Justifying an "expensive" car purchase...
Discussion
Hi, I am looking to spend around £8,000-£12,000 on my next vehicle. This may not sound like a lot of money, but it certainly is a sizeable chunk for me, especially bearing in mind that my current car cost £2,500! At the moment I drive a 2001 Toyota MR2 Roadster. It's a lovely car but I need something bigger and better now. Something that's more practical, responsive, faster and all-round a step-up. I have therefore thoroughly considered the market and the following cars are on my list:
Porsche Boxster (986 or 987)
BMW E46 M3
Nissan 350Z
Lotus Elise S2
The problem is justifying spending up to £12k on a materialistic luxury. To be fair, the time is right as I have no mortgage, no commitments (other than a full-time job), a reasonable income and no g/f (Oh, woe is me!). So, if there was a time to own an ostentatious sports car then surely that time is now? I mean, I can always sell the car once I've scratched that itch.
I was just wondering what your opinions were on a situation that must be familiar to many Pistonheads? Maybe I'm asking the wrong crowd as cars are our passion, but it's worth getting feedback I think. I would probably get a loan of up to £8000 which would cost me about £250/month over 48 months. This is achievable with my currently earnings and excess. My sensible head says I should save for a mortgage instead, or spend the excess on holidays and experiences. The devil in me says I should buy my dream car and enjoy it whilst I can. What do you reckon?
Porsche Boxster (986 or 987)
BMW E46 M3
Nissan 350Z
Lotus Elise S2
The problem is justifying spending up to £12k on a materialistic luxury. To be fair, the time is right as I have no mortgage, no commitments (other than a full-time job), a reasonable income and no g/f (Oh, woe is me!). So, if there was a time to own an ostentatious sports car then surely that time is now? I mean, I can always sell the car once I've scratched that itch.
I was just wondering what your opinions were on a situation that must be familiar to many Pistonheads? Maybe I'm asking the wrong crowd as cars are our passion, but it's worth getting feedback I think. I would probably get a loan of up to £8000 which would cost me about £250/month over 48 months. This is achievable with my currently earnings and excess. My sensible head says I should save for a mortgage instead, or spend the excess on holidays and experiences. The devil in me says I should buy my dream car and enjoy it whilst I can. What do you reckon?
0000 said:
Crap time for a mortgage. Enjoy it.
Not if you've got one Who are you trying to justify the purchase to? Yourself? If so, do you really want to buy a much better car?
If you don't just feel "I want that car and I can afford it", then why waste the money?
If someone else, it's a different matter
M.
If you struggle to justify £12k to buy the car, you will most certainly struggle to justify the running costs of cars such as the M3 and Boxster if an unexpected bill arises.
Choose a car you can afford to have repaired if it goes wrong. Also bear in mind insurance and VEL costs and particularly tyres as some decent tyres may cost up to £1000 a set.
I'm not advocating one but as an example, the 2005 Mustang is now down to that level and you can service it youself using the blunt end of a fishfork so running costs are lower and depreciation is lower when you come to fund your next car. I'm sure there are other cars that fulfil this brief also but look at the big picture or understand you're taking a risk and it could end in tears.
Choose a car you can afford to have repaired if it goes wrong. Also bear in mind insurance and VEL costs and particularly tyres as some decent tyres may cost up to £1000 a set.
I'm not advocating one but as an example, the 2005 Mustang is now down to that level and you can service it youself using the blunt end of a fishfork so running costs are lower and depreciation is lower when you come to fund your next car. I'm sure there are other cars that fulfil this brief also but look at the big picture or understand you're taking a risk and it could end in tears.
I traded up in 2005 from a 944 to an M3 and borrowed £7000 at the time ( for an APR of 7% so it was almost cheaper than borrowing the £6k I actually wanted at 14% APR .. weird ).
Anyway, I had one where I could pay it all back and settle with only paying that current months and the next full months interest and so didn't feel that tied in. I would go for it if I was you. As you have said the monthly payments look low so why not. Its easy to see now on websites (fag packet maths alert! ) that you borrow 8k and say pay back 9.2 k so is £1200 over 4 years to have the car you want right now.
Cash is king on PH obv, and while I wouldn't advocate getting into big debt if you want to do it why not. Esp as you don't have a girlfriend which can be way more expensive than a car!
I guess you need to make sure that you have some set aside for any bills you aren't expecting and that is what I did with the extra 1k I borrowed.
At the moment I put £300 pcm away into a 'car fund' and then dip into for servicing / tax / insurance and any left just tots up till a bill comes in or for the next car purchase. I raided it down to zero in April to get the Tuscan which I am hoping to run out of the £300pcm but it may be more!
