Focus on a home first. It will never be this cheap to buy a home and finance at such low rates. With what you're paying in rent, you could find a nice little place and possibly save money as a result.

Outside of that, it's all about your lifestyle and what your budget can afford... how much you've saved and not putting all of your excess funds into a depreciating asset.

Buy used and shave off a few thousand dollars.

Just my 2 cents worth.

 

VIRphan is right. Keep driving what you have and buy a house or condo.

 

if you only make 30 and buy a 30k car, you are setting yourself up to fail

 

OP, if you're 18 or so, screw it and buy the car. It's ok to make financial mistakes (not financial suicide) at a young age. If you're closer to 25 and are thinking about your future, please do what the others have said (buy a condo/house and a used nicer car).

 

Wrong.
Even those young mistakes can affect you for years.
Owning property is a wise investment, and 9/10 can net a profit when opted to sell.
A car is NEVER a good investment.
I was paying $800 a month rent, and when I bought my house, my house note dropped to $625.

House > car

 

They're all right. Save up and buy the necessities first...house/condo, pay off bills, etc. Just wait till you're making more.

 

Well, the 2011 3.8 track is like the most expensive version of the coupe, if your worried about cash why not go for one of the cheaper trims? Or try and get a 2010 model, not much has really changed and i bet you could get a 2010 cheaper now considering the 2011's are out.

 

I bring in about $80ish a year combined with my wife. We spent $23k on this car and we'll probably spend about $30k on her next vehicle. However, we're bought our house. The note is low as the interest rate was prime. I sit at $1000 for the house note, her current vehicle is paid off, and my car only costs me $298/month before insurance, I got a sweet interest rate there too. At $30.7k a year you bring home before taxes $2550 a month. After taxes you generally bring home 75% of your pay, which drops you to $1900 and some change. Take $1200 out for rent and bills and you have $700 left over, and I'm assuming you're leaving that $700 to include your car note, insurance, fuel, and maintenance... I'd say you're a fool to buy outside your means, and the bank will probably agree.

Second piece of advice. Don't listen to people on forums. Live your life, make your own choices and live with your consequences.

 

Ya, first off, asking people about their incomes, something your'e never going to get a straight answer on, because its none of your business.

Second, a 1:1 ratio, you're going to fail. I'm a 3:1 ratio and its still a little tight at times with school bills, rent, running second car, gf, food, car insurance, and other bills.

 

27/50 (2.0T Track)... Also I put 5000 down on the car so thats more like 22/50... I also have extordinary credit so Im paying 371 a month over 6 years. I have 400 dolars a month in school loans, 1000 for rent, and 300 in other bills. This doesnt include food and car insurance tho. I think my insurance is like 572 for 6 months. Im almost maxed out I have about 400 a month to spare to do other stuff with (car parts and what not)... I would suggest you save up a good down payment...

 

No way u should be buying a new car at all on a 30k income.

 

If he could save up a 10k down payment Im sure he could. The question is how long will that take?

Also I should mention I dont drink or club at all... Thats a huge money suck (worse then our cars)... So if you do that you deffinately cant afford it.

 

1/3 of his gross income as a down payment? Is he planning to buy this car before retirement age? Lol. I see ur point but it's doubtful.

 

When I bought mine a couple months ago, I was making about $35k and put $10k down. It's not like I had been saving for years either. Being 21, I choose to lay low and save rather than spending it on stupid s*it. It's all about your lifestyle and what you see in your immediate (5 year) future...

-Matt

 

NI - 30700/12 = 2,558.34/mth
........FE + VE = 1,200.00
.......................1,354.34

Now obviously this figure doesn't account for any:
- consumer debt you may have accumulated to date
- any debt repayment
- any savings


But anyway, for a 3.8 track with a MSRP of approx. $31,550 (i'm not going to include any taxes - because it don't know where you are, plus this way it can offset any discounts you may get on the car as well)

Assuming the base 60mth financing
......................31,550.00 / 60 = 525.83
Again not sure on whats in your area but most mfgs offer 'smart' financing (amortized over 84mths - balloon payment due at end of 60mths)
......................31,550.00 / 84 = 375.60 + 9,014 due

While this fits in your budget right now, account for gas, insurance, repairs / PM


:ugh: Anyway doesn't look like the most optimistic situation. As mentioned previously, I would look into going with a basic model. If I were in your shoes, I would look into keeping the period longer to reduce your monthly payments. Be careful, you can easily end up with negative equity come 6 years, or with the 'smart' financing option. **Really only consider this if you plan on keeping the car for a long time** Therefore, as you save up, take some money and pay off more of the car.


:hello:

 

He might be able to pull out a 2010 2.0T respec... Whats the price on the 2010 3.8 rspec???

 

My finance advice is never finance anything you can't payoff in a year (other than a house) and I live a very different life than most people financially. I also have a very strong credit score, I'm kinda anal about my finances.

 

IMO I would take half your income and that's the value of car you should be looking at.

I went under that with this car, plus owning a house on a single income and I still have plenty $$ to party half fun and go on vacation 4 weeks out of the year without touching credit.

I am also realizing how old I am getting, because looking back, my biggest mistake was buying a car that matched my income when I was 18-19. Kinda wish I stuck with my rule of thumb.

