Can I afford the FRS/BRZ? Please help me decide.

[Efferalgan]

Focus on the income part of your P&L - change employer / move to other city/state/country if needed / work more/harder and then think about buying expensive toys I would not buy a car (any car, even much more practical one) which cost more than 1/2 of your net annual income. Unless it is the ulitmate dream of your entire life.

[zaptorque]

Originally Posted by SloS13

you only live once

I was waiting for it,



YOLO

[bdub85]

Originally Posted by Grishbok

till the stocks tank again and its down to 12$.

I went there... i said it!

My 401k isn't all stocks.... It's called diversification. Also, it's all about time in market. I'm not cashing out my 401k anytime soon.

[lemonspeakers]

Originally Posted by SloS13

you only live once

I took this advice a few years ago. Got myself into some heavy-money-sucking hobby.
Think camera gear. Think Leica M9. Think Noctilux f/0.95.
Yeah. I got myself some while doing that.

[whtchocla7e]

Live today, tomorrow worry about tomorrow

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by lemonspeakers

How can I afford the FRS? Can I get a great APR below 2%? What about 1%?

It can be argued it semantics, but as mentioned above by a couple, if you can't write a check for the car right now, you can't afford it. You've already answered your own question in that case.

What you are really asking is can you afford a car loan. That's a question only you can answer. If you were my son, I would tell you no, mainly because if you lost your job tomorrow you can't pay the car off (back to can I afford the car) and you don't have a significant enough savings to get through 6 months of living expenses, including the car payment.

I never buy a car I can't pay off tomorrow, even if I use the bank's money in the interim. That means sometimes I drive junk because of poor planning.

I've posted this before but its worth a watch since since you are asking.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKyV8CTHeJ0"]Drive Free Cars - YouTube[/ame]

[silverlegacy]

To the OP... only you can answer this question. Only you know if you can comfortably afford the car.

I'm normally a lurker on most forums that I visit, but one thing I have always noticed and is constant through it all is that people on forums get way too self-righteous. They come off and say don't buy the car unless you can buy it in cash... never take out a loan on a car... get a better job... pay off your current debt first... save for retirement... etc. Those are all personal choices, they don't fit everyone's beliefs.

Myself, I am in a fairly similar situation (make more money, have student loans that are unpaid and more expensive rent). I'm on the fence as well and have been for a few months. My personal choice has been to wait, even though I could easily afford it month-to-month. That could change at any moment, I could buy a new car tomorrow or it could be 2 years.

The only real advice that I can really give you is that if you can get a good rate (under 2.5%) don't pay it off early. The time value of money and inflation over time actually means you will be paying less in today's dollars in 4-5 years. Significantly so actually. People have misconceptions about debt and think all debt is bad. If used properly you can save a bunch of money in the long run. Debt is only bad when you are given terrible rates (IMO anything over 3-3.5%) or you overextend yourself.

[rxpx2012]

If you have to ask the question then you probably should not be buying it.

[kilrb]

Man, everyone wants to share their opinion on this! I'm not sure if the $2,600 you mentioned is take home pay, or gross pay... I'd say that if your rent already costs you 29% of your income, and the payment on the car for a 5 year note would be approximately an additional 16% (assuming you put no money down), that's getting to be a pretty damned big chunk of your monthly income. If you are just starting out, and have a good reliable car that's paid for, I'd strongly consider laying low with what you have, and trying to get your savings beefed up some. I'm sure you could swing the car payment, but it's probably not the wisest thing to do. That said, at your age, I probably would have done it, cause I'm an emotional, knee-jerk kind of guy with a "gotta have it" attitude. If you have the willpower, I'd say wait...

[dun3]

Evgeryone has their own opinions, some good, some bad, then again there's too many variables that it wouldn't be determined if the advice your given is good or bad. So, my advice is to GET IT. You'll struggle a little bit, lesser $ for nice things, but you won't regret it everytime your behind the wheels of an FRS. Again, that's just my opinion.

[serith]

All of these "calculations" of if you should be able to afford it or not are meaningless if you just save the cash to write a check for it--assuming you can pay to put gas in it and keep it on the road.

With that said, once you save the ~$25000, I'd suggest against spending it on a depreciating asset.

[silverlegacy]

Originally Posted by serith

All of these "calculations" of if you should be able to afford it or not are meaningless if you just save the cash to write a check for it--assuming you can pay to put gas in it and keep it on the road.

With that said, once you save the ~$25000, I'd suggest against spending it on a depreciating asset.

This... invest the 25k in something to get some return... even if it is a crappy CD. Then pay off the car over time. Unless you get a cheap car, or one you can't get a loan on, never pay full cash for a vehicle if you care about being smart with your money.

[airjonny]

IMO I'd say wait until you can buy it with cash and then some. You should leave some slack for life's surprise moments.

[serith]

Originally Posted by airjonny

IMO I'd say wait until you can buy it with cash and then some. You should leave some slack for life's surprise moments.

Personally I've grown to much prefer the feeling of being able to buy something I want more than buying the "thing". Having money in the bank grants you a certain amount of freedom and breathing room. That said, I love cars, and I'm sure if you're reading this you love them too--especially the twins!

My suggestion is to save as much money as you can stand to throw at the car. If after a few months you still really think it's worth parting with the cash to own this car, then do it.