Anyway, I had one where I could pay it all back and settle with only paying that current months and the next full months interest and so didn't feel that tied in. I would go for it if I was you. As you have said the monthly payments look low so why not. Its easy to see now on websites (fag packet maths alert! ) that you borrow 8k and say pay back 9.2 k so is £1200 over 4 years to have the car you want right now.
Cash is king on PH obv, and while I wouldn't advocate getting into big debt if you want to do it why not. Esp as you don't have a girlfriend which can be way more expensive than a car!
I guess you need to make sure that you have some set aside for any bills you aren't expecting and that is what I did with the extra 1k I borrowed.
At the moment I put £300 pcm away into a 'car fund' and then dip into for servicing / tax / insurance and any left just tots up till a bill comes in or for the next car purchase. I raided it down to zero in April to get the Tuscan which I am hoping to run out of the £300pcm but it may be more!
philmots said:
I used to buy cars at around 12k... I then got a mortgage and buy cars around half that. I have just as much fun in them, they're just a bit older and miley.
This is what I'm thinking. Could I not find a car that does what those in my list can without having to spend £12k?! Are there cars out there that I could get for £6k, for example, that are as good as a Boxster, M3, 350Z, etc... (Yes, I know a Boxster can be bought for £6K, but they'll be pretty dodgy won't they?).marcosgt said:
Not if you've got one
Who are you trying to justify the purchase to? Yourself? If so, do you really want to buy a much better car?
If you don't just feel "I want that car and I can afford it", then why waste the money?
If someone else, it's a different matter
M.
I'm trying to justify it to myself. To be honest, I'm very careful with my money. Even when I'm buying a TV for around £250 I'll look for weeks and weeks for the very best deal I can get, and even then I'll hand my cash over reluctantly! There are days when I really want a better car and then there are days when I'm like "Hmm, it's just a bloody car!". I can afford to get a loan, service and insure all the cars in that list right now. That's not the problem. It's just whether or not I take the plunge!Who are you trying to justify the purchase to? Yourself? If so, do you really want to buy a much better car?
If you don't just feel "I want that car and I can afford it", then why waste the money?
If someone else, it's a different matter
M.
TTwiggy said:
You need something bigger and more practical, and you're considering an Eise?!? Methinks you are already lying to yourself about this potential purchase
I've discussed what to replace my MR2 Mk3 with on Pistonheads in the past few weeks and many people have said that the Elise is actually far more practical! I do find that a little hard to believe mind! kambites said:
If you'll enjoy it enough, do it. Money has no absolute value beyond the pleasure it brings to the person who's spending it.
Personally I'd be looking at a mk3 MR2 for considerably less money, though.
I already own an MR2 Mk3! And many Pistonheads have told me that an Elise is actually more practical than my little Toyota!Personally I'd be looking at a mk3 MR2 for considerably less money, though.
Biccaroo said:
I already own an MR2 Mk3! And many Pistonheads have told me that an Elise is actually more practical than my little Toyota!
Marginally, yes. If you're not sure about whether to spend the money though, I'd stick with what you have. Personally, I think the MR2 is a better drivers' car than the 350Z, Boxster or 3-series and it's not a million miles behind the Elise. LuS1fer said:
If you struggle to justify £12k to buy the car, you will most certainly struggle to justify the running costs of cars such as the M3 and Boxster if an unexpected bill arises.
Choose a car you can afford to have repaired if it goes wrong. Also bear in mind insurance and VEL costs and particularly tyres as some decent tyres may cost up to £1000 a set.
I'm not advocating one but as an example, the 2005 Mustang is now down to that level and you can service it youself using the blunt end of a fishfork so running costs are lower and depreciation is lower when you come to fund your next car. I'm sure there are other cars that fulfil this brief also but look at the big picture or understand you're taking a risk and it could end in tears.
Agreed. I've taken this all on-board already. I can afford to buy, service and insure these vehicles. The problem is justifying the purchase itself. It's a substantial amount. However, so many people these days buy cars on finance, for example. New car sales are growing all the time. A basic Ford Focus can cost more than £12k but nobody seems to question this purchase. Just look at how many new cars you see on the road every day. I refuse to believe the majority have bought this outright! So, if these people (many with families and mortgages to worry about too) can justify such elaborate expenses, why can't I?!?Choose a car you can afford to have repaired if it goes wrong. Also bear in mind insurance and VEL costs and particularly tyres as some decent tyres may cost up to £1000 a set.
I'm not advocating one but as an example, the 2005 Mustang is now down to that level and you can service it youself using the blunt end of a fishfork so running costs are lower and depreciation is lower when you come to fund your next car. I'm sure there are other cars that fulfil this brief also but look at the big picture or understand you're taking a risk and it could end in tears.
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