Splurging

[Arif]

Does anyone here ever dream of buying something totally impractical that happens to be expensive? From the time I was a little boy I've always wanted a Porsche 911. Not to show off to the neighbors or anyone else just a toy I have always wanted. Now before folks chime in and say that's crazy and dumb let me back up. I have been window shopping on ebay looking at used 911TTs for years. The prices keep dropping every year and making it easier to justify. BUT I can't see myself paying that kind of money for an impractical car. My wife told me I better get one by my 35th bday (3 years from now) and stop bugging her about it. I guess the biggest problem is I am just too cheap frugal so I continue to torture myself. Anyone else feels like this or am I just crazy. BTW- I will get a 911TT one of these days 8)

 

[justin]

All the porsches I've riden in weren't that nice. They are pretty cramped. Loud. Their redeeming quality is that they are fast. I don't know how much driving you do, but I rarely get over 45 mph in the city, and 80 on the freeway. Any old clunker can do that just fine. Next time you get your car serviced or worked on, multiply the bill times five, and then you can get a good idea of what it is like to own such a fine piece of machinery.

In summary, I haven't had the desire to own a porsche.

As long as you realize it is a very expensive toy, then it will be a good purchase for you if you really want it.

 

[wabmester]

Porsches are expensive to maintain, and they're a little squirrely on the track. I went to a 1-day performance driving school a while back, and I got to race against some Porsches and other *fast* cars. Most of the Porsche drivers had problems with fish tailing.

I love two-seater convertibles, though. I've owned various two-seaters for the last 30 years. Right now I have a little MR2 Spyder. Much cheaper than any Porsche. Gets 35 mpg. Very well balanced -- about 50/50 weight distribution between front and back-end. It *loves* twisty roads. Great shifter. And it's a Toyota! It's my tempered approach to splurging.

 

[Patrick]

Does anyone here ever dream of buying something totally impractical that happens to be expensive? 

Yup.  I'd LOVE to have a Ford GT.    But, I just can't bring myself to purchase a very expensive depreciating asset that will cost a ton of money to insure and register every year.  And I'd always be worried about getting scratches in the paint when I'd take it out.  I'll just stick with my '91 Mitsu 3000 GT.  It's almost as fast . . . 

 

[Kronk]

My big one is a Dream House. My wife and I used to discuss its potential features (2 story library would be the biggest one). But now I can't see working an extra 5 years in order to upgrade. Maybe when retirement is closer, I could make the decision to stick it out (though I doubt it).

As for cars... a Porche 911 is the other splurge kind of item that I might be able to foresee for myself. What's more important to you: ER or a Porche? Presuming you can foot the bill, it is all about what makes you happiest. ER isn't a race, and if you would honestly be happier buying the car and working longer, that's certainly a valid choice.

As an alternative plan, what about calculating the cost of buying a used one, keeping it for a year, and then selling it again? Take the expected depreciation, add in the expected cost of maintenance, adding another car to the policy (or could you drive it year round?), etc. Figure out the one-year cost and then, if it seems reasonable enough to you, try it out. You might find that you don't like it as much as you expected to, in which case you can sell it and you'd already have budgeted out the cost. But if you do really enjoy it, it'll probably be cheaper to keep it for subsequent years.

The goal of life is enjoying yourself, not retiring early. For most of us here, retiring early is what will help us enjoy life the most. But, this sounds like one of those things that if you don't try it, you'll still regret it 50 years from now.

I drive a BMW 330. If you aren't a car person, you just won't understand the pleasure you can get from a fine automobile.

 

[Nords]

Does anyone here ever dream of buying something totally impractical that happens to be expensive?

Nah, we already have one kid. But if you're looking to buy then make us an offer.

You sound like your LBYM sensibilities are being assaulted by the auto industry's marketing hype. I can only surf one longboard at a time, and any possession beyond that just becomes a maintenance hassle.

As for owning your dream house, spouse & I are beginning to suspect that this house has maintenance that only needs to be done once per year-- unfortunately there are over 400 separate items in that maintenance file.

The next time we have to fly to Thailand, though, I'm going to see how we can turn in all those frequent-flyer miles for a first-class seat.

