Appropriate salary to buy a Supercar

[OMITN]

Whatsmyname said:

I enjoy being a high functioning depressive - and those that don’t get out of bed for less than 100k I took the same attitude and it was funny, people started throwing money at me even in covid times, anyway probs do £120k ish a year doing what unlike and I live on about 10% I drive an 03 Passat 150pdi with 140k on the clock.

In my mind super car = millionaire

My Passat is all I deserve in my mind.

Same (though no depression). Since my car was pinched the freedom of driving a £1500 fill-in station car has been fantastic.

Keep thinking that an old Evora might be a nice thing to have but can’t bring myself to do it. That’s about as close as I could get to owning a supercar (ie it looks a bit like one ).

Of all the supercar owners I’ve known plenty have been salaried (with bonuses), but all earn(ed) rather more than £100k pa. A colleague who’s an ex Tesco director talks about how all the Lamborghinis and Ferraris would appear when the CEO (can’t recall which one) went on his annual holiday....

[Deep Thought]

Whatsmyname said:

I enjoy being a high functioning depressive - and those that don’t get out of bed for less than 100k I took the same attitude and it was funny, people started throwing money at me even in covid times, anyway probs do £120k ish a year doing what unlike and I live on about 10% I drive an 03 Passat 150pdi with 140k on the clock.

In my mind super car = millionaire

My Passat is all I deserve in my mind.

Probably the same view RE: super car = millionaire. And even then probably you'd have to really really be in to your cars to make the effort (ie, its not a common thing to do).

[RSbandit]

OzzyR1 said:

As has been said, depends on what your situation and priorities are at the time.

When I was younger, I had a VX220 turbo then an Elise on lease deals - usual money down and £XXX/month. Enjoyed it at the time and wouldn't change my decisions looking back.

Now I have a £2.5K ST220 Mondeo day to day and an old MR2 turbo for track days, plus my R1 for when I need to clear the cobwebs out.

Folks who live next door to me just bought a 20-plate Q7, and his wife a new Range Rover Sport. He told me they were both leased but not how much the monthlies were - thinking they must be over £1K a month for the two though.

He asked me why I don't get a "better" car. Laughed it off and didn't answer but in honesty I'm happier now with what I have and owning outright than shelling out 3-4 figures a month on a lease.

Funny thing is that we all work in London, none of us have kids and (pre-Covid) they parked in the same station car-park as me 5 miles away daily and don't seem to use their cars at the weekend.

I can't fathom why they would pay that much per month just to do that.

Everyone is different though, I'm happy with my lot, they seem happy with theirs. Would be boring if we were all the same, and also if no-one bought a new car I'd be screwed for bargains in coming years!!

Having either a Q7 or RRS without kids seems fairly pointless to me never mind having both! I have a Q7 for family stuff excellent cars for that mandate but if I hadnt any kids no way I would have one.

[NickCQ]

OzzyR1 said:

Folks who live next door to me just bought a 20-plate Q7, and his wife a new Range Rover Sport. He told me they were both leased but not how much the monthlies were - thinking they must be over £1K a month for the two though.

He asked me why I don't get a "better" car

He sounds like the sort of chap I would try to avoid wasting too much time interacting with (except in pointless arguments with on PH )

[djc206]

RSbandit said:

Having either a Q7 or RRS without kids seems fairly pointless to me never mind having both! I have a Q7 for family stuff excellent cars for that mandate but if I hadnt any kids no way I would have one.

I have a RRS and no kids. I wanted something that could take a hippo bag of hedge clippings or a couple of mountain bikes without fannying around removing wheels that was comfortable. I wouldn’t be putting kids in the back of mine, they’d ruin it! I think if I had kids I’d get the cheapest car of a similar size that they could ruin without me caring too much.

[Gecko1978]

PrinceRupert said:

I suspect plenty could afford it if they didn't go mad on the mortgage and private school fees and were willing to forego decent savings/pensions.

Basically this. If i did not have 2 kids in school thats 40k a year to spend on something else.....would not be a car but when corbyn was on about closing public schools I did think hmmm range rover for the school run perhaps.

