At what point are you affluent enough to buy a supercar?
Discussion
okgo said:
It was rather that there is one fewer person to convince that spending a lot of money on something is a good idea 
Ha ha, I see, very true.Over the years my wife and I have developed an unspoken "don't ask, don't tell" rule about my cars. She doesn't ask how much they cost, and I don't tell her. Fortunately I laid the groundwork for that years before we got married and she knows I'm obsessively careful with money. An eyebrow or two were raised when the Ferrari turned up, but to her credit she didn't make an issue out of it.
Wow this thread has some varied reply's,
I would hardly call myself affuent but have managed to own some 58 Ferrar's and 4 Lamborghini's amongst other
Italian , British exotica plus a few odd ball yanks, ,up till a couple of months ago i was driving a £1000 Lexus as my daily driver recently replaced
by a 11 year old Merc estate preferring to put my money into my toys, Luckly we all think and do things differently,
Apart from a 2 year forced abstinence due to a eye watering divorce i have driven these type of cars since i was in my twenties when i didn't even own a
house,now the wrong side of 69 and still driving the wheels off them, Suppose it all depends on your priorities as well as your wealth.
I would hardly call myself affuent but have managed to own some 58 Ferrar's and 4 Lamborghini's amongst other
Italian , British exotica plus a few odd ball yanks, ,up till a couple of months ago i was driving a £1000 Lexus as my daily driver recently replaced
by a 11 year old Merc estate preferring to put my money into my toys, Luckly we all think and do things differently,
Apart from a 2 year forced abstinence due to a eye watering divorce i have driven these type of cars since i was in my twenties when i didn't even own a
house,now the wrong side of 69 and still driving the wheels off them, Suppose it all depends on your priorities as well as your wealth.
murphyaj said:
I agree life stage is important especially regarding kids. Not a supercar, but I bought my first Aston Martin 12 years ago for cash, a DB7 Vantage which at the time was fairly exotic, and my salary was about £30k. I was doing well enough, but far from wealthy, and my colleagues didn't understand how I could afford it. Simple fact is I kept my living costs low, didn't smoke, didn't drink much, didn't buy fancy clothes, and lived in a reasonable priced house. As such I was able to direct a very large percentage of my income into the car. I was fairly young (late 20s) and had no responsibilities, so was free to do so. I was married, but my wife knew my car obsession before we tied the knot, and I was always upfront that I wanted to buy exotic cars as soon as I could and she trusted me never to overstretch our finances to do so, thus she never took issue with it.
I do disagree with the idea that being single makes it easier though. This isn't the 1950s, and I don't go out to work and leave my wife to lounge around all day spending my money. She has a job, and that job contributes towards our household expenses. I have more disposable income because I am married, not less. (I do, however, have a s
t-ton less disposable income because I have a child!)
Simlar here, my Maserati cost me about 2 years' take home. My wife was earning though, about twice what I did, and I'd made a conscious decision to relocate to Devon and half my salary for her, so it was a joint decision. No kids, I had a house before we were married that was rented out, this covered the car costs. Eventually the shine of ownership wore off, and when use dropped to the level where we could have got a taxi cheaper than the amount we used it, it went.I do disagree with the idea that being single makes it easier though. This isn't the 1950s, and I don't go out to work and leave my wife to lounge around all day spending my money. She has a job, and that job contributes towards our household expenses. I have more disposable income because I am married, not less. (I do, however, have a s
t-ton less disposable income because I have a child!)Now a few years down the line, retired and living on savings/investments/pensions, we could afford to buy and run a 570 or similar, but we'd never use it. She hardly uses her Z4M now we have a dog, I take the bikes out every few weeks to keep them going, But being able to splash out on a new lawn tractor, pick up another project vehicle, get a workshop built, buy nicer wine, go out for a meal, and soak up a £2500 hike in the energy bill, all these are things we'd rather do than own a supercar.
And that's where the affluence comes in, you are rich enough to own a supercar when the buying and running costs don't impact other things you want to do or cause you concern about using it. What is a more important question is "can you get in and out of the bugger without groaning?"
And as for Finance - that's simply borrowing from your future self
murphyaj said:
okgo said:
It was rather that there is one fewer person to convince that spending a lot of money on something is a good idea
Ha ha, I see, very true.Over the years my wife and I have developed an unspoken "don't ask, don't tell" rule about my cars. She doesn't ask how much they cost, and I don't tell her. Fortunately I laid the groundwork for that years before we got married and she knows I'm obsessively careful with money. An eyebrow or two were raised when the Ferrari turned up, but to her credit she didn't make an issue out of it.
She doesent have a unattached sister by any chance. 
