how much income or how much savings would you need before buying a $40K car?

[Anonymous]

I've always been surprised at how many luxury cars there are in certain poor neighborhoods. I don't understand how someone sho lives in a 150k townhouse spends 40k on a car.

We make in the low to mid 200's and 40k seems pretty average among our friend group. Many people have long commutes from our area so I understand. The most we've spent is 27k including taxes and tags. I've never been status conscience at all about a car, until I discovered the private school car pool line. For us that meant trading in our beater minivan for a bottom of the line Honda van.

In my friends's group 60k-80k would be dumb to spend on a car. The ones who spend this type of money with similiar incomes are super status conscience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are at 250k and I am never buying a new car again. DH bought a used car at my urging this year and I can't get over how he paid 17k to essentially have the same car his sister paid 45k+ for just by getting it a few years older.

this just dawned on you????

But he lost years of driving it?
How many miles when he bought?
He lost all that drivability.
Plus, his years of ownership will have more years of repairs.

You urged him to guy the same car as his sister, competitive much?
Oh, wait, you lose. You bought the OLD car.

The research is pretty overwhelming that if your sole goal is to minimize cost, buying a slightly used car and driving it into the ground is the most economical.

I get that.
She sounds like a competitive copy cat.
His sister must find he annoying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are at 250k and I am never buying a new car again. DH bought a used car at my urging this year and I can't get over how he paid 17k to essentially have the same car his sister paid 45k+ for just by getting it a few years older.

this just dawned on you????

But he lost years of driving it?
How many miles when he bought?
He lost all that drivability.
Plus, his years of ownership will have more years of repairs.

You urged him to guy the same car as his sister, competitive much?
Oh, wait, you lose. You bought the OLD car.

The research is pretty overwhelming that if your sole goal is to minimize cost, buying a slightly used car and driving it into the ground is the most economical.

Oh I agree slightly used, but what she describes is likely not.
A car that is 45K plus, doesn't go for 17K after 2 years lol.

Its not the identical make / model but both are SUVs with near identical specs. and its not 2 years - try closer to 5/6. But for a car with low mileage that we'll drive into the ground, a good call IMO. And sure, we know there will be more repairs, etc. The point is I'm not willing to pay 30k more to avoid the potential pitfalls PP describes.

5-6 Years is considerably older.
That's half the cars life. The worse half.
Not sure what the hell you find brag worthy.
Sister had six year of no repairs in that time, while your years are not so repair free.

[Anonymous]

http://www.motortrend.com/new_cars/99/40_50/pricing/

These cars seem pretty middle class to me. I feel sorry for all of you in your old beaters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:whoops, meant to make that a link: http://jalopnik.com/the-40-000-ish-tesla-model-e-will-debut-in-2015-1484079617

Tesla is awesome!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Funny, I have a similar dilemma. I have an 11-year old Mazda Protege5 and $35K in cash (after emergency fund, college savings, 401K etc) to spend on a car. I thought I'd buy Lexus CT - efficient and reliable hatchback with a little bit of a status. And then I saw Mazda3 hatchback and totally fell in love. The design, the sporty handling, the stick! And it's half the price of Lexus. Or... is the price really a positive? That's my dilemma. Should I buy the more expensive car for status (I'm pushing forty and we do have a 200+ HHI) or stick with the car I love and have some money left over? I never even thought I would be in this position, but here it goes - status is an important factor in buying a car, even for people like myself who have long managed to disregard it.

On the road, nobody cares if you drive a Mazda or Lexus. Your friends or families might talk about it for 5 min, then forget about it and go on with their lives. Buy whatever you like to please yourself.

[Anonymous]

I have a $40k car and a $60k car. Paid cash for both. Income is in the $800k range. Savings is pretty healthy. We keep cars 8-9 years, then usually sell to carmax. We do a decent amount of driving including up and down the east coast so I appreciate the comfort of these cars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Funny, I have a similar dilemma. I have an 11-year old Mazda Protege5 and $35K in cash (after emergency fund, college savings, 401K etc) to spend on a car. I thought I'd buy Lexus CT - efficient and reliable hatchback with a little bit of a status. And then I saw Mazda3 hatchback and totally fell in love. The design, the sporty handling, the stick! And it's half the price of Lexus. Or... is the price really a positive? That's my dilemma. Should I buy the more expensive car for status (I'm pushing forty and we do have a 200+ HHI) or stick with the car I love and have some money left over? I never even thought I would be in this position, but here it goes - status is an important factor in buying a car, even for people like myself who have long managed to disregard it.

On the road, nobody cares if you drive a Mazda or Lexus. Your friends or families might talk about it for 5 min, then forget about it and go on with their lives. Buy whatever you like to please yourself.

But it isn't just family or friends. When you pull into the parking lot at Balducci's/dentist/school parking lot people look at your vehicle and draw conclusions regarding your financial status. It's immediate and instinctive. People assume you have more money if they see you drive a luxury car than a cheap efficient one - they'll never know whether you leased your car or bought it for cash. And they take you more seriously if they think you have more money. Question is - what kind of impression do I want to make on people I don't even know and is it important enough to sacrifice my true preference (and 15K!) for it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:http://www.motortrend.com/new_cars/99/40_50/pricing/

These cars seem pretty middle class to me. I feel sorry for all of you in your old beaters.