[okgo]

People must think of car payments as an essential, like a phone bill. It's the only way I can see how vast swathes of the population are happy paying out hundreds per month on BMW/Merc/Audi xxx deals.

[djc206]

okgo said:

People must think of car payments as an essential, like a phone bill. It's the only way I can see how vast swathes of the population are happy paying out hundreds per month on BMW/Merc/Audi xxx deals.

I wouldn’t have said essential but certainly many people view cars as white goods to be replaced every couple of years. When you can lease a new 1 or 2 series for £300pcm knowing the maintenance costs are next to nothing and if anything goes wrong someone else is responsible for sorting it out it doesn’t seem all that crazy.

[kingston12]

OzzyR1 said:

Folks who live next door to me just bought a 20-plate Q7, and his wife a new Range Rover Sport. He told me they were both leased but not how much the monthlies were - thinking they must be over £1K a month for the two though.

He asked me why I don't get a "better" car. Laughed it off and didn't answer but in honesty I'm happier now with what I have and owning outright than shelling out 3-4 figures a month on a lease.

Funny thing is that we all work in London, none of us have kids and (pre-Covid) they parked in the same station car-park as me 5 miles away daily and don't seem to use their cars at the weekend.

I can't fathom why they would pay that much per month just to do that.

Its just a status symbol I suppose.

I've never financed a car so I just went onto the Land Rover site to find out the cost of a Ranger Rover Sport. Without changing any of the default options or adding any extras to the car, it's £10.5k upfront and £777 per month over 3 years, so an effective monthly cost of almost £1,100 per month.

I'm sure cheaper deals are available, but those figures relate to financing a car with no options so it wouldn't be that far away.

If the Q7 costs about the same, they are paying over £2k per month for two brand new station cars. That said, it's easy enough to afford that if they've got two decent-ish salaries and pull in, say, £10k per month between them.

As you say, each to their own, but it wouldn't suit me to do that, and I'd be a bit pissed off if my neighbour suggested I should get a better car using that method!

[Shnozz]

kingston12 said:

Its just a status symbol I suppose.

I've never financed a car so I just went onto the Land Rover site to find out the cost of a Ranger Rover Sport. Without changing any of the default options or adding any extras to the car, it's £10.5k upfront and £777 per month over 3 years, so an effective monthly cost of almost £1,100 per month.

I'm sure cheaper deals are available, but those figures relate to financing a car with no options so it wouldn't be that far away.

If the Q7 costs about the same, they are paying over £2k per month for two brand new station cars. That said, it's easy enough to afford that if they've got two decent-ish salaries and pull in, say, £10k per month between them.

As you say, each to their own, but it wouldn't suit me to do that, and I'd be a bit pissed off if my neighbour suggested I should get a better car using that method!

I am often open mouthed at what some of my non-petrolhead mates pay for a utility vehicle. Nearly a grand a month for a lease on a Land Rover disco just blew my mind.

[kingston12]

Shnozz said:

I am often open mouthed at what some of my non-petrolhead mates pay for a utility vehicle. Nearly a grand a month for a lease on a Land Rover disco just blew my mind.

Don't underestimate the power of snob value. A new giant SUV on the driveway every couple of years is probably far more impressive to a lot of neighbours than something that the average enthusiast might be interested in.

Each to their own, but the problem for me is how much this method of purchase seems to have pushed up the base price of cars. I read the review of the new Fiesta ST on the PH front page on the weekend - £28k!! I remember being shocked when the top of the line Golfs breached that amount.

[Deep Thought]

djc206 said:

okgo said:

People must think of car payments as an essential, like a phone bill. It's the only way I can see how vast swathes of the population are happy paying out hundreds per month on BMW/Merc/Audi xxx deals.

I wouldn’t have said essential but certainly many people view cars as white goods to be replaced every couple of years. When you can lease a new 1 or 2 series for £300pcm knowing the maintenance costs are next to nothing and if anything goes wrong someone else is responsible for sorting it out it doesn’t seem all that crazy.