Edited by rat rod on Wednesday 2nd November 10:36
I see the BOE are reversing quantitive easing, I think in a nutshell that means the end of cheap money. On the downside obviously this will mean people won't borrow against property (mortgage) to finance cars so much. But on the upside it might make car prices a bit more realistic. I appreciate the supply is still poor but the retained value in some cars especially Porsche is just daft.
murphyaj said:
I do disagree with the idea that being single makes it easier though. This isn't the 1950s, and I don't go out to work and leave my wife to lounge around all day spending my money. She has a job, and that job contributes towards our household expenses. I have more disposable income because I am married, not less. (I do, however, have a st-ton less disposable income because I have a child!)
Probably a view from the ‘Victorian era; but here we go. My wife has no interest in cars but let’s me have anything I want as she knows I’m not impacting our financial security. It was only after I finally persuaded her to pack in work 10 years ago I started spending heavily on the cars… before that it always felt to me that all the hours she worked barely covered what the cars I lusted after cost to buy/run. A feeling of affluence to me is that I can fully support my family (having no kids helps I’m sure) without subsidy from my other half- not saying she’s a trophy wife spending her all her days buying high heels and handbags - but she can if she wants. I.e. only once I’d achieved this point in life financially did I feel I could reward myself with my poster cars. In effect, that’s my own feeling of affluence. I guess it will mean different things to different people.t-ton less disposable income because I have a child!) rat rod said:
Wow this thread has some varied reply's,
I would hardly call myself affuent but have managed to own some 58 Ferrar's and 4 Lamborghini's amongst other
Italian , British exotica plus a few odd ball yanks, ,up till a couple of months ago i was driving a £1000 Lexus as my daily driver recently replaced
by a 11 year old Merc estate preferring to put my money into my toys, Luckly we all think and do things differently,
Apart from a 2 year forced abstinence due to a eye watering divorce i have driven these type of cars since i was in my twenties when i didn't even own a
house,now the wrong side of 69 and still driving the wheels off them, Suppose it all depends on your priorities as well as your wealth.
I seem to recall you owning a DB6 or an E-Type or similar whilst a teenager, so I would wager that you are relatively affluent.I would hardly call myself affuent but have managed to own some 58 Ferrar's and 4 Lamborghini's amongst other
Italian , British exotica plus a few odd ball yanks, ,up till a couple of months ago i was driving a £1000 Lexus as my daily driver recently replaced
by a 11 year old Merc estate preferring to put my money into my toys, Luckly we all think and do things differently,
Apart from a 2 year forced abstinence due to a eye watering divorce i have driven these type of cars since i was in my twenties when i didn't even own a
house,now the wrong side of 69 and still driving the wheels off them, Suppose it all depends on your priorities as well as your wealth.
Edited to add: It was actually that you had a DB4 and E-Type at the same time, so I would still argue that's pretty affluent
.Edited by SpunkyGlory on Wednesday 2nd November 14:44
SpunkyGlory said:
rat rod said:
Wow this thread has some varied reply's,
I would hardly call myself affuent but have managed to own some 58 Ferrar's and 4 Lamborghini's amongst other
Italian , British exotica plus a few odd ball yanks, ,up till a couple of months ago i was driving a £1000 Lexus as my daily driver recently replaced
by a 11 year old Merc estate preferring to put my money into my toys, Luckly we all think and do things differently,
Apart from a 2 year forced abstinence due to a eye watering divorce i have driven these type of cars since i was in my twenties when i didn't even own a
house,now the wrong side of 69 and still driving the wheels off them, Suppose it all depends on your priorities as well as your wealth.
I seem to recall you owning a DB6 or an E-Type or similar whilst a teenage, so I would wager that you are relatively affulent.I would hardly call myself affuent but have managed to own some 58 Ferrar's and 4 Lamborghini's amongst other
Italian , British exotica plus a few odd ball yanks, ,up till a couple of months ago i was driving a £1000 Lexus as my daily driver recently replaced
by a 11 year old Merc estate preferring to put my money into my toys, Luckly we all think and do things differently,
Apart from a 2 year forced abstinence due to a eye watering divorce i have driven these type of cars since i was in my twenties when i didn't even own a
house,now the wrong side of 69 and still driving the wheels off them, Suppose it all depends on your priorities as well as your wealth.
SpunkyGlory said:
I seem to recall you owning a DB6 or an E-Type or similar whilst a teenager, so I would wager that you are relatively affluent.
Edited to add: It was actually that you had a DB4 and E-Type at the same time, so I would still argue that's pretty affluent.
If you call £480 for my first E Type and £750 for the DB4 with nowhere to live affuient,Edited to add: It was actually that you had a DB4 and E-Type at the same time, so I would still argue that's pretty affluent
.Edited by SpunkyGlory on Wednesday 2nd November 14:44
The E Type was quick but didn't like stopping and on a prayer and a wing if i made it round
a fast corner or even a slow one for that matter but it was taxed and mot'd and it was a E Type.
The DB4 had no clutch and the heavy drivers door was hanging on one hinge so had to slide across
to the passengers side for a few months while i got some money together to fix it,
Owed me around £1250 all in which was 2 average E Types at the time.