 

[grumpy]

Like you, I had always fantisized about a Porsche 911 (or similar sports car). When I turned 50 Mrs. Grumpy gave me a bright red scale model of a 911 that I kept on top of my computer monitor at work until I retired. My wife's words were: "lots of guys try to solve their mid-life crisis by buying a sports car - this is the only one you are going to get!". I still keep it in a prominent place in our family room. By resisting that kind of temptation we were able to retire a few years later with no money worries.

Grumpy

 

[Lazarus]

I want to own an airplane. Got my pilots license at 19. Didn't fly again till last year. Almost 30 years later. I am now current and can fly again. ER or an Airplane? How many years? Might choose the airplane if not too many. We all have our dreams no matter how impractical.

 

[Arif]

Thanks guys. It is something that is hard to justify and I am not sure that I have to. My plan is to be FI not really RE at this point. I am a huge car nut and plan to have a car collection one of these days. My current plan is to spend no more than 10% of my networth on cars. So if I have $1 million in networth then I can splurge on a $100k car  
Sounds good to me.

 

[Kronk]

I've got a friend at work who is an impractical car nut. Right now he drives a 2006 Pontiac GTO, his wife has a Vibe, and he has a Porche 911 (bought used) that he drives maybe two or three times per month.

He very nearly purchased a used BMW M3 that had 40k worth of mods on it to convert it to a track car. In order to have a track car, he'd have needed a towing vehicle. He was planning on trading the GTO in for a used BMW X5, and then getting a 2 axle trailer. So then he'd have a track M3, a Porche, a BMW X5, and a Vibe. And he'd end up driving the Vibe an hour and a half a day for his commute.

Anyway, he didn't finish that set of shenanigans (got worried about job stability). He's got a lot of household debt, 2 kids, a non-working wife. And he can't seem to figure out why he doesn't make headway in his debt.

Long story short (too late), as long as you go into this with open eyes, realize that you'll have to work longer, and are willing to make that tradeoff, go for it. It's the people who just spend whatever their monthly budget allows that are troubling.

 

[TargaDave]

Arif, I owned a 79 911SC targa back in 1984. Bought it as a sight-unseen grey market car (if you remember those days) for $12k. It was actually economical except for going into storage during the winter. I was around 25 at the time and don't regret it at all. Broke even when I sold it to put the money into a consruction business. Bought a modified 89 targa a few years back for autocrossing. It just wasn't the same altough the kids loved it. Sold it at a minor loss but again no regrets. Now have a subaru WRX sedan with a few economical aftermarket goodies. It's practical and sort of splurging at the same time. I can beat all the M3's at the Sunday autocross and if its a wet day I can beat most of the field. It gets 30mpg on the highway and handles the worst snowstroms. Only problem is the DW makes me drive the minivan most of the time now.

You can (occasionally) splurge and still save in my book if you plan within your means

 

[Michael Moore]

If you want to go fast motorcycles deliver the most speed for the dollar.

I'd like to have a project car some day, but they tend to take up a lot more space than a bike. I do keep thinking about building an original Mini with a different engine. A Suzuki 1300cc Hayabusa engine, or you can get a conversion kit to stuff a Honda VTEC engine into one: http://www.gomini.com/fs/vtec/vtec.htm

Little cars are great fun, and they sure make parking in the city a lot easier.

cheers,
Michael

 

[sailor]

I want to own an airplane. Got my pilots license at 19. Didn't fly again till last year. Almost 30 years later. I am now current and can fly again. ER or an Airplane? How many years? Might choose the airplane if not too many. We all have our dreams no matter how impractical.

My advice is to find few friends who think like you.
I own one sixth of a Piper PA-20 and we are on our third plane since '92 (it used to be Cessna 140, then Cessna 170 and now PA-20).
According to Quicken my flying addiction costs me about ~$2k a year. We all have our vices

sailor

 

[Andre1969]

I've always liked cars, but I tend to like big old Detroit iron. That's probably one of my biggest vices right now, and probably the biggest thing that will keep me out of early retirement. I think the movie "Christine" really got me turned on to 50's cars, and Chrysler products in particular. When I first saw a picture of a 1957 DeSoto, when I was about 15, I KNEW I had to have one some day! Well, in 1990, when I was 20, in college, and no job, I found and bought one.

I bought a '67 Pontiac Catalina convertible when I was 24. And just this past April, I came home with a '76 Pontiac Grand LeMans coupe. Thankfully, while I do love old cars, my tastes never ran toward truly expensive ones!

