway, but I'm 30 with a salary of circa £120k and even I wouldn't touch any of these cars at this point in my life.
These things make sense when you're in your 40s, having paid off most of your mortgage, have a nice pension, possibly have another house and have enough in the bank where spending £40k shouldn't need a loan.
Just my opinion. But if you've got loaded parents that have bought you a house, go for it.
s now isn't it?rongagin said:
Every so often someone who has had actual experience, not what he heard down the pub or his mate told him, adds considerably to the discussion. It makes reading threads interesting amongst the fantasy, trolls and mundane.
So thanks for this.
That's definitely good news but what is less good news for the OP is that that poster came into 996 ownership with a £30k deposit from his previous car.So thanks for this.
You probably can afford to run it, as others have demonstrated by experience. What might give you trouble is if there is an unpredictable cost outside of the typical service/consumables service program. Some things like gearboxes are the same ZF components used in a 3 series so you should be able to get them repaired at a sensible price, but if something OEM specific dies you could have a really horrible bill. The other issue will be labour costs of someone competent to carry out any major work.
I'd have expected the R8 to be the safest bet myself. A colleague had the Maserati from new and the amount of warranty work it needed would have put you in the poor house if all you had left to pay for it was your disposable income minus the finance payments.
As another poster pointed out though this is a st idea on £42k a year, the finance will feel like a rock around your neck once the novelty has worn off a bit.
I'd have expected the R8 to be the safest bet myself. A colleague had the Maserati from new and the amount of warranty work it needed would have put you in the poor house if all you had left to pay for it was your disposable income minus the finance payments.
As another poster pointed out though this is a s
t idea on £42k a year, the finance will feel like a rock around your neck once the novelty has worn off a bit.Edited by dme123 on Friday 29th July 11:20
Not owned any of the cars in the OP but I do own a 911 Turbo.
Running costs so far have been reasonable in the 3 years I have owned it
£600 coil packs plus a battery.
£350 service.
£80 geo check.
However last service at my local OPC was
6K Including a 15% discount!
So yeah high end cars have do have tendency to chuck up a big bill every now and again but overall my car has cost less to run per year than my neighbours BMW. Not bad eh?
Just to add, I don't earn 6 figures and can easily afford to run my car.
Running costs so far have been reasonable in the 3 years I have owned it
£600 coil packs plus a battery.
£350 service.
£80 geo check.
However last service at my local OPC was
6K Including a 15% discount!
So yeah high end cars have do have tendency to chuck up a big bill every now and again but overall my car has cost less to run per year than my neighbours BMW. Not bad eh?
Just to add, I don't earn 6 figures and can easily afford to run my car.
Edited by Just an old porsche fan on Friday 29th July 11:22
R8Steve said:
The last part of that post wasn't directed at you so apologies if you thought it did, it was more directed at the self certified 100k+ multiple home owners that seem to think Fiestas are dearer to run than the average national wage
I understand what you're saying and if you don’t feel comfortable buying and running one there’s nothing i can say that can change that nor would i try to.
To give you a rough breakdown of costs for me though
Purchase price - £48k (Traded in a 996 turbo and financed the remaining with a personal loan over 3 years – approx cost £450 pm)
Mileage over 5 years approx 38k, in that time i’ve had to do the following –
4 services (2 minor, 2 major - £300/£650) - £1900
2 sets of tyres - £1600
Front disks/pads - £800
So that’s £4300 total in maintenance over 5 years (i’ve not included fuel/tax/insurance as that applies to any car) so that’s a grand total of £860 a year! Or appox £70pm
Depreciation – Most clean cars going for a good bit over £40k but call it £40k so depreciation total £8k
Total cost of ownership over 5 years - £12300 or £2460pa/£205pm
So to answer the question again – can you afford to run one on £1500 a month? Ummm, yes.
but if you had a 450pm loan for 3 years, how can your yearly cost be 2460 ? surely 7860 for the first 3 years then 2460 for the remaining 2 years ?I understand what you're saying and if you don’t feel comfortable buying and running one there’s nothing i can say that can change that nor would i try to.
