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Amount you spend on a car?

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whatsinaname

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I was just wondering, how much are you comfortable spending to purchase your car? Were you willing to pay 10% of your monthly income towards a lease/loan payment? 20%? 30%? What would be your threshold before you consider a car as affordable, how much would you guys need to make per year before you are comfortable buying a car that costs $40,000/$50,000. (Just as an example).

I understand that a car is a necessity in most of the US but for others (in the EU, New York, Bombay, etc), it is a luxury and a person can live without one. I fortunately live in a town with a nice bus system and I tend to bike anywhere that is less than 10 miles or so. I just paid the minimum for a used car that I use for shopping/longer trips.
 
10% would be my limit. My car is at 8 or 9%, and that's close to as much as I would want to pay for any car. I barely use it anymore now that I live in an urban area. Sometimes moving it from one side of the street to the other because of the street sweeping every two weeks is the only action it gets.
 
I pay $225/month and make about $1,850 a month. It's a little much, but it's like an eight year loan, really low interest rate and the car was practically brand new with only 300 miles on it. Chevy Cobalt btw.
 
Since 25% of my take-home pay each month goes to student loans, I need to spend as little as possible on everything else. Back in 2007, I bought my car for $6200 and with tax, title, warranty, etc. it came out to ~$8000. I had a 60 mo. loan and my min. monthly payment was about $173. I pay a minimum $180. I can knock out the payments in the next 5 months if I increase the payments to $250.
 
I wouldn't spend more than $15,000 on a car. My current car is a used 1998 Honda Civic that cost around $8,000 years ago. Still going strong.

Girlfriend bought a $12,000 car and it ended up costing her $18,000 once the thing was paid off.
 
Just paid 17707 for a 2011 Mazda 3. My 626 finally died after 6 years of service to me (car was 12 years old and I was 3rd owmer)

My car payments of 364 dollars a month for 3 years are about the max I am willing to pay considering I am a recent college graduate.
 
sfedai0 said:
Unless you're set on keeping the car for awhile, fiscally it makes more sense to buy used with cash.
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It really does. But I'm on my first car that I had to get 2 months out of college. There was no way I was going to be able to find a job without a car so my mom cosigned a loan with me through State Farm Bank. The loan amount was low enough and her credit was good enough that we didn't need a down payment on a loan so instead my mom put the money she would have used for a down on my first six months of insurance.
 
I have spent about $3k-$4k on both my used cars so far. I personally don't feel cars today are worth much $20k. They are tools for getting around in my eyes, nothing more.
 
My car is paid off, it was about $12k used. When I purchase my next car I plan on having 50% or more of the cost in cash. I hate bills and interest. My threshold would probably be $25k because I see an automobile as a tool, not a status.
 
I just bought a new car this year. MSRP was $43,000 on it with the options. However, I traded in my old car for about $5,000, and then talked them down in price as well and ended up taking the loan out for $33,000.

Monthly payment is $550.
 
32K out the door. 12K down, 4K trade-in, 16K 4y loan, paid in 2y. USD.

I think half down is a good rule of thumb that I intend to stick to. I wouldn't pay any more for a car than my 1 year take home salary.
 
zmoney said:
are you a drug dealer?
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Always good to have a cash cache and not depend entirely on your bank and automated systems.


Like last week when I had zero cash on me and the computers were down at the grocery store.
 
Persona7 said:
Like last week when I had zero cash on me and the computers were down at the grocery store.
Click to expand...


The 1 grocery store? I hope you didn't starve.
 
Last car I bought was $18,000, which is about 50% what I made a year, but I put $5,000 down, and the payments were only about 200/month. I probably wouldn't spend that much on a car again.


UFRA said:
I just bought a new car this year. MSRP was $43,000 on it with the options. However, I traded in my old car for about $5,000, and then talked them down in price as well and ended up taking the loan out for $33,000.

Monthly payment is $550.
Click to expand...

Rx-7? ;D
 
My limit is around $10k until my house is at least 1/2 paid for. Tons of great cars for that price. I drive a Lexus IS300 (Manual ofcourse) and my wife has a Infinity QX4 (Nissan Pathfinder w/Leather). Just because you pay less doesnt mean you cant have a little luxury...
 
