What do you do? How do you afford a Ferrari?

No, but ya are 'rich' if ya have one. : )

 

Just to play devil's advocate, don't you think its OK if she spends 5K on stuff that in her mind is like a Ferrari is to you? Seems if household items are your wife's passion and she is actually earning an income then go for it. It would keep the peace. I am assuming she doesn't work since you are wondering whether you can afford her. She must be doing something right or else why marry?

 

Ikea is great for the rice pudding they sell

 

I absolutely agree. My girlfriend had some issues with my Ferrari, ironed it all out and now she wants to buy one eventually. She makes $$ and will be able to buy one too. What more could a guy want. I would choose my GF over a mistress or dating other women who either see Ferrari's as a midlife crisis car or a car for men with little d**** Word to the wise keep the GF,
F-cars and home...........

 

And the Bull Snake sleeps on the 328 driver's seat. Cheaper than an alarm, eh?

 

Yeah. I worked with a guy who was in love with Vettes back in the 1980's. He had a crappy apartment, but he had an amazing and expensive Corvette. He wanted the car mainly to get tail and we have all been there. His place looked like crap. It was sad that this guys place didn't mean anything to him compared to his car. but he didn't really have friends or had people over that's how he justified it. I think you have to have a spruced up pad in the right location then when you drive up in your F360 it all makes sense.

 

It all depends on your priorities. My daily driver is a 17-year-old VW convertible that I bought new in '87. I figure that if most people replace their cars every five years, I passed up replace years 5, 10, and 15, so I should be able to justify a toy. I bought a 1989 328 in early 2003, for a little less than the price of a new Lexus SC430, and still drive my VW every day. My goal is to break 20 years on that car, and it still looks pretty good and is a lot of fun with the top down.

On the down side, the purchase of the 328 resulted in my wife having an insatiable desire for a new daily driver. She had been driving the same car (bought new) since 1995. I told her that, since my 2-car fleet averages 16 years old, I wouldn't begrudge her a new daily driver, as long it was 24 years old, so her average fleet age would work out to 16 years, too. Well, that didn't go over too well, and she ended up with a year-and-a-half old Mercedes E430 4matic.

Again, it's all a matter of priorities. If you really want to make it work, and can save a moderate amount of money, you can do it.

 

In short, from much personal experience, yes you do need to be "wealthy" to own a Ferrari. Wealthy in Podunk is vastly different than wealthy in NYC where everything costs an arm and a leg. A 100k income in small town America is equivalent to about a 300k income in NYC or LA.

The new cars are under warranty but cost a fortune (if you are making 100k a year and have no trust fund, and want to live a reasonably comfortable and financially secure life you should not be buying a 250k car), the older ones are more affordable but parts and maintenance can kill you. Yes, you may buy a 308 and be very handy with tools, but if you need to pay $800 for a plastic light switch (cost to build about 3 dollars), $150 for a master fuse (a 50 cent item), $500 for a distributor cap, etc. then it doesn't matter how handy you are. These are real examples from my 246 GTS, and you will pay these prices no matter where you live.

I must specifically say that this conservative attitude I have now at 46, with 2 kids, is very different than my attitude at 26 when I was single and lived in a 1 Br apartment. At that time I borrowed heavily to indulge my car passion, but I was already over the 100k income mark, with no debts, so I could afford the payments.

 

So you're not supposed to buy a Ferrari in order to impress people, you're supposed to buy a Ferrari because you like it. But you ARE supposed to design your house and your kitchen in order to impress people?

I don't get it. Like the old saying: "To thine own self be true".
Why not buy the car, or the house, because you like it and who cares whether anybody else is impressed or not?

 

I would say that $100k/yr is nowhere near enough to be owning a Ferrari unless you're talking about a lightly driven 308 that you're doing all the wrenching on.

In a place like NY, SF or LA, even that probably wouldn't be doable. These days, $100k/yr is basically poverty level in NYC even though the govt classifies you as "rich" (adding insult to injury).

Out some place more "normal", of course, different rules apply. The catch there is that it's harder to make big money far away from the cities unless you're an entrepeneur or a doctor.

I also think the distinction between income and wealth is hugely important. The people that I know with newer Ferraris have massive wealth, making their income immaterial. When you have 7 figures+ in cash and real estate assets, you're in good Ferrari shape even if you're somehow only making $80k per year. I know a few guys in that position who feed almost all of their money back into assets and allow themselves only $80-$100k to live on. Needless to say, thats a very different "80-100k/yr" than someone just making that amount by working at a regular job.

 

I hope I'm properly appreciating the situation. I have been operating under the following theory: at present, one can generally find a decent 308 or Mondial in the same ballpark as a lot of pretty generic new cars--new cars that many, many not-rich people drive. While certainly maintenance costs will be substantially higher on a 20 or 25 year old Ferrari than on a new Audi, for instance, if one actually performs that maintenance the car will not depriciate much if at all.

I am certainly not rich, but I could afford a decent new car, if that was what I wanted. So I figure, based on the foregoing analysis, that I should be able to get a 308 or Mondial, and use it, without suffering any deprivations. And, I enjoy working on my car, so that should help hold the maintenance costs down, too.

Am I wrong? Is this analysis too simplistic? If there's something I've overlooked, please tell me now!!! I'm planning to take the plunge within the next year, knock on wood.

To fill that Italian-sports-car hole in my life in the meantime, I have an Alfa Spider. When I announced my intention to buy it, my wife was quite skeptical, but once it arrived, she came to really like it. But now when I talk about moving on to an Fcar, she says that she likes the Spider and doesn't want to get a different car! Oh well, could be worse.

 

I think there are a few elements missing...