To give you a rough breakdown of costs for me though
Purchase price - £48k (Traded in a 996 turbo and financed the remaining with a personal loan over 3 years – approx cost £450 pm)
Mileage over 5 years approx 38k, in that time i’ve had to do the following –
4 services (2 minor, 2 major - £300/£650) - £1900
2 sets of tyres - £1600
Front disks/pads - £800
So that’s £4300 total in maintenance over 5 years (i’ve not included fuel/tax/insurance as that applies to any car) so that’s a grand total of £860 a year! Or appox £70pm
Depreciation – Most clean cars going for a good bit over £40k but call it £40k so depreciation total £8k
Total cost of ownership over 5 years - £12300 or £2460pa/£205pm
So to answer the question again – can you afford to run one on £1500 a month? Ummm, yes.
CYMR0 said:
rongagin said:
Every so often someone who has had actual experience, not what he heard down the pub or his mate told him, adds considerably to the discussion. It makes reading threads interesting amongst the fantasy, trolls and mundane.
So thanks for this.
That's definitely good news but what is less good news for the OP is that that poster came into 996 ownership with a £30k deposit from his previous car.So thanks for this.
Lets say OP financed one at £40k with a 5k deposit - £35k over 5 years is approx £680 per month.
Put the two together and you are still under 1k a month and at the end of it you're still going to get at the very least (IMO) half of your money back.
You could argue whether this is sensible to do, that's for the OP to decide but facts are that it is easily affordable with his budget.
An R8 is basically an RS4 in a nice dress and i doubt if the OP would have got quite as hard a time if he had been considering buying one of them.
MDMA . said:
R8Steve said:
The last part of that post wasn't directed at you so apologies if you thought it did, it was more directed at the self certified 100k+ multiple home owners that seem to think Fiestas are dearer to run than the average national wage
I understand what you're saying and if you don’t feel comfortable buying and running one there’s nothing i can say that can change that nor would i try to.
To give you a rough breakdown of costs for me though
Purchase price - £48k (Traded in a 996 turbo and financed the remaining with a personal loan over 3 years – approx cost £450 pm)
Mileage over 5 years approx 38k, in that time i’ve had to do the following –
4 services (2 minor, 2 major - £300/£650) - £1900
2 sets of tyres - £1600
Front disks/pads - £800
So that’s £4300 total in maintenance over 5 years (i’ve not included fuel/tax/insurance as that applies to any car) so that’s a grand total of £860 a year! Or appox £70pm
Depreciation – Most clean cars going for a good bit over £40k but call it £40k so depreciation total £8k
Total cost of ownership over 5 years - £12300 or £2460pa/£205pm
So to answer the question again – can you afford to run one on £1500 a month? Ummm, yes.
but if you had a 450pm loan for 3 years, how can your yearly cost be 2460 ? surely 7860 for the first 3 years then 2460 for the remaining 2 years ?I understand what you're saying and if you don’t feel comfortable buying and running one there’s nothing i can say that can change that nor would i try to.
To give you a rough breakdown of costs for me though
Purchase price - £48k (Traded in a 996 turbo and financed the remaining with a personal loan over 3 years – approx cost £450 pm)
Mileage over 5 years approx 38k, in that time i’ve had to do the following –
4 services (2 minor, 2 major - £300/£650) - £1900
2 sets of tyres - £1600
Front disks/pads - £800
So that’s £4300 total in maintenance over 5 years (i’ve not included fuel/tax/insurance as that applies to any car) so that’s a grand total of £860 a year! Or appox £70pm
Depreciation – Most clean cars going for a good bit over £40k but call it £40k so depreciation total £8k
Total cost of ownership over 5 years - £12300 or £2460pa/£205pm
So to answer the question again – can you afford to run one on £1500 a month? Ummm, yes.
Original price = £48,000
Trade-in = Unknown but let's say £33k
Value now = £40k
So the net cost of the acquisition has been £33,000 + £16,200 - £40,000 = £9,200
£4,300 of maintenance
So £13,500 all in - £2,700 per year, but £400 pa more in each of the first three years assuming the maintenance is evenly spread so actually £2,860 in years 1-3.
Edit: that works out at £238 per month, by the way... £149/month + VAT on a 9+23 lease deal.
MDMA . said:
R8Steve said:
The last part of that post wasn't directed at you so apologies if you thought it did, it was more directed at the self certified 100k+ multiple home owners that seem to think Fiestas are dearer to run than the average national wage
I understand what you're saying and if you don’t feel comfortable buying and running one there’s nothing i can say that can change that nor would i try to.