Thats pretty much it.

For most people a car is an essential. A monthly payment to cover depreciation, warranty, road tax and sometimes servicing works for a lot of people.

[djc206]

kingston12 said:

Its just a status symbol I suppose.

I've never financed a car so I just went onto the Land Rover site to find out the cost of a Ranger Rover Sport. Without changing any of the default options or adding any extras to the car, it's £10.5k upfront and £777 per month over 3 years, so an effective monthly cost of almost £1,100 per month.

I'm sure cheaper deals are available, but those figures relate to financing a car with no options so it wouldn't be that far away.

If the Q7 costs about the same, they are paying over £2k per month for two brand new station cars. That said, it's easy enough to afford that if they've got two decent-ish salaries and pull in, say, £10k per month between them.

As you say, each to their own, but it wouldn't suit me to do that, and I'd be a bit pissed off if my neighbour suggested I should get a better car using that method!

You can lease a RRS from about £650pcm, a Q7 for a little bit less, call it from £1300pcm for the pair.

[okgo]

Deep Thought said:

Thats pretty much it.

For most people a car is an essential. A monthly payment to cover depreciation, warranty, road tax and sometimes servicing works for a lot of people.

Of course it 'works' for them, because it's the only way they can buy a new car, and apparently having a new car still impresses people? (fk knows who). Much like paying 90 quid a month for the new iphone 'works' for people, because they don't have a spare grand lying about.

I bought a Golf earlier this year for 8500, it will probably work fine for a very long time and cost very little to do it, and in 3 years it's probably still worth 4 grand, obviously that's not the same as having the new orange peel special on the drive though, I must not be impressing my neighbours

[Deep Thought]

kingston12 said:

Shnozz said:

I am often open mouthed at what some of my non-petrolhead mates pay for a utility vehicle. Nearly a grand a month for a lease on a Land Rover disco just blew my mind.

Don't underestimate the power of snob value. A new giant SUV on the driveway every couple of years is probably far more impressive to a lot of neighbours than something that the average enthusiast might be interested in.

Each to their own, but the problem for me is how much this method of purchase seems to have pushed up the base price of cars. I read the review of the new Fiesta ST on the PH front page on the weekend - £28k!! I remember being shocked when the top of the line Golfs breached that amount.

From memory thats the ST Edition though. The standard ST-2 has a list price of £21.950 before discount.

For comparison, when the XR2 was launched in 1981 it had a list price of £5,500. In todays money, after inflation that translates to £21,241.

[Shnozz]

kingston12 said:

Each to their own, but the problem for me is how much this method of purchase seems to have pushed up the base price of cars. I read the review of the new Fiesta ST on the PH front page on the weekend - £28k!! I remember being shocked when the top of the line Golfs breached that amount.

The annoyance for me is that it’s these monthly deals that have allowed the RRP to rocket North as for many it’s irrelevant; only the monthly cost is of interest.

Of course the benefit of all these lease and PCP deals is a massive supply of 2-3 year old cars in the U.K. making the second hand cars extremely cheap. By contrast, I’m on a covid sabbatical in Spain right now and second hand cars here cost a fortune (double the U.K. cost for the most part). There is less appetite for pcp/lease, and very very few folks have company cars. If you do take a car loan, it’s often a straight repayment loan and the car will be kept until it dies. Very little throughput means very high s/h prices. So as others have often said, be thankful for all those who are using these deals as it supplies a heavily stocked second hand market.

[djc206]

okgo said:

Of course it 'works' for them, because it's the only way they can buy a new car, and apparently having a new car still impresses people? (fk knows who). Much like paying 90 quid a month for the new iphone 'works' for people, because they don't have a spare grand lying about.

I bought a Golf earlier this year for 8500, it will probably work fine for a very long time and cost very little to do it, and in 3 years it's probably still worth 4 grand, obviously that's not the same as having the new orange peel special on the drive though, I must not be impressing my neighbours

Most people are shallow it’s why the world is full of people with st tattoos, fake tans, odd physiques, ridiculous nails, dodgy haircuts and designer clothes etc etc Cars are often just an element of someone’s image.

