Still a Dream

"Party-vi" (party-vi)
09/25/2013 at 16:48 • Filed to: oppositelock

After reading the excellent primer on exotic car ownership posted by our own !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , I pulled up the MB site and priced out an SLS GT that I'd like. For a total of $217,000-ish, I plugged that into a loan calculator (assuming I'd need a loan, as most exotic buyers tend to pay cash). With 20% down it would take $3,500 a month for a 5 year loan. Sticking with the 20% rule (as-in a car payment should only be 20% of your monthly take-home pay), I would need around $300,000 a year to own that gorgeous thing. In my current field I can expect to make around $135,000 if I'm lucky, maybe $175,000 depending on what position I take by the time I'm late 30s, early 40s. Le sigh . Guess I'll start saving.

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DISCUSSION (18)

MonkeePuzzle > Party-vi
09/25/2013 at 16:52

or! get to know BATTERY TENDER UNNECESSARY really well, like intimately, like SCARILY good friends *awkward wink*

mr. idk > Party-vi
09/25/2013 at 16:58

Arent there 2011 SLS AMGs around for about $150k-175k?

desertdog5051 > Party-vi
09/25/2013 at 17:08

Can you say "mid life crisis"? Maybe by then.

Damasconian > Party-vi
09/25/2013 at 17:09

We need more of this stuff here. I love talking about cars/payment/financing. It really interests me to see what people pay for cars relative to their pay. We should be more open about this stuff.

J. Walter Weatherman > Party-vi
09/25/2013 at 17:15

A car payment should be 20% of your take home pay? I'm all for spending money on cars, but that seems a bit steep! Especially if that is before you factor in insurance, gas, registration, maintenance, etc.

Maybe I'm just a cheap ass...

Edit: on second though, 20% would probably be fairly conservative for the single, non-homeowner me. Now that I am married and have a house, 20% of pay on all things car related sounds scary.

GhostZ > Party-vi
09/25/2013 at 17:26

Make money from investing most of your income, live like shit on a great (if inaccessible) salary for 10 years, and retire at 40 with an SLS and a nice house.

scoob > Party-vi
09/25/2013 at 18:21

May I ask what field, if you don't mind?

(High school senior here)

Party-vi > scoob
09/25/2013 at 18:45

Construction - specifically general construction. A project manager at a medium-large construction company ($50M+ a year in sales) earns from $90,000 to $150,000 depending on experience. A director of construction or executive earns upwards of $150,000. I've seen offers of up to $250,000 for an executive position. It usually takes a business degree and a lot of experience for that. I've got about 5 years as a PM thus far.

Party-vi > desertdog5051
09/25/2013 at 18:47

Hmm. Possibly.

Party-vi > mr. idk
09/25/2013 at 18:48

Yes, but used car loans usually have higher interest rates and aren't new so banks (in my experience) aren't as willing to give you financing.

Party-vi > Damasconian
09/25/2013 at 18:52

My dream car a year ago was a 2006 or 2007 Aston Martin Vantage V8. Assuming a nice example costs me $60k whenever I get around to buying it and I have a 48 month loan I'll need probably $12,000 down and my payment will be around $1,200 a month. Lots of money. I'll hopefully be making enough to afford it haha.

Party-vi > J. Walter Weatherman
09/25/2013 at 18:53

I'm about 23 days from owning my first house so this'll get delaying a bit longer haha.

Party-vi > GhostZ
09/25/2013 at 18:53

*writes down idea*

deadpedal > Party-vi
09/25/2013 at 19:25

As J. W.W. got into, the general rule for debt is for it to be no more than 35ish% of your gross income on a month over month basis. So, for easy math, grossing 120K/year is 12K a month. Somewhere around 4K is all a bank wants to see you spending on debt... 2K mortgage, 1K car, $500 school debt, and maybe you have a credit card with a high limit.

Credit score and all that is important too of course.

You can always do the LA thing and have $1200/month apartment and a $3500 car payment.

I mostly came to be pedantic and point out that car has only 2 pedals. Good for traffic I guess...

Good luck with the house...pee off the deck for me.

Renescent > Party-vi
09/25/2013 at 19:54

Buy one used in a couple of years for less than $50 grand... specialty MB's depreciate like a stone weighed down with rocks. I just bought an 06 C55 AMG with 70k miles and a 50k warranty for $18k.

Party-vi > Renescent
09/26/2013 at 01:13

Damn that's sweet. There's a nicely taken care-of C55 in Annapolis that I'd like, but unfortunately I've learn to prioritize my purchases :'(

Party-vi > deadpedal
09/26/2013 at 01:15

Good to know. My credit is excellent so hopefully if the time happens I can go for it (well, assuming my credit remains good haha).

Thanks! No deck, but I'll pee off the garage roof.

Renescent > Party-vi
09/26/2013 at 19:39

That's a good call, I expect that I'm much older than you and I had to do the same thing for about 10 years. Now I'm in a place where I can be a little less practical. Although it does have 4 doors ;)