This sucks....I'm miserable..

Just "bought" a 1999 C2 with 24,000 miles, 100k warranty, 18" rims (the 10 spoke Teknik I think), sports seats, HIFI and heated seats. Silver/black all leather. The car is no accident beatiful and near flawless...... I love it. But....... I think I might have to sell it (Ive had it 2 weeks, not even titled yet). Cant get financing.... well I can for 42 mos @ $950/mo, but I was told I would get 72 mos @ $596/mo. I dont want to pay/afford $950 a month.... I am really pissed. My father paid for the car cash, with the understanding the financing would be set up as listed above. He thinks I should keep the car at $950/mo. I make $60k per year. What would you guys do?????? BTW insurance is another $275/mo. Also, I just got a raise which is the same amount per month as the extra cost of owning the C2 over what I am paying now for my current car payment/ins...... Finally, what is the "most" HP that can be gotten from a C2 with bolt on parts, no turbo????? RVP

this way you will be paying approx 15k per year only for insurance and credit payments...i.e 1/4 of your sallary....and to this maintainance is not included......which of course is not standard every year..... at this point "we" cannot really help you, since it is something very personal thing.....do not really know, if 45 K a year are enough for you (with your familly of course) to live ....any children? wife working?..... concerning Hp improovement....the max you can get is 340-345 Ps.....but you will have to spend a lot to achieve this.... 996 with 300 ps IS a fast car....you won't need any more.....believe me..... try first to finance your dream....then once done, try to modiffy it....if you like.....

second mortgage...tax deductible

supercharging is the way to go for more power, coupled with headers, exhauast, intake, ECU, you can probably net 100hp? ~ ish. the M96 isnt really meant to be tuned, it isnt exactly, erm, bulletproof.

Are you NUTS.. Sell the car. Do you want 25% of your income before taxes to go to a car. Man you should be driving a used VW, IMHO.

Well... not totally nuts... possibly just a bit..... Actually, $950/month is pretty much the payment on my '99 C4... although my insurance here in Wisconsin is only running me about $110/month on this car. Although I make a chunk more than $60k a year, I'm not rolling around in cash and most people (i'm sure my banker for starters) look at me and think, "What the f*ck is that guy doing, he should be driving a used Jetta". That's what a normal person does. We are not normal people. Yes, I spend a lot of money on my car... but I'm also not at the mall every other day buying a $100 shirt or whatever... going on tons of vacations, etc. I bust my *** working and the 911 is my reward. I have no idea of what your complete financial picture is - if you have a lot of other financial obligations then I agree, not a good move. But, you are basically looking at a difference of $350/month over what you initially planned - and you already have the car (you just need to get financing in place). I think when buying a car it is not wise to rely on the "best case financing scenario" when factoring in monthly costs - because you probably won't get the exact financing you want. Personally, I'd never go over 60month financing on any car... with a 72month loan the car will be 12 years old when you make the final payment...... that kind of ooks me out..... t

Oh yea... how to make up the extra $350 a month: - ditch the designer coffee stock up on: - ramen, hot pockets Keep the damn 911..... best, t

I think you should save money to invest. I don't know how old you are but if you are in your late 20s and early 30s and haven't invested in stocks and a house, do so before you are 40 w/ a 15+ yr old 911 that you fed most of your money into and has depreciated like a rock. A car is a toy, a transportation... You should buy the car when you can afford it. Use your money to make more money -- invest. Don't depend on making it rich through your salary. I haven't heard of anyone rich through their salary. Plenty of people get rich because they invest well. Don't be poor w a 911. Be rich and then buy a 911.

996 is not the only 911 In fact, if you look at older cars like 964, man, only America can offer you those nice cars in that cheap price. Sell it and buy air cooled.

When you say you make $60K a year, I assume that's your gross income. Your net income after FICA, Federal, State and Local Income taxes will be around $40K a year. That gives you approximately $3300 a month to live on. So unless you are living rent free with your parents, it's going to be a struggle, and if you are living with your parents I would make getting my own apartment a priority over owning a 996. If it were me I'd postpone buying a Porsche for a couple of years and save up enough cash to at least signficantly reduce the amount I had to borrow. Also, I'd advise you to continue reading this Board and learn as much as you can about 911s. There are many knowledgeable posters who you can learn from.

