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

[Anonymous]

I find much of this conversation to be incredibly odd, especially people's judgments about what cars say about people's financial habits and what the lifespan of a car is. I have a 2004 Acura TL. For some reason, people think my car is much newer and worth far more than it actually is just because it is a luxury vehicle. I got lucky in that my incredibly generous father wanted an upgrade, and when I was looking to buy a used car, he offered to give his old one about three years ago. I know this isn't most people's situation, and that is incredibly privileged but honestly the blue book value of my car is $7500 and it has over 100,000 miles on it. So perhaps some of those Lexuses and BMWs you see around are older and worth far less than you think. I also disagree with the assertion that the lifespan of the car has to be only 10 years. That decade old, high mileage Acura is in great shape. I think it will last another at least another 5, maybe 10+ years. As long it was maintained, I don't think a 5-6 year old used car is necessarily on its last legs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I find much of this conversation to be incredibly odd, especially people's judgments about what cars say about people's financial habits and what the lifespan of a car is. I have a 2004 Acura TL. For some reason, people think my car is much newer and worth far more than it actually is just because it is a luxury vehicle. I got lucky in that my incredibly generous father wanted an upgrade, and when I was looking to buy a used car, he offered to give his old one about three years ago. I know this isn't most people's situation, and that is incredibly privileged but honestly the blue book value of my car is $7500 and it has over 100,000 miles on it. So perhaps some of those Lexuses and BMWs you see around are older and worth far less than you think. I also disagree with the assertion that the lifespan of the car has to be only 10 years. That decade old, high mileage Acura is in great shape. I think it will last another at least another 5, maybe 10+ years. As long it was maintained, I don't think a 5-6 year old used car is necessarily on its last legs.

I agree with this - I'm the "bragging" PP with the 5/6 year older car for 17k. I still don't understand how one can even brag on an anonymous forum, but whatever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree with this - I'm the "bragging" PP with the 5/6 year older car for 17k. I still don't understand how one can even brag on an anonymous forum, but whatever.

Read more DCUM and you'll understand.

[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.

You have a $40,000 car? How much money do you have invested?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

Good. We have half your income, and spent half as much as you did on cars.

[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?

Who cares? We live next door to a family that lives like absolute paupers, but in reality they own two houses on HHI of $155K. That means they don't shop for fun, they rotate their own tires and buy only Fords. Why would I assume that because they are not consumers, they are poor?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Buy the less expensive car. Then you can be smug when you talk about it, and act all millionaire next door.

That's what we do. Works for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would need the kids through college and $5 million net worth.

Thats crazy, you sound like a miser.

I spend $3,000 a year on wine. Is that miserly?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you supposedly can't afford 40k on your income, I am wondering who drives all those expensive cars?

This thread, like so many others (making 500k while living paycheck to paycheck and wearing hand me downs) is just so much BS. People are like counting every penny while getting ready to spend 5 million dollars in tuition for some worthless degree 15 years down the road.

We make 150k and will be buying BMW X5 when our old car dies. We can buy it for cash several times over but we would never do it, certainly not with these interest rates. Our old car is 10 yo audi A4, which cost maybe 35k when we bought it. At the time we made like 90k or something, though we lived in a much cheaper area. We have no debt. I find this whole forum crazy.

What's your net worth? Do you have family money to bail you out if you lose your job? How old are you? WTH would I want to spend $40K on a car? I drive only 7,500 miles a year and I'm not out to impress anyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you supposedly can't afford 40k on your income, I am wondering who drives all those expensive cars?

This thread, like so many others (making 500k while living paycheck to paycheck and wearing hand me downs) is just so much BS. People are like counting every penny while getting ready to spend 5 million dollars in tuition for some worthless degree 15 years down the road.

We make 150k and will be buying BMW X5 when our old car dies. We can buy it for cash several times over but we would never do it, certainly not with these interest rates. Our old car is 10 yo audi A4, which cost maybe 35k when we bought it. At the time we made like 90k or something, though we lived in a much cheaper area. We have no debt. I find this whole forum crazy.

you are the one pissing tens of thousands away on a depreciating asset for no reason, and we are crazy? hey, if I was single I'd have a nice car. Might help get me girls, who knows? but I'm not trying to impress my 8 year old ...

no reason? the reason is i want to live a good life. driving nice cars is a part of that. what, i am supposed to save every penny? why? because he who saves most money wins or something? no, thanks.

I do not think that driving expensive cars is part of living a good life. I think having millions in the bank so I can tell my job to shove it any day I want is living a good life.

[Anonymous]

if you drive 90 minutes a day total, which many of us do, its ok to want to be comfortable. I get that. personally I just cannot spend too much on a car. MAYBE I'll get a 2-3 year old BMW 5 series or a 1-2 year old Volvo S60, and keep it 7+ years. Cars today should last a long time.

[Anonymous]

Most of the people on this thread sound pretty reasonable and conservative about their car buying habits. Then why do I see so many g'd Range Rovers and Porsche Cayennes and the like out here!! I swear, every other car is a Range Rover or Land Rover on the road these days...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:if you drive 90 minutes a day total, which many of us do, its ok to want to be comfortable. I get that. personally I just cannot spend too much on a car. MAYBE I'll get a 2-3 year old BMW 5 series or a 1-2 year old Volvo S60, and keep it 7+ years. Cars today should last a long time.

I spend 40 minutes a day driving. A Honda is plenty comfortable for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most of the people on this thread sound pretty reasonable and conservative about their car buying habits. Then why do I see so many g'd Range Rovers and Porsche Cayennes and the like out here!! I swear, every other car is a Range Rover or Land Rover on the road these days...

The spenders are afraid to post here lol.....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you supposedly can't afford 40k on your income, I am wondering who drives all those expensive cars?

This thread, like so many others (making 500k while living paycheck to paycheck and wearing hand me downs) is just so much BS. People are like counting every penny while getting ready to spend 5 million dollars in tuition for some worthless degree 15 years down the road.

We make 150k and will be buying BMW X5 when our old car dies. We can buy it for cash several times over but we would never do it, certainly not with these interest rates. Our old car is 10 yo audi A4, which cost maybe 35k when we bought it. At the time we made like 90k or something, though we lived in a much cheaper area. We have no debt. I find this whole forum crazy.

you are the one pissing tens of thousands away on a depreciating asset for no reason, and we are crazy? hey, if I was single I'd have a nice car. Might help get me girls, who knows? but I'm not trying to impress my 8 year old ...

no reason? the reason is i want to live a good life. driving nice cars is a part of that. what, i am supposed to save every penny? why? because he who saves most money wins or something? no, thanks.

I do not think that driving expensive cars is part of living a good life. I think having millions in the bank so I can tell my job to shove it any day I want is living a good life.

I love my job and actually fear retirement. That said I can retire right now to my home country and live a pretty comfortable life. I feel sorry for people whose main goal in life is to retire with as much money as possible.