how to afford R8

[steve104]

hey

im new here

about a year ago decided that i want to get myself an r8 right after uni. i love the car so im prepared to spend a lot on it.

how do you pay for yours? i assume some bought them outright, but i wont have that sort of cash

the best option i can find is so to contract hire one for £1200p/m. this way i get a brand new one every three years!

is there any cheaper ways to get hold of one?

how much do you all pay per month?

steve

[mdc]

I went and got a loan, 5 years.

[steve104]

I went and got a loan, 5 years.

how much p/m?

[mngolfer]

p/m must mean per month. I paid cash for my car.

An 8% interest rate loan paid over 60 months would cost ~$3102 per month on my car without a down payment (including sales tax and license). That would yield a cost with interest of ~$186,200USD. Another way to look at the payment is you would need to earn ~$4772 before taxes to make this payment with a 35% tax rate. (I sure hope my old HP19B Business calculator gave me the correct answers. If not I apologize. It has been many moons since I used it last)

[kthacher]

i decided that an r8 is what im going to spend a massive bulk of my money on when i come out of uni about a year ago.

I don't know how much cash you will make upon graduation, but if I was you I would strongly reconsider doing this. It is hard enough getting ahead financially when you are starting out, without tying up a large portion of your earning power in a car - a rapidly depreciating asset. I don't think that extravagances like high end sports cars and associated interest costs should be allowed to dominant someones finances or net worth. Clearly this is just an personal opinion, but lots of people put a major hurt on themselves by living beyond their means.

[smoothy]

I don't know how much cash you will make upon graduation, but if I was you I would strongly reconsider doing this. It is hard enough getting ahead financially when you are starting out, without tying up a large portion of your earning power in a car - a rapidly depreciating asset. I don't think that extravagances like high end sports cars and associated interest costs should be allowed to dominant someones finances or net worth. Clearly this is just an personal opinion, but lots of people put a major hurt on themselves by living beyond their means.

I'm going to throw in my $0.02CAD and agree with kthacher. If you want to drop a roll of money on anything or get in debt, real estate is the best place to start right out of school. Not only is a roof over your head a decent long term investment (compared to a car), but its an expense you will always have; why pay rent when you can pay towards your own equity?

The other thing to keep in mind, depending on what field you work in, owning an R8 at a fairly young age can send the wrong impression to clients. In the finance sector that I work in, rightly or wrongly, clients will sometimes decide to choose an adviser for their funds based on their 'spidey-sense'. Young guy in a 3 series BMW=good (he must be successful to have a nice car), anything super-fancy=bad (who's portfolio did he Madoff to afford that car?)

[HovyR8]

I don't know how much cash you will make upon graduation, but if I was you I would strongly reconsider doing this. It is hard enough getting ahead financially when you are starting out, without tying up a large portion of your earning power in a car - a rapidly depreciating asset. I don't think that extravagances like high end sports cars and associated interest costs should be allowed to dominant someones finances or net worth. Clearly this is just an personal opinion, but lots of people put a major hurt on themselves by living beyond their means.

I agree with ktacher. Do not forget that getting the R8 is only the first step. Maintenance, unlike BMW, is not free. Gas (you live in the UK is double what we pay here in the USA/Canada). Tires, oil changes and minor maintenance are not to be ignored and what about insurance?

Unless you make 5 times what you would pay monthly for the R8. I'd say frankly: forget it. Do not mean to be harsh, just real.

You can get great satisfaction from a car that is worth 1/3 to 1/4 what you would pay for an R8. I am 27 and you seem even younger. Don't rush into it now. Get a 3 series coupe, free maintenance, nothing to pay. You want an Audi? S4, RS4 (R8's engine!!)

ps: no matter what we tell you, you are young and you will carry on with your thoughts, just think twice

[mngolfer]

I agree with the others comments. I had a company car for 30 years. No car expense at all. I received a new car every 3-4 years. No worries or costs. I purchased my first house at 20 years of age. The only time I rented was when a house was being built. Think about it.

[Conker]

I was going to reply with some reasoned but gentle points but realised that there is no reasoned or gentle way to tell someone still at Uni that unless they have a very rich and kindly father then a dream to immediately buy an R8 is just that - a dream.
If you really did arrange to somehow finance one then the dream would soon turn into a nightmare

[russman]

The other thing to keep in mind, depending on what field you work in, owning an R8 at a fairly young age can send the wrong impression to clients. In the finance sector that I work in, rightly or wrongly, clients will sometimes decide to choose an adviser for their funds based on their 'spidey-sense'. Young guy in a 3 series BMW=good (he must be successful to have a nice car), anything super-fancy=bad (who's portfolio did he Madoff to afford that car?)

Those comments are not to be taken lightly. In the US, people are judged by their cars. Right or wrong, its how it works. I'm an Insurance Broker for 18 years and have achieved a fair amount of success. I choose not to drive the R8 to work on most days where I have to visit clients because the message the R8 sends is not always a good one. Its been said on this forum that people can be envious, jealous and even outright mean to the R8 set. People who have never achieved a substantial amount of success in their lives may look at the "fresh out of school" owner of an R8 as being born in the "lucky sperm" club and not having earned the "right" to drive such an ostentatious car. That's not a very good image to put out there for someone starting their professional lives in the world of the working. It may actually be a detriment and depending on the work you do, may make success even more difficult to achieve.