To give you a rough breakdown of costs for me though
Purchase price - £48k (Traded in a 996 turbo and financed the remaining with a personal loan over 3 years – approx cost £450 pm)
Mileage over 5 years approx 38k, in that time i’ve had to do the following –
4 services (2 minor, 2 major - £300/£650) - £1900
2 sets of tyres - £1600
Front disks/pads - £800
So that’s £4300 total in maintenance over 5 years (i’ve not included fuel/tax/insurance as that applies to any car) so that’s a grand total of £860 a year! Or appox £70pm
Depreciation – Most clean cars going for a good bit over £40k but call it £40k so depreciation total £8k
Total cost of ownership over 5 years - £12300 or £2460pa/£205pm
So to answer the question again – can you afford to run one on £1500 a month? Ummm, yes.
but if you had a 450pm loan for 3 years, how can your yearly cost be 2460 ? surely 7860 for the first 3 years then 2460 for the remaining 2 years ?I understand what you're saying and if you don’t feel comfortable buying and running one there’s nothing i can say that can change that nor would i try to.
To give you a rough breakdown of costs for me though
Purchase price - £48k (Traded in a 996 turbo and financed the remaining with a personal loan over 3 years – approx cost £450 pm)
Mileage over 5 years approx 38k, in that time i’ve had to do the following –
4 services (2 minor, 2 major - £300/£650) - £1900
2 sets of tyres - £1600
Front disks/pads - £800
So that’s £4300 total in maintenance over 5 years (i’ve not included fuel/tax/insurance as that applies to any car) so that’s a grand total of £860 a year! Or appox £70pm
Depreciation – Most clean cars going for a good bit over £40k but call it £40k so depreciation total £8k
Total cost of ownership over 5 years - £12300 or £2460pa/£205pm
So to answer the question again – can you afford to run one on £1500 a month? Ummm, yes.
CYMR0 said:
MDMA . said:
R8Steve said:
The last part of that post wasn't directed at you so apologies if you thought it did, it was more directed at the self certified 100k+ multiple home owners that seem to think Fiestas are dearer to run than the average national wage
I understand what you're saying and if you don’t feel comfortable buying and running one there’s nothing i can say that can change that nor would i try to.
To give you a rough breakdown of costs for me though
Purchase price - £48k (Traded in a 996 turbo and financed the remaining with a personal loan over 3 years – approx cost £450 pm)
Mileage over 5 years approx 38k, in that time i’ve had to do the following –
4 services (2 minor, 2 major - £300/£650) - £1900
2 sets of tyres - £1600
Front disks/pads - £800
So that’s £4300 total in maintenance over 5 years (i’ve not included fuel/tax/insurance as that applies to any car) so that’s a grand total of £860 a year! Or appox £70pm
Depreciation – Most clean cars going for a good bit over £40k but call it £40k so depreciation total £8k
Total cost of ownership over 5 years - £12300 or £2460pa/£205pm
So to answer the question again – can you afford to run one on £1500 a month? Ummm, yes.
but if you had a 450pm loan for 3 years, how can your yearly cost be 2460 ? surely 7860 for the first 3 years then 2460 for the remaining 2 years ?I understand what you're saying and if you don’t feel comfortable buying and running one there’s nothing i can say that can change that nor would i try to.
To give you a rough breakdown of costs for me though
Purchase price - £48k (Traded in a 996 turbo and financed the remaining with a personal loan over 3 years – approx cost £450 pm)
Mileage over 5 years approx 38k, in that time i’ve had to do the following –
4 services (2 minor, 2 major - £300/£650) - £1900
2 sets of tyres - £1600
Front disks/pads - £800
So that’s £4300 total in maintenance over 5 years (i’ve not included fuel/tax/insurance as that applies to any car) so that’s a grand total of £860 a year! Or appox £70pm
Depreciation – Most clean cars going for a good bit over £40k but call it £40k so depreciation total £8k
Total cost of ownership over 5 years - £12300 or £2460pa/£205pm
So to answer the question again – can you afford to run one on £1500 a month? Ummm, yes.
Original price = £48,000
Trade-in = Unknown but let's say £33k
Value now = £40k
So the net cost of the acquisition has been £33,000 + £16,200 - £40,000 = £9,200
£4,300 of maintenance
So £13,500 all in - £2,700 per year, but £400 pa more in each of the first three years assuming the maintenance is evenly spread so actually £2,860 in years 1-3.
Edit: that works out at £238 per month, by the way... £149/month + VAT on a 9+23 lease deal.
R8Steve said:
You could argue whether this is sensible to do, that's for the OP to decide but facts are that it is easily affordable with his budget.
