What kind of car do you own and % of salary

[5oneanddone]

Last car I bought was a new 2009 Honda Fit. ~40 MPG and a butt load of room. bought it for 12K with a turn in of a minivan in the gubmint's cash for clunkers program.

 

[donheff]

If you need to ask us whether you can afford your car you have a lot of thinking and research to do before you can figure out FIRE. It doesn't matter what we would do. It doesn't matter what you spent on your car. Some of us live in expensive locations with tons of money tied up in our homes. Others live in less expensive areas in nicer houses for a fraction of the cost. Whatever floats your boat.

What matters is how much you are saving, how your are investing it, and what your recurring expenses will be. If a luxury vehicle will be important to your ER life, figure out how frequently you will replace it and make sure you include appropriate replacement expenses in your ER budget.

 

[Bestwifeever]

I been advised I spent too much on my car and curious what people on this board have spent on cars.
...

Very curious here about who told you that you spent too much on your car and why they said that.

 

[Midpack]

i can't help but sense some negativity from your responses. if this thread raises your blood pressure, i suggest you not participate and create a new thread about homes, boats, vacations, collectibles, and toys.

if i have misunderstood your intentions i apologize.

the point of this thread is to create a discussion and to obtain an understanding of how much money people allocate to cars. i do not want to be in your situation where i end up with more money than i can spend. i would like to balance my present finances with my future finances.

Some bold assumptions, especially for a newbie, but I hope the thread serves your purpose.

 

[GSMAN]

Good advice from some smart people on this board. As long as you are covering your savings and not sacrificing that part of your long range plan go for it! I cringe when I think about some boats that I bought back in the 80s when I was in my 30s. I should have been socking away more money. It turned out fine but I had to save more in my 40sand 50s to make ER a reality. I am probably the worst person to ask about buying vehicles. I keep my trucks for at least 10 years or 200k miles. My current truck is an 03 model with 183k miles. I need to get me a new truck but won't pay more than $25k for a new one. I have been told by my redneck buddies that I am a cheapskate! I have always got the "right" price so it's only a matter of time.

 

[Lazarus]

i do not want to be in your situation where i end up with more money than i can spend.

I don't think you have to worry about that.

 

[Ally]

We always buy used and keep them until they are too old to fix. Right now we have a 1999 Chevy pickup with a Tommy lift that we bought at the university auction for $2700. My husband used it on the job and knew the truck only had 50000 miles. We got it 8 years ago.

We also have a 2001 Mercury Grand Marquis that we've had for 10 years. And I now drive a 2000 Mercury Sable wagon that my dad bought new, but then soon stopped driving. When I inherited it in 2010, it had 13000 miles. I love it.

So no, we never spend much on cars. The most we ever spent on a car was $15000 for a family van, when the kids were little.

 

[sheehs1]

I drive a Volkswagon Toureg. Bought the first one the first year they came out. At the time, it was the only vehicle I found that was sort of SUVish that did not have a 3rd seat that met my needs of long distance travel without a back ache, allowed me to put my groceries in the back, had a luxury "feel" with a European drive feel. Besides it had/has a Porshe Cayenne base without the price tag. I don't like the softness of the drive and ride of the Lexus and other such manufacturers but that is me.

Had several safety issues, kept it for 7 years or so. Finally had to go in search of another vehicle as the costs of owning were starting to creep up. Searched high and low for another type of vehicle. After all, if I'm going to spend any kind of money (over $30K), I am going to love the darn thing.

Long story short, went back to the Volkswagon dealership. Approach was basically, "listen I loved this car when I drove it, here are the issues I have had and I'm looking at other manufacturers".

They offered me a 2010 Toureg, deducted ALL of my maintenance costs I had paid on the first one (over $8,000), gave me another 15% off and 1% financing. They wanted to keep me as a recurring customer, had a 2010 they wanted to move as the design was going to change...etc. Plus those safety issues I mentioned were quite serious in my opinion.
I took the deal, particularly after they assured me all the kinks had been worked out and they threw in the extra warranty.
So far, so good. Love the vehicle! Has less than 37,000 miles and I plan to keep it as long as nothing major happens. Hopefully for many years.

