How to seriously save up for a Super Car ?

How to seriously save up for a Super Car ?

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Aviator1

Original Poster:

24 posts

53 months

Friday 19th June 2020
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I guess this question would have been thrown out there a few times, This is not to offend but I really want to know how people can afford to buy Super cars and not just one but sometimes three or four. Asides from the few who might have been lucky enough to have a wealthy family or a company that makes millions. What kind of saving strategy can you do even if it takes 10-15 years to actually finally get your dream car. I know that most people dont have a cool $250K to half a million burning a hole in our pocket and i realize cars all vary in price if is $100K car or $500k car or even a million and even if you make $100K a year paying the car off on the weekly or monthly payments still does not give you much money to play around with.

After I experienced my first ride in the Ferrari F-430, the sound and speed its just amazing, not everyone gets to experience that and I wanted to start a company that offered that experience where people could drive a Ferrari or Lamborghini, Where i live there is nothing like that.

Thanks for the advice look forward to hearing from you all.

CAPP0

19,913 posts

210 months

Friday 19th June 2020
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The short answer is - everyone's different, and just because they use a car forum doesn't mean that they're not a billionaire.

Play it back the other way - you might be able to afford to buy & run, say, an M4 but the bloke along the road struggles to find £500 to buy an old Focus 1.6 and T&T it.

I used to work for a large financial management company, I remember one of the directors buying a 360, which we talked about, and he said, you have to remember that there are people who have got money invested with us for who the cost of a 360 is a week's interest....

Roman Abramovic, Nick Candy, the Queen, etc, could have a row of 50 supercars lined up outside and not even notice the hit on their bank account. It's just how life is.

supersport

4,266 posts

234 months

Friday 19th June 2020
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Hard work and a lot of luck, generally combined with time.

davek_964

9,299 posts

182 months

Friday 19th June 2020
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For me, life choices make a difference. My salary is OK, but never been interested in big houses - so my living expenses are low and I get to spend most of my money on toys.

drcarrera

792 posts

232 months

Friday 19th June 2020
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Don't have kids!

davek_964

9,299 posts

182 months

Friday 19th June 2020
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drcarrera said:
Don't have kids!
That's another life choice I forgot to mention wink

markiii

3,845 posts

201 months

Friday 19th June 2020
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For me

Don't have kids
Marry someone who has the same earning capacity as you, (so your not supporting them)
Don't spend cash on st you don't need
Don't make st life choices.(and if you do learn from them don't keep making hem)

The difference between me and many of my friends is they've all failed at one or more of the above



RSbandit

2,786 posts

139 months

Friday 19th June 2020
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one of the most financially ruinous things that can happen in life is getting divorced if you earn considerably more than your partner or have put more in...definitely leg chopped off territory! I've had some decent yrs at work in the last decade but spunking £200k on a new car would never even enter my head tbh (i know huge amounts of purchases like that are financed but still). For me its usually buy a 3 yo car that's done half its money already and then keep it for 2 years. A pal of mine who has done seriously well for himself bought an 18 month old DB11 on finance recently , I joked with him that he could have bought every car in the showroom outright and not batted an eyelid!

PixelpeepS3

8,600 posts

149 months

Friday 19th June 2020
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having the money to buy the car is generally the just the start of the journey. you have to then run and maintain it.

£15k ish buys you a V10 M5 but you can guarantee that won't be the last time you need your wallet

i have a friend that was obsessed with owning an RS5 - he ended up buying a fairly old and leggy one as they were the only ones in his price range. it's sat outside his house for the last 8 months as he can't afford to put right the various things that have imploded.

i suppose what i'm saying is, if you have to save for years to buy it, you probably can't afford to keep it maintained how it should be.

i have zero experience of supercar ownership, so happy to be told i'm wrong, but this is how i see it.

if you ache over the ferrari experience, why not look at a maserati ? https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

Chris355

822 posts

203 months

Friday 19th June 2020
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I suspect most owners don’t save up to buy one.