I tend to agree... I don't think the issue is that the car is so much unaffordable in overall financial terms, just that OP is 30; his priorities are quite likely to change over five years (although he'd have a decent asset to back it up) and he doesn't yet have the deposit, or the cash flow, to make him able to cope with what could go wrong on a car like this. An RS4 of the same age is £20k and while it can still throw up a bill, he'd have a £3k+ slush fund after a year just from the finance alone.R8Steve said:
Spot on, hence my comment on being pretty confident overall ownership cost less than a Ford Fiesta...and the figures back it up.
Definitely more than a Fiesta but probably not too far off a 3 Series once you take fuel, tax, and insurance into account.You can get the Fiesta for about £130 on that kind of lease deal, including VAT.
But £179 for the car per month, £60 for extra fuel, £20 for insurance and £40 for tax still means that the R8 is competitive with a £300 lease deal (or indeed something like a nearly new 420d for cash) if you have the funds up front.
Edited by CYMR0 on Friday 29th July 11:46
CYMR0 said:
R8Steve said:
You could argue whether this is sensible to do, that's for the OP to decide but facts are that it is easily affordable with his budget.
I tend to agree... I don't think the issue is that the car is so much unaffordable in overall financial terms, just that OP is 30; his priorities are quite likely to change over five years (although he'd have a decent asset to back it up) and he doesn't yet have the deposit, or the cash flow, to make him able to cope with what could go wrong on a car like this. An RS4 of the same age is £20k and while it can still throw up a bill, he'd have a £3k+ slush fund after a year just from the finance alone.I'm similar age to OP and earn a similar salary; I wouldn't even consider trying to run a R8, Continental or GTR on my wage.
I do not doubt it could be done; but you never know what is round the corner and the commitment would be too much for me. I can't guarantee I'll have a job in 12 months or some other financial problem; so unless I've got a slush fund to cover for a big bill or the ability to pay off the finance tomorrow, I won't risk it.
I bought my bike on finance last year; I put down a 50% deposit and financed the rest at a low interest rate. I have the cost for the outstanding finance in the bank just in case I need to pay it off quickly or cover for a period of unemployment; but I also have the plan B option that the finance is secured against the bike, so if I didn't have the money (say another unexpected cost), I can at least return the bike and cover the debt that way.
Personally, I wouldn't buy any vehicle that didn't allow me to do the same as a minimum. It is a different story if you're buying in cash outright.
Just an old porsche fan said:
Not owned any of the cars in the OP but I do own a 911 Turbo.
Running costs so far have been reasonable in the 3 years I have owned it
£600 coil packs plus a battery.
£350 service.
£80 geo check.
However last service at my local OPC was
6K Including a 15% discount!
So yeah high end cars have do have tendency to chuck up a big bill every now and again but overall my car has cost less to run per year than my neighbours BMW. Not bad eh?
Just to add, I don't earn 6 figures and can easily afford to run my car.
Christ, what does a £6K service consist of? Or was it a case of, "This is broken and needs replacing...." whilst it was there?Running costs so far have been reasonable in the 3 years I have owned it
£600 coil packs plus a battery.
£350 service.
£80 geo check.
However last service at my local OPC was
6K Including a 15% discount!
So yeah high end cars have do have tendency to chuck up a big bill every now and again but overall my car has cost less to run per year than my neighbours BMW. Not bad eh?
Just to add, I don't earn 6 figures and can easily afford to run my car.
Edited by Just an old porsche fan on Friday 29th July 11:22
Laughing at all the figures. Ok let me re clarify. Can you buy one for £1500 per month... Yes...
Do you have £1500 per month to spend on one if you are on a £42k salary.... No! Especially if you have not yet bought a home you feel you could live in for the rest of your life.
Some say you only live once so if you want to blow your future on the initial novelty then go ahead. As others have mentioned, it will put a strain on your future finances for a long time. Many people (especially those on here) will finance cars for the rest of their lives.
Do you have £1500 per month to spend on one if you are on a £42k salary.... No! Especially if you have not yet bought a home you feel you could live in for the rest of your life.
Some say you only live once so if you want to blow your future on the initial novelty then go ahead. As others have mentioned, it will put a strain on your future finances for a long time. Many people (especially those on here) will finance cars for the rest of their lives.
Can i just say, from my experience of driving 40k cars at a young age expensive cars will get you laid !!! Whoever doesnt think that ckearly has a chip on their shoulders.