That said if interest rates rise, I would look at moving that 1/2 down to a 1/3 if it is close to double digits.

As mentioned house / property > car. Especially if you choose the right area to live in, by the time your 30 and have no debt you will be driving a nicer car then you might have imagined at 18/19.

 

i make about 25k a year .. got my car to pay which was about 29k .. school (16500$), rent and everything else that goes with it and im doin fine ..
computer tech salaries = **** where i live .. in montreal i could easily do twice that ..

 

Really, is that take home $$?
So half your income is going towards car payments / insurance / gas / maintenance?
Not sure what insurance rates are like in Quebec though.

 

Saving 5,000 a year (instead of a $415 car payment) from 18-25 into a roth ira will offer you nearly DOUBLE your money at retirement age than if you start at 25.

Think about it.

an average at best car now....

or an extra 500k to go see the world with your wife in an rv when you retire.....

 

$30K income? Go buy a used Neon SRT4 for $8K, drop $4k worth of mods, be happy. Be very happy.

 

Buying a house is not always the best way to go for everyone. Weigh your needs & wants & income & go from there. Just b/c housing is less expensive now doesn't mean we all SHOULD buy.

 

A few things I should also mention.

I just sold my 91 MR2 turbo for 5k, I'm 26 years old, still owe 19k on student loan, and I live in San Fransisco renting out a room in an old house.

The smart and obvious thing to do here is try to pay off my student loan before I even think about buying a new car. Maybe buy a 1k beater for commute. But I really want to make the stupid decision... Damn this car is too sexy.

Buying a house/condo is extremely unrealistic in SF and most of the Bay Area. The company I work for might expand to Las Vegas and when they do, I'm gonna fight to transfer there (I lived in Vegas for 5 years when I was 17 and my parents still live there). The houses in Vegas cost 1/10 of the houses in SF... I'm not even exaggerating!

Although I want a house for my own and a stacked savings account, I still realize that you gotta live your life. Following rules and working your ass off while spend little on yourself is just.... miserable. The only thing I want out of life is happiness.

I feel grinding every day and saving for years and years is "smart" but will you be happy? I know I wouldn't be. Knowing you can die at any moment (drunk drivers, random accidents, etc), adds to this.

In the end, nothing really matters. So just be happy while you can!

I also think for my future happiness as well. Otherwise I'd buy a new M3 and be broke for the rest of my life.

 

If i was you i would sit down and work through my finances to see if i could work the car payment in with the student loan payment.

Me personally, I would never buy a house. I want to enjoy life and the money used on the house could go to other places. All a house is to me is a place to eat sleep and ****, just with a bit more space that i wont use.

you only live once, if you're worried about investing/saving. Historically, stocks offer a much better return on your money that houses usually do.

if you can afford it, get it. put a smile on your face.

and do not save for a huge downpayment on a car....usually 10-20% is good enough

 

I spent about 45% of my annual salary on my car, but I also have saving, retirement own my home etc. On paper I can go out and spend 50-60k on a car no prob, but that doesn't make it a good call. Spend 15k on a car and have some savings to enjoy life and leave a financial cushion just in case.

I have friends and family that spent more than they should have on cars and houses and when they're the ones that either don't have money for events, vacations and other toys or the ones that lost their jobs, had kids, or ran into other unexpected financial problems couldn't make their payments and are now driving driving $500 sliders becauses they have no saving and ruined their credit.

It's hard to enjoy life when you have a nice car but don't have money to enjoy anything else...

 

Maybe a lightly used genesis??????

 

I make a grand total of...under 10 grand a year. But I'm 18!

How to do? Lease ftmfw

:rofl::rofl::rofl:

 

and you want a supercharger? lol

 

Your expenses should also determine how much you spend on a car, not just your income. If you're 18 living at home with parents with no other expenses, buy a $30,000 and take out a 30 month note to make sure you pay it off right away.

If you're married, with a mortgage, already have a car payment, possibly a child within the next 2 years, then buy something used and cheap.


In your situation, I would advise against it. Buy something cheaper, slightly used with under 20,000 miles on it and 1-2 years old. Make sure you have enough money to put in the bank every month and you aren't maxing out your income.

I would also advise against paying off student loans faster (if you have other debt to pay off). Student loans are good debt. If you're buying a car, pay that off faster. The interest you're paying on an auto loan does nothing but hurt you. At least student loan interest paid is tax deductible.

My car was 43% of my annual income (25k on 58k), and my wife's vehicle is an even higher ratio to her income. But... I'm diligent in my finances and have everything budgeted out. I have plenty in savings and make enough to keep throwing more in there. I'm very tight with money, but the car is an exception. I spend so much time in it that I feel it should be what I want. I'll own it for the next 7-10 years, so I have no problem spending what I did. My wife's vehicle to income ratio is 61%!! But I'm paying extra on the monthly payments because Nissan screwed me with compounding interest without me noticing.

edit: I'm also young (27) and advancing in my career. Standard industry guidelines put me making 30-40% more in the next 3-4 years. Because I'm able to make the payments now, the expected income down the road from both my wife and myself will only make it easier.