Champagne Taste and Beer Money Syndrome ?

I do hope one day to own a Nissan GTR but thats about it, nothing else really takes my fancy, if I could afford a 100k car I'd still probably buy a GTR.

Hehe, I'd love one too but I think I prefer the R34 over the new R35 GTR :eek:, looks wise anyhow. Awesome cars though imo, go fast with little effort.



Saying all that, I remember one quite expensive car I'd love to have, the Brabus Rocket.
 
If you're earning an average-ish salary, ideally share your home, and don't mind a) saving your money fastidiously for a few years and b) waiting so your dream isn't close to brand new, there's nothing stopping most people owning their 50-100k dream car, because at 6/7 years old it should be affordable on a 25-30k income, which is where a large majority of people earn (median salary is ~27k, meaning a true average is close by, allowing for the skew/long tail effect of outlying individuals).

I.e. if they save £350 a month (pretty reasonable assuming you take home ~£1,800 a month), most people can afford to buy a 70k Porsche if the value drops to low 20 thousands in a period of about 5 or 5 and a half years.

Make your goals stretching, but realistic. You're never going to afford the top 5% of cars, but there's some pretty nice metal that will depreciate into your price range just outside of that if you're prepared to be a little patient.

I've got my sights set, in the next few years, on a course that looks something roughly like M3/Z4M > some form of 911 > GTR > better 911 > outlandish car (e.g. Ultima GTR) + a more sedate weekday option. Thinking about my projected salary (teacher pay scale + any management things I decide to go into), I think with hard work, careful financing and effort (and possibly a partner :p) they are realistic, but stretching, goals relative to my circumstances.
 
Why does everyone seem to think that to own a particular car you simply need to be able to afford the purchase price?

This is why so many cars have so many owners. People who think because they've found £25k or a bank willing to lend them £25k they can now afford a 2002 911 Turbo.

Then realising they absolutely cannot, after they bought it.
 
[TW]Fox;16177426 said:
Why does everyone seem to think that to own a particular car you simply need to be able to afford the purchase price?

This is why so many cars have so many owners. People who think because they've found £25k or a bank willing to lend them £25k they can now afford a 2002 911 Turbo.

Then realising they absolutely cannot, after they bought it.
I don't think it does, but hopefully you're not including me in that bracket. That £350 a month you've initially saved to get your first 911 will need to be continued, albeit probably in a slightly reduced form, to sustain your warranty/slush fund for servicing.

It's also why going in several stages, in my opinion, is quite important as you go through the motoring ladder, just to get used to the price hikes.
 
must admit i chuckled at a few who hinted at impending supercar ownership, with no hint of how they might actually afford the costs to run such a car.

You only have to look at simon george's running costs for his old Lambo Murciealago to realise you need to have serious ammounts of disposable cash to run one. Getting the cash to buy one is only 1/3 of the battle. Being able to loose that money in depreciaton is the next 1/3rd (no point in taking 5 years to save 70k if it all disappears again) and then affording the 5 figure service / repair bills is the next 1/3rd.
 
i would love to get a new car this year, but i don't have the money, so can keep the clio quite happily as it is cheap to run and i know i can afford it. New car can wait till i am in a full time job that i know will be secure, as i don't want to be left with a car i cant afford to run :)
 
My dreams aren't all that wild to be honest. I'm quite odd in that although I admire super/hyper cars, I don't really aspire to own one and could never really see myself in a Lambo or Ferrari.

What I do aspire to however and something that I think should be pretty realistic one day is to be able to walk into a BMW/Merc/Audi dealer and order a brand new car with M / AMG / RS in the model description.

My E39 M5 will just have to do until then (with maybe an M6 along the way in a couple of years).
 
must admit i chuckled at a few who hinted at impending supercar ownership, with no hint of how they might actually afford the costs to run such a car.

You only have to look at simon george's running costs for his old Lambo Murciealago to realise you need to have serious ammounts of disposable cash to run one. Getting the cash to buy one is only 1/3 of the battle. Being able to loose that money in depreciaton is the next 1/3rd (no point in taking 5 years to save 70k if it all disappears again) and then affording the 5 figure service / repair bills is the next 1/3rd.
I've hammered out calculations on Excel for the next 5 years or so, based on salary scale improvements, projected potential for promotion, and other income (renting, tutoring, summer schools, etc.). Most of my wants in terms of my list, as before, will be stretching, but are realistic to aim for in the next 6-8 years (I'm 23). The upper end might fall outside of that timescale though, I admit.

