Ever bought a car you couldn't really afford.
Discussion
Quite often i find myself looking through the classifieds and look at my "realistic" dream cars, I'm not talking anything silly, but i have always loved the idea of owning a C63, and whilst i know that saving over a period of time could achieve that (a long time for me, Bus driver salary) I also have to take into consideration that a big repair on something like that could put me into a financial mess that i more than likely couldn't afford to repair.
I guess my question here is, Has anyone ever bought a realistic dream car that they knew could throw up potentially massive bills if it went wrong and regretted it?
Or even bought something and it being the best thing you ever did? And not been anywhere near as bad as you thought?
I guess my question here is, Has anyone ever bought a realistic dream car that they knew could throw up potentially massive bills if it went wrong and regretted it?
Or even bought something and it being the best thing you ever did? And not been anywhere near as bad as you thought?
I could probably "afford" a relatively expensive car, but personally I'm more interested in getting a bigger/better/nicer house than the one I have so instead of spending up to £1000 a month on a car payment I'd rather just put that in my savings instead.
I hope one day to be in a house that I consider really nice, that I don't feel a need to move from. At that point I'd put efforts into getting a "dream" car of some sort.
Also I wouldn't be worried about getting a massive bill because realistically I'd get something modern from a main dealer with a comprehensive warranty thrown in.
I hope one day to be in a house that I consider really nice, that I don't feel a need to move from. At that point I'd put efforts into getting a "dream" car of some sort.
Also I wouldn't be worried about getting a massive bill because realistically I'd get something modern from a main dealer with a comprehensive warranty thrown in.
Life is too short to not take some risks.
No car is worth ruining yourself financially, however you should be able to make an educated guess if it's achievable or not. Do the homework on forums/owners clubs.
Over the years I've had huge regrets over cars (haven't we all). My dream car was/is a Mk4 Supra TT6. I could have bought one when they were sub £15k, but that ship has well and truly sailed. I've always played it safe, 330ci over M3, Focus ST over an RS etc. It has resulted in me changing cars often and if I had just bought the car I really wanted, then I would likely of kept it longer and perhaps been financially better off for it.
No car is worth ruining yourself financially, however you should be able to make an educated guess if it's achievable or not. Do the homework on forums/owners clubs.
Over the years I've had huge regrets over cars (haven't we all). My dream car was/is a Mk4 Supra TT6. I could have bought one when they were sub £15k, but that ship has well and truly sailed. I've always played it safe, 330ci over M3, Focus ST over an RS etc. It has resulted in me changing cars often and if I had just bought the car I really wanted, then I would likely of kept it longer and perhaps been financially better off for it.
I bought a jag XK8. A cheap one. To be honest I should have walked away but the v8 noise just sucked me in.
In the 2 years I had it I did 200 miles, it cost me north of £3000 in repairs and by the time I got rid had some pretty good rot going in too.
It took nearly all my 'disposable' income, so in the end I had to just get rid. Annoyingly someone emailed me a few years ago, he'd bought it for peanuts from an auction, sorted the rot out and a few other bits and was very happy with it.
Never again though. Quite happy buying vehicles within my means now and being able to afford to do stuff with them.
In the 2 years I had it I did 200 miles, it cost me north of £3000 in repairs and by the time I got rid had some pretty good rot going in too.
It took nearly all my 'disposable' income, so in the end I had to just get rid. Annoyingly someone emailed me a few years ago, he'd bought it for peanuts from an auction, sorted the rot out and a few other bits and was very happy with it.
Never again though. Quite happy buying vehicles within my means now and being able to afford to do stuff with them.
M.F.D said:
I've always played it safe, 330ci over M3, Focus ST over an RS etc. It has resulted in me changing cars often and if I had just bought the car I really wanted, then I would likely of kept it longer and perhaps been financially better off for it.