 

[REWahoo]

My advice is to find few friends who think like you.
I own one sixth of a Piper PA-20 and we are on our third plane since '92 (it used to be Cessna 140, then Cessna 170 and now PA-20).
According to Quicken my flying addiction costs me about ~$2k a year. We all have our vices

sailor

So, sailor, you're also a flyer. What do you do in your spare time?

REW

 

[brewer12345]

I splurged a few years ago when we bought the house. Since we were finally out of apartments, I bought a custom made 10 gallon homebrewing system for ~$1500.

 

[Texas Proud]

Porsches are expensive to maintain, and they're a little squirrely on the track.   I went to a 1-day performance driving school a while back, and I got to race against some Porsches and other *fast* cars.   Most of the Porsche drivers had problems with fish tailing.

I love two-seater convertibles, though.    I've owned various two-seaters for the last 30 years.   Right now I have a little MR2 Spyder.   Much cheaper than any Porsche.   Gets 35 mpg.   Very well balanced -- about 50/50 weight distribution between front and back-end.    It *loves* twisty roads.   Great shifter.   And it's a Toyota!    It's my tempered approach to splurging.

I can not see the Spyder as a good car... my sister took a test drive and there was no place to put her purse!!! AND it is smaller than a Miata which is pretty small in it's own right.... I have not been in one yet, but I hear the new GM car is a bit bigger and might be on my list in a few years...

 

[SteveR]

Brewer,

What kind of system did you get?  I am a homebrewer too but most of my equipment is hand made.  I have not made a batch since I moved across country but I used to even raise my own yeast stocks.  I will start back once my life settles down a little but maybe not until I ER for good.

I did mostly ESBs, Pale Ales, Porter, and other ales.  Never got into lagers but may have to as current son in laws are all Budweiser fans.   :

 

[brewer12345]

It is a 10 gallon gravity feed system from www.morebeer.com, with a stainless stand (since it lives outside under a tarp in a humid climate. Before that, everthing was cobbled together. Since I have found it harder and harder to clear off entire brrewdays, 10 gal at a time helps me keep up with household requirements.

 

[sailor]

So, sailor, you're also a flyer. What do you do in your spare time?

Probably would sound little funny, but I do work in my spare time
This is also a reason why I want to ER, since my spare time had shrunk considerably since getting new crew on board 10 months ago.
On a little more sober note - waaay to many hobbies to list.

sailor

 

[Arif]

OK now I don't feel too bad. As most car nuts have posted there are other choices than a Porsche that are just as fast or close to it. The model I would choose is the 2002 911 TWIN TURBO with 4xx hp. Yeah I know what are you gonna do with all that power...yada yada yada. I think I'll go test drive one soon.
BTW- We've been saving around 50% of our gross income for a few years so we know how to LBYM. This purchase would definately be a blip on the radar screen compared to our expenditures.

 

[riskadverse]

I've always been a sports car fan - 2 MGA's, Porche 356, Volvo P1800, Fiero, BMW Z3.    Sometimes you just need to splurge.  Porches are more likely to return your money when you sell them than most other cars.  Maybe you could call it an investment - not every investment needs to turn out great monetarily . 

 

[wabmester]

I can not see the Spyder as a good car... my sister took a test drive and there was no place to put her purse!!!

The purse storage is behind the seats. But when I need to carry stuff, I take the F-350. I guess I forgot that part -- if you're going to splurge, you have buy both the MR2 and the F-350.

 

[Craig]

Yes ... recently purchased a 100th Anniversary Harley Softail ... less than 1,300 miles on the bike, and bought it from an inside connection for wholesale. Can probably enjoy it for some time, and still not take too big a haircut when we sell.

But other than that, we generally look at "wish" books / 'net sites, but never buy what we don't really need. After awhile, it's true ... too many possessions, and they begin to own you ...

 

[TargaDave]

OK now I don't feel too bad. As most car nuts have posted there are other choices than a Porsche that are just as fast or close to it. The model I would choose is the 2002 911 TWIN TURBO with 4xx hp.

An Autotrader search turned up 79 911Turbo's for 2001-2002 model years under $80k. Mostly 2001's. You simply have to buy the 6 speed over the tripronic. I saw a 2001 red one with 7k miles for $75k. If you buy one please post a picture so that we may live vicariously through your exploits

Just think, they were $120k + guzzler tax new. So figure about $55k for the 7k miles or just under $8/mile for the privelage of having a new one