Well, first I would say that I wouldn't buy a new non-electric car. Second, my first car will be an new electric car. With that said, the nissan leaf costs $28,000. So, I would put down 10k, and get a 5year 18k loan. I care more about function than style, and I think buying a electric car is the best investment one can make.
 
neutralgamer02 said:
Well, first I would say that I wouldn't buy a new non-electric car. Second, my first car will be an new electric car. With that said, the nissan leaf costs $28,000. So, I would put down 10k, and get a 5year 18k loan. I care more about function than style, and I think buying a electric car is the best investment one can make.
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Omg, so naive. Kids are so cute at this age.
 
I've always bought used with cash or a check. I think the most I've paid for a car was something like 3500 bucks. The car I'm driving now was $1000. Had to put a few things in it, but it's pretty good for that price.
 
I spent $28,000 on mine.. I got a 5 yr loan.. I make 42k/yr.. the car essentially put me back at 32k/yr.. which allows for a fairly comfortable life where I live.

I recently got some inheritance from my late aunt and chose to pay off the remaining $13k on my loan early.

so I've got a paid for 2008 Honda Accord EXL-V6 with less than 20,000 miles on it at the moment. Will drive it until it dies.
 
My magic number, new or used is capped at $25,000. I will never, nor have ever spent more than that. I also tend to pay off my cars, and drive them for upwards to 10+ years. Cars are not an investment, do not treat them as such.

Get the cheapest, safest car you can, take good care of it and drive it into the ground. Look at what old people do and always try to mimic them, they are wise and have been living a lot longer.
 
I am also interested in knowing this, as someone who has only recently become an adult. Btw, most people aren't answering the question - a number thrown out there doesn't help if you want to know what proportion of your income should be spent on a car.
 
alphaNoid said:
My magic number, new or used is capped at $25,000. I will never, nor have ever spent more than that. I also tend to pay off my cars, and drive them for upwards to 10+ years. Cars are not an investment, do not treat them as such.

Get the cheapest, safest car you can, take good care of it and drive it into the group. Look at what old people do and always try to mimic them, they are wise and have been living a lot longer.
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I have never bought a car but when I do this is fucking it. High five.


I would NEVER ever go over that amount, as it is $25k is a lot of fucking money but I understand that I would have to spend it to really get what I really want in the end.


Epic Tales of Penis said:
I'm looking to throw down $41,000 tomorrow morning.
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Jesus Christ riding a horse, if you can then by all means go for it man but you can get a lot of fucking car for $25k-30k used. 07+ with good mileage.
 
I got an 06 Sebring for like 11k all told about a 2 1/2 years ago. It had like 30,000 miles on it. Runs well and I plan to drive it till it refuses to go. It's been paid off for a while. Once it dies I'll probably get a nicer car now that I have a better income but still likely used.
 
whatsinaname said:
I was just wondering, how much are you comfortable spending to purchase your car? Were you willing to pay 10% of your monthly income towards a lease/loan payment? 20%? 30%? What would be your threshold before you consider a car as affordable, how much would you guys need to make per year before you are comfortable buying a car that costs $40,000/$50,000. (Just as an example).

I understand that a car is a necessity in most of the US but for others (in the EU, New York, Bombay, etc), it is a luxury and a person can live without one. I fortunately live in a town with a nice bus system and I tend to bike anywhere that is less than 10 miles or so. I just paid the minimum for a used car that I use for shopping/longer trips.
Click to expand...


I wouldn't buy a car I couldn't pay cash for. Pay interest for a depreciating asset? No thanks.
 
I wouldn't factor in what I make in the car decision (within reason of course, I should say I wouldn't buy a more expensive car simply because I got a higher paying job). I'd like to keep it under 25K.

Nothing wrong at all with buying a new car, as long as you intend to drive it into the ground. The people who get burned by "depreciation" are those who want to sell/trade their new car within only a few years so they can get the shiny new model. If you drive 12+ years out of your new car "losing 1/3 rolling off the lot" doesn't mean much.
 
Buy used, and no more than a few months' pay, including a small amount set aside for possible repair costs (so somewhere in the region of $10k, give or take).

Ideally I'd spend less, if I can find something that's suitable enough. I'm currently running a '97 Taurus that I paid $1200 for about four years ago (had 40k on the odometer at the time), and other than insurance and maybe an average of $500 in repairs and maintenance each year (broken sensor, leaky transmission pan) it's been great. I'll likely drive it until it dies...which, given that it's a Taurus of that era, probably isn't far off.
 
Once upon a time, I bought a used car, then put probably 12K into it.
 
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