Or perhaps you would have had a vanos failure on the M3 or the head gasket go on the RS and regretted that instead 
Al U said:
Or perhaps you would have had a vanos failure on the M3 or the head gasket go on the RS and regretted that instead
Perhaps, or I could be siting in a Supra with values chasing £100k.The 330ci become almost worthless and the ST could have suffered block problems. All if, but's and maybe's. My point is, if you can afford to pull the trigger on your dream, go for it.
I think every time I buy a car I go into it knowing that two or three big bills will financially cripple me. I don’t have a huge salary, never have done but I really enjoy cars.
I’ve had W204 C63, E90 M3, E46 M3s, Golf R32s, 335ds, X5s etc
However I always buy on condition, and in 23 years of motoring my biggest single garage bill from memory is £1400 for an Inspection 2 on my 1st e46 M3 in 2009.
Most of the cars I’ve owned for 12-18 months, and I’ve enjoyed them knowing a bill could break me. I’d rather run the risk and enjoy the cars than regret not buying over worrying about things that might happen. If I chose the latter outlook I’d have never owned and enjoyed 95% of the cars I have
I’ve had W204 C63, E90 M3, E46 M3s, Golf R32s, 335ds, X5s etc
However I always buy on condition, and in 23 years of motoring my biggest single garage bill from memory is £1400 for an Inspection 2 on my 1st e46 M3 in 2009.
Most of the cars I’ve owned for 12-18 months, and I’ve enjoyed them knowing a bill could break me. I’d rather run the risk and enjoy the cars than regret not buying over worrying about things that might happen. If I chose the latter outlook I’d have never owned and enjoyed 95% of the cars I have
Not me but my brother. He and his girlfriend had just bought a house where they had stretched themselves on the mortgage (within budget but by a hair’s breadth) had had to borrow from family to top up the deposit which they were paying back interest free but over a short term. He sees a Boxter in the spec he’d always wanted, got a loan and bought it without telling his girlfriend. It went down as well as could be expected given everything else…
We were out for a few drinks and he told me about the effect on his monthly budget. It wasn’t even a big bill that would have screwed him. After the monthly loan payment, tax and insurance, if he had to fill it up twice in a month instead of once he was in the red by 50-60 quid. He sold it on after 6 months
We were out for a few drinks and he told me about the effect on his monthly budget. It wasn’t even a big bill that would have screwed him. After the monthly loan payment, tax and insurance, if he had to fill it up twice in a month instead of once he was in the red by 50-60 quid. He sold it on after 6 months
Robberto said:
Not me but my brother. He and his girlfriend had just bought a house where they had stretched themselves on the mortgage (within budget but by a hair’s breadth) had had to borrow from family to top up the deposit which they were paying back interest free but over a short term. He sees a Boxter in the spec he’d always wanted, got a loan and bought it without telling his girlfriend. It went down as well as could be expected given everything else…
We were out for a few drinks and he told me about the effect on his monthly budget. It wasn’t even a big bill that would have screwed him. After the monthly loan payment, tax and insurance, if he had to fill it up twice in a month instead of once he was in the red by 50-60 quid. He sold it on after 6 months
But at least he got to experience it for 6 months. We were out for a few drinks and he told me about the effect on his monthly budget. It wasn’t even a big bill that would have screwed him. After the monthly loan payment, tax and insurance, if he had to fill it up twice in a month instead of once he was in the red by 50-60 quid. He sold it on after 6 months
I'm probably a serial offender for getting over-ambitious with car purchases, but I've always regretted things I didn't do more than I've ever regretted things I did!
Better than wondering "what if".
