Everyone seems to be buying luxury cars - how?

[Captain_Slow]

In our case, we bought a house that was well within our means (simple outer suburbs 3 beddy for us, none of this $500k McMansion stuff), and we don't blow our money on drinking, smoking or gambling (just the odd meal out and weekend away). It also helped that I got promoted a couple of times in between buying the house and buying the SS, so there was more money to play with.

So we put money onto the mortgage faster than we needed to, and then took some of it back out again to buy the SS.

Was buying a $50k new car that way sensible? Financially, no, it was idiotic because it will lose half its value before it's three years old and we'll never see that money again. But we're trying to put that $50k back in over five years so it effectively works out to be a car loan at the same rate as a house loan - so far so good. I looked into leasing but the numbers just didn't stack up at the time (they probably would now that I'm in the next tax bracket up, but there you go).

But having said all of this...I'm fundamentally a car nut, I liked the SS, and while I'd planned to wait for an 18 month old one to come along in the end the Astra was starting to need work and I didn't want to wait any longer to own a V8. So I'm justifying it more on the basis of enjoyment than of any financial strategy that lets me own a new car.

Economically rational, no - satisfying, yes.

[Deus Ex]

Informative, i have to agree with Cracka, the housing market to me is just alittle daunting esp when im the bread winner. I couldnt see myself looking at getting my own place until i cleared 80k (hopefully that wont be TOO long now), until then, i dont cash up big on cars. I got the WRX for a steal, and as much as id love a 350z, i can wait until they are reasonably priced.

I really dont understand leases for the most part, and id think youd have to have some tax write offs etc to get the most from it. I always used to think it was abit of a killjoy that you couldnt modify your leased car, but with cars these days, it will either bolt off or you really dont need to.

I always figured i could sleep in the back of an M3 =P

[Hypo]

To waste 80k on a car what do people think your combined family income should be?

I looked at leasing but as we only do 10,000km a year it wasn't worth it for tax incentives. I did want to buy a C63 or a RS4 when I got home but the figures don't add up for a outright buy. I am still contemplating putting a deposit down for a new GTR though.

[Q]

expensive cars get you bitches!

EXACTLY !! :D
...are you busy tonight ? - bitch :p

[itsnotagsr]

Thats my biggest problem too. I only do <5000kms a year.

[lumpy]

Informative, i have to agree with Cracka, the housing market to me is just alittle daunting esp when im the bread winner. I couldnt see myself looking at getting my own place until i cleared 80k (hopefully that wont be TOO long now),

Eh? you could buy a place with a lot less than 80k pa income. I know I did/have.

then again technically I don't own a car, and haven't for the past 5 years.

[demuire]

When I bought my place I was getting just a tad over $50K pa (before tax). Had 2 cars at the time. Admittedly I live rather out in woopwoop and I did buy about 3.5 years ago, but you can still buy apartments for the same sort of money now...

Eh? you could buy a place with a lot less than 80k pa income. I know I did/have.

then again technically I don't own a car, and haven't for the past 5 years.

[wiggah]

Don't forget that if you get a couple with say a $150K joint income (not that hard in many areas) that's at least $8K clear a month. Chuck in $4K/month for a decent sized mortgage and $2K for food and fun tickets and that leaves $2K sitting around for cars - do it as a Salary Sacrifice and you've got a $60K+ car no sweat.

No sweat? In that situation you are saving next to nothing - it would take an eternity just to save up enough money to cover one mortgage payment. Kids? Illness? Perhaps the reason they are earning that sort of money is because they're clever enough to have some foresight that times are not always good and spending $60K+ on a car on a $150k joint income with a $4k/month mortgage is nuts.

[Cal]

Plenty of posers out there and people who think they have money but won't in the long term.

Most people seem to prefer to appear wealthy than actually be wealthy.

[Dave]

EXACTLY !! :D
...are you busy tonight ? - bitch :p

Actually I am busy tonight, with your wife. She told me she likes to slum it to keep it real.

:p

[Lexar]

Most people seem to prefer to appear wealthy than actually be wealthy.

Spot on. Most rich people I know aren't flashy and often look like complete derro's.

[Ze]

Another trend I have noticed is the people in their late 20's to mid 30's who sat back and watched the housing boom and have now decided houses are too dear so they spend all their money on cars, tv's, holidays etc "because they can never afford a house".

The reason they can never afford a house is because they spent that money and aren't prepared to sacrifice their lifestyle in the short term.

its super awesome paying your car off over 25 years

25 year mortgages are old hat , 30 and 40 year ones are common now.

IMHO credit is far too easy , and all this car lease shit is a fucking con , lots of people end up with a car that is worth less than the residual and so end up having to front cash , or refinance it onto the next debt.

The reason why house prices in areas have gone up so much is the credit restrictions were eased at the same time as the housing market was artificially stimulated by both state and federal govts.

[Ze]

Spot on. Most rich people I know aren't flashy and often look like complete derro's.

Personally I would prefer to remain the same , I'll probably buy higher quality jeans and flannos , but only if they are better quality and whatever their price , I'll still treat them the same (ie give no fuck about oil , grease and dirt).

I don't want to change if the project I'm working on comes off and if it does , I intend to put a good chunk of the cash into investments, since I don't actually need much resources myself for what I do. Sure I'll spend some of it on toys but I'd rather invest most of it , so over the long term I get more toys and can have more fun. I could be in a position to retire by the time I'm 30 but that'd be fucking boring , I like solving problems , so retirement to me means be able to choose which jobs I take on , instead of needing to take on work to survive and probably choosing some of the bigger/riskier jobs.

The only thing that worries me about becoming wealthy is people trying to take advantage of it. I'll still help out mates and family and heck people I've just met but I tend to have pretty decent judgement when it comes to who will pay favours back , or help other people out. I worry that will change tho. I've never been one to worry about how the final bill is shared if I had a bit more cash at the time or I had brought booze along. As long as everybody helps everybody out , I've never minded sharing (and I'm generally the one who offers, rather than being asked) but I've never been able to stand people who just use other people and take advantage of them.

[Captain_Slow]

The reason they can never afford a house is because they spent that money and aren't prepared to sacrifice their lifestyle in the short term.

QFT.

I also think that a lot of people who complain that they can't afford to buy a house really mean that they can't afford to buy a really nice house in a highly desirable suburb close to the city/beach/work etc. There seems to no longer be a concept of "you've gotta start somewhere and work your way up", now it seems to be "you've gotta start at the top and have it all now".

[tremolo]

Spot on. Most rich people I know aren't flashy and often look like complete derro's.

x2

One of my best mates' families is worth countless millions, and he dresses pretty average. It's hilarious being out at some flash bar with him with all the wankers looking down at us, then he'll casually pull about $5k (he always carries a few grand...wogs n cash etc) in hundreds to pay for a round of drinks & dinner etc. The condescending looks soon change!