Can I really afford a sports car in a rubbish area?

[MrManual]

Hi all, long time lurker, finally decided to sign up

The dilemma is if I can afford a sports car, parking in a public car park without putting myself into a financial mess, I'll be as transparent as possible;

Take home pay after tax and deductions £2.8-3k

Outgoings: Less than £300 a month but I'm trying to save up for a house which doesn't seem likely in the near future, at least 3 years from now so thinking of getting something for the next 12 months just to tick it off

Thinking along the lines of C63/Lexus IS-F/ some Jag with the 5 litre supercharged engine or maybe even stretching to a Nissan GT-R, again this will be parked in a public car park with no CCTV which will cost around £1k a year to park.

I know this might sound a bit like how long is a piece of string and a bit of a first world problem, but I really would appreciate any advice or critique.

Thanks

Edited by MrManual on Saturday 6th April 14:52

[Steve7777]

Yes, but not also the house.

[MDMA .]

If you're only earning 45k, no. Need to be on 6 figs first

[Nickyboy]

£3k a month and only 10% of that outgoing and you're wondering if you can afford a sports car?

In 3 years would could have £60k saved for a house without breaking a sweat, buy something like a Monaro, V8 fun without the huge price tag and still plenty of scope for saving

[alorotom]

You can’t save for a house with having £2.5k a month disposable?? bks

[MrManual]

alorotom said:

You can’t save for a house with having £2.5k a month disposable?? bks

Well anything down south that is a 2 or 3 bedroom is at least £250-300k, being self employed (although the work is very steady and income doesn't vary much) makes getting a mortgage at a reasonable rate almost impossible

[Buggyjam]

If that’s your outgoings then yes you could afford it on paper. Not sure about GTR Though.How much do you have cash vs what would be a loan? I bought my car part cash, part loan. The loan is about £260 a month. With other bits and pieces and maintenance I’d say the car costs 500-700 a month without fuel,

You mention it’s a rubbish area. In what way? Crime? I wouldn’t want to part something too nice permanently in an open public car park but that’s me. CCTV will just give you some nice footage of the theft, vandalism, door bangs to watch and reminisce over.

Any garages you could rent?

[alorotom]

totally appreciate that, however even saving £2k a month and slinking he other £500-£700 would have you at £36k in 18mths which is more that a 10%deposit and that’s assuming you didn’t go down the help to buy route.

Just seems odd to say that it won’t happen in 3yrs.

I had a few pretty decent cars when living in less than great areas (R8, TTRS, S6, e30 Baur) and suffered multiple vandalisms and wouldn’t recommend it.

[MrManual]

alorotom said:

totally appreciate that, however even saving £2k a month and slinking he other £500-£700 would have you at £36k in 18mths which is more that a 10%deposit and that’s assuming you didn’t go down the help to buy route.

Just seems odd to say that it won’t happen in 3yrs.

I had a few pretty decent cars when living in less than great areas (R8, TTRS, S6, e30 Baur) and suffered multiple vandalisms and wouldn’t recommend it.

Deposit is not the issue, I've almost got £35k saved already, it's the amount I can borrow

[ChocolateFrog]

I can feel the pendentry but none of those are sports cars.

Constructively, if you're saving for a house then there's no point chucking money away in depreciation. Sounds like you like big saloons and GT cars. Plenty to choose from between about 5 and 10k that wont lose any money over 12 months.

[slipstream 1985]

Get a car that is not going to depreciate too much more ie not the jags so if you need the money for a house in 3 years you dont lose too much.. And rent a garage nearby. Job jobbed.

[Avantime]

XFRs can be bought from £10k now. Alternatively an XF SV8 is rather more understated - looks like a diesel, goes like a V8!

[MrManual]

ChocolateFrog said:

I can feel the pendentry but none of those are sports cars.

Constructively, if you're saving for a house then there's no point chucking money away in depreciation. Sounds like you like big saloons and GT cars. Plenty to choose from between about 5 and 10k that wont lose any money over 12 months.

I don't know if it's big saloons that I like, I just want something that sounds incredible and/or is a joy to drive and look at. So I'm considering everything from Honda S2000 to Jaguar XFR

[Chubbyross]

Boxster 987S. 15k will get a good one, tons of fun, unbeatable sounds and you could sell it a year later for what you paid. Parking outside in a grotty area? I wouldn’t do that with any decent car. Find a safe space to rent (local councils often rent out unused garages) and you’re sorted. Good luck and let us know what you chose.

[TheJimi]

What's the issue with the area, exactly?

[anonymous-user]

MrManual said:

alorotom said:

You can’t save for a house with having £2.5k a month disposable?? bks

Well anything down south that is a 2 or 3 bedroom is at least £250-300k, being self employed (although the work is very steady and income doesn't vary much) makes getting a mortgage at a reasonable rate almost impossible

O/T

The only way being self employed is a problem for mortgage applications is if you've not been doing it long, or you don't declare all your income. For the vast majority of people, it's the second.

[ninjag]

I'd probably go for a sleeper which can be remapped decently so as to try and be a covert as possible against the not so savvy. I'm thinking a debadged S4 or something.

[ZX10R NIN]

It's the parking that would be the issue for me but I'd go about it in a different way so I'd be going for something less likely to be attacked (I'd be more worried to come out to a car with bumpers & wheels missing etc rather than the car not being there) or stolen.

Something like the IS-F will blend in more easily & not be noticed by many so that would be my first pick:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

My next pick is a CLK63 AMG (I am bias as I own one) again these blend with ease but they have the performance (they make more BHP than the C63) to outshine most cars on the road & they're a great place to while away the hours.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Or you go in the opposite direction & get yourself something like a VXR8:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[T1547]

Chubbyross said:

Boxster 987S. 15k will get a good one, tons of fun, unbeatable sounds and you could sell it a year later for what you paid. Parking outside in a grotty area? I wouldn’t do that with any decent car. Find a safe space to rent (local councils often rent out unused garages) and you’re sorted. Good luck and let us know what you chose.

This. Sounds like you could easily afford a 15-20k sports car even if you took a loan and a boxster S would be a great choice. Lots of fun without being too flashy for parking in public car park and buy right and it should be reliable.

Tbh though my biggest concern in your position would be the parking it in the public car park. I really like to look after my cars and would spend my life stressing about it and whether it was going to get damaged. Also may be nowhere to clean it etc so have to take it to hand car washes. This would just take the shine out of the ownership experience for me. I don't know how people can have their p&j left on the street (particularly left out of sight in urban areas) and not spend their life worrying about it.

So sports car plus rent a garage would be my choice

Edited by T1547 on Sunday 7th April 09:51

[nobrakes]

ZX10R NIN said:

My next pick is a CLK63 AMG (I am bias as I own one) again these blend with ease but they have the performance (they make more BHP than the C63) to outshine most cars on the road & they're a great place to while away the hours.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

The most discrete Q /stealth production car I’ve ever seen.

Ok it’s fully badged, but you’d have to read it at least twice if you saw it (parked, as you’re not likely to be able to catch up with it).