Hmm, seems like a pretty big stretch. I am surprised your old man bought the car for you before you have this all worked out. I concur, that you should really put the money elsewhere first. You mentioned you had a warranty out to 100k, is that a porsche warranty? I hate to tell you this, but its not just based on miles, its also based on the age of the car. I would guess you only have a year at most left on any porsche warranty. If so, you don't want to own a porsche out of warranty given your economic situation. Also, that monthly rate would indicate you are paying a rather high interest rate. You might want to shop around for a lower rate. Finally, don't mess with the car yet. At this point, a SC is not the right direction given you position.

You don't want to finance that car for 72 months. Try finding a leasing company who will lease it you for 3 or 4 years. Payments will be alot less and after 3 or 4 years if you still want it, you can buy it out for the FMV at that time.

Although I think you are nuts getting any car with a 6 year car loan as I think that 3-4 should be the maximum for anyone financially sane (except maybe if you need low monthly payments and can pay it off before term), you need to explain a couple of details what is the interest rate on the 42/48 month loan? also is your Experian fico score above 660?

You don't want to be working for your car, get one when you can afford it easily, it will come. just lease a boxster for now.

Good advice.

Have you tried Capital one for financing? they offer very good rates and financing up to 6 years which would bring your payment down considerably. $950 is much too much to spend on a car payment at $60K per year in my opinion...

Sorry man, I'd hate to be in your shoes.... I didn't buy my first P-car until I could pay it off cash.... I can't stand payments, they suck. I think I only financed two vehicles in my life. One took me one year to pay off (Honda Civic) and the other took eight months (BMW 3 Series). I would tell you to drive something that won't put the farm in jepardy..... If you have to wait a couple of years then do that, there are a few SC P-cars out there going for 10K or so..... Just my .02 -Eli

As an interesting side note What do most people do as far as financing their cars pay cash, take out a loan or lease their car? just curious jeff

Paid cash. The more expensive the car, the bigger the depreciation hit. Borrowing money on a depreciating asset should be avoided IMHO. I had a rude awakening in the mid-80's when there was a correction in the semiconductor industry. I was in my 20's, had two cars with payments and a $60,000 condo with a $1300 payment (interest rates were astronomical in the early-mid 80's). Got laid off. Needless to say, I learned my lesson and have been much more circumspect about borrowing money ever since.

Sold the Jaguar, one of the BMWs and my blown RX7 Turbo to get most of the cash.... The rest I had saved.... I had 4 cars and one bike at the time, so it was time to down-size and up-grade..... -Eli

Depends on the rates you can get. If I can get sub 4% financing then I'll finance everytime as I assume that I can do better, even if only marginally, with the money in the market. Otherwise, I'd consider paying cash. As to the original poster - I suspect that you are not married yet and are fairly young and I'd submit that you are probably at a point in your life where things might change very quickly. You might get married, have children, etc. Having a big car payment may not be the smartest move right now. From the time I was out of college at 22 till the time I was 28 I got married, had a child, bought a house. A huge payment would have been a pain in the *** at that point in time.

As to the side note about financing cars, I have a rule. Never buy on loan what you can not buy outright. There are exceptions to my rule of course, such as a house or absolute neccesities. Once the item passes the first rule, then it's about getting the best deal. Cheaper to buy it cash, unless you can find a way to make the payments or interest tax deductible while you put the rest of the capital towards an investment. I had the company lease my C4S, then bought it outright when the lease expired. Between leasing and loan, I was able to get a better deal on loans with the intent to keep the car, so the company is buying the Boxster with a bank loan. Interesting problem with the first poster. As a young man with no children (I assume), why not put all your money towards a luxury dream now while you can, before other priorities say you can't? Or, should you be sensible now and invest in a house and stocks, and delay the gratification for later? I'd say be sensible now, and you'll be better able to handle the other priorities when they come and still be able to afford the luxury dreams albeit at a later time. That kinda leaves your Dad holding the bag, i.e. the car. Tell ytour Dad he needs a Porsche, and you can borrow it occasionally .

My advise is tell your Dad you can't afford it and you made a mistake. Put it up for sale and enjoy it for a couple months while you milk the sale process. Sell it private party. Take your medicine and buy a condo. It's kinda lame actually to be living with your parent's driving a Porsche IMHO. Enjoy it while you can though. In a year or two your condo will appreciate enough to put 25k down and have a small affordable payment.

How close are you to your father????