As long as I can average the costs over many years I figure the initial hit of buying is o.k. to my ER plans.

For the record, I do not like buying cars.!!! Darn Depreciating asset.!

 

[easysurfer]

I have a 1996 Plymouth Neon that except for the engine, everything else I've pretty much replaced or repaired one time or another. Still gets me from point A to point B. Only about 150K. Maybe when it hits 200K, the car will FIRE

 

[Chuckanut]

Ford Mustang which I bought at about 30% of my yearly earnings.

 

[plex]

Car-less for now , work pays for nearly all my transportation needs.

In a couple years though, plan on getting a 1-4 year old used car, with no more than 30k miles on it for 9-12% of my gross. With the extremely light driving I do, that will easily last me about 20-30 years. The next one after that I will have a lot more time to carefully buy, so I might get it at an auction, hopefully should be some nice used electric/gas combinations by then.

 

[NW-Bound]

We now have 3 cars. Two of them were our personal cars for commuting to work, and we bought them new and paid cash. As mentioned earlier, the 3rd car was bought as a toad to tow behind my RV, and as I expected to use it just for that, I bought it used.

My wife likes the toad so much that it is now her main car. Her big SUV has been sitting in the garage, and has but 27K miles for a 9-yr old car, as she has been retired for 6 years. I now have to remember to drive it on an errand once every month. Just came out to start up the engine, and could tell that the battery was a bit weak, judging from the engine cranking.

Well, that SUV will last for quite a while, sitting in the garage!

 

[UnderTheRadar]

In my younger days right out of college, I had to have the cherry red Iroc Z28 with the t tops and louver. Damn did I love that car and the girls I could catch with that. But after about 3 years of realizing almost half of my net income was going to that car whether by payments, gas, insurance, or taxes, I realized the thrill was gone. Now that I am at the point of my life where I can easily afford a brand new one, I ironically find that I have the oldest car I have ever had in my life. 11 years old with over 180k on it and wont consider trading until it doesn't run. I don't want the auto companies in my wallet, I don't want the insurance company in my wallet, and I don't want the government tax collector in my wallet. But to each his own. I certainly can't fault you as I once was like that, but if the allure to retire early starts to pull at you harder, be prepared to suddenly change your view point on what type of car you like!

Agreed. As I accumulate more $ - my cars look more like junkers. At some level it is fun driving a little "too close" to the nice shiny Mercedes and see the other driver get nervous. Heck, most high school students around here have nicer cars than we do!

 

[seraphim]

DW has an '09 Nissan Versa: bought new, low cost great mileage. I drive very little and had a 91 Caprice wagon I paid $650 for. Junked it after 6 years for $400. There's a VW I rebuilt as a toad and backup. It's worth 3x what I have in it. Our mutual retirement present was our new truck and truck camper. Most I ever paid for a vehicle, but had the money saved. In June we begin our extended travels.

Used to want a Ferrari / Lamborghina. I could pay cash for one now, but no longer it. Funny, ain't it?

 

[caninelover]

To answer your first question, I spent ~ 20% of my gross annual on a new Subaru forester (replacing a 13 year old Honda CRV) last year. I plan to keep it for 10 years at least.

The fact that you choose to spend 50% of your annual on a Lexus is your choice, as you said. The issue with this is less of about the car and more about setting up a taste for luxury in all aspects of life (e.g. fly first class vs. coach, fancy hotels vs. motel 6, designer clothes vs. average threads....). If you can keep the rest of these areas in check and really just want a nice car, then as long as you maintain/keep if for years, this should not be much of an issue, though you will be working longer as you said. That may feel ok now in your late 20's, but when you get a little longer in the tooth that choice may not feel as good. And its really hard to go from driving a Lexus to a Toyota later in life...I personally feel like its better to keep the cars/homes/toys reasonable when you're younger; when you're older and closer to FIRE, you can start to treat yourself more. To me, that is what FIRE is about - setting up your life so that is easier for you when you are older, and that means delaying on some wants from time to time.

I figured 40s is out of the question. push back to 50s. still saving my 10%.

