How much of your wealth in cars?

How much of your wealth are you preapred to put in cars? For me I would say 10-20% and no more. I knew a girl once who worked 4 jobs to pay her car payments. I was thinking you are f'ing nuts!

about 5%

Wealth, as measured by net assets would almost require a young person to have a greater percentage of theirs in a car (if they have one) simply because they have not acumulated many assets. As you get older, and your assets grow, automobiles will most probably become a lower percentage of your wealth. At least I would hope they do for most people. My rule of thumb is to never put more than 10% of your wealth into a depreciating asset (like cars, boats, etc).

5% not counting equity in home. Have four cars, soon to be three cars. If I count equity in home 1%.

Don't we all live in our cars? That front trunk can be remarkably comfortable as a sleeping birth, cigar lighter can double as a small cooking element. All kidding aside, yeah I agree: less than 10% or else you spend all your time worrying about it instead of enjoying it. IMHO

about 500%

i sleep in my cars

Wealth is very relative, I think self worth is more important that net worth.I know if i cant pay cash I wont buy.I realize not everyone can do this, but maybe that's why most people are in debt.I cant see anyone spending more that 5% of their annual income on a car, as i said its all relative.

As long as you have the right companion, I see nothing wrong with that.

So people that have said they spend no more than 5% of their income on cars make about $2,000,000 a year for $100,000 car? I'm very poor compared to you guys.

Some years are better then others LOL

Car payments make up 15% of my gross, house makes up 30%, invest about 30%, rest goes to taxes. Make the wife pay all the other bills.

I would agree that if you are paying more than 5% of your annual income on car payments, something is out of wack. However, this assumes that cars are not your hobby. I have friends that drive mundane cars, but think nothing of spending $20k-$30k per year on a country club membership. They will look at me like I spend too much on my cars, but then drop that kind of dough on golf. I should also mention that I am a member of a country club also, so I guess I have too many expensive hobbies. Oh well, you cannot take it with you. I plan for the future and save a large chunk of my income, but I am going to have fun with the rest. I had cancer 5 1/2 years ago. When you come face to face with death, you realize that accumulating wealth is not everything. So, if I want to drive a 996 and belong to a country club, I am doing it. I am not getting down off my soap box.

Jumper you're the man! Love it...live on the edge, life is too short to not live it to it's fullest!

Funny story about the p-car and golf. I have not had my p-car long, but I am quickly realizing how much people react to it. I went golfing today and in the 8 minutes between me leaving my clubs at the bad drop and getting to the first tee, the starter had been informed that someone in the group is driving a "ferrari or something".... thought that was hilarious

ALL OF IT

ALL MY WEALTH....I even sold my wife...kids...home....tv.....and now I am ponding my golden teeth to mod my P....... 5-10% of your wealth and this coming from a country in which 99% has a debt of 8K and up and buys and lives on credit!!! I have people forking out thousands of dollars for a photoshoot, but they can't pay cash...they drive in brandnew cars (100K and over) but can't take cash out of an ATM...go figure....

I waited to get my Porsche until the point where if anything needed attention, I could say without hesitation, "Fix it." I want the car as mechanically sound as it can be. Net worth, I don't know, a low %, but cash flow and bucks-in-bank needed to be there so no one in family is cheated and I don't have to hesitate getting needed parts, tires, brakes, or saying, "Fix it."

x5rap...that is the right answer!!! That was exactly my position....if car, wife, child or anything else "breaks down" there should not be no financial problems to "fix it".....and there should still be some money left to mod your P!! Get yourself a 62" HDTV...buy your spoiled kid a Xbox 360 (700 bucks???? ridiculous!!...when I was his age.......) and your wife all the plastic surgery she wants, which makes the mods on a P seems like pennies!!! My P has been at the paint shop for a week....needed some rhino painting....after "facelift" and I NEED IT BACK!!!!!

There's no wealth in cars. They are an expenditure, not an investment. An expenditure that for some is worth a lot, and for others only a little.

live on salary, bank the bonus is my strategy. Spend the 80% of salary (putting away max 401k amts obviously) on mortgage, living expenses, cars, etc leaving about 15-20% as cushion and bank whole bonus. This is how I figure i can live the way i want while also putting building my FU fund. Never, Never, Never, touch the bonus dollars, if the lifestyle needs to utilize bonus dollars, change the lifestyle.

nice philosphy Ron. yes conventional wisdom says 5 and NEVER more than 10% (if its your hobby) PS. nice to see alot more northeast NYC/CT owners.