Agreed with pretty much all the comments above. Honestly, if it is that much of a struggle, put it up for sale. It's not worth the pain and suffering (eg eating ramen everyday)! It's just a car in the end and can be attainable in the future, just be patient.

well rick, i would keep the car and buy my xenons after i redo my front end =D

Holy crap! No one's mentioned that insurance cost? $3300 a year? Where do you live, and is that the only car you're insuring? I mean, I have 2 Porsches and 2 BMW's, and my insurance is less than $3300 a year, with 2 drivers, in So Cal! As far as the car goes, $950 a month on a $60K salary is NOT what I'd be signing up for. I think back when I was making $60K a year, the biggest car payment I had was around $250/mo. And it wasn't a Porsche.

MY RESPONSE: First, I am 27, single, live in an apartment ($600/mo with a friend), have no kids that I know of, and I am an attorney (criminal defense). My raise is a $625/mo "car allowance", plus I get commission on cases I bring in (not factored into my salary as they are "random"). My father is dating a VP of Bank of America, she told me a 72mo loan is no problem at 6.4%, before I bought the car. Now the term is 42 mo's, same rate. My credit is not so good (ie 600) because I have a lot of late payments on a credit card from when I was broke in law school. Of course the B of A VP is not too apologetic, she says "you should not have bought such an expensive car". I wanted to say I only bought it because you said the financing was in place...... I feel that it is foolish to pay cash for any depreciating item, like a car. I figure that I may as well make payment that will hopefully match the depreciation, that way I can drive the car as long as I want (2ish yrs) then sell it for what I owe (I already did the math). The warranty ends in November of 2006, it';s aftermarket. Finally, I have to make the decision as to whether I should accept the "ridiculous" payment term, or sell the car (ie-stick my father with it). Does that help?????? RVP PS- I agree, have fun know, be responsible later (if I have to)

Tim: For the long term I agree with your observation. In the short term however, 1-3 years, you never know what the market will bring. Suppose you took a loan in 2000 for $80K to purchase a 996 and took your cash and invested it into almost any mutual fund. Depending upon the fund you could still be hurting five years later. On the other hand if the time frame were 1996 to 2000, you would have made out like a bandit.

To my mind, if you are an attorney then do you expect your income to increase substantially in the next couple years? If so it may be reasonable to take the loan and when your income increase to pay off the loan early. On the other hand, I'm an eye surgeon and didnt start makling money till after alot of schooling I waited until i had the cash in hand before i started with the toys

My rule of thumb (stolen, of course, from those wiser than I) is that if you can't afford to pay for the car in three years, you can't afford the car. Be patient, don't overextend, and you will be much better off in a few years. I always paid cash for my cars. When I was making $60k a year, I drove a car that I bought with $4,000 cash. I still pay cash for my cars, only now it's a 996. Live within your means, and you will be able to live much better soon. Overextend yourself, and you will always be playing catchup. As someone else suggested, you might consider an older 911. The 3.2 Carreras are great cars, and can be found in good condition for low to mid $20's. Insurance will be much cheaper, too.

Hey, I look at it this way. "Life is not a dress rehersal!" GO FOR IT! Keep your eye on the target and forge ahead one step at a time. Good Luck!

With the 997 S that is due in this month I'm getting about 50% of the purchase price from the sale of my 996 and the balance I'm financing with my home equity line of credit. Interest is 1/4% under prime and tax deductible. Although I don't have to pay any principal I try to pay off the loan over 36 mos.

Certainly home equity is the way to go if you can. I also agree that you never want to be 'extended' and personally have a rule that I will not finance more than 20k for a car, but I do always (unless the interest rates are a big difference) opt for 5 year loans, and pay them off in 3 years or less. This way if any catastrophic even occurs I am never under water in the car and also I can skip payments for a period of time. Thankfully nothing has ever caused me to do this, but it is like loan insurance. Hope my little view on car purchasing helps (although a true financial guy would probably think I'm crazy).

what was the purchase price of the car? If it was a great deal, keep it. If not maybe still keep it if you will reasonably grow into the payments over the next few years. Maximize your pretax savings, and let time work for you on that side. A shorter loan term is less interest paid to the bank overtime. I think if you do not plan on keeping it long term, consider a cheaper scenario (ie lease) I financed a good chunk of my car, but plan on running it into the ground. I may not, but bought it with the intention of doing that. If i strike it rich, well then? Jeff