The Ferrari is essentially a toy, so the comparison to a new car is one that I've always found suspect. You see it on here a lot, but I don't buy it. The old "you can get a 308 for the price of a stupid SUV, so anyone can own a Ferrari". Realistically, though, you're talking about spending upwards of $40-$50k on a 20+ year old car that is going to be barely driven.

A lot of folks also use the depreciation argument a lot. Specifically that the Ferrari is going to hold its value. That's somewhat specious as well since the Ferrari is only going to hold its value like that if you maintain it flawlessly and, again, almost never drive it. How many high mileage 308's that are only in decent shape are really going to hold value?

Add to that the typical repair cycle of any 20 year old car coupled with extremely high parts and labor costs (unless you do the wrenching) and you're looking at fairly substantial financial risk exposure.

I would almost want to compare the Ferrari more with a very expensive piece of jewelry or something than with a new car. You have to be able to dump a hefty some of money on something that has no real utility value.

I've seen some guys on here say "if you can't buy it cash, you can't afford it" and I agree with that in general. I would say that if all of you're expenses are managed easily and you have all other bases covered, and still have $40k sitting around that you can blow and some decent monthly disposable income, then it's a great idea.

 

pick your vice!!!

Vincent.

 

Like I said.

Vincent.

 

No Wife + No Kids = $$$ for my Diablo

 

I don't design house/kitchen to impress people. I chose to use HD EXPO stuff, because it is really much higher quality stuff than IKEA, anyone has experience with those will agree with me. Since wife spends a good portion of her life in the kitchen, we figure we should get something nice and durable. It is nicer stuff, and we like it, so we chose it over IKEA, not to impress anyone.

Life is not about impressing people, Whether it is house or cars.
But there is a balance one should always keep, in my opinion.
Like the other gentlemen who replied to my post, about a man lived in a crappy APT but owned a Vette, that's sad if you ask me. If you house is costs $400k and in a not so great neighbourhood, but you drop all your money on a Ferrari, that's ghetto, even if you can comfortably afford the payments, it is still ghetto.
Thus, it is not to impress people if you have nice home and etc, but if you drive a $100k+ car, you really should have other priorities fulfilled, if you achive that, it is naturally impressive, you are not doing it to impress.

 

You definitely need some disposable scratch to own and operate your F-car. Apart from money, I think it take guts to own one of these cars.

 

Bottom line, no, not really.

To address specific notes in the thread above:

1) Some argue that you should put a ton of money in your house. I've even heard the statement that a car should cost no more than 10% of the house cost. I love the statement above that 400K is ghetto territory. That's highly dependent on where you live. Here in the Dallas area, I have a 2500 sf house on 1/3 of an acre that I paid well under $200K for. It's no mansion, but it's well built and more than enough for the two of us. Does that make me ghetto? Should I be limited to driving $20,000 cars for the rest of my life simply because the cost of living is lower here?

2) Some argue that a Ferrari is a toy and that you cannot compare the costs to equivalent new cars. I disagree. Service costs are pretty much fixed on a time basis. I use my car as a daily driver, which lowers the cost per mile significantly. I chose to keep my paid-off truck instead of buying a new one, and that freed up the funds for the Ferrari.

3) I have no problem admitting that my 328 is financed. I was saving X amount per year for the car, and would have been able to buy it outright in 4 years. However, life is short and interest rates are low. The financial cost of interest over the next few years vs. driving a Fcar for those years was an easy decision. Not having to make a payment on the other cars (see point above) helped significantly.

4) I carry very little debt outside a mortgage and the aforementioned note on the Fcar. Stay away from plastic.

5) Wrenching on your own car will significantly lower your costs. Start small, and if you screw up, simply take it to the mechanic and admit your error

6) Italian car ownership is never logical, so don't overthink it. Just jump in and have some fun. If it turns out it was a bad idea, sell the car and chalk it up to experience.

 

This thread has been enjoyable to read, so I'm jumping in:

After enjoying Rob's picture of the 328 in the garage next to the shed, I chose 2 Ferraris instead of a house altogether. Over the past 4.5 years that I've owned 2 Ferraris, I've spent over $65k in repairs and maintenance, and the TR still needs a full service and the 355 is currently in the shop for $$ engine work.

Good thing I don't have a wife, girlfriend or kids, because I would definitely NOT have the money for them ("them" not referring to the cars

David

 

IMHO, if anybody buys a Fcar and says that they didn't buy it to impress as well as be driven, then they are lying. Yes you buy it because it inspires you in various ways(looks,sounds,handles etc) but also because you know that people(OK maybe not everybody) will be impressed by it. This in itself can be a turn on for a large majority of people and only adds to the pleasures you get from the aforementioned other qualities of the car. I am sure if you could buy an exact duplicate of the Fcar in terms of handling, engine, sound,heritage, but was pig ugly, I am sure that most people would just not buy it. This would be because they would be afraid of the negative reaction it would generate. Furthermore when people asked, you would always then have to justify that it's a great drivers car that handles and goes well etc. However with beautiful looks as well you don't need to say anything. the car impresses on it's own. So yes people buy Fcars to impress as well as to buy a great drivers car.

 

It certainly helps to be wealthy to own a Ferrari. Period.

 

It depends which ferrari you have which country you live because of the taxes and other costs, how many kids you have, or a wife etc etc etc.

 

You are right, I was actually referring to NY area, that's where I am. I am using that as example, that people should set their priorities straight.

Years ago there was this incident in metro NY area, some guy in a new Diablo was racing a heavily modified Vette, Diabo went out wrong side of street to pass, head on with a Volvo, Diablo driver, the couple in Volvo died on impact. Later it was discovered in lawsuit, the Diablo owner lived in a $300k house in som Southshore town, he actually took equity loan on the house to pay for the car payments.

That's a more extreme example, but I think quite a few people stretch to get their toys.