Looking to the future....

It is tough for anyone to give you an answer on this because ability to afford something is entirely dependent upon your financial circumstances. If you had a mortgage for example then clearly that's a proportion of your income you can't spend on a Ferrari.

I think you should be able to work out the answer to this for yourself. Think about living expenses, factor in a mortgage, factor in fuel, likely insurance costs, other car, food, bills, women, look at income tax rates, and current trend for mortgage rates. Also, do you want to buy the car or take a loan. Look at priorities - house first or car for example? You should be able to work it all out for yourself and come up with a figure. As it depends so much upon personal circumstances I don't think any of us could do it for you.

 

I would say it all depends on your priorities and how understanding your folks are.

Assuming you get a 5 year loan to buy a car for £35k your monthly costs might be*
Loan Repayments £650
Maintenance £200
Insurance £150

So roughly £1k a month? If I remember rightly, when I was taking home £1k a month, I was earning about £16k pa (it was a while ago now!) so if you could live rent free with the parents then it's easily achievable!





*Figures may vary according to which hat they are pulled from

 

Here's the deal.

I live rent free, with just my c0ck to keep. (other than keeping the missus in shoes and handbags)

F355 Spider (LHD) was £47k
I put down about £22k
Remaining £25k is a 2 year loan.
The loan takes about half my pay packet each month.

Insurance is due in May 05 (around £1,200)
Service / MOT / Tax is also due in May 05 (around £1,000)

No idea where that money is gonna come from for those. So, I'm skint until mid 2006.

However, it still sounds nice at full throttle!!!! ;-)

Best of luck!

 

You can use this online tax calculator to work out how much tax and National Insurance you''ll pay on a salary.

http://www.jobit.co.uk/guest/taxcalc/taxcalc_main.php

 

A friend of mine is fond of saying "you can sleep in a car but you can't drive a house"

 

But you can s**t in your house but not in your car.........



unless your wife is driving!

 

I have been thinking recently that I'll never be able to afford a 355, only a 348, however your commitment to the cause and your maths makes me think....

 

WOW...... i find it incredible that you have spent nearly £50k on a car but don't own a property /have a mortgage......surely the £ is better spent on buying a flat? I guess we all have different priorities

 

My father used to own a Rolls Royce Silver Spirit but sold it a few years back.

He looked forward to buying another one when he retired at 65.

He passed away at 63 years of age.

The last journey he made on this earth was in a Rolls Royce hearse.

 

Interesting question. I guess it depends on your priorities and clearly it depends on whether you wish to buy a house and how much you intend to put away for your retirement (thinking even further ahead!).

I would however say this: if the 355 is a second car for high days and holidays, then you will not enjoy it so much if keeping the 355 in the style to which they are accustomed is causing you sleepless nights. So before getting the 355, think what else you could get for the money and keep it in perspective- it is a toy.

For example, I have just spent over £4k this year on a cambelt service and other essential things (like a Tubi!) and I have only done 2000 miles this year.

Robert.

 

Exactly! I have absolutely no interest in owning my own place right now as cleaning windows, mowing etc. just aint for me (the missus has a different opinion of course!). I'm lucky enough that living at home still suits me (must be something about being Italian - my cousins never left home until they were almost 40!). I admit it's an unusual situation, but then again, it's only temporary. Realistically, I've got to sell the Ferrari as soon as the loan is paid off and get somewhere to live or the missus will run off! Simply put, I can't afford the car, but my circumstances allow me to temproarily, if you know what I mean. Anyway, by the time I sell it I'll have done pretty much everything I've ever wanted in life. You can go through life wanting more and more, but ultimately you have to live within your means at sometime! (We're never really satisfied with what we've got, but I guess that's what makes us human).

Still, as I said to the missus the other day, why have a £300,000 house and no gadgets, when you can have a smaller one for £200,000 plus all the gadgets you could ever want???

I'll step down from the soapbox now..........!!!

 

Dem,
fair play, i wasn't having a pop at all. It's your £ to do want you want with . The world would be very dull if we all did the same things.

 

Tony - no worries - I didn't take offence!

Anyway, when I'm living in a Hotpoint box in Shoreditch, I'll expect a few coppers in the cap for an ex Ferrari owner! ;-)

 

if i sold my house and let the missus live in the 360 i could live in the nezo i bought with the house sale funds, probably still have a bit left over for a trailer tent and chemical toilet

 

Difficult to argue with the logic. It wouldn't suit me. But you are probably a very secure person. I admire the attitude. Good luck to you I say!

512 Tea Are - Tea Arse - Tear Arse

 

Secure? Slightly mad maybe..................!!!!

 

And the really good news is that I've put myself further in debt by buying one of those new Motorola V3 phones. Don't need it but it looks nice. Mmmm.... now that's how I ended up with the 355!!!

 

I stuck my 328 on the mortgage, and at the same time increased the term by 3 years. My monthly payments therefore remained the same, so the car costs me nothing each month other than insurance and maintenance. So far this has averaged about £100 per month.

 

Question: for arguments sake, imagine you have a £50-60k windfall/bonus/whatever. You have a mortgage, and are very comfortable with the payments. You are comfortable in all other respects.

Do you use the money to...

a) invest
b) pay off some mortgage capital
c) buy a Ferrari.

Robert.

 

If you are comfortable with your current outgoings and don't curently own a Ferrari then c). If you already own an F-car then b).