white98ls

The formula I've heard by "money experts" is no more than 10% of your pay, which sounds about right to me.

rob-2

25% is super high man. I use that rule for a mortgage.

JonBoy

+1

TommyDeVito

Same. And I'm not even at that. People have invaded here in droves, especially from Cali. They are driving property prices and taxes through the roof. Really starting to suck. Great if you are gonna sell, but sure sucks if you have no plans to. Definitely accerating my remodeling time frames as materials are going up faster due to the migration and labor will never be as cheap as it is today.

This subject is too difficult to discuss in few words. I have a monthly budget for motorcycles and automobiles. I'm a motorcyclist first, automotive enthusiast second. No car made on this Eath is as fun to drive as a motorcycle is to ride. I've got a number of bikes, with heaps of aftermarket parts like Ohlins, Brembos, Marchesinis, Ti this and Ti that. My monthly car payment allowance is entirely dependent on what else I'm spending money on. When I'm dropping a grand a month building two new bikes at the same time, for years on end, or when I'm putting a grand a month into the house for remodeling, sometimes at the same time as building bikes, well that car payment is highly variable. But just broad, hypothetically, 25% max PITI, 10% car/bike payments. But I don't have a car payment allowance, mine is more a monthly motorcycle/automobile budget. I set a limit and don't exceed it.
I will not finance any vehicle, whether car/truck, bike, recreational vehicle, etc, longer than 60 months and will not pay more than 2%. If the price dictates longer terms to fit my 10%, then I must save first, and wait. And my 25% PITI and 10% vehicle payment budgets mean after .gov, 401k, and the iglesia get their money. I have exceed that at times, especially when I've built bikes, but I built those bikes for life, with spare engines, and spare electrical parts because I want no part of IMU's, traction control, anti-spin, anti-wheelie, nor any other nannies so I f'd with my normal,budgets to knock some stuff out for life. And I would exceed my normal budgets for a car I would keep for 15, 20, or 25 years, long term. But I would never \, ever do that for some vehicle that I know I'll trade or sell in just a few years. Only long term things are worth busting budgets for. I'm gonna be a cheap old man in retirement with my garage of toys, clipping coupons, and showing my ID at restaurants to get the senior discount. My long term plans won't be the same as yours

JamesD89

I'm sitting at around 8% of my monthly take home right now. Can't image going any higher, especially with high rents here in SoCal.

TheDonEffect

My mental block is 500, but I like to generally keep my payments well below that because I like to have my car payment and insurance under 500. To me any more than that and I really start to think about opportunity costs, like do I really have no better use for that money, is that car really worth it. For instance 500 is a ticket to hawaii every month, a weekend getaway to vegas (I'm not a gambler or drinker), stack up a number of months and it's a nice watch, it's paying off my place faster, or funding my 401k more, or getting around to finally start a Roth, this year I plan on taking classes, you get the point. No job requires you to over extend yourself on your vehicle purchase, it's mostly ego that makes you do that. I loved cars my whole life, but as I mature I find im less willing to give up as big of a proportion of my earnings. When I sold my last s2 and had no car that I was responsible for (I have a company car) it was very liberating so now my fun cars have to be bought used and hopefully not depreciate much, like my last s2000. I hope I get the same luck with my c5z, but I did finance it because money was cheap and my monthly is low, would rather have the emergency fund in tact than great have a paid off car but then have to scramble to sell it in case I lose my job or something. Most of my savings are in retirement or health accounts because having a big lump sum of post tax dollars sitting in a savings account for the bank to make money on also makes no sense, I live a simple lifestyle. For me its a cash flow, liquidity thing more than anything.

S2020

Busted my behind working the last 12 years so want to reward myself. Lately have been thinking about another fun car, a Gallardo Performante or an Huracan. going the numbers again and again. Doable but couldn't justify it. Like how you said it, opportunity costs for a nice car is a whole lot of other really nice stuff. Getting older so have to think about retirement. I guess there's always "Need for Speed". That's free. Still, whenever a nice exotic goes by on the road, couldn't help but be wistful.

rob-2

Guess it comes down to priorities. I would rather go in a road trip or hit the track then another trip to Europe.

when people drop 10-15k on a vaca I see it as money lost. I'd much rather spend that on a car I have all year.

i too have been busting my ass for the last 15 years. I want some nice toys in the garage. Largely because that's all I am really into. Cars are my thing, like most of you

Mr.Aqua

My comfort level used to be 300, then it went to 500 after I purchased the S2000 and C6. Now it's around 700 with the C7. Most of my income gets chewed up by the mortgage and funding retirement accounts, anything left over I can spend on a car payment without feeling to guilty. My next purchase I would like to skip the payment and pay cash but with rates lower than 2% it maybe smarter to finance.

Bamafan

Since we have been in our late 20's, my wife and I have resolved to only make car payments to ourselves. That means delaying any car purchases until we have the $ to pay cash for it. Really keeps the stress down and ensures we have plenty for repairs and incidentals. Please be careful about "rewarding" yourself by going into debt. I've seen many friends end up feeling more "owned" by their vehicle than "owning" it. That's no fun.