Of course, LA will have us beat, but that's because guys spend their 2500/month paychecks as: 500 for a dingy room 1500 for their 360 lease 500 for everything else --Dan
You can add me to the 40+. Also paid cash. I suspect the Fchat crowd is younger than Ferrari owners in general. Dave
Many,many congrats on all you sub 50's owners. Anybody should be proud to first own one at a very young age. 20's are simply awsome.
Congrats to anybody with a Ferrari for that matter too, but I agree, anybody lucky enough to get started on owning them that young in life simply gets to enjoy them sooner & longer. I was fortunate enough to be one of them, having bought all of the exotics I've owned before hitting 30. My first was a 355 Spider a couple of months after I turned 25.
Because he is getting too much too young, and will never have the satisfaction of striving to obtain a dream through hard effort over many years, and the deep satisfaction of finally obtaining that dream. He is being denied the benefit of the journey by overindulgent parents, who want him to have the things they never had. My kids want nice cars too. I tell them that they will enjoy them more later in life when they have earned them through personal effort, and that in the short term if they think about it, their Mazdas and Mustangs, and Tacoma Trucks are far better vehicles than the ones their parents started out with. I've had my Testarossa just over a month now. I'm 55. I've owned Vipers, Vettes, Porsches, etc. etc. etc. but Ferrari was always a dream. Every time I turn the key, I smile. It isn't the car. It's the dream. And the journey.
I also live in Silicon Valley and work down the street from FoSV, now SVAG. I know a fair number of other Ferrari owners locally, and NONE of them are .commers. One of my .com buddies kept his high hp Camaro when he hit, and augmented it with one, and now two Prius's. A few built gorgeous homes. But every Ferrari owner I know is 40 or older, and most made money over time in personally owned businesses. The ONLY sub 30 year old Ferrari owner I know is a public office holder (now over 30) who bought a 328, and did all his own repair work. In this valley, we all buy our real estate first. That is something the .commers understand and appreciate. Ferraris don't really rank anywhere with the young, rich ee types, that I've met.
What LW said. My parents were by no means rich, but I would swear we were poor of course. I had to buy my first car, a 67 chrysler. I worked for everything even tho they could afford it. It sucked then but I woudlnt be as hard working, humble and appreciative today, nor probably as successful. my spoiled friends that do nothing, expect everything, think they deserve everything, are the broke ones. and the most angry it seems. at that age, you just dont get it. you cant just snap your fingers and assume a young kid will have instant knowledge, wisdom and experience.
I agree completely! I am thankful my parents were borderline poor and I started with nothing. The sense of accomplishment is priceless. Dave PS: I am also 55.
I agree. I love the F430 and at 28 I could buy one now (though my financial advisor would undoubtedly have something to interject) but I'm really focused on investing and starting an LLC with my brother. For now, the Viper I own (and have had since 23) is plenty to hold me over until I have a few more years and a bit more investment and business income under my belt. I suppose if my current company does as well as my last I may move on to an F-car, but even then the frugal side of me would tend to lean towards a 355 and invest the difference again.
Buying a young kid a high powered sports car is plain dumb. It's like handing him a loaded gun and telling him to "go have fun and be careful." Chances are, even the most grounded kid will screw it up some how. Why do you think insurance companies charge through the roof for newer and younger drivers? Plus, as mentioned earlier you're not teaching the kid anything about the value of a buck if stuff like this is just handed to them. Parents think that they're doing "Johnny" a favor but in reality they're putting an adolescent kid in harms way. But hey, do anything you want as long as you're willing to pay the price
The reason I asked "Why" is because I had my first Ferrari at the age of 19. Not that far from the boy in question. Although I paid for my car and parents weren't involved, I didn't lose my passion and want to get newer better cars. I am just trying to prove a point that even at a young age, there will always be things you will love to buy even when you get to the age of 70. However, I understand the point about not knowing the value of what he has. He didn't earn it and that might make things turn bad in the future.
While you're ahead of I am (I'm 24 now, 25 this year), I bought my first one at 21 and if anythign the bug to do more in order to buy more has gotten worse, as opposed to making me complacent. I can think of and know plenty of people who have had anythign they want handed to them. Some of them turn out to be complete sh!ts, some of them turn out to be wonderful human beings. Very *very* little of it has to do with what they were given, rather, how they were brought up. I'm not saying this applies here, but most of the times, the association of someone young and expensive items is generally made out of jealousy or something worse. Unfortunately that happens a lot of times when money is an object of discussion. --Dan
I know of a father who bought a 911 Turbo back in the early 80s and he gave it to his son who was a senior in high school so he could drive it one night, his son died in a crash because he was speeding and lost control. Another father bought his senior high school graduate a brand new 944Turbo, his son died along with his younger brother after a party while driving home, he lost control while speeding and crashed into a lot of palm trees by the beach and that was the very same day his father bought him the car.
Oh, I was thinking of the former Los Gatos Ferrari. My mistake. That is now Silicon Valley Auto Group. Thanks for the correction.
