Hi all! I need everyone's help on this. Since last year, when I first saw the S2000 in the magazine "Automobile". I lost my breath and fell in love. About several months later I moved from New York to sunny California for a higher paying job. Since I arrived here I've been dreaming of owning this wonderful piece of machinery.

I never own a car in New York, didn't need one got like 20 subways to take me anywhere I wanted to. Since moving to California I needed to get a car. So I brought a Del Sol. To make a long story short... I need to know if I can afford. I never brought a new car and don't know if I can afford it. I know everybody is different but I would like an idea. I make about $53,500 a year. The only expenses I got is rent - 725 a month, utilities $100, food $200, and I think that's about it. My yearly review is coming and I'm hoping for a big fat raise.

1)I need to know how much are you suppose to save every month from your paycheck.
2)Monthly car payments
3)How much do you put down?
4)I just need help.

Thanks all for reading. I know it's pretty pathetic for me to ask but I need to turn to somebody. Thanks any feedback is greatly appreciated.

 

well... probably won't work out too well unless you have a BIG downpay and I am talking about atleast $10k.... and even then you are looking at probably $500-600 a month. not only that, there's insurance, expect probably atleast another $100 a month. If youare comfortable living paychcek to pay check, you could probably squeeze it in...

-shing

 

I bring home about $2743 a month after taxes and I plan to put $10,000 down.

 

ok....here it goes..


$5000 down i pay $612 a month for 60 months with the intrest rate of 7.4 .....this includes the tax which living in N.J. is 6% plus....insurance...dunno bout it in cali..
but i have a feeling u going to pay more in cali...u should have bought here before u went there.......
anyways hope this helps....lates....

 

Don't know if you plan to finance to buy or simply lease it??? But either case $10000 down, the monthly payments will be about $500-600 a month for 5 years. I think it's doable assuming you cut down on other toys...that includes no car mods!!!

 

We need to know more about your situation to really tell you what's up. Does the $2743 or whatever include 401K/Roth IRA? Or is that the raw paycheck you get per month?

What kind of job are you in? Tech? Finance? What company?

Not sure if you want to give up this kind of personal info, though! But I want to help all I can, bro, cuz I am in the same situation as yourself.

 

It seems pretty tight.....I would try to find a used one.

 

Have you considered leasing? I was all set to pay cash for my new S2K last month. The price was 32,250, which is $500 below MSRP. Here in NH we have no sales tax! Live free or die they say!
Anyway, at the last moment, the salesperson is discussing with my wife how cheap this lease he just did for someone else was, due to the high residual. I ended up leasing, with nothing down, not even a security deposit, for $505 per month, for 30 months ( 3 summers!), at 12,000 miles per year. (This is an "extra" car for us). If we had gone 36 months, the payment would have been less. Or, you could go 36 months, and get more miles, like 15k or 20k per year, for the same $500-ish payment.
Also, just for fun, we asked how much the same lease would be with $5,000 down, and it was $375 per month! You could spend $5,000, instead of $10,000 on the down payment, and have money left over for insurance, registration, and investments!
Hope this helps.

 

I put $100 down, 60 month purchase at $639. I would advise against leasing since I used to sell cars, unless your company plans to pay for it.

What I would do is go down to the local Honda dealership and find out what your payments would be and also an estimate for what the insurance would be. If the figure is say $750 per month, see how easy it would be to put back that amount each month without cramping your lifestyle for 2 months. If you find its doable, then got buy the car and put the $1500 you just saved as a down payment. Mid June still leaves you lots of summertime fun.

 

I remember I read somewhere....if you want to buy a nice car, it is best if the monthly payment (includes insurance) is approx 20% of what you bring home. I know it is hard especially when you love cars...like all of us.

work it backward.....determine how much you want to spend (not how much you can afford) a month on car, then go from there. Dont forget to check insurance as well.

One thing that most people forget is...saving....gotto save some for future too....oh yeah...20% of you salary should be saved as well.

good luck