Here is what I have decided, check out this craziness..... I am going to take the 42 mo loan @ 6.6% interest, financing $35,000 (the car was $32500, plus tax, tags & tires=$35000, give or take)(BTW: 1999 C2, 6-speed, all options except traction control, sunroof delete, immaculate car w/ 24k miles, extended warranty 'till Nov 2006, I think it is a good deal). The payment is $940/mo. Here is where it gets crazy.....I am putting $5,000 into an account, and depositing my $625/mo car allowance into the account. When the payment of 940 is taken each month, it will take 15 mos before the 5000 is exhausted, at which point I will owe 23000 on the car (the car will likely have about 45k miles on it then). At that point I hope to be in a much better financial situation and will sell the car for AT LEAST what I owe. In essence I am creating a balloon payment situation, with the intention of selling prior to the "kick in" of the high payments. I know people are thinking, why not just finance 30K, payment is still 850/mo, too high for me. This way my car payment is paid in full for the next 15 mo's..... Works in my head, that's all that matters. BTW, I did not want to stick my dad with the car............... Thanks for everyone's input Rick

You only live once...I pay $1000/month for mine used for 4 years financing, but it is a business thing. Thats 0 down full financed. Normal for $40K. Used loans never do more then 5 years usually. You could probably get a new one at a dealership financed for 6 years and pay the same as the used one...but like I said, you only live once.

Oooh, no traction control and sunroof delete, sounds like someones old track car! As for price, thats pretty nice. 6.6% seems a little high, I PMed you with some other options.

Car was not a track car, was a garage queen, the car does look like showroom condition.... thanks.

Does track only car often looks the same as garage queen? I mean if it had never eaten any severe highway dust, since it was only on track, then it will look like showroom one.

I have a client that specializes in Porsche leases, he may be able to structure something for you. Email or PM me and I will give you the info.

get enough cash to buy car, but finance it and invest the money. almost in anything you invest now you should beat the interest rate. i am sorry to tell you that vp of a large bank is no different than a teller. i work for a very large bank. EVERYONE in my office is a vp. LOL. my secretary is also a vp ;-) so is the security person on my floor! and a rate >6% for a 42months loan is essentially highway robbery. try more lenders. 72 month with 6% is more acceptable.

You're right of course and this strategy worked against me a few years ago. But in my adult car buying life I've come out ahead. Not to mention that it just pains me to hand over so much money all in one fell swoop. Like you said, you never know what the future will hold and I might have need of the relative liquidity of an investment vs. owning a car outright. I guess it mostly boils down to I like to keep as much money under my control for as long as possible as opposed to giving it over. Keeps my options and opportunities open. Of course this only works as long as credit remains relatively cheap.

Probably does not sound like good advice now, but it will before you know it. Take the $950 plus the $600 you are paying in rent (plus what ever you are paying for insurance) and buy as much house/condo as you can possibly afford today. In two years, the price of that condo or house will be much higher than it is now, the interest rates could also be a lot higher. Since your mortgage payment will be tax deductible, you could go much higher than the $1,550 per month on the house payment. Your income should increase at a decent rate and you will be able to more reasonably afford a similar car in a couple years. Might not be the case for a house if they are appreciating at a good rate. Also focus on keeping away from tickets and you should be able to reduce the insurance costs as well by then. Lastly, max out your 401k contribution every year while you are young. The other option would be to keep the car and live for today. I have always wanted a Porsche and have now owned one for a little over a year. I waited until I was 39 and did not have to worry about financing. There were many times I came close to pulling the trigger. No regrets for waiting though. Kris

I would never resort to 6 or 7 year financing just to get into a car I could otherwise not afford, esp for a car whose resale value almost everyone got wrong in calculating lease assumptions over the past 5-6 years. To be tied to a car longer than many marriages last is not the wisest of moves IMHO.

Home equity loans... blech. I'm all for living for today, but this is ridiculous. Way overextended, IMO. Plus, it's a 1999 911 Carrera. That sucker's gonna drop in value hard and it already has. One of the least desirable variations and the MY does not help it any (relatively speaking). But for you ultra conservatives... for a guy in his 20s, who's to say his income will not increase sufficiently in the next 5 years or so to more than make up for the current shortfall? It's all up to you, man. Getting financial advice over the internet is as good as eating noodles with a spatula. Inwieldy.

Well.....it's done now. Payment $711/mo for 42 mos. Affordable (since my boss is paying $625 of it) and good. I figure, "F" it, might as well have fun now with the car, I'll sell it in a year or two and get a minivan, a wife and a years supply of diapers......... Or a 997 and some (hopefully free) lap dances at the local "gentlemans" club. RVP

Other option would be for you to defend Michael Jackson on his appeal; although, he probably has less money than you at this point. The publicity couldn't hurt. Hope you enjoy the car.

I am only licensed (as a lawyer) in marylnad, but thanks