At what salary do you feel comfortable buying a $100k+ car?

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I love cars and view them as an experience. Some ppl choose to spend on boats, trips, season tickets to games, bottle service, whatever. We work hard, have a little fun! Life is short and moments can be fleeting.

I bought my first $80k Tesla when I was making $200k. Payments were $800 after my down pmt. I sold it two years later for $60k. I bought my current Tesla for $100k when I was making $250k. Payments are $900.

Just do what you're comfortable with. Ppl are right that it's a depreciating asset but it's not like $100k just disappears when you buy one. You can also look at leasing. BTW, the Tesla has been a phenomenal experience with autopilot, instant torque, and ZERO maintenance.

Buying an expensive car or any new car is obviously a bad financial decision but if you enjoy life more bc of it and can afford it then have some fun!

Interest rates are so low these days I'd recommend financing and investing the money instead.

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This is a fair point. If your car is a primary driver of happiness, I see no difference in losing $10k/year as going on 10k vacations if it gives you the same pleasure

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Basic (smart) rule: Car is no more than 10% of your yearly income. $100k car = $1m income.

*All cars depreciate, regardless of price point. So it’s not relevant to answering your original question.

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The real question is do you want a $100k car? There is almost no circumstance where a 100k car is a practical choice, but not everything in your life needs to be practical. If this is really your thing and you aren’t hurting yourself too terribly elsewhere, go for it. Just make sure you’re doing it for you. Think of this like joining a country club. It will never make financial sense. It’s a passion/lifestyle play.

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This should be thought about in terms of net worth, not salary

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$1M

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Depends on whether you’re leasing or financing. Either way seems like quite a bit to be spending on a car unless you’re making $250k+. My dad is a C level executive and has still yet to purchase a $100k car. He obviously can afford it, but he’s chosen to invest in real estate pretty heavily. The most expensive car my parents have ever owned is a $57k Audi. Drive around a wealthy neighborhood and I think you’ll be surprised at how few luxury cars you see. Spending that much money on a depreciating asset is not wise to me unless you have some serious disposable income.

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This is essentially throwing away money, so you can afford the car when you can afford to lose $100k + costs (track, tires, insurance) without impacting your goals.

That probably has nothing to do with salary. It's a wealth mgmt question.

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@C3 tell that to everyone who buys an S Class or 7 Series. Those cars depreciate rapidly.

Household income 650k, 60k car. Reasonable?

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599k is under 600k

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The thing is - everybody travels these days. Everybody posts epicurean pictures of amazing foods they ate at some exotic location. Even people that make no money post those pics. I’ll bet very very few of those folks know what it feels like to use launch control on a 911

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Sorry but this was so hilarious!!!!! 😂😂😂😂

I bought a $76k car when my base was $115.
Generally, the more expensive the car, the more room for depreciation. I would personally have not bought a 100k car unless I was at $140 base.
This also assumes no student loans, no student debt, and in my case, a wife with a full time job to help offset housing expenses.

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My goodness MC1...that’s low key depressing

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I mean basic rule is 20/4/10 for a car purchase. Meaning: put 20% down, pay over 4 years (48 month finance), and spend no more than 10% of your income on car payments. So if you make $100,000, you can pay $10,000 per year on a car. That’s after 20% down and should include insurance, gas, and maintenance.

So, assuming you want a $100,000 car. You need to put $20,000 down, leaving $80,000 to finance. Assume a decent rate of 1.9% for 48 months, that’s $1,732 per month. Assume insurance of $400 per month, gas of $100 per month, and maintenance of $1,000 per year. That equals $27,784 per year, meaning you’ll have to make $277,840 per year to comfortably afford a $100,000 car (does not include taxes and registration fees).

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I’m jealous! I’m right outside of NYC so they don’t treat us too well haha

I love cheap cars because people hit and run and i don't care!

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Never, but I’m cheap.

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Can afford it ... don’t see the allure; a car is a utility to get from point A to point B.

Will spend if much enhanced utility (e.g. security/self driving etc )- otherwise there are better uses for that money

For now drive a 40K car which sits in the garage 95% of the time

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Your first point and second point contradict.

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Generally I'd say not to go over about 1/3 of your income for car value. $300,000 doesn't sound unreasonable, especially outside of NYC, SF etc.

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Maybe if you lease it, which can cost 40% less than buying. I earn $500K household income and I wouldn't buy a $100K car.

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$1M

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500k; people often forget that $X/X0,000 cars mean $X/X0,000 repairs, maintenance and insurance.

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There a bunch of people criticizing a purchase of an expensive car but wouldn’t blink an eye spending thousands on a purse or hundreds on shoes, clothes, etc. Just give the data, your negative demeaning opinions are annoying.

I personally want a GTR which costs around $100K. I’d feel comfortable buying it with a $200K+ income.

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Buying a $100K car on a 60 month loan will cost you $2500 or so per month after you factor in sales tax, interest, registration fees, insurance, maintenance, etc. That's a lot of bags.

Haha. I love the responses from the people that are like: NO! Don’t spend any money on anything you may enjoy and every cent beyond basic needs (oh and only eat Raman because why spend money on meat because it’s soooooooo expensive) must go to my retirement!!
Everyone here acting like their going to live to see their retirement. 🙄

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Yeah Booz again, choosing to eat ramen all the time is depriving yourself of necessary nutrition and probably giving yourself hypertension. It’s detrimental to your health and it’s a thing people do out of necessity when in difficult financial circumstances.

The car thing doesn’t track.

$100k on a car is stupid unless you have a solid $1M+ built in savings and assets

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Fund your savings/investments, pay off your debt and then buy what makes you happy. I spend like $2.5k per month on my horses, and approximately zero dollars on my ancient Prius.

likefunny

I mean ... you get the purest horsepower vs any car on the market haha

likefunny

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