Afford a Stradale?

Don't listen to these bean counters. They will be saying "Coulda, shoulda" when they are 60. Buy the car. Pay cash.

 

dude, i've been where you are...and if you invest wisely and properly, you will that stradale, or the next stradale whatever that car might be. its not the greatest car that ever was built, they are out there to be found now and in another year, and a year after that. and maybe it will be the scud, or the X or the Y.
but in my opinion, no way you should have that percentage of equity in a silly car.

keep investing in yourself and keep turning out doubles. time will pass, you'll 'survive' just fine without that CS, and when you have whatever level of security is required to let u feel cmfortable buying a pricey car, THEN, you'll buy it.
its only a car. really.

not sure, you didnt mention it, but if you dont have them already, the more priceless possessions will be a wife, kids, etc. keep investing in yourself. these cars arent running anywhere. i did the VERY same thing. wanted to spend my young-30s money on a hot rod car, on this, on that..i was told by a mentor exactly what i'm telling you. 7 years later, i say its the best advise i was given. if you cant afford to lose the entire thing, in total, and not blink, then dont buy the car.
just my opinion.

 

This is among the best posts in the history of F-chat...

...and this is one of the worst.

This website is not about using your head. Here we have a devoted group of fanatics who think irrationally every single day they walk out to their garage, turn their key, and drive their exotic car. From Enzo owners to 400 owners, every single F-chatter who has realized his Ferrari-owning dream is presently being irrational - because no matter what you paid, and even if you're daily driving it, you could have had a Camry, which would do the rational bit - reliability, comfort, and cost - much better than anyone's Ferrari. But where the hell is the fun in that?

Urotrash's reply to the original post is critical of spending such an amount on a car, completely failing to take into account that the car is only a small part of the more important experience which goes with owning these things.

Buy the car.

 

I seriously question whether a 19-year old college student has the life experiences to truly judge which is the best and worst post in Fchat history.

Bwana914 - I agree with spg993tt and Urotrash; though percentages might differ slightly if you are single versus married versus have children. Since you have just made a nice score after lots of hard work, I certainly encourage you to reward yourself and remind yourself that you worked hard for a reason. But there's a big difference between $50K-$100K and $200K when the pot is limited to $600K.

You certainly have enough money to "afford" a CS, even the maintenance; so all the machinations mentioned regarding leasing, paying part down, putting money on deposit to earn interest, etc are all rationalizations to make it feel like it's not costing that much. But you're still paying one way or another, whether its direct interest expense or lost opportunity cost. Similarly with possible depreciation; if it doesn't depreciate that's a nice bonus, but if it does, you could lose $10-20K per year. One more factor for you to think about, would you merely blink if its value declined $50K overnight (say you got into an at-fault accident where you bear the burden of diminished value or say the engine self-destructs) or would it hurt a lot? If none of this bothers you, then you're probably a high-risk personality and could live with these outcomes.

Even so, a CS is just one car out of many interesting cars. I seriously doubt if a CS is the only car you will live with for the rest of your life; even if you want to keep it forever, you will want other cars to add to your garage. By spending such a large % on a CS now, you're potentially giving up the 430 Scuderia, F80, Fxxxxx or whatever down the road. A more moderate % of your payout allows you to get into the recurring car situation sooner. It's not a question of putting it off, but of taking steps to get both a very nice current car and future nicer cars.

Finally, I submit that the 5% rule (or a bit higher % if you have no responsibilities) is like a Rorschach test. Some people look at it and think that it will limit them to non-dream cars because they have little confidence that they will soon or ever make that much money; while other people look at it and see it as a challenge that they will soon overcome to get to the car(s) they want.

 

First off, don't ever judge my "life experiences" based on my age again. You may not have had too many "life experiences" at my age, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't take more than nineteen years to read through posts on an Internet forum.

My point stands: as an enthusiast, I define the ownership of an exotic car as an experience, while you seem to define it as simply automobile ownership. Our percentages will therefore differ, since you're unwilling to spend more than around five percent for a car, while I'd be willing to spend notably more based on the quality of the experience - and, to me, exotic car ownership is a very high-quality one.

 

and you base this on what experience? reading posts on a forum? your point stands, but your cred is weak.

 

OK, buy one. Doesn't bother us.

 

ok, i have a question: i dont follow these new cars too well, as i am and old carb car guy. the 360 seems to be a hot topic in several places.

how many Ferrari 360's have been made?

how many Lamborghini Gallardo's ?


seems to me as good as these newer cars are, simple supply and demand will determine final "market value". and to think the 308 series was looked down upon for its quantity minted. plus, add the fact that the newer cars cannot be maintained by a DIY mechanic at their home shop. i could buy a hell of alot more car $$$ wise than you guys have seen in my profile. but i dont want to take the hit, or pay to have it worked on.

i say buy the CS and enjoy it now.

 

Buy the car and have fun. You are only young once and you can always make money. The other fact I have learned is as you get older you want less and less stuff. At your age I was into buying stuff like cars, motorcycles and art and I was glad I did it worked out great and I had lots of fun. I am now 50 and it's time to lighten the load and simplify. All this pressure to amass a large net worth and retire at 50 is BS. Retire at 32 for a couple of years and have a blast spend some money, there is always time for work. I did this when I was your age and had the best time of my life. As I get older I kind of enjoy work more and now have no plans to retire. "Gather ye Rosebuds and Stradales While ye May"

 

Interesting dilemna and congrats on working hard and selling the business for a some nice coin. The Home Run is a hard task in the current economy but you did very well. By the time I was 32 I had two kids and though I always drove nice cars, none of them were $200k. If you don't have any kids I would go for it for sure. Take advantage of the situation and enjoy your hard earned nest egg. A cs will not suffer much depreciation if any and it might even go up in value. Mine did and I sold it for a nice profit in terms of modern cars.
I have always chosen the less trodden path and enjoyed what I consider quality of life over killing myself with corporate workload. Sure, I could have amassed more wealth but it would not have afforded the great travel opportunities that come with being able to really take the time to sink into a culture and experience trips without return deadlines. Same with cars, if thats your passion, do it while you can. And if you do, enjoy it, drive it and have fun without regard to saving the car for the next owner.