Did you buy used or new?

You are so good at what you do, I'm always in stitches when I see your posts.

Thank you !

 

A couple of reasons.

The first of which is that one really shouldn't finance a luxury item such as an expensive watch, or a fancy vacation, or a boat or a Ferrari because they are, generally, depreciating assets. (Before you ask . . . I do not recommend leasing a Ferrari either.)

A Ferrari is not cheap to operate--especially if you have not owned one before. With my first Ferrari, I went through tires and brakes faster than I could have imagined. I had damage to the front lower skirt/spoiler. I cracked the rocker panel below my door on a low curb, and as soon as I replaced it, I cracked it again on a speedbump. My convertible top quit working and I found it was because of the sensor under the driver's seat. It had gotten wet and shorted out when I spilled a bottle of water. A tree branch fell on my soft top and I had to replace it. The spark plugs for a 355 were about $40 each, if I recall correctly. The metal seat frame worked its way through my leather seat bottom and I had to replace the leather. The taxes on the Ferrari were twice the Porsche I gave up to get the Ferrari. Insurance was higher than the Porsche. I took it to Road Atlanta and had to bolt in a roll bar. I bought slicks for the track and that required a second set of rims. This was a very expensive indulgence. Don't get me wrong . . . it was a great experience. But that is just not congruent with financing the car.

It's just a bad idea to add these normal maintenance costs to financing costs. My 355, if I recall, cost me about 105K. I financed $50K and I hated making payments. I paid off the car after a year, because the payment reminded me that I was living beyond my means. When I paid off the note, I actually felt much better and felt that I could finally afford the car.

Compare that with my 911, I replaced the brakes, tire and a windshield washer pump, and that's all for about 40,000 miles. (I had paid cash for the Porsche.)

Later as I owned more F-Cars, I paid cash. And that was a good proxy for determining if I could afford the car.

I have friends right now who have expensive cars--and this economy is not great. One friend is on a Mercedes lease. It costs him about $1,500 a month. He is driving on bald tires, and his check engine light has been on for months--the car is past warranty. He has also 'overshot' his mileage allowance, and will have to pay when it comes time to turn in the car.

These are things one does not think about when they have the fever to get a Ferrari. I know. I had it.

And, looking back, I should have bought a 328 for cash instead of a 355 with a loan.

But, that's just my story. Yours may be different.

Having the ability to afford a Ferrari, in my opinion, comes with the realization that the car is not eating up your financial resources each month. Having a Ferrari means keeping it in tip-top condition. Because when things go bad, they can go bad quickly.

 

Have you met the guy with the Aston and the balding front tires? Dude has an Aston Vantage and both front tires are balding on the side. Not quite sure if its a little like above.. or if he just has no clue about the mechanicals and is all about looks..

Drive550PFB makes some very good points. I'm going to throw around the opposite viewpoint for you to consider on payments. If you have a stable job, and you buy a car at the bottom of the depreciation curve as I did in the depths of the recession.. then payments might not be as bad a decision. I took a loan out on my car. It bought it at a price that I'm VERY comfortable I wouldn't loose any money even if I sold it today or parted it for that matter. I've lost more money with my past Boxster than I did with my 360, even putting all the money into it that I did. The Porsche is just a Porsche IMHO. Reliable.. but just a Porsche.. and yes the FCar is twice as $$$$ for everything... Oh and BTW a 355 is a VERY bad example of a money pit.

If you have a stable job and your obligations aren't too great and you're saving and investing.. I personally don't have an issue with financing. I also didn't even remotely begin to exhaust my bank account and it didn't even dent my funds going into investemnt and retirement.. I'd have loved to buy my FCar in cash. I'd also love to buy a house in cash. It's an individual decision discussed ad nauseum on these forums. You seem like a smart guy. I'd listen to 550PFB and make your own good decisions. (BTW these finance threads are like which color is better, green or blue)..

 

You are right . . . I loved the Porsche, but even when I had it, I realized it was not a Ferrari. The 911 would make almost every person on earth happy, except the guy who wanted a Ferrari. My best friend used to say to me, 'If you squint just a little, it looks like a VW bug."

 

Isn't that the truth. I have an awesome Carrera 4 that I use as a daily driver. It's rock solid, capable, handles and accelerates extraordinarily well, and has been the most trouble free car I've ever owned. All of that said, it doesn't excite me like any of my Ferraris do and I'm thinking of selling it to replace with a Land Rover or Volvo wagon or something and use the 308 GTB as a semi daily driver because there is no sense of occasion like there is when you're behind the wheel of a Ferrari.

 

What he said. One of the ways to get to a better financial position is to let the other guy pay $450K for the 599 GTB, $300K for the 458, etc., and buy it for half off a few years later.
Or better yet buy a keeper Ferrari -- a buyer had the choice of a Daytona coupe or 599 GTB a few years back for the same money. Now the spread between them is probably $300K in favor of the Daytona, while 599s are aging and continuing to fall. That assumes you like Daytonas, but $300K is a lot of money to leave on the table.

O well, to each his own. Guess I just like old cars more, which works out.