Everyone will have their opinion on this. Mine is the Challenge is just a modded F1 Modena and I wouldn't and didn't pay extra for it. But to each their own. On this site you're going to have a bunch of teenagers that haven't even driven a Ferrari give you opinons on driving a Ferrari. You also have a bunch of old fogies that tell you "if you can't pay cash.. Don't buy it!". They never seem to get the idea that you can have a stable income and finance things.. and do fine. Note.. financing is OK for a house which for many is going to be the biggest depreciating asset and lead anchor they've ever had, but financing a Ferrari is taboo. I bought my stick 360 for under $60k in 2010. It was the depths of the recession and I was just out of training so it wasn't such an obvious win. But I did it. And I paid it off in 3 years with a 5 year note. And I still had $200k to pay for IVF cash, and I never missed a payment of my mortgage, and I put alot of money into savings. If you can take on the loan and never miss a payment, go for it. Put a decent chunk as a downpayment by selling some other things if need be. The bottom line is a see these old fogies that waited and waited to get their Ferrari. They're old men that can't get into their Ferrari's without their back aching. What life is that. More money than they can do anything with but don't have the health to enjoy it. It's up to you, I paid with a loan and it was one of the best decisions I've ever made. Every day in the garage with a smile and every weekend behind the wheel. Just make sure you can also afford maintenance. Don't be that guy that has a Ferrari in the garage that doesn't run.. but "I have a FERRARI!". Also note that we haven't had a real downturn in close to 20 years. If your business drops by half or 70%, can you still afford the payments? Right now hospitals are begging for nurses so your wife has $$$$ thrown at her. If more nurses come back to work and she takes a 20% paycut, can you still afford the toy? if the answer is yes... go for it. You don't know what the future will hold. Enjoy the life you have.
I was about to suggest that a Scud might be a better option, but I just checked and nothing south of 300k buys one! Darn.
Somewhat ironically, I went from being completely, 100% debt free to financing a 458 a few weeks later. But I had already saved enough to pay cash - but why if Ferrari Financial was going to lend at 4.5-6% and my index-fund-heavy retirement did a lot better than that? Crap looking at this 2022's absolute thrashing I should have bought as many 458s as I could get my hands on!! I'd be up 50% rather than down...
You only live once. Go for it. You’re young. You can recover from worst cases. I brought a brand new Challenge Stradale when I was in my ‘50s for $205k. I drove it for a year and sold it for what I paid for it. I was afraid of the value going down, which happened. At one point you could buy a Challenge Stradale for $135k. Today, a good one is north of its original MSRP. Here’s the thing about special Ferraris, and a CS is special, even through a Scud is a better car, when they get “discovered,” prices go through the roof. It wouldn’t surprise me to see a stock Rosa Scuderia with a stripe (which is what I had) go for $400k in a few years. If you buy a stock car, it will not go down in value. Your dollar ROI will be less than investing in your business, but your fun ROI will go through the roof. Let us know what you do. I’m jealous. I should have NEVER sold my car. Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat.com mobile app
Sound advice Live in the present moment, we don’t know what the future holds. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
For God's sakes. Buy the damn car! You have talking about this for 20 years. You work hard. Reward yourself... otherwise you will be back here in 20 years moaning that you have been lusting after it for 40 years. Fchat is chock full of punters who never pull the trigger or do it when they are too old to enjoy it. If it's not going to break you and you aren't going to be living in it if everything goes south. Go get one. I made the mistake of not selling a few cars in the late '90's when I was offered a McLaren F1 for $600K. The CS is a great car. I had one for 10 years. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thanks everyone. I will begin the process of looking seriously. I may see if I can do a $100,000 down payment, then finance the rest for as long as possible for a small payment, but then try and pay it off in 2-4 years. This way it will be easy and no stress. Knowing me this will probably still take me a year or more to actually find the right one, but thanks for the push. I really should have done this 5-10 years ago, but whatever. Can't change the past. Thanks guys. I'll update when it happens.
Putting 50% down won’t lower your rate and pulls that capital away from your business (which you claim performs very well). Putting 100k down on a 200k loan makes zero sense. Who is your financial advisor?!
I would go for it now (if you have cash reserves). I bought a manual 360 4 years ago, went through the same thought process etc. I have steady 7 figure income and some great commercial and residential assets, most without mortgage. I still struggled to decide to finance when I could have paid cash. But in the end I financed. I would save enough liquid cash to get you through a few years because of your industry and then do the financing. I know a lot of people want a return and don't keep cash, but I just always want a large safety net so I don't have to liquidate an appreciating asset in an emergency. I am certainly no expert, just my 2 cents. As others have said, don't wait til your too old to enjoy. I spend a lot of money on my family for experiences, trips etc. The memories are priceless and this falls into that category. You gotta spend some along the way, otherwise what's the point! Sent from my SM-N975U1 using FerrariChat.com mobile app
I’ve always considered reasonable debt to be an excellent motivator. Especially if it’s something your passionate about.
Don’t beat yourself up too hard for not buying 10 years ago. The SP500 was at ~1500 back then, today at 4k. That’s 2.7x which is actually higher than the appreciation of a CS. Assuming you have been investing for the past 10 years then you’re still ahead. Unless you had financed the CS with a cheap loan back then and left the money invested. Then you would have been ahead.
My financial advisor is me. LOL. You really think it'd be smart to take out a full $300,000 loan when that's what I make in a year by myself without my wife's income. I can't even see a bank giving me that. Not arguing. Genuinely asking. I simply don't do big loans except for mortgages so I am probably a bit clueless. hence why I'm asking on a Ferrari forum. I appreciate all of the advice.
I did actually think of this right after I posted that, and yes I am still ahead. Just have an almost impossible time making myself sell anything. haha
7 figure income changes things a little . That's honestly where I plan on being in less than 5 years (I have one other business in the works currently that is growing fast). Deep down that's why I feel like I should wait. Financing a car that costs what I make in a year ($300,000 without wife's income) seems like a really bad idea, but I guess it's not. Good credit and no other debt except for mortgage and we only live once. I have 7 figures in fairly liquid assets that I own 100% that I could sell if I ever got in a bind, which just hopefully never happens anyways, but it always makes me feel safer. I'm just rambling again at this point. I'm going to casually start looking and setting aside something good for a down payment. Hopefully I have a fun update to post here in 1-2 years . Thanks everyone. Mike
Like you, I'd really loved the CS when they came out but as a 20 year old they were somewhat out of reach. I had a short spell in hospital last year and decided that life's short, I should buy another Ferrari and after a brief delusional few weeks of looking at 360s and 430s finally admitted to myself that really I'd always wanted a CS so why not? Maybe it was an easier decision because no financing was involved but I have no regrets. Quite the opposite in fact. If you've got some relatively liquid assets you can dispose of to clear the finance if you really need to (I wouldn't want to have to sell a CS very quickly in the next 18 months...) then why not finance it? You'll love it.
Thanks and congrats on your purchase! Sounds like we are around the same age. There's just something about that dang car.
True, the OP's income dwarfs mine....if I also shared his indecisional nature, I would have ZERO exotics instead of two.