I think this is the portion that you would want to benchmark. I think most people that FIRE save far more than this (me included - ~30-35%, and I make a comfortable six figure income).

 

[RunningBum]

I spent nearly 40% for my first car when I was a few months into my first professional job. I don't think I ever spent more than 25% again. More important to my FIRE goal, I learned to hang onto cars a lot longer. 8 years on my current one with no plans to buy another. 50% every 10 years is a lot different than 50% every 3 years.

 

[BTravlin]

I been advised I spent too much on my car and curious what people on this board have spent on cars.

I spent approx 50% of my gross on a Lexus.

People here have advised me to downgrade based on my goal to retire young. After driving a Lexus I still plan on sticking with luxury cars. This will delay my goal. But it is a personal choice.

I'm 54 and will be retiring very soon. I've always liked my cars and spent too much on them over the years. I later learned it was much easier to have nice cars by buying them from individuals as 1-3 year old used cars. I have bought many cars this way and saved a lot of cash. Once, I bought a BMW 3 series that one year old and had 7,000 miles on it for about 60% of the original sticker price. My wife loved that car and drove it for 6 years. Buying brand news cars really is an extravagance but it all depends on where your priorities are.

 

[MBAustin]

Since this is the "Young Dreamers" section, I'll brag on my DS (college senior). Our '99 Honda Accord is his car. His high school best friend got a Mustang convertible when he was 16 and an Audi TT convertible when he graduated college recently. DS and friend were together when I asked DS how long he expected to keep the Accord. I figured he would say "long enough to save up for a down payment on a new car". But he said "this is good for me". To his credit, friend with new car didn't rag on him. I think we raised an LBYM son!

 

[prof12]

I drive a Mercedes (it took me 6 decades to get it) but I bought it used with low miles, one owner and fully warranted. I wanted to up my credit score so I took out a loan from MB Financial with 4.99%. When I found out 17 months later it was for 6 years I nearly had a heart attack. Needless to say, I paid it off in 18 months. I can't stand making monthly payments. But it has been an excellent car and I intend to drive it for many years.

Prof 12

 

[eridanus]

I drive an Audi that cost about 44% of my then-income (net). That was almost 10 years ago and it now has 60k miles on it; I don't regret it, especially when I'm downshifting as I merge onto a highway or when I'm taking curves and the car "rides the rails."

My next car will be something far cheaper or maybe none at all.

Also, saving 10% won't cut it. You need to get that much higher in order to retire at 60, let alone 50.

 

[chris2008]

I have a company car and DH drives app. 5ooo miles /year in our 12 year old Renault clio.

It looks like this one, only that it was in a hale storm 4 years ago and the insurance compensated its value. Now it looks like a golf ball but we do not care.
Von Privat kurzfristig abzugeben in Neuenhagen - auto24.de

 

[NW-Bound]

Europeans tend to treat cars more like appliances, and do not love their cars like Americans do.

Talk about hailstorm damage, my nephew's Audi was dented badly last year due to a freak storm. The insurance company paid for it to be repaired. As it was an expensive car, they sent a guy with a special touch who could tap out the dents from the inside. I did not see the car before the repair, but only afterwards. There was absolutely no hint that it was ever dented. There was no need to repaint either. Amazing!

 

[Texas Proud]

The 'rule of thumb' that I heard was 30% of salary for a car...

Our last car was 13%.... but, we will have to replace the SUV soon and that will be a big cost... maybe 30 to 35% of salary...

 

[rescueme]

Model of our cars?

"Paid for" ...

Salary? Ain't got no stinkin salary (living off our retirement investments) ...

BTW, my/DW's cars"? We paid cash. That can't be computed against any "salary" (retired or not)...

Our goal? To remain frugal (OK, cheap ).

 

[Midpack]

Model of our cars?

"Paid for" ...

Salary? Ain't got no stinkin salary (living off our retirement investments) ...

BTW, my/DW's cars"? We paid cash. That can't be computed against any "salary" (retired or not)...

Our goal? To remain frugal (OK, cheap ).

Where is that "debt rock?"