Right. This is exactly the judgmental attitude I was referring to in my previous post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would never buy a $40K car. You can get a great car for half that.

I wouldn't either but then I only want to impress myself. My last vehicle I bought for cash. Paid off beats any brand or status.

+1!

+1. People should ONLY buy cars in cash. If you can't afford it, you can't afford a new car.

I'm sure someone else has already said this. But a lot of times it makes sense to take a loan and invest the money you would have used in the stock market. Most likely your ROI will be much higher than the interest rate on the loan.

[Anonymous]

I would never buy a $40K car unless I won a lottery or something. Our HHI is $170K, our only debt is $200K mortgage and we have a net worth of $1.25M. We have OK cars. We just don't believe in using our funds for luxury goods-- you never know what might happen in the future.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Funny, I have a similar dilemma. I have an 11-year old Mazda Protege5 and $35K in cash (after emergency fund, college savings, 401K etc) to spend on a car. I thought I'd buy Lexus CT - efficient and reliable hatchback with a little bit of a status. And then I saw Mazda3 hatchback and totally fell in love. The design, the sporty handling, the stick! And it's half the price of Lexus. Or... is the price really a positive? That's my dilemma. Should I buy the more expensive car for status (I'm pushing forty and we do have a 200+ HHI) or stick with the car I love and have some money left over? I never even thought I would be in this position, but here it goes - status is an important factor in buying a car, even for people like myself who have long managed to disregard it.

On the road, nobody cares if you drive a Mazda or Lexus. Your friends or families might talk about it for 5 min, then forget about it and go on with their lives. Buy whatever you like to please yourself.

But it isn't just family or friends. When you pull into the parking lot at Balducci's/dentist/school parking lot people look at your vehicle and draw conclusions regarding your financial status. It's immediate and instinctive. People assume you have more money if they see you drive a luxury car than a cheap efficient one - they'll never know whether you leased your car or bought it for cash. And they take you more seriously if they think you have more money. Question is - what kind of impression do I want to make on people I don't even know and is it important enough to sacrifice my true preference (and 15K!) for it?

True. When I see the luxury cars I think to myself-they are broke, when I see a beater I think-I bet you they are sitting on a bunch of cash and are in a great financial position.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Funny, I have a similar dilemma. I have an 11-year old Mazda Protege5 and $35K in cash (after emergency fund, college savings, 401K etc) to spend on a car. I thought I'd buy Lexus CT - efficient and reliable hatchback with a little bit of a status. And then I saw Mazda3 hatchback and totally fell in love. The design, the sporty handling, the stick! And it's half the price of Lexus. Or... is the price really a positive? That's my dilemma. Should I buy the more expensive car for status (I'm pushing forty and we do have a 200+ HHI) or stick with the car I love and have some money left over? I never even thought I would be in this position, but here it goes - status is an important factor in buying a car, even for people like myself who have long managed to disregard it.

On the road, nobody cares if you drive a Mazda or Lexus. Your friends or families might talk about it for 5 min, then forget about it and go on with their lives. Buy whatever you like to please yourself.

But it isn't just family or friends. When you pull into the parking lot at Balducci's/dentist/school parking lot people look at your vehicle and draw conclusions regarding your financial status. It's immediate and instinctive. People assume you have more money if they see you drive a luxury car than a cheap efficient one - they'll never know whether you leased your car or bought it for cash. And they take you more seriously if they think you have more money. Question is - what kind of impression do I want to make on people I don't even know and is it important enough to sacrifice my true preference (and 15K!) for it?

True. When I see the luxury cars I think to myself-they are broke, when I see a beater I think-I bet you they are sitting on a bunch of cash and are in a great financial position.

Really, I think the opposite. Lol.

[Anonymous]

Millionaire next door.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Funny, I have a similar dilemma. I have an 11-year old Mazda Protege5 and $35K in cash (after emergency fund, college savings, 401K etc) to spend on a car. I thought I'd buy Lexus CT - efficient and reliable hatchback with a little bit of a status. And then I saw Mazda3 hatchback and totally fell in love. The design, the sporty handling, the stick! And it's half the price of Lexus. Or... is the price really a positive? That's my dilemma. Should I buy the more expensive car for status (I'm pushing forty and we do have a 200+ HHI) or stick with the car I love and have some money left over? I never even thought I would be in this position, but here it goes - status is an important factor in buying a car, even for people like myself who have long managed to disregard it.

On the road, nobody cares if you drive a Mazda or Lexus. Your friends or families might talk about it for 5 min, then forget about it and go on with their lives. Buy whatever you like to please yourself.

But it isn't just family or friends. When you pull into the parking lot at Balducci's/dentist/school parking lot people look at your vehicle and draw conclusions regarding your financial status. It's immediate and instinctive. People assume you have more money if they see you drive a luxury car than a cheap efficient one - they'll never know whether you leased your car or bought it for cash. And they take you more seriously if they think you have more money. Question is - what kind of impression do I want to make on people I don't even know and is it important enough to sacrifice my true preference (and 15K!) for it?

True. When I see the luxury cars I think to myself-they are broke, when I see a beater I think-I bet you they are sitting on a bunch of cash and are in a great financial position.

Really, I think the opposite. Lol.

Agree. Hence the dilemma.