At what point are you affluent enough to buy a supercar?
Discussion
Evening all. Happy Friday and all that.
Posting this here as this is where I assume most of the people capable of or present owners of supercars hang out.
Not sure whether this has been asked before, but I suppose it's a natural thought when onlookers see someone driving a supercar to briefly wonder what sort of financial situation these people are in.
Like anything in life, there'll be a spread: everything from those living in their childhood bedroom with the supercar on the drive next to their parents' MPV to the person who wouldn't bat an eyelid at the £30k bill their fourth supercar has just thrown. Those are presumably the extremes, but I'm curious about the approximate median position of the owners of these kind of cars.
So, assuming you're eying up a supercar purchase. How would you purchase it? If there were a finance element of the payment, what kind of figure per month would you be comfortable with and have minimal impact on the rest of your finances?, Or I guess a better way would be if you were to consolidate the entire running costs of the car into one figure, do you measure that against your net income figure i.e. no more than x% of my net monthly income on a car?
Let's say that same car throws a £30k bill. Are you wiring the money immediately? Do you need to liquidate some funds? Are you considering taking a loan to cover or even selling the car?
Hope this doesn't come across as, "Oi, you Ferrari drivers... how do you afford that?" I'm just curious as to what level you felt you needed to get to before you were happy with the potentially very high costs of running a supercar.
Appreciate any responses, and hoping it doesn't turn into a turbocharged wallet off between you 6'7, stair dominating powerhouses of industry
Posting this here as this is where I assume most of the people capable of or present owners of supercars hang out.
Not sure whether this has been asked before, but I suppose it's a natural thought when onlookers see someone driving a supercar to briefly wonder what sort of financial situation these people are in.
Like anything in life, there'll be a spread: everything from those living in their childhood bedroom with the supercar on the drive next to their parents' MPV to the person who wouldn't bat an eyelid at the £30k bill their fourth supercar has just thrown. Those are presumably the extremes, but I'm curious about the approximate median position of the owners of these kind of cars.
So, assuming you're eying up a supercar purchase. How would you purchase it? If there were a finance element of the payment, what kind of figure per month would you be comfortable with and have minimal impact on the rest of your finances?, Or I guess a better way would be if you were to consolidate the entire running costs of the car into one figure, do you measure that against your net income figure i.e. no more than x% of my net monthly income on a car?
Let's say that same car throws a £30k bill. Are you wiring the money immediately? Do you need to liquidate some funds? Are you considering taking a loan to cover or even selling the car?
Hope this doesn't come across as, "Oi, you Ferrari drivers... how do you afford that?" I'm just curious as to what level you felt you needed to get to before you were happy with the potentially very high costs of running a supercar.
Appreciate any responses, and hoping it doesn't turn into a turbocharged wallet off between you 6'7, stair dominating powerhouses of industry
Thanks for the replies everyone. It's interesting to note people's views.
. I think I'll just kick the arse out of the mortgage for another year or two and reconsider.
I'm assuming we're all here as we love cars, and supercars represent the pinnacle of that passion. For me they also represent success, achievement, determination and so on. When I imagine sitting at a dealership, clasping that prancing horse-adorned steering wheel about to drive away, it won't feel the same for me if it's leased. I want to know it's all mine. And for purchases as emotional as supercars, everything has to be right to commit to it. Appreciate everyone's different. No judgement here.
fflump said:
If you go down the financed new/nearly new route with a warranty and service plan then the only requirement for supercar ownership is an income high enough that the monthlies don't hurt. Accrued wealth is less of an issue.
If you're inclined to buy outright, especially out of warranty, then being able to meet a £30k bill with a shrug of the shoulders rather than sleepless nights is probably the main qualification.
I think this is probably the nail on the head, isn't it? Suck up the dead money of the monthlies, but know that the blast radius of the car is much more contained; or be patient and wait until you can purchase it outright. Despite my hoping for pearls of wisdom that is the reality of the situation If you're inclined to buy outright, especially out of warranty, then being able to meet a £30k bill with a shrug of the shoulders rather than sleepless nights is probably the main qualification.
. I think I'll just kick the arse out of the mortgage for another year or two and reconsider.Aventador 700 said:
There’s an element of this that will fuel this this thread.
tides are turning with regard to free money, people could never really afford supercars, they were leant the cars, that is all.
Now lending is more limited they’ll be some sore ex renters, they’ll come out saying “yeah, been there, seen it and done it”
You havent imo, you never actually owned one yourself, its a very different experience if you’ve had the patience to wait & earned the money to own it yourself, far more meaning in it than just signing a piece of paper and paying monthlies on someone elses car, not looking for an argument on it, its just how i see it and deliberately didn’t do it the finance way for these reasons, quick wins are not very satisfying, the depth of the experience equals the pain gone through, as with many things in life..