2 DB6's came later , 1 being a manual vantage needing a repaint but the best one i'd ever driven
Now it would be classed as a surviver or the fashional rat look but back then it was just another scruffy Aston,
the 2nd one was automatic with a standard engine on SU carburetters and would get beaten from the lights by
a MG 1300 driven by miss Daisy. didn't keep it long and was replaced by a DBS which was even slower,
,paid around £2,500 for each for the DB6's
First Ferrari was £4,800 and a whopping £12K for a Dino and £6K for a flared arched winged Pantera , I could bore you and
go on forever. I cried like a baby when i had to sell them to buy my first house for £24K but i suppose you have to grow up
at sometime , i expect this story is familiar to all the other old gits on this forum
Edited by rat rod on Wednesday 2nd November 16:27
To put rat rod's post into perspective, the Pantera he once owned is up for grabs at a dealer in North Yorkshire for (wait for it) £179, 950...!
https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1499050
It's all relative
https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1499050
It's all relative
Drl22 said:
DRZ said:
If you're smart enough to get into a position to have the cash sitting there then unless you're stratospherically wealthy to the point where money has largely become meaningless then tying up huge sums of money in a car is pretty silly. Make that money work for you elsewhere...
My example is that basically I've traded a long term position for a shorter term one. My Mum became terminally ill and my Dad was diagnosed with cancer, robbing both of them of their retirement. It doesn't matter if they had £1 or £1bn in the bank, they can't enjoy the retirement they worked their entire lives toward. I don't want to put off enjoyment until some future date I might not make it to. So, I have chosen a different path.
All of the supercar money (and then some) has gone into some investments and the return is more than the finance on the car. My net worth (assets vs liabilities) is maybe enough to have a nice-ish suburban semi mortgage-free and maybe that'll be a position I return to if/when it all goes massively wrong. Until then, I'm living the life I want to live **NOW** - I could be dead tomorrow.
Precisely, without coming across too pistonheads I could afford to buy all my cars 5 maybe six times over and that’s without liquifying much. You either have to be mega wealthy, old, shortsighted or in a high interest environment to be an I only pay cash person. That said, depending on new quotes as they come up over the next couple of years, I might start paying them off. My example is that basically I've traded a long term position for a shorter term one. My Mum became terminally ill and my Dad was diagnosed with cancer, robbing both of them of their retirement. It doesn't matter if they had £1 or £1bn in the bank, they can't enjoy the retirement they worked their entire lives toward. I don't want to put off enjoyment until some future date I might not make it to. So, I have chosen a different path.
All of the supercar money (and then some) has gone into some investments and the return is more than the finance on the car. My net worth (assets vs liabilities) is maybe enough to have a nice-ish suburban semi mortgage-free and maybe that'll be a position I return to if/when it all goes massively wrong. Until then, I'm living the life I want to live **NOW** - I could be dead tomorrow.
One's stage in life is a big factor: as I grow a business and put three kids through school and uni, I can't justify the outlay anymore. The M5/S8-type family wagons got replaced by a 335 diesel (which it turns out is actually not terrible) and the GT3 race car got replaced by a motorbike (more thrills more of the time!). I guess I'm looking for a lot more value these days and a more conservative financial buffer.
If the business takes off, I'd consider adding to the 4 wheeled stable again, but even then I find it hard to justify getting anything more than a Lotus Emira which does 95% of a supercar for <50% of the cost.
P5BNij said:
To put rat rod's post into perspective, the Pantera he once owned is up for grabs at a dealer in North Yorkshire for (wait for it) £179, 950...!
https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1499050
It's all relative
No that one i paid £16,500 for ,plain Jane car with no flares or wing but many seem to like them more like thathttps://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1499050
It's all relative
now they have become a classic ,only 24,000 miles and uk rhd car .the daft thing is i probably overpayed for it at the time .
Zadkiel said:
I'm glad to finally see someone post something like this in here, because I'm always baffled by all the people saying the originally quoted. To use the Legal and General example (not to pick on that specific one), if Mr Financial Genius had decided to buy a bunch of those shares on Jan 1st and finance his supercar instead of using the cash he had then he'd be down 25% on his shares plus worse off by the interest rate he'd been paying the whole time for his clever move. Sitting there ruing the decision I imagine. I'm not passing judgement on the decision to use finance or pay cash based on people's individual circumstances but the whole "clever people finance even if they have the money" always seemed more like a thing people say who think that is correct rather than an actual truth of people in the position.
I'm definitely not Mr Financial Genius however might I suggest that perhaps there's more to investing than shares? There's even just opportunity cost if you've tied up significant chunks of cash in a car when you didn't have to. As someone with a v small business, that might not be an inconsiderable factor too...All I am saying here is that I've invested more than the cost of the car elsewhere and each and every month I am able to pay the car bill proportionally with the returns. Is it risky? In my view, no less risky than an index tracker or similar.
Ultimately, everyone is free to do what they want with their money. I'm not wealthy enough to have that sort of money tied up in the car and not working for me elsewhere
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