You will have those who finance them (I suspect the majority are bought this way). For example, I know someone who has a relatively normal job but finances a £180k McLaren for deposit and then £1500 per month. Of course, he is effectively renting it and in a couple of years time will give the car back and it will have cost him a significant amount. There are other types of finance which can result in you owning it, but obviously will be much more expensive.

You will have those who inherit large sums of money (again I know someone who inherited his parents house, sold it and bought a +£100k car with the proceeds).

You will have those who draw down on equity in property which has catapulted in value over their ownership term (effectively a very cheap loan at today’s current rates). This isn’t as crazy as it sounds in years gone by as a number of supercars were increasing in price for a while.... draw X amount from your house at 1.5%, drive Supercar for 2 years, sell car at profit and pay the mortgaged amount back off again! Not so good at the moment as supercars are no longer going up.

Then you have the super rich who doesn’t have to concern themselves with how they are going to buy expensive cars.

I’m sure there are probably a variety of other ways; investment banker with a mega bonus springs to mind, lottery winner, etc

Saving +£100k, even if you have a very large salary, takes an awfully long time!

As for running costs ... a lot have extended warranties and free servicing which means that your costs are tax, insurance, fuel and wear and tear (tyres, etc). If you are buying a Supercar out of warranty and without servicing, then expect some significant bills which may be challenging if you have been saving for years to buy the car in the first place.

Good luck!

Order66

6,739 posts

256 months

Friday 19th June 2020
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Chris355 said:
You will have those who draw down on equity in property which has catapulted in value over their ownership term (effectively a very cheap loan at today’s current rates). This isn’t as crazy as it sounds in years gone by as a number of supercars were increasing in price for a while.... draw X amount from your house at 1.5%, drive Supercar for 2 years, sell car at profit and pay the mortgaged amount back off again! Not so good at the moment as supercars are no longer going up.
This. I have equity in property, an offset mortgage and a 458 on the drive with a laughably low monthly outgoing.

ghost83

5,546 posts

197 months

Friday 19th June 2020
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I don’t have a supercar But I have a 10yr plan I’m hoping to be in a better position in 4yrs time and then build from there

Hard work and short term pain for long term freedom is my aim currently 36 I’m hoping to have what I want by my early to mid 40s

I also have 2 kids batting against me and my wife gave up work at 28yrs old so it’s not easy but it will be doable


Edited by ghost83 on Friday 19th June 22:38

h0b0

8,182 posts

203 months

Friday 19th June 2020
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markiii said:
Don't have kids

The difference between me and many of my friends is they've all failed at one or more of the above
I failed at not having kids. wink

The answer to when to buy a super car could be the same as when to have kids. Many are never really ready but you just have to do it at some point.

In terms of how do you afford one? If you buy wisely they can pay for themselves. Chris Harris is a good example of this as he took so much st for having massive payments on his first Porsche GT3 but look where that got him. I believe he sold at a profit and some of the content he created with that car helped him forge a career.

There's a member on here that ran an F40 as a daily driver and street parked it in his 20's. He sold it on for a decent profit.

Ultimately, if you are not rich, it comes down to priorities, your appetite for risk and your credit score.



crimbo

1,308 posts

235 months

Friday 19th June 2020
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Most I know have a successful business or a handful of successful businesses but you can do it on a realistic wage and saving for when your older etc

£500 invested/saved for 15years will leave you with 90k plus interest which is plenty for some used examples

Everybody's different but I was always told if you want something that bad you'll make it happen as you'll make the sacrifices and commitment for it

I have always thought I'll get what I want if I live long enough to work/save for it

67Dino

3,630 posts

112 months

Friday 19th June 2020
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Depends what you mean by supercar, but if you want something fast, prestigious and once £80k+ then there’s plenty to choose from around £25-30k:

- Bentley Arnage, Continental or Flying Spur
- Aston Martin V8 Vantage
- Porsche 997
- Maserati Granturismo or Quattroporte
- Audi R8
- Merc SL55.

