What percentage of your worth would you spend on a car?

bulletv1 · 19 Sep 2014 at 11:48

Well I inherited a large amount of money recently and i'm on an ok wage and live at home with my mum. So with the money i did want to buy a nice Audi A4 or R8

but decided to be sensible as i got engaged last year and trying to get a house. So what i did was spend £4k on a 57 plate Passat and spent about £1k doing it up a bit and took my fiancee to Rome for 10 days (save up the spending money from my wages) upgraded my pc and the rest has gone into bonds, ISAs etc and once i've sorted out a mortgage I will use it for a deposit and keep £30k for rainyday/sports car budget.

Akagi · 19 Sep 2014 at 11:49

AJK said:
Give the money to your parents to look after it for you

Dad would spend it on another motorbike so he can use it to blast around on B roads "like a tool"

platypus · 19 Sep 2014 at 11:49

As little as is possible.

dirtychinchilla · 19 Sep 2014 at 11:50

ib4tl

therealpieman · 19 Sep 2014 at 11:51

As little as possible to get a car that did what I really needed it to do. So if it's a long commute get me their using as small amount of fuel as possible, in relative comfort, start every morning and not look out of place in the car park. If it's a family car then the same on starting but with enough space to drive off for a holiday in the UK with all the stuff a family needs to take.

The rest of the money I would have for improving my long term future so reducing my mortgage, going towards a house deposit, training course etc.

I have a feeling the answer you want isn't as little as possible...

McBain · 19 Sep 2014 at 11:52

300%.

Hyburnate · 19 Sep 2014 at 11:53

Acme said:
Dad would spend it on another motorbike so he can use it to blast around on B roads "like a tool"

Ok give it to a friend

Akagi · 19 Sep 2014 at 11:54

What I "really need it to do" is put a smile on my face, and have air conditioning. Those are my criteria.

bulletv1 · 19 Sep 2014 at 11:59

Acme said:
What I "really need it to do" is put a smile on my face, and have air conditioning. Those are my criteria.

Find a nice cheap sports car and have a bit of fun then. My 'fun' car i could afford when i was 20 was a 2.2 Astra Coupe. Was great fun for the 4 years i had it. Cost me £1.8k to buy but sadly the A/C didn't work lol

therealpieman · 19 Sep 2014 at 11:59

Then you need two cars, (if you do need one for transport) one to do the boring daily grind and the other to put a smile on your face. The smile on your face car could be a project, to improve over time which may well put more of a smile on your face than just splurging a load of money on something that is the finished article. As to air con, get a soft top

glenimp617 · 19 Sep 2014 at 12:01

I spent 200% of my yearly salary on a car which I planned on keeping for six months.

I always said I wanted to own a sports car within my lifetime so I did it

Akagi · 19 Sep 2014 at 12:03

I've been looking at A3 2.0T FSI Quattro S-Line Sportbacks.

Quite a substantial upgrade from a Polo 1.2 with no features whatsoever. And the insurance is incredibly reasonable for such a car. Very surprisingly so.

It would be for practical and fun purposes, while being comfortable, nice to look at, quick and reasonable to insure. A predicted average MPG of 28 doesn't bother me too much with my annual mileage of 8K either, as it works out as something like a £400 difference.

INB4 "Why would you get an Audi for fun?" and "Why would you spend that much on a hatchback when you could get a sports car for half as much?"

Kamerad · 19 Sep 2014 at 12:08

Acme said:
I've been looking at A3 2.0T FSI Quattro S-Line Sportbacks. Quite a substantial upgrade from a Polo 1.2 with no features whatsoever. And the insurance is incredibly reasonable for such a car. Very surprisingly so.

It would be for practical and fun purposes, while being comfortable, nice to look at, quick and reasonable to insure. A predicted average MPG of 28 doesn't bother me too much with my annual mileage of 8K either, as it works out as something like a £400 difference.

I have the same engine but in a Golf and they are pretty reliable but they really do drink fuel. I get 33mpg on a 400 mile motorway journey I do twice a month and thats sticking to 70mph.

D.P. · 19 Sep 2014 at 12:09

I ignore liquid assets and buy based on salary. Last car was 1/3rd of net annual salary

[FnG]magnolia · 19 Sep 2014 at 12:11

I'd get Castiel's wife to have a look at our finances and then buy the GT-R she advises we need in our lives.

e: Is she still a CFO? If not, then I'm out :<

Akagi · 19 Sep 2014 at 12:12

Kamerad said:
I have the same engine but in a Golf and they are pretty reliable but they really do drink fuel. I get 33mpg on a 400 mile motorway journey I do twice a month and thats sticking to 70mph.

Couple of people in the Audi thread said they were seeing around 36 to 38MPG on motorway runs.

The Polo does about 50MPG on a motorway run. While being noisy, fairly uncomfortable, and, well, a Polo.

Kamerad · 19 Sep 2014 at 12:15

Acme said:
Couple of people in the Audi thread said they were seeing around 36 to 38MPG on motorway runs.

The Polo does about 50MPG on a motorway run. While being noisy, fairly uncomfortable, and, well, a Polo.

I can't compare like for like as I have a Golf mkv GTI but I get 400 miles at a push out of 55 litres on a motorway run. Add in town driving and its more like 360 miles out of a tank. It's a brilliant engine though but just be aware about the fuel costs.

Randomface74 · 19 Sep 2014 at 12:19

A standard way of talking about this is as a percentage of income. 15-25% seems about the norm.

AJK · 19 Sep 2014 at 12:21

Last two cars I bought were 68% and 10% of income, respectively. The first one was fun though

Akagi · 19 Sep 2014 at 12:21

billysielu said:
A standard way of talking about this is as a percentage of income. 15-25% seems about the norm.

Thanks. I'm still finding my feet when it comes to managing money properly.