Dr.Bill

It's really hard to say. Assuming you have no debt (except maybe a house), retirement accounts are fully funded, kids education is planned for, then if you can write a check for the amount, go for it.

A general guideline my financial adviser uses - the value of all your toys (cars, boats, motorcycles, snowmobiles, planes, etc) should be less than 1/2 your annual income.

Or, you can be the typical American and get whatever you can barely make the payments on and expect the government will support you in your old age.

Nick Wong

Generally I don't want the toy if I can't own it free and clear.

Yargk

Exactly.

Vonschmidt

I would agree normally but with car loans down at 1.49-1.99 it's better to borrow and invest the cash into a return generating fund that then offsets the depreciation on the car.

As to how much you should be worth there are many variables that I think you should consider, marital status, children, projected earning curve, years to retirement.

The entire financial package really needs to be considered so just saying and income of x is really not the answer. Hope this give you reasons to think.

ILLCOMM

As always, the answer depends. No kids for me. That helps.

Quikag

No kidding. It' s a bit frustrating to live well within one's means and then hear all this BS about government hand-outs, forgivness of mortgage principle, etc.

To answer the OP's question, if you have all your other ducks in a row and can comfortably write a check for the car (even if you choose to finance with a low interest rate and invest the cash) and it won't affect your standard of living, go for it.

Expensive car purchases (honestly anything over $50k for the vast majority of people) really isn't a 'rational' decision. It's emotional.

Mvez

No kids either. I spent what would have been my kid's college fund on cars.

carcommander

People will justify whatever the want to.

aussie jimmy

i'd rather spend half my annual income on a k-01 + g-01

zirrah

Yeah, I guess for all of us it's a matter of what you are comfortable with. I once read that a safe estimation of he cost of 1 child for an 18 year period was currently about $250k.

So I figure with no kids, a $70k boxster that I keep for 10 years is ok. My 401k is maxed out each year. And my only other debt is our mortgage which we were smart with as a first home. New are not house poor so to speak.

facelvega

When I got out of school with my shiny engineering degree (and lots of student loans) in 1977, I got a job making $18K per year. With my first paycheck, I purchased (downpayment+finance) a used V-12 E-type convertible for $6000. My best friend, same financial situation but not as responsible as I am, got a brand new Corvette for (I think) about $12K.

Based upon how my life turned out, I would say that an individual with negative net worth should spend no more than 50% of their gross income on a car. Looking around, I think that this is a good rule of thumb, based upon what people are doing...

tasman

If I didn't have kids I would certainly need a more understanding wife and a much bigger garage.

LVDell

I'd say the net worth would need to be enough to at least pay for a $18 Rennlist membership.

scooter993

32 with no kids or wife, that's how i roll...

mike1111

I have two kids in college and they both sleep in the garage, one is called Harley and the other GT3...