Even if you add in some cash for bills, most new car buyers could instead be driving something older that was really very expensive when new if they wanted. Tbh, it’s always been a bit of a mystery to me why more people don’t.

mikeyw1234

4 posts

55 months

Friday 19th June 2020
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I think there's a least a general understanding that these things are expensive to run which is enough to deter your average Joe. A V8 vantage at 27k is superb value, but having run a 2006 model recently for a couple of years, as they turn 10 years old more and more seems to go wrong- and it's all really expensive. 10% of the value per year in upkeep is about my experience at that age: in absolute terms my Gallardo is less than half the price to run. I think it's just a general fear of the cost, which is not necessarily based on knowledge- but in reality is well founded.

paddy1970

812 posts

116 months

Friday 19th June 2020
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I think you need to start small then build up the equity over the years to your dream car, then add a fleet of cars. This motivates you to earn always more.

For example, I started with a brera v6 (paid £10k), then audi s5 (paid £18k) , then maserati gt (paid £33k), then audi r8 v10 (paid £55k), then audi r8 v10 plus (paid £70k). My next car will be in the £90-100k area. My dream car is a Lamborghini aventador s (£250k+ at the moment). I could afford it on finance but what's the point getting it now. I will miss all the cars in between. Remember, it's the journey that counts, not the destination.

garystoybox

812 posts

124 months

Friday 19th June 2020
quotequote all
markiii said:
For me

Don't have kids
Marry someone who has the same earning capacity as you, (so your not supporting them)
Don't spend cash on st you don't need
Don't make st life choices.(and if you do learn from them don't keep making hem)

The difference between me and many of my friends is they've all failed at one or more of the above
Apart from the ‘poor life choices’ I think you can still have the car of your dreams without missing out on every thing life has to offer. I wouldn’t enjoy Supercar ownership at all if I had to do without other things in life i.e. nice houses, nice holidays and a very nice Lady to share it with. Stop focusing on the car and start focusing on building a successful business and with hard work and a bit of luck you may will end up with the lot instead of compromising.

Edited by garystoybox on Friday 19th June 23:46

ghost83

5,546 posts

197 months

Saturday 20th June 2020
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garystoybox said:
Apart from the ‘poor life choices’ I think you can still have the car of your dreams without missing out on every thing life has to offer. I wouldn’t enjoy Supercar ownership at all if I had to do without other things in life i.e. nice houses, nice holidays and a very nice Lady to share it with. Stop focusing on the car and start focusing on building a successful business and with hard work and a bit of luck you may will end up with the lot instead of compromising.

Edited by garystoybox on Friday 19th June 23:46
Well said! I couldn’t live without my kids and at 7 and 4 they both love cars, I’d rather have my 2 boys than any fancy cars

RSbandit

2,786 posts

139 months

Saturday 20th June 2020
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paddy1970 said:
I think you need to start small then build up the equity over the years to your dream car, then add a fleet of cars. This motivates you to earn always more.

For example, I started with a brera v6 (paid £10k), then audi s5 (paid £18k) , then maserati gt (paid £33k), then audi r8 v10 (paid £55k), then audi r8 v10 plus (paid £70k). My next car will be in the £90-100k area. My dream car is a Lamborghini aventador s (£250k+ at the moment). I could afford it on finance but what's the point getting it now. I will miss all the cars in between. Remember, it's the journey that counts, not the destination.
I've had a couple of those in your list and like you worked my way up ..had the S5 & R8 V10 plus with a RS5 and RS6 in between...yes I had a thing for Audi rightly or wrongly! My current car is a 570s and to be honest I struggle to see the need to spend any more money given the incredible performance & tech it offers not to mention the pedigree and cachet that comes with the McLaren name (Let's ignore the issues some owners have had for the sake of this discussion!). I'd love a Huracan Performante or a 675 LT which would technically be possible for me currently but even the cheapest ones are almost double what I paid for my 570 and it would be hard to argue they are twice the car, better of course but maybe 25-30% at a guess? Absolute dream car for me money no object a Carrera GT I'm not a Porsche guy at all but that engine is a masterpiece and the noise oh my! LFA and P1 also on that list but to spend £1 million on a motor I'm guessing you'd have to have at least £20 million in the bank?