Anyway talking again from experience finance is fine as long as you know that you can cover those costs if anything goes wrong with car or money. Personally i would buy new and on some sort of lease, that takes out some of the risk involved with buying a duff car. At the end of the day its only money
Car wise, R8 seems unloved and some people dismiss it just as bigger tt, its a great car
Anyway talking again from experience finance is fine as long as you know that you can cover those costs if anything goes wrong with car or money. Personally i would buy new and on some sort of lease, that takes out some of the risk involved with buying a duff car. At the end of the day its only money
Car wise, R8 seems unloved and some people dismiss it just as bigger tt, its a great car
R8Steve said:
The last part of that post wasn't directed at you so apologies if you thought it did, it was more directed at the self certified 100k+ multiple home owners that seem to think Fiestas are dearer to run than the average national wage
I understand what you're saying and if you don’t feel comfortable buying and running one there’s nothing i can say that can change that nor would i try to.
To give you a rough breakdown of costs for me though
Purchase price - £48k (Traded in a 996 turbo and financed the remaining with a personal loan over 3 years – approx cost £450 pm)
Mileage over 5 years approx 38k, in that time i’ve had to do the following –
4 services (2 minor, 2 major - £300/£650) - £1900
2 sets of tyres - £1600
Front disks/pads - £800
So that’s £4300 total in maintenance over 5 years (i’ve not included fuel/tax/insurance as that applies to any car) so that’s a grand total of £860 a year! Or appox £70pm
Depreciation – Most clean cars going for a good bit over £40k but call it £40k so depreciation total £8k
Total cost of ownership over 5 years - £12300 or £2460pa/£205pm
So to answer the question again – can you afford to run one on £1500 a month? Ummm, yes.
That is really interesting to see. I understand what you're saying and if you don’t feel comfortable buying and running one there’s nothing i can say that can change that nor would i try to.
To give you a rough breakdown of costs for me though
Purchase price - £48k (Traded in a 996 turbo and financed the remaining with a personal loan over 3 years – approx cost £450 pm)
Mileage over 5 years approx 38k, in that time i’ve had to do the following –
4 services (2 minor, 2 major - £300/£650) - £1900
2 sets of tyres - £1600
Front disks/pads - £800
So that’s £4300 total in maintenance over 5 years (i’ve not included fuel/tax/insurance as that applies to any car) so that’s a grand total of £860 a year! Or appox £70pm
Depreciation – Most clean cars going for a good bit over £40k but call it £40k so depreciation total £8k
Total cost of ownership over 5 years - £12300 or £2460pa/£205pm
So to answer the question again – can you afford to run one on £1500 a month? Ummm, yes.
Am I correct in adding this though?
First 3 years of ownership = £450 + £205 per month (more if financing the whole purchase), so at least £655 all in.
Year 4 onwards = £205 per month.
CYMR0 said:
I tend to agree... I don't think the issue is that the car is so much unaffordable in overall financial terms, just that OP is 30; his priorities are quite likely to change over five years (although he'd have a decent asset to back it up) and he doesn't yet have the deposit, or the cash flow, to make him able to cope with what could go wrong on a car like this. An RS4 of the same age is £20k and while it can still throw up a bill, he'd have a £3k+ slush fund after a year just from the finance alone.
I see your point but I disagree. Why not just buy the car he wants? The R8 is barely going to depreciate so so long as his eyes are open to the potential costs of ownership which others have kindly provided I say fk it. An RS4 is nowhere near as special as an R8, I know this because I own an RS4. Note: my RS4 had its S tronic gearbox replaced under warranty a fortnight ago. Good job it was under warranty I was told it would have been a £14k job.
My recommendation? Pay for an insured warranty for peace of mind if buying without one. On my old RS5 I think warranty direct quoted me £1100 and I ended up getting it for £700. If I'd taken a longer warranty (only needed a year) it would have worked out a tad cheaper still.
A few of the cars on the list aren't actually depreciating at the moment (GTR, R8, AM V8) in fact may be increasing, buy a decent example and if the running costs become too much, sell the car on, at least then you've had some fun in a special car.
Id say go for it
Ps the GTR major service is circa £850 from Litchfields, get one thats had the big service and recent tyres/brakes and could be as cheap to run as say.....a Fiesta!
Id say go for it
Ps the GTR major service is circa £850 from Litchfields, get one thats had the big service and recent tyres/brakes and could be as cheap to run as say.....a Fiesta!
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