What to buy on a budget?

You can buy a nice Mondial for under 50k. I would go for a 3.2 cab. Lots of fun for the money. Very usable and pretty reliable. I have a friend who just bought a nice 355 spider for under 50 and sold his nice but high mileage 328 for under 50. They are still out there.

 

That was actually hard to do even 2.5 years ago.

 

The problem with giving advice as to how much to spend is we really need to know the person's financial condition. Is he totally done once the 50k is gone? Can he budget an additional 5k or so a year after he buys the car? If he has the 50k to spend and then can budget additional money right away without it affecting him then he could maybe stretch for a 348 but otherwise I would say besides the Mondial there isn't much else out there in this price range.

 

He also said, "and would like to keep the annual maintenance cost down."

 

I don't know about the OP but I sure am enjoying this thread. Just in case he or anybody else in interested in any more of my bad ideas I have taken the liberty of listing a few more.

A quick Auto Trader search a done few minutes ago revealed this:

There are 18 Lotus Evoras listed in prices ranging from $41,900-$49,995

There are 19 Maserati Gran Turismos ranging from $40,000-$49,999

 

It was, LOL, I saw two 85s sell for 45G recently so when this one popped up I jumped!

 

A well sorted Mondial is your best bet. And it's at the bottom of the depreciation curve, its future price can only go up.

 

Ya'll skeered him away as I was about to drop the sekrit weapon;

Fiero with a Testarossa kit.

On a more serious note 348 targa.

 

Not too long ago, you could probably get a TR for 50K, but the maintenance would be insane. Today the prices are insane; but, probably not for long.

Regardless, go with the following:
-308 QV
-328
-348 (higher maintenance)
-Mondial (all versions, except T)

If you can save a little more:
-400 Series V12 (look for MT)
-456 V12 (look for a MT version)
-360 (High Mileage)

 

Agree, prices for the common cars will come back down.....not to where they used to be, but better than now. In the meantime, keep saving.

Took me 9 years to save for my first exotic, and am in year 2 saving for the next one.

 

I like the Fiero with the Testarossa kit the best. Definitely low maintenance.

 

You've never owned a Fiero.

 

That's true.

 

I did.

Maintence Free is not in the Fiero idiom.

 

With a Paxton supercharger its a different animal.
Think rabid gerbil.

 

Oops! Was thinking finance/lease if possible for the OP.

 

Does a sane person take out a loan for a car?

 

Yeah wtf was I thinking!

 

In the United States every 10 seconds.

 

I suggest you try to check used Ferrari cars. There must be some that are still in very good condition.

 

Gotta love Fchat.

 

Go to the bookstore and buy a copy of the millionare next door.

 

Ah, one that did!

 

Make that two.

Best decision I ever made.

FYI: http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-the-death-of-the-millionaire-next-door-dream-20150310-column.html#page=1