What portion of your income should be spent on cars ??
Discussion
ha I love how everyone is such a baller here and only spend 2-3% of their yearly earnings on a car, Yeah right......
If you look outside everyone is balls deep in debt and that number is more like 20-30%!
Either way, my daily driver is worth 3days of earnings, fun car about 11days.
I keep my stuff for a long time.
If you look outside everyone is balls deep in debt and that number is more like 20-30%!
Either way, my daily driver is worth 3days of earnings, fun car about 11days.
I keep my stuff for a long time.
Edited by bagusbagus on Thursday 30th March 23:42
4 cars currently on our driveway, nothing fancy and probably worth about 10% of our take home wage. The works carpark is always telling, everything from a ratty old diesel Polo, V8 Defender to a new Golf R parked up today.
For me, the importance is not so much on the monetary amount tied up but the value of driving enjoyment or ownership.
For me, the importance is not so much on the monetary amount tied up but the value of driving enjoyment or ownership.
bagusbagus said:
ha I love how everyone is such a baller here and only spend 2-3% of their yearly earnings on a car, Yeah right......
If you look outside everyone is balls deep in debt and that number is more like 20-30%!
Either way, my daily driver is worth 3days of earnings, fun car about 11days.
I keep my stuff for a long time.
This forum isn't representative of the population though generally. As has been proved many times. Of course there are plenty of dreamers on here, but also many folks who have little reason to lie.If you look outside everyone is balls deep in debt and that number is more like 20-30%!
Either way, my daily driver is worth 3days of earnings, fun car about 11days.
I keep my stuff for a long time.
Edited by bagusbagus on Thursday 30th March 23:42
Audemars said:
Buying a car should be like buying two large kitchen/household appliances. It shouldn't be like paying rent or a mortgage.
So for the average wage (approx £30k per annum) person £3k max every 10 years.
Well that is tbe sensible approach. Problem is that most people are not intellectual enough to be financially sensible.
I don't see what's "intellectual" about spending so little. I could see someone making an argument for it being an intelligent thing to do (I'd disagree), but intellectual and intelligent are not synonyms.So for the average wage (approx £30k per annum) person £3k max every 10 years.
Well that is tbe sensible approach. Problem is that most people are not intellectual enough to be financially sensible.
Edited by Audemars on Thursday 30th March 09:51
I'd also question the numeracy of someone who thinks that the average wage is £30k.
kayzee said:
I'm actually a bit OCD about this... and I actually limit myself to 10%
This is not because of any third party 'rule' it simply works for me.
I use that as something of a rule of thumb, and also keep an eye on what the expected running costs are.This is not because of any third party 'rule' it simply works for me.
I like newer cars, and don't do many miles, so need to avoid looking at the cost per mile or trip if I want to keep my sanity. Each trip up North in my last car cost me £1,500. That doesn't give me a warm feeling inside.
James_B said:
I use that as something of a rule of thumb, and also keep an eye on what the expected running costs are.
I like newer cars, and don't do many miles, so need to avoid looking at the cost per mile or trip if I want to keep my sanity. Each trip up North in my last car cost me £1,500. That doesn't give me a warm feeling inside.
One of the upsides of living in London is that you don't tend to do any kind of serious mileage. As such, a good opportunity that always used to exist was to buy a car that was only a year or two old but had the mileage of something at least 5 years old. You get the discount due to above average mileage but when you come to sell you get the premium of below average mileage. I like newer cars, and don't do many miles, so need to avoid looking at the cost per mile or trip if I want to keep my sanity. Each trip up North in my last car cost me £1,500. That doesn't give me a warm feeling inside.
I guess one issue these days is that the last 5 years mileage is shown on the MOT.
I did that with an SLK a few years back. Bought an 80,000 mile example, owned it for a couple of years, and sold it an an 85,000 mile example for £2k less.
I wish I could content myself with doing this all the time, but I keep getting tempted by newer things. I like the technology inside, and it gets better so quickly.
Hence having just bought an M2, and starting the cycle again. If I own it for three years I'll do about 8,000 miles, drop about 20k, and so have spent about £1,500 on each trip up North...
I wish I could content myself with doing this all the time, but I keep getting tempted by newer things. I like the technology inside, and it gets better so quickly.
Hence having just bought an M2, and starting the cycle again. If I own it for three years I'll do about 8,000 miles, drop about 20k, and so have spent about £1,500 on each trip up North...
James_B said:
I did that with an SLK a few years back. Bought an 80,000 mile example, owned it for a couple of years, and sold it an an 85,000 mile example for £2k less.
I wish I could content myself with doing this all the time, but I keep getting tempted by newer things. I like the technology inside, and it gets better so quickly.
Hence having just bought an M2, and starting the cycle again. If I own it for three years I'll do about 8,000 miles, drop about 20k, and so have spent about £1,500 on each trip up North...