My wife is somehow behind this question.........

cars...less than 1%. But who cares?

I reckon I am around 15-20% all car crap included. I never go on vacation though, so maybe I am just swapping resources around? I dunno, I drove around with nowhere to go today and smilin' the whole time, so that is worth something.

Daily driver: volvo 850 (won't quit) fun car: 996 (currently getting a replacement engine) Priceless Collectible ducati's and limited production Moto guzzi ($3000 in maintenance minimum) In the end, my house never disappoints.

No I don't make $2mm, I wish. Maybe I missed the point of the question. One year of car payments is less than 5% of my salary. Not sure how to measure wealth in cars I guess.

Everybody's right numer can be so different, age, salary, net worth, family, type of income, location. Bear with me, this is going to got boring: there are two financial types, first the "income" household where net worth is being built. In this case, you need to look at the total cost of ownership of your cars, including financing (even if you pay cash), depreciation (leave out maintenance, gas and insurance, after all you always need a car), count no more than 15%, 10% being more reasonable. For the "net worth" financial type, which is a household with high net worth ($1m+) and normal income, no more than 5%, except if you can abide by the 10% of income rule of the other "income" type.

With that metric I have about 5% of my gross income spent on my Porsche.

...regardless of what the proper percentage is the beauty lies in the simple fact that according to this "fixed" percentage theory, the more your net worth goes up, the more Porsche(s) you have to own.

If this stuff concerns you, go racing. Suddenly owning a couple Porsches seems like petty cash. It does remind me of one of my favorite quotes though. "You can live in your car but you can't drive your house"

What concerns me about this and other threads like these is the presumption that some of us who drive these cars don't have the social or economic credentials to do so. Why or how owning a P-car can make you rich or bump you up to a higher social class is nonsense. I like this forum because rich or poor, high or low class, this forum is made up with a bunch of guys who share my enjoyment, enthusiasm, and love for our fine, sexy cars. I just feel bad making other guys on this board feel guilty or bad about driving their cars. So to hell with net worth, % of income, and other misleading measures of success. Who am I or anyone else to judge?

Let's stick with the cars.......and our mutual enthusiasm. There is too much other B.S. when we try to compare financial plans. I just hope your family comes before your driving whims. Having just sent off a check for my youngest child's college tuition payment................................BRING ON THE MAX MONTHLY PAYMENT FOR A CGT!!!!=Just kidding honey! It is what it is, I drove some crappy 944s for a while, but it was a great experience and was the right thing to do.

Car payments? I hate them. I used to have car payments, but now consider them to be a loan for life. I paid off my car, then got another one, so it's not a 3 year or 5 year loan, it's a 3 to 5 year car, and then another one - it's for life... so now I buy cars that I can afford cash. Once in a while, the car is a BIG % of expenditure, but that's it for a few years. Of my 4 cars, 2 of them cost under $500 ;-) Triumph Spitfire ( wifes fun car ) and '82 Jeep ( Home Depot runner ). I've put alot of time in to them, but feel really good about owning cars that are almost free to run, and under $20 / month to insure.. Balances out the Porsche a little! Keith

Of my 4 cars, 2 of them cost under $500 ;-) Triumph Spitfire ( wifes fun car ) and '82 Jeep ( Home Depot runner ). Keith[/QUOTE] I have a 1994 Jeep Cherokee with 190,000 miles on it. That is my Lowe's runner. Always good to have a car that you dont have to worry about.

This is soooooo true. Everyone always says it, but, like some stubborn teenager, you don't believe it until you start yourself. I "thought" that I would take the inexpensive route by racing a n/a 944 Now, all of my other cars, including the 996, seem like true bargains!

Although I agree 100% with your post, I don't understand why you quoted JimB's post. His most certainly is not trying to do what you and I do not like. in fact, his post is the only reason I would participate in a thread like this, or threads like "how much do you earn" or "what do you do for a living" etc . . . I love my life. Cars, including the P-cars, are irrelevant, which is precisely why I enjoy them so damned much.

Wow Ray, Why did you quote me before going on your tirade? I could care less what anyone makes or spends or drives or lives-in or anything else. I was just bitching about the cost of racing and sharing a favorite quote. Go be concerned about someone else. Jim p.s. I'm grumpy this morning!

I am assuming it was inadvertent . . .

