How much do I have to make to afford my dream car?

[triedandtested]

@crazythat Cadillac V Series hold their value shockingly well if it's a manual, they don't have the typical luxury depreciation curve

These things sold new for about $75k

https://www.classic.com/m/cadillac/cts/2nd-gen/v/wagon-manual

The autos don't do as well though

https://www.classic.com/m/cadillac/cts/2nd-gen/v/wagon-automatic

 

[crazythat]

@triedandtested If this is gonna be his daily driver is it still really going to hold its value if 10-12k miles are being put on it a year? Plus dings and scratches that happen. Personally that would stress me out driving around and worry about nah damage on my car with something of that dollar amount

 

[triedandtested]

@crazythat On the standard V, probably not as much.

The Blackwing, probably yes honestly .I've seen manual Vs (old Black wing equivalent) go for near new price with 100k miles. At its core it's a GM LS V8 and those are pretty reliable by this point, miles hurts it less than a lot of other high performance engines

They hold their value so well because they're the last RWD, High Performance V8 offered with a manual transmission, and they hold up well.

If you go with the auto, then they start competing with high performance Germans and things like the special edition Chargers and they don't hold value nearly as well

 

[crazythat]

@triedandtested Gotcha, to be fair I know 0 about cars. Even if they do hold value I personally wouldn’t be comfortable holding a large portion of my net worth in one

 

[ocdlifeline]

@triedandtested I think you're confusing CT5 with the CTS. It's either a CTS V or a CT5 V Blackwing. OP is talking about a CTS V (no such thing as a CTS V Blackwing).

 

[triedandtested]

@ocdlifeline Yeah, you're right. He's talking 3rd Gen CTS. I forgot that on that gen it was V-Sport / V for mildly spicy /spicy distinction

They moved to the V / Blackwing naming on the CT5, I was 1 gen early

 

[chiefgeek]

@crazythat not really the goal is to enjoy life. if its something that brings me joy and is my hobby as long as you can still maintain that standard of living you do you. I know a lot of people who worked and saved their whole life to pass a year or 2 after retirement.

You have to have hobbies you have to have something to do something to look forward to. having 5 million in a retirement account doesn't mean anything if you're too scared to spend and cant enjoy it.

 

[crazythat]

@chiefgeek Fair, you have to look at what really brings you happiness. If a car worth $70k is that, that’s cool. But I still think it’s irresponsible if you can’t buy it in cash. My opinion is things only make you happy for a little bit until you get used to them. I’m a big advocate for splurging on experiences/memories instead

 

[cojazzma]

@crazythat People talk about this all the time, but it surely is biased by the relative cost of experiences and luxury goods? I’m skeptical that a single experience costing as much as a single automobile would be equivalently “worth it.” Similarly, a car with the same cost as a typical vacation, assuming it’s reliable and operable, is a decent value. It seems it’s not the nature of the expense but the amount of money involved.

 

[crazythat]

@cojazzma True. If we apply it to this example, OP wants to buy a $70k car. If that makes him happy that’s cool. For $70k I could fly me and my 10 closest family members on an international vacation. Thats an unforgettable memory I’ll have with my loved ones. When I’m on the deathbed I’m gonna think about that and not how nice of a car I drove

 

[theycallmebaws]

@eddified Current interest rates on a car are dumb. Save your $5k a month and just pay cash next year

 

[codswag12]

@eddified I’d put $25k down and finance the rest, should be a $1k payment. I know the feeling man, I bought cool cars in my 20s no regrets. No I got a vette for my 30th birthday

 

[lilyj]

@codswag12 Right here, you only get to live once. You can still save and plan for retirement and have fun in your 20s-30s.

Really, there is no guarantee in life you'll make it to 65 to use all that money you sacrificed all those years for, not saying you shouldn't plan for them, but don't totally deprive yourself now for "maybe".

 

[eddified]

@codswag12 Thank you, I think I’ll decide by the end of the year. Im about to open up a little jewelry store side hustle so hopefully that goes well.

 

[buttabean1229]

@eddified With current rate? Just pay cash, if you can't, it's not your time yet.

And that dream may change, I bought my then dream car in 2016 when I was 28, a Nissan GTR, I waited because I want to pay cash, but now that I am 36, I want a Ferrari

 

[eddified]

@buttabean1229 I made a promise to myself that no matter how well Im doing, I’ll never buy a car thats 3x more expensive than the average car. So rn the average is 34k so that means anything above 100k is a no no (assuming I could afford it). But say im a billionaire it still doesn’t matter, I made a vow to never spend on anything ridiculous like mega mansions, supercars, expensive jewelry. I feel like theres a certain point where it’s degrading, it’s difficult to explain.

 

[buttabean1229]

@eddified You are still young, eventually either a 911 or a 296 would make you itchy

 

[detrimony]

@eddified I’m not a financial advisor by any means but, I’ve always tried to follow 20% down, 8% of pre tax income (per month), and as short of a loan length as possible. You’re right though, that doesn’t account for expenses but you should be able to know what your income vs expenses are and if you know what the monthly payment you should be able to tell affordability pretty quickly. Something else to consider is avg annual maintenance costs of the vehicle. Total cost of a car is payment + maintenance + insurance. Don’t forget gap insurance.

 

[joshuad]

@eddified If right now you're saving 5K month, after you buy the car it will straight go to 3K a month. for at least 5 yeras. And a Cadillac (specially a performance one) is not very cheap to maintain. and it should make 15mpg.

At the end of the 5 years, you will pay 90K for a car that will have a kbb of 40-K (maybe? i know cts-v holds value, but i cannot believe it will hold 60k 5 years from now). So it is up to you to decide if that is where you want to put your money

It looks like you can afford, but trust me, after you get your dream car, it will bring you a lot of joy in the beginning, but it dies quick. You will not enjoy and like it the way you thought you would. At least that was my case

 

[lozzymagoo]

@eddified If you are saving 5k/month now you can probably afford to pay 2k/month for a car (don't forget fuel and maintenance). You will still be saving over 30k/yr.

Should you is a different question, and impossible to answer without more details of your finances, which I don't want to know.