Robberto said:
Not me but my brother. He and his girlfriend had just bought a house where they had stretched themselves on the mortgage (within budget but by a hair’s breadth) had had to borrow from family to top up the deposit which they were paying back interest free but over a short term. He sees a Boxter in the spec he’d always wanted, got a loan and bought it without telling his girlfriend. It went down as well as could be expected given everything else…
We were out for a few drinks and he told me about the effect on his monthly budget. It wasn’t even a big bill that would have screwed him. After the monthly loan payment, tax and insurance, if he had to fill it up twice in a month instead of once he was in the red by 50-60 quid. He sold it on after 6 months
Where I live, borrowing money for a mortgage deposit is illegal and comes with potential prison time. I’m fairly sure it’s taken seriously in the UK because you are borrowing money on a bank asset without telling them. We were out for a few drinks and he told me about the effect on his monthly budget. It wasn’t even a big bill that would have screwed him. After the monthly loan payment, tax and insurance, if he had to fill it up twice in a month instead of once he was in the red by 50-60 quid. He sold it on after 6 months
Anyway, having said that I wish I was more of a risk taker. I went to a car show today and it was a group of could have been a for me.
I bought a Skyline R32 GT-R directly imported from Japan a long time back. It was the biggest hunk of s
t I've ever owned and genuine nightmare. Everything broke, many of the things I'd never even heard of.
After that no way would I ever consider a potential money pit unless I was fully funded for every possible eventuality if it turned out to be a real money pit.
It's just a car. It's not worth upending other parts of your life because of one. If you're super confident of condition then that's something but that's still no guarantee for something getting on in age.
t I've ever owned and genuine nightmare. Everything broke, many of the things I'd never even heard of. After that no way would I ever consider a potential money pit unless I was fully funded for every possible eventuality if it turned out to be a real money pit.
It's just a car. It's not worth upending other parts of your life because of one. If you're super confident of condition then that's something but that's still no guarantee for something getting on in age.
Once or twice I've stumped for finance on cars, and each time, the cars were reaching the end of their usable life before the finance was paid off, despite my best efforts. I decided after the last one, I wasn't going to do that any more, and I was going to stick with my proven cash purchased barges.
I am sure, there will be a point in the future where I go out and spend big on a car (and I might even borrow for it), but it'll probably be the last thing I do, after getting my house sorted, debts paid down etc.
Many here do overstretch themselves, sometimes for the wrong reasons. I think a lot of people like to portray a certain image.
I am sure, there will be a point in the future where I go out and spend big on a car (and I might even borrow for it), but it'll probably be the last thing I do, after getting my house sorted, debts paid down etc.
Many here do overstretch themselves, sometimes for the wrong reasons. I think a lot of people like to portray a certain image.
phumy said:
The amount of people you see on this site asking why parts are so expensive for their newly purchaced vehicle, they obviously dont do due diligence in their car buying experience.
So to answer the question, loads of people on here buy cars well over their means.
That’s often the problem. If you can just about afford the car then you’re going to be in the red if it goes wrong. Porsches are a good example. You can pick up a cheap Boxster for five grand but you might be faced with a bill for the same amount in the first year of ownership. So to answer the question, loads of people on here buy cars well over their means.
I have done in the past.
There seems to be a load of people who over reach when buying cars. just trawl through auto trader and have a look at the tyres. Performance cars or fast family stuff with cheap tyres fitted. It's always something I look at and for me, gives a good indicator to how the vehicle has been looked after.
There seems to be a load of people who over reach when buying cars. just trawl through auto trader and have a look at the tyres. Performance cars or fast family stuff with cheap tyres fitted. It's always something I look at and for me, gives a good indicator to how the vehicle has been looked after.
Closest I've been was when I bought my 645ci in 2013; got the car for a really good price but didn't exactly have a robust contingency fund for any issues that were likely to come up, although I did go in with my eyes open so I had a good idea of what to expect. It didn't ruin me, but it did have a few issues over the 3 years I had it that weren't exactly cheap to fix. Out of all my cars I miss that one the most.
When I bought my Exige I was only on 36k pa, so probably on the limit of what was affordable and/or sensible. That said, excepting tyres a couple of times a year there was very little additional expenditure over and above the 'monthlies'. Young and single(ish) means different priorities.
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