why buy an expensive car?

You see how many kids out of school have nice cars that are about similar to the average middle class car (or even better?)? Their parents may have been making similar money but didn't feel compelled to blow it on crap. People are tring to beat the joneses, and if that means a $33k car on a $38k/year income so be it. They can always pay for it tomorrow!

You're right, they felt compelled, no FORCED to blow it on you, and any siblings you might have.

Well I would argue some people are not mature enough to own a home at some ages.
Homes while they usually appreicate in value, require alot of work. You need to keep your
home up, to keep its value up. Some people right out of school cannot handle it. I have seen it
before, where people buy a home, or try (they really cannot afford the home anyway), and
it starts going into disarray within 6 months. Its dirty, the lawn isn't taken care of. And as
time progresses, it needs to be painted, things will break and need to be fixed. And that stuff
doesn't get done. And thats when your home isn't gaining value.

Exactly. Typically people right out of school can't handle a house.
The average mortgage with everything included is ~$1000 a month. That's not cheap.

 

[marquee]

Originally posted by: SampSon

You see how many kids out of school have nice cars that are about similar to the average middle class car (or even better?)? Their parents may have been making similar money but didn't feel compelled to blow it on crap. People are tring to beat the joneses, and if that means a $33k car on a $38k/year income so be it. They can always pay for it tomorrow!

You're right, they felt compelled, no FORCED to blow it on you, and any siblings you might have.

Well I would argue some people are not mature enough to own a home at some ages.
Homes while they usually appreicate in value, require alot of work. You need to keep your
home up, to keep its value up. Some people right out of school cannot handle it. I have seen it
before, where people buy a home, or try (they really cannot afford the home anyway), and
it starts going into disarray within 6 months. Its dirty, the lawn isn't taken care of. And as
time progresses, it needs to be painted, things will break and need to be fixed. And that stuff
doesn't get done. And thats when your home isn't gaining value.

Exactly. Typically people right out of school can't handle a house.
The average mortgage with everything included is ~$1000 a month. That's not cheap.

True, people might not be ready to handle a house. But if they dont buy one immediately, they should at least be putting money aside in preparation of buying one further down the line. The idea is the money you spend on a car could be saved for this purpose

 

[Ynog]

See I guess when I think about bills, I think about everything,
I think about the actually bills, the cost of living (groceries, going out to dinner or a night on the town, things I like to do), throw in savings,
And if I am not at 0 or above, then I'm not really making my payments.

But I totally understand, what the loan guy tells you about making your payments, and affording something is totally different.

 

True, people might not be ready to handle a house. But if they dont buy one immediately, they should at least be putting money aside in preparation of buying one further down the line. The idea is the money you spend on a car could be saved for this purpose

Ideals are great in an ideal world.
Welcome to reality.

Ideally, everyone would save 40% of their income since the first day they started working. Ideally everyone wouldn't need a car and we would all use public transity. Ideally as a youth, you should not have any fun, or do anything stupid, and strictly plan for your retirement.

Obviously spending the majority of your income on a car is stupid. I believe the average is no more than 33% of a yearly income spend on a car.

 

[Ausm]

Originally posted by: minendo

Originally posted by: spidey07
because they're stupid.

First goal should be to get a house

Exactly.

I agree buy a house excellent investment and if you decide to get married get a prenuptual agreement that way if you get divorced she'll end up with $hit 😉

sysadmin

 

[Mani]

Originally posted by: marquee
i'm not a car enthusiast, so i've never understood the point of buying nice cars.

i mean, if you're 35, settled down with a family, own your own house, and after that have money to spend, i can understand shelling out for a nice car. but i have friends who are fresh out of college, got their first job, and immediately go buy a 25-30k car. makes no sense to me. some still have a bit of college loans to pay off too!

if i'm not mistaken, cars immediately begin to lose value as soon as you drive it out of the dealer's lot. after a couple years, your car might only be worth half of what you paid for it? why not buy a used accord or something, a car thats reliable, and save your money towards buying an apartment or house first? real estate usually gains value over time right?

could someone explain to me why young people (guys 2-3 years out of school) go out and buy expensive cars? yeah, it might be cool and fun to drive, but isnt it really dumb financially?

I came out of college after busting my ass like no other for 4 years in an incredibly tough engineering curriculum and at times, the light at the end of the tunnel was the only thing that kept me going through it. When I graduated and scored a very comfortable salary I decided to finally reward myself with a $40k car. I don't regret it for a second. It's worth all that and then some when you love driving as much as I do, actually look FORWARD to your commute to and from work, and have something you have dreamed about owning for years.

 

[foolanger]

For some people a car is only used to get from point A to point B and for them any car will do. I could be wrong but i think more expensive cars have better options, are more comfortable, and a lot of times safer. I drive an Acura CL Type S and every time I drive my girlfriend's nissan Sentra it drives me crazy. Its very loud, I have to floor the damn car to get any speed, you can feel every bump on the road, i barely have any room, and it doesn't have any seat warmers in the winter.. and overall my CL is just a much more comfortable car... Is that worth paying an extra $20k for a car? For some it would be and for others they will never understand. My friend has a BMW 740IL and that is an amazing car. No outside sound, the back seat is bigger then my couch and so on. About Safety... If a civic and a BMW 5 series were in a head on colission, which car would you rather be in? Just like anything in life, more money will usually get you a nicer product. Wether it be a faster computer or a faster car...