To be honest, I agree with this.tides are turning with regard to free money, people could never really afford supercars, they were leant the cars, that is all.
Now lending is more limited they’ll be some sore ex renters, they’ll come out saying “yeah, been there, seen it and done it”
You havent imo, you never actually owned one yourself, its a very different experience if you’ve had the patience to wait & earned the money to own it yourself, far more meaning in it than just signing a piece of paper and paying monthlies on someone elses car, not looking for an argument on it, its just how i see it and deliberately didn’t do it the finance way for these reasons, quick wins are not very satisfying, the depth of the experience equals the pain gone through, as with many things in life..
I'm assuming we're all here as we love cars, and supercars represent the pinnacle of that passion. For me they also represent success, achievement, determination and so on. When I imagine sitting at a dealership, clasping that prancing horse-adorned steering wheel about to drive away, it won't feel the same for me if it's leased. I want to know it's all mine. And for purchases as emotional as supercars, everything has to be right to commit to it. Appreciate everyone's different. No judgement here.
DeejRC said:
Have you stopped worrying about how much the wife/daughter/MiL are spending on 4 legged horses? Then you can afford a prancing pony.
Fortunately no kids and the misses has a job, so she can cover her own expensive hobbies Zadkiel said:
Hedgeman said:
If you're smart enough to be confident of generating reliable year on year post-tax investment returns in excess of the APR on supercar finance (8% ?), then you should give up your day job or current business and start managing money professionally. You will have investors queuing at your door, will soon be stratospherically wealthy yourself and buying your cars for cash. The trouble is most people can't, and going long the S&P a few years ago or getting lucky timing when buying a few bitcoin doesn't really count.
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.Edited by rawenghey on Wednesday 2nd November 08:39
Man of gas said:
Wow, that’s a very refreshing post and gives me hope for the future. I earn more than 3 times your salary yet am nowhere near being able to trade in my 10 year old XKR for a Mclaren 570/720 that I have been dreaming of for the last few years.I am presuming you don’t have the same level of family outgoings that I do but even so I salute your pistonheads credentials
Wow, 300 grand is a big income man. Sounds like you have kids or an expensive (ex)misses ex-devonpaul said:
Some people will always sacrifice to buy things they want, cars at any level are usually a compromise or sacrifice.
Depends what sorts of compromise. If the compromise is taking the family for Sunday lunch at Harvester rather than The Ivy, or swapping 10 days in Lanzarote rather than 5* all inclusive in the Sychelles in order to run a 458 rather than a 4 Series, that's not too bad a choice if you really want the car. Sitting huddled around in jumpers instead of putting the heating on because you have a new M3 outisde rather than a Mazda is perhaps a sacrifice I wouldn't make, although given the number of late model german cars visitng the local foodbanks in 200/21 I suspect it was a choice many people didn't expect to have to make when they signed the finance agreement.
If it is drinkiing Cote de Rhone instead of CdP, only having 2 holidays a year rather than 3, having a 6 year old runabout rather than a 3 year old, keeping your carpets and sofa for 5 years rather than 3 because the wife says "Aubergine is so passe", or gods forbid not replacing your teenager's £1200 iphone because the new one is a sooooo much nicer shade of white, then these are less of a sacrifice.
People have different priorities, I've known people 'do without' in order to pay 4 figure vet bills on a 14 year old cat, rather than put it to sleep for a tenner and adopt a new one, and don't even consider a Marine aquarium if cost is a factor.
You're affluant enought to buy/own/run anything once you decide that any modifications you make to accommodate it are outweighed by the benefits of owning it.
Yeah, that's pretty bang on isn't it.Depends what sorts of compromise. If the compromise is taking the family for Sunday lunch at Harvester rather than The Ivy, or swapping 10 days in Lanzarote rather than 5* all inclusive in the Sychelles in order to run a 458 rather than a 4 Series, that's not too bad a choice if you really want the car. Sitting huddled around in jumpers instead of putting the heating on because you have a new M3 outisde rather than a Mazda is perhaps a sacrifice I wouldn't make, although given the number of late model german cars visitng the local foodbanks in 200/21 I suspect it was a choice many people didn't expect to have to make when they signed the finance agreement.
If it is drinkiing Cote de Rhone instead of CdP, only having 2 holidays a year rather than 3, having a 6 year old runabout rather than a 3 year old, keeping your carpets and sofa for 5 years rather than 3 because the wife says "Aubergine is so passe", or gods forbid not replacing your teenager's £1200 iphone because the new one is a sooooo much nicer shade of white, then these are less of a sacrifice.
People have different priorities, I've known people 'do without' in order to pay 4 figure vet bills on a 14 year old cat, rather than put it to sleep for a tenner and adopt a new one, and don't even consider a Marine aquarium if cost is a factor.
You're affluant enought to buy/own/run anything once you decide that any modifications you make to accommodate it are outweighed by the benefits of owning it.
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