I don’t get why you care so much about how other people spend their money though. If having something shiny and new on the drive gives them some sort of joy then that’s no bad thing. It’s also a nice little depreciation bomb waiting to hit the second hand market in a few years so that someone on here can buy it and then post about being financially savvy. It would appear new cars are the gift that keeps on giving!

[Deep Thought]

okgo said:

Deep Thought said:

Thats pretty much it.

For most people a car is an essential. A monthly payment to cover depreciation, warranty, road tax and sometimes servicing works for a lot of people.

Of course it 'works' for them, because it's the only way they can buy a new car, and apparently having a new car still impresses people? (fk knows who). Much like paying 90 quid a month for the new iphone 'works' for people, because they don't have a spare grand lying about.

I bought a Golf earlier this year for 8500, it will probably work fine for a very long time and cost very little to do it, and in 3 years it's probably still worth 4 grand, obviously that's not the same as having the new orange peel special on the drive though, I must not be impressing my neighbours

I dont accept the "because it impresses people" reasoning. Whos going to be impressed by a BMW these days? Whos going to think someone has splashed out their hard earned cash to buy one? If someone has a new 3 series on their driveway are the neighbours more likely to think "oh i am in awe as they've clearly spend £40,000 of their own hard earned cash on this" or are they going to think - "oh they've got the £349 deal a month that i saw advertised all over the dealers windows".

Relative to buying used - with your £8,500 Golf - as you've said yourself theres depreciation anyway (approx £120 a month assuming 50% depreciation over 3 years), maintenance, ad hoc bills, MOT, road tax. And i'm sure you're a cash buyer - isnt everybody on PH? - but for the riff raff out there theres also finance charges involved.

Probably all in its maybe £200-220 a month all in there. A new Golf can be had for around £270 a month with one payment down (probably less if i had a better root around).

It doesnt seem like a big stretch to pay an extra £50 a month, given its all wrapped up in one monthly payment?

And likewise, the prevalence of cheap new car lease deals means loads of used Golfs down the line at a decent price, so a win win for everybody, no?

[kingston12]

djc206 said:

kingston12 said:

Its just a status symbol I suppose.

I've never financed a car so I just went onto the Land Rover site to find out the cost of a Ranger Rover Sport. Without changing any of the default options or adding any extras to the car, it's £10.5k upfront and £777 per month over 3 years, so an effective monthly cost of almost £1,100 per month.

I'm sure cheaper deals are available, but those figures relate to financing a car with no options so it wouldn't be that far away.

If the Q7 costs about the same, they are paying over £2k per month for two brand new station cars. That said, it's easy enough to afford that if they've got two decent-ish salaries and pull in, say, £10k per month between them.

As you say, each to their own, but it wouldn't suit me to do that, and I'd be a bit pissed off if my neighbour suggested I should get a better car using that method!

You can lease a RRS from about £650pcm, a Q7 for a little bit less, call it from £1300pcm for the pair.

Does that include the effect of the upfront payment though? As I say, I know nothing about financing cars, but from the example above it appears that the upfront payment is a significant proportion of the cost.

[kingston12]

Deep Thought said:

kingston12 said:

Shnozz said:

I am often open mouthed at what some of my non-petrolhead mates pay for a utility vehicle. Nearly a grand a month for a lease on a Land Rover disco just blew my mind.

Don't underestimate the power of snob value. A new giant SUV on the driveway every couple of years is probably far more impressive to a lot of neighbours than something that the average enthusiast might be interested in.

Each to their own, but the problem for me is how much this method of purchase seems to have pushed up the base price of cars. I read the review of the new Fiesta ST on the PH front page on the weekend - £28k!! I remember being shocked when the top of the line Golfs breached that amount.

From memory thats the ST Edition though. The standard ST-2 has a list price of £21.950 before discount.

For comparison, when the XR2 was launched in 1981 it had a list price of £5,500. In todays money, after inflation that translates to £21,241.

When you put it like that, it seems pretty much spot on!