I'm lucky. I can't stand all the gadgets and having to learn all the button faffing just to do basic tasks. So I have almost no running desire to change cars. So much so that after selling the last every day car I haven't even bothered buying another. I wish I could content myself with doing this all the time, but I keep getting tempted by newer things. I like the technology inside, and it gets better so quickly.
Hence having just bought an M2, and starting the cycle again. If I own it for three years I'll do about 8,000 miles, drop about 20k, and so have spent about £1,500 on each trip up North...
I can't justify (to myself) the depreciation on new cars (compounded by doing fairly high mileage) so I favour buying used cars that have greater than average mileage on them.
There are a few cars out now that I fancy, but I'll wait until I find a few for sale with 100k miles on them. I am a bit poor and a bit tight, however
There are a few cars out now that I fancy, but I'll wait until I find a few for sale with 100k miles on them. I am a bit poor and a bit tight, however
8 years racing in the days when there was very little sponsorship. Spent everything I earned, & perhaps a little more on cars.
6 years cruising the Pacific in my yacht, & another 10 running tourist boats. Did not own any cars for 16 years. Another 10 years driving what ever the company gave me.
Now retired my cars are about 8% of my wealth, & cost about 18% of my income.
Don't drink, don't smoke, don't gamble, don't like being a tourist, & don't have much to do with wild women these days. A bloke has to be allowed at least one vice, surely, & cars are mine.
6 years cruising the Pacific in my yacht, & another 10 running tourist boats. Did not own any cars for 16 years. Another 10 years driving what ever the company gave me.
Now retired my cars are about 8% of my wealth, & cost about 18% of my income.
Don't drink, don't smoke, don't gamble, don't like being a tourist, & don't have much to do with wild women these days. A bloke has to be allowed at least one vice, surely, & cars are mine.
Not so much a proportion of my wages, I just tend to buy what I want with the budget I have. As a result in my 4 years of driving I've had 12 cars, still around the same budget even though my wages are now over double of what they used to be.
If i was to draw a line, I'd say 20% - maybe around 50% when I'm settled in to a house/mortgage and what not.
I have a few friends that have taken out loans on car of near enough 80%-90% of what they earn in a year. It's a waste of money if you ask me, nice cars though.
If i was to draw a line, I'd say 20% - maybe around 50% when I'm settled in to a house/mortgage and what not.
Fattyfat said:
For me, the importance is not so much on the monetary amount tied up but the value of driving enjoyment or ownership.
This.I have a few friends that have taken out loans on car of near enough 80%-90% of what they earn in a year. It's a waste of money if you ask me, nice cars though.
Edited by TehRin on Saturday 1st April 19:50
James_B said:
Audemars said:
Buying a car should be like buying two large kitchen/household appliances. It shouldn't be like paying rent or a mortgage.
So for the average wage (approx £30k per annum) person £3k max every 10 years.
Well that is tbe sensible approach. Problem is that most people are not intellectual enough to be financially sensible.
I don't see what's "intellectual" about spending so little. I could see someone making an argument for it being an intelligent thing to do (I'd disagree), but intellectual and intelligent are not synonyms.So for the average wage (approx £30k per annum) person £3k max every 10 years.
Well that is tbe sensible approach. Problem is that most people are not intellectual enough to be financially sensible.
Edited by Audemars on Thursday 30th March 09:51
I'd also question the numeracy of someone who thinks that the average wage is £30k.
James_B said:
I don't see what's "intellectual" about spending so little. I could see someone making an argument for it being an intelligent thing to do (I'd disagree), but intellectual and intelligent are not synonyms.
I'd also question the numeracy of someone who thinks that the average wage is £30k.
Average UK salary is £27k ish so approx.£30k. Whats a few £ when it is so low.I'd also question the numeracy of someone who thinks that the average wage is £30k.
People are not smart enough to know that true disposable income is about 10% of what they think it is.
Did I mention that those on such salaries should NEVER drink at coffee shops nor eat out more than once a month? The number of poor people paying £5 daily for a coffee and cake is mind blowing.
Buy a decent reliable £3k used car and run it till it gets unreliable.
There is no prestige in a £70k range rover nor a German V8 saloon so why waste your future on one.
Also my numeracy most be ok as I get paid handsomely for that skill.
Edited by Audemars on Sunday 2nd April 03:14
okgo said:
This forum isn't representative of the population though generally. As has been proved many times. Of course there are plenty of dreamers on here, but also many folks who have little reason to lie.
Who are you kidding? This forum is definitely a true representation of the population.Audemars said:
Average UK salary is £27k ish so approx.£30k. Whats a few £ when it is so low.
It's not low, it's average 
Also I question the numeracy skills of anybody who claims that £27k equates to 'approx.£30k'
Audemars said:
Did I mention that those on such salaries should NEVER drink at coffee shops nor eat out more than once a month? The number of poor people paying £5 daily for a coffee and cake is mind blowing.
NEVER! Audemars said:
Who are you kidding? This forum is definitely a true representation of the population.
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