Ones Chance of Owning an Exotic

I bought my '77 Euro 308 for $15.5K from a dealer! It ran well enough to drive it a lot, but I have put about $15K into it over the last two years. Very nice car, cheaper than a ski boat!

 

Define "exotic" for me. What's that word mean to you?

Older Lotus Esprits can be bought for under 20K all day long. Likewise Deloreans. Ferrari 308GT4s are in the same range, with the GTBi and GTSi ranging a bit higher. To put that in perspective, a new MINI Cooper is in the same range, as is a Hyundai Tiberon. Odds for anyone who is serious about it: 100%

If by exotic you mean a brand new Ferrari, Lamborghini, etc, then the odds are as high as you decide to make them. Live below your means and the odds get better.

 

Depends what you're willing to give up, I guess. If you're ready to live single and at your parent's place forever, odds are you will be able to afford an exotic quite early. Education or entrepreuneurship will help too, obviously.

It just depends how bad you want it.

While I do not have any right now (being a 22 y/o college student sounds like a decent excuse), I can tell you the reason I am still studying and busting my a$$ off is a car I saw nearly 10 years ago. My goal is to get that car before I turn 30 ... but lately I changed my mind a bit in wanting to first get an exotic for my parents. That would set me back indeed.

Set your goals . And because they sound like dreams doesn't mean they can't be reached.

 

http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=42221

Follow the links inside that post

 

Now this is bad news!

 

I've got all my finals today and tomorrow...still get to look foreward to spring break.

But to answer your question, i definately think its possible. It just depends how much you want it. If you live modestly and concentrate on saving and investing your money to reach the goal of buying say a Ferrari or Lamborghini, it seems like you would be likely to be able to fulfill that goal.

The question is how much of your money to you want to allocate to spending on a exotic car? I mean you could live in a pretty modest apartment, not go out too much, not travel too much and spend a great deal on an exotic car...perhaps not the smartest financial move, but it would still meet the goals.

Besides, the F355 isn't out of this world expensive anymore. I can definately see owning one in 10 years.

 

It's very possible to achieve anything you wish. I'm just a high school graduate but through hard work I've been able to support myself and live comfortably in my adult life. I'm halfway to your goal I've got the S2K but haven't gotten the exotic yet (in my case 308QV) however I will make it happen.

 

Any competent person can have owning an Exotic as a goal. A successful business model will make money under competent leadership regardless of age. Now, if you don't want to own a business....the top 10 majors as stated by the Wall Street Journal:

1) Accounting
2) Elec. Eng.
3) Mech. Eng.
4) Business Admin/Managment
5) Economics/finance
6) Comp. Sci.
7) Comp. Eng.
8) Marketing/information management
9) Chem. Eng.
10) Information Sciences/Systems

 

I'm about as normal as they come.

I have never inherited money or anything else - Just normal corporate jobs since college.

Bought a 328 at 31 years old and now have a Testarossa.

So sure, you can do it.

I can't afford to buy a new Ferrari and keep it for 5 years and feel good about the depreciation though....

 

well its all about managing your money. If you buy a higher end car at an early age..factor maintence costs into your financials.

I wanna get a Benz before im 24 (6 months) but I need to be making enough to live on my own..have the benz..and have money left over. FACTOR in everything..and dont go car hunting until you got ur **** together.

Good luck

 

I went to a third tier college (Cal State Polytechnic @ Pomona) because it was all I could afford. It took me seven years of working two minimum wage jobs to get my bachelors in Biological Sciences. The job market not only sucked, it swallowed when I graduated, so I went directly into the graduate program when they dangled a teaching and research stipend in front of my nose. That first year in grad school I made a whopping 20 grand in annual income. Whoop-de-fooking dooo! That was at the height (or depths) of the recession following George Bush Sr. The 40 or so variables tracked by IREM for LA showed that it was a historic opportunity to buy real estate while the rest of the world was coked up on the NASDAQ. That meager sum was enough to get me into a couple of rent controlled, tweaker infested apartment buildings in Los Angeles. Everyone thought I was stark-raving mad, except the old investors who'd been playing monopoly with real buildings for the last 40 years. I stabilized the properties and enjoyed the ever increasing cash flow over the next 7 years until I up-legged into commercial. I did most of the work myself- including unclogging toilets, painting over gang graffiti, putting in copper piping, tile work, electrical, stove & furnace repair etc etc etc. I figured that with each building I bought, It was like buying a part-time job from which I could never be fired. Buy enough profitable buildings and you can see where this goes. Teaching part time and consulting part time also put some money in the bank.

Now I am at the mid 30s but there is a Boxster S, a 308 GTS and an Anniversary Countach in the garage.

The cost? 17 solid years of 60-70-80-90 and even 112 hour workweeks, since the day I escaped high school.

 

Looks like I got #5 covered... and #6. Thanks WSJ!

Seriously, if getting an S2000 is your goal, it is easily obtainable. Just don't spend money when you don't need to. My advice though, is to hold off on the car. I bought a new BWM a little over a year ago, and looking back, I could have used the money much more intelligently. Would have been a great head-start. Now I have to work just that much harder to be where I could have been. I'm having a little more fun right now, but I could have had more fun later.

Bottom line - FOCUS, and bust your rear end. And be patient.

 

WooWoo, I've got #1, #4 and #5 all nice and covered. I might just get a subscription to the WSJ now.

 

If you are driven by success, you won't stop at an exotic. You will set your sights on something higher, raise the bar on yourself, what else is can you get? How about a higher end (fill in your choice car here) and a nice Cigarette boat? If you are motivated by drive and the challenge of success, you will collect a few toys along the way. If you just want to get the car and stop there, that is fine too, but to quote Vincent, "Drive it, like you can afford to fix it"


Never underestimate the power of "drive". How bad do you want it? What will you accomplish to get it? Do you want to be like everyone else wishing, hoping and waiting for that lotto number to show up? Know this, nobody will hand you anything, everything you want out of life, you have to get off your duff and earn yourself. YOU are your own limitation. We are only here on earth for a little while, myself personally, I just can't see earning a little gold watch as a thanks for my service, while a company boots my arse out the door as anything meaningful. You may have your own personal dream as well. Live it to the fullest.

 

Anyone at all middle class can own a "lower dollar" exotic, eg a Lotus or 308, etc.

Are you talking F40? Then I firmly belive you MAKE YOUR OWN odds on that

 

Welp, a F355 is $80k. Anyone living in a $600k house with it paid off at age 50 can have a $500k house and an $80k car.

A McLaren F1 is harder to get one's hands on, and generally takes both wealth and enthusism.

Doing things like transfering to a school where you find like-spirited motivated people is a great step in the right direction.

Basically, it's not a game of chance. You and you alone determine wether you will own an exotic (or for that matter, a corolla.) Nobody falls down and says "Ooops, look at that, here's my Ferrari". They make it happen.

 

I got my first Ferrari at 23 while still in grad school. It was no more than what most of the other students had (but I also had an M3 at the time, so I was the exception).

Set goals. Come up with a plan. Work the plan. Drive an exotic.