Thanks Todd, You beat me to the enter button. Jim

Unfortunately my love of the Jeep and the work that I've put into it is making me turn it into something that I care about as much as the Porsche ;-) http://community.webshots.com/photo/...28740709PRWXsk As far as the thread and the way it's going it's an interesting point. My view is that there are days when I think it means something about my worth / status that I drive a Porsche - and on those days it does - it means I'm an *******. Keith

Sorry for the tone of my post, Jim. I was not ripping on you or anyone else. I was just making a point that value and enjoyment of our p-car cannot be easily measured in % of income. I also agree with Keith that owning a p-car says nothing about my socio-economic status. I would wish all of us can do as well or better considering the escalating prices of gas and 997s.

Wealth? I'm car poor. . I am truly an addict, but better than drugs or alcohol. I just bought a sweet little 03 Evo XIII with 8,000 m I am going to beat up back and forth to town everyday. You only live once. Will

Nice Jeep Keith!

~2% - if you factor in boats it goes up a bit, but still under 10%.

Great animation, TD.

Another consideration is....I have a 993TT...I bought it 3 years ago with 20k miles for 70k......I could probably sell it for close to that ....granted I put 6k into PSS9's, Evo uprights, GT2 sway bars...but never the less...best depreciation of any car I've ever owned..plus the best car hands down...pretty good deal by any measure....and I've never considered my Porsche as part of my "wealth"....unless your a Porsche dealer you aint making money with your Porsche

Talking about money is boring.money never made me happy my car has.

Talking about money is boring.money never made me happy my car has. LOL That's true but money makes it possible for you to be happy in your car.

Here's a scientific way to look at what it takes to own a new Porsche in Toronto. A local Dealer was advertising a lease on a new 997 at $30K down, plus $1745 per month. You have to consider that putting the $30K in as a down-payment on the lease is worth about $600 per month, so if you could lease one with absolutely no down-payment it would cost you about $2400 per month, which is almost $29,000 per year. The consensus here is that you should not spend more than 10% of your income on a car (probably about right since you shouldn't spend more than 30% of your gross on a mortgage payment). That means in Toronto you should be making $300K per year before you think about walking into a Dealer and asking about a new 911. That's probably about right. BTW, wealth and income are two completely different things. If you've got money sittin' around over and above what you need for retirement you should blow it on whatever you want.

Wow, the Bling Bling post is still going!

I'm curious as to how much you guys would spend as % of your car's market value. I'm about to make the decision to either add aero front bumper, and a bunch of other oem mods, or just wait to buy a tt or 997 next year.

2 million is enough for almost anybody... better if u own the business so u can sell it but more than most doctors and lawyers make. Tht's enough to drive pretty much anything and get a loan for 6 million to buy a house or houses. Most cars lose value so unless u have a ferrari tht u can flip ur cars sld be a small percentage of your net worth and/or income...

Thats a whole another can of worms, I see modding like the purchase of the Car. No matter what every year the car is worth less and less, I say MOD the hell out of it, until you get bored and redo all the MODS. Mods like the car is an investment in our happiness. These cars will never be Worth what we paid, but hey I say there is value in enjoying it. This also goes to the garage queens, I refuse to keep my car perfect for the next owner. I don't plan on getting old and Grey with my Porsche's.I drive it like i stole it...everyday..

Zero. I wait until my next car and get it with from the factory.

How did this thread get turned into "how much of your income you spend on cars" when the orginal question was "how much of your wealth"? Income is not wealth, but can lead you to it.

Blame it on me... At lower wealth, income is the most important.

Suggested budget: 10% food 20% house 30% cars 40% mods for cars 20% painkillers Total: 120% (yeah, the painkillers really screw with the math, but helps when the bills arrive)

did u forget tax???

It is confusing how you used the word wealth. Wealth is typically the Net Worth. But I see in you context that you're referring to the income.

A wife is the worst investment money can buy, worse than a car...because in the end she took the car. I kind of wished i would have financed my first p-car because than the ex woulnd't have taken it. Four years later, i'm happily remarried (hopefully for the last time) have another p-car, a big house and a dog. The best investment you can make is in your children, i give my son everything he NEEDS, a beautiful home, a great relationship with both his parents, regardless of how much i dislike his mother and her boyfriend who drops my son off in MY old Porsche. In the end, a car is just a car...nothing more.

damn, i would key that car for sure...

i just grumble under my breath...the key tries to be all friendly with me too....it's disgusting.

see now you got me thinking.....hehe.....no...correction, the guy!

100%. I gots nothing...