And obviously kids could throw a spanner in the works, but seeing as all of my relationships go up in flames before they reach the 3 month mark, that's not a big worry at the moment :D
 
Yes.
What's worse is when you've had a tidy car and circumstances force you to downgrade. You're not alone in that respect and I think sometimes we just gotta look outside of the daily grind to figure out a new way forward :)
 
The problem I am having with car progression is that my 530i just gets in the way. I planned to move on once I graduated from Uni. That happened 6 months ago and... I just love it. It seems such a shame to get rid of it. I keep artificially extending the 'next car purchase point' not because I dont have the cash but because I hope that by then I'll be ready to move on :(

I never intended nor wanted to have an 8 year old car but... its so great :(

Maybe one day somebody will run into the back of it and make the decision for me.
 
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you wil lfind that in life

A) things never quite pan out the way they should do on spread sheets.

and

B) things like a family, kids and a house put a severe dent in your ability to save up large ammounts of spare cash for supercars.

I could probably quite easily get the funds to own and run a V8 e90 m3 if i was living on my own, because instead of a 3 bed semi, i could be sharing a flat with some mates - ala peter nem / nick / connarius (sp?) which would reduce my rent / utility costs.

By all means if you have the oppertunity to earn 6 figure salaries to earn the sort of money that can afford both, then be my guest. But Statistically speaking the % of people that can actually afford this sort of lifestyle is quite small.

Last year, the % of the population earning £118,00 or over is 1 %.

Food for though, that if we sample the OcUK user base, only 1 % of OcUK forum members earn that sort of money, and could afford this sort of lifestyle. Looking at the number of current owners of supercars on these forums. Id say that figure holds true.

But going back to my point, that means that 99 % of the population wont be able to afford the sort of lifestyle im on about. My point being, that it does bother me that i'm possibly not going to be able to part of that 1 %. £31,000 a year puts you into the top 25 % of all earners. Thats achievable. But nowhere enough to start running multiple supercars, whilst not skimping elsewhere by living in a 2 bed terrace for example.
 
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well you know what sort of point i was making.

I've got a few mates at work who share flats / houses with mates and they have life considerably easier.
 
i would love to get a new car this year, but i don't have the money, so can keep the clio quite happily as it is cheap to run and i know i can afford it. New car can wait till i am in a full time job that i know will be secure, as i don't want to be left with a car i cant afford to run :)

Get a renault 19, make the clio seem like a go-cart :p
 
i get my thrills more from driving style, not the car itself. sure it helps having a capable car, buts its still a piece of metal which gets you from A to B at the end of the day.

far better things in life to invest in, realised this a couple years back. far more to life than moleh...
 
must admit i chuckled at a few who hinted at impending supercar ownership, with no hint of how they might actually afford the costs to run such a car.

You only have to look at simon george's running costs for his old Lambo Murciealago to realise you need to have serious ammounts of disposable cash to run one. Getting the cash to buy one is only 1/3 of the battle. Being able to loose that money in depreciaton is the next 1/3rd (no point in taking 5 years to save 70k if it all disappears again) and then affording the 5 figure service / repair bills is the next 1/3rd.
Can't help but think this was aimed at my post but maybe I'm just paranoid. :p Either way, running costs have all been taken into account and my life plan is more than feasible (barring any unforseen negative financial circumstances). And 5 years to save the 70k? In my current circumstances I could do it in 2.5/3, but in my 10 year plan I would hope to be on a substantial amount more.

Like I said before, if you plan well and don't reach beyond your means then you can achieve your dreams... (fingers crossed anyway!) :)
 
you wil lfind that in life

A) things never quite pan out the way they should do on spread sheets.
I'm not quite that naive, but around two years ago I made the decision to move in with my parents whilst I saved money, with the desire to own a) a decent car, and b) my own house at the end of it, as I'd be 24 at the end of that 2 years.

That 2 years was costed according to my circumstances and, give a take a grand or two (because, as you say, things can be a little unpredictable), it's gone according to plan. I own my 'decent' car, I move into my house in the second half of June this year, and my original deadline as such to achieve those things was my 24th birthday - 12th July.

The margin for error increases as more variables enter the equation, such as family as you have astutely identified, but that's why you become a little more flexible with your goals/target dates.

If you're good with figures and you're disciplined with your spending, as I am, then not too many things are out of reach.
 
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