When to buy your first exotic car?

[K1 Lambo]

Hey guys,

interested in hearing your opinion, particularly from guys who own or have owned exotic cars in the past.

What is a good rule of thumb when buying your first super car? Should you lease, finance or just pay in cash? Obviously MJ and some other guys who I follow say that you should only buy an exotic car if you can actually afford it. There's a lot of conflict with "affordability" from these guys. One said, if you can buy 10 of them in cash, then you can afford one. While another said that 20-25% of your cash flow should go into your fun fund and if the price fits within that percentage, then go for it.

I think it makes a lot more sense to lease a regular car, like a brand new Mercedes-Benz, BMW or Audi as these drop in value a lot when driving and getting some miles on them. Especially the new R8, so it would make more sense to lease a brand new one. Or just buy a used model from 2015-2019 that's got a high mileage because they've already lost a lot of value afterwards.

Ferraris and Lamborghinis on the other hand, hold their values extremely well. McLarens not so much, but they're still awesome cars. Some Porsches do it too, like the 911 Turbo or GT3. For context, I'm looking for either the Lamborghini Huracan or the Audi R8 V10(post 2015 models).

Or should you make so much money that the price becomes irrelevant?

 

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[Antifragile]

This is a classic FL post …

not in a good way.

there is a difference between looking successful and being successful. If you focus on looks, you’ll get your Lambo on a lease. If you are after substance, you’ll buy when you don’t give a damn. Worse yet, it might not mean as much to you.

I used to want an M3 BMW - I felt it was a “dream”. Today, i have no car debt. Actually no “unproductive debt” at all. And I want no Lambo. Yet I could walk into a dealership and pay cash. It’s not to impress you, I share this to say that appetite for things changes when the obstacles of getting them aren’t there anymore.

My advice: focus on being productive. When buying a Lambo doesn’t impact your life one bit, and you want it, to get it! Enjoy it. Race it on a track. Just don’t lease it because you can “afford” payments.

 

[K1 Lambo]

This is a classic FL post …

not in a good way.

there is a difference between looking successful and being successful. If you focus on looks, you’ll get your Lambo on a lease. If you are after substance, you’ll buy when you don’t give a damn. Worse yet, it might not mean as much to you.

I used to want an M3 BMW - I felt it was a “dream”. Today, i have no car debt. Actually no “unproductive debt” at all. And I want no Lambo. Yet I could walk into a dealership and pay cash. It’s not to impress you, I share this to say that appetite for things changes when the obstacles of getting them aren’t there anymore.

My advice: focus on being productive. When buying a Lambo doesn’t impact your life one bit, and you want it, to get it! Enjoy it. Race it on a track. Just don’t lease it because you can “afford” payments.

Thank you. Just asking cuz there's a lot of conflicting evidence on the internet about when to own material possessions. And yes, I do agree with you. Leasing is kind of cheating your way to success. Like I don't want to be the guy who spends majority of his money on a car, "looking successful" while my employees haven't earned a raise yet. When instead I could invest all that money into my business, and after 3-5 years I could buy 10-15 of them in cash.

 

[Antifragile]

Please share more about your business!

 

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[Kak]

This is a classic FL post …

not in a good way.

there is a difference between looking successful and being successful. If you focus on looks, you’ll get your Lambo on a lease. If you are after substance, you’ll buy when you don’t give a damn. Worse yet, it might not mean as much to you.

I used to want an M3 BMW - I felt it was a “dream”. Today, i have no car debt. Actually no “unproductive debt” at all. And I want no Lambo. Yet I could walk into a dealership and pay cash. It’s not to impress you, I share this to say that appetite for things changes when the obstacles of getting them aren’t there anymore.

My advice: focus on being productive. When buying a Lambo doesn’t impact your life one bit, and you want it, to get it! Enjoy it. Race it on a track. Just don’t lease it because you can “afford” payments.

Bingo.

There was some surprising statistic about the average net worth of new Lamborghini or Ferrari buyer. I want to say it was like 2 million. That is surprisingly low. Like 1 billionaire can come in and skew that hard to the upside, but somehow it is still massively low.

That means a TON of buyers are worth less than 2 million and some are probably totally worthless. The majority of them are peacocking upper middle class side walkers.

I can’t imagine a frickin car, that you can only drive 30k miles before it dies, swallowing 10-30 percent of my net worth. This says to me that the average Ferrari or Lamborghini driver is emotional with their money instead of disciplined.

When this decision looks more like- 400k Lamborghini in the driveway VS ~30-60k per year for the rest of my life without doing one thing, it gets easier and easier to not GAF about flashy cars.

All of this said, these cars are gorgeous and cool, but I’d wait until I make the entire value of the car every month before I’d buy one. So far I’ve never broken that rule and it has served me well. It amazes me how much of their life people with less than optimal income systems are willing to give up for stylish transportation.

 

[biophase]

For me I bought them at various stages of my life. My first Ferrari was when I hit a certain goal in my business. It was probably a borderline splurge for me.

I used goals like these to motivate me in business. So yeah it was probably a bad spend ROI wise, but it was ultimately a good spend in terms of business and happiness.

My last exotic I remember debating because it was 1-3% of my net worth at the time which in hindsight now was easily affordable, but I was still going back and forth on it.

I think the ultimate choice comes from within. Deep down inside you’ll know if you should be buying the car.

I don’t think cash or loan says much now since the rates are so low people with cash would get a loan anyway.

 

[Mathuin]

GOLD! - MINDSET - What Color Ferrari Should I Buy? (I Have Twenty Bucks)

I have twenty bucks … what color Ferrari do I buy when I succeed? (Image @biophase) Ridiculous statement, often equivalent to a ridiculous question quite often found here at the forum. The poker-face for the WANTREPRENEUR are the hypothetical questions about things that are months, perhaps...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

 

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[Deleted85763]

Hey guys,

interested in hearing your opinion, particularly from guys who own or have owned exotic cars in the past.

What is a good rule of thumb when buying your first super car? Should you lease, finance or just pay in cash? Obviously MJ and some other guys who I follow say that you should only buy an exotic car if you can actually afford it. There's a lot of conflict with "affordability" from these guys. One said, if you can buy 10 of them in cash, then you can afford one. While another said that 20-25% of your cash flow should go into your fun fund and if the price fits within that percentage, then go for it.

I think it makes a lot more sense to lease a regular car, like a brand new Mercedes-Benz, BMW or Audi as these drop in value a lot when driving and getting some miles on them. Especially the new R8, so it would make more sense to lease a brand new one. Or just buy a used model from 2015-2019 that's got a high mileage because they've already lost a lot of value afterwards.

Ferraris and Lamborghinis on the other hand, hold their values extremely well. McLarens not so much, but they're still awesome cars. Some Porsches do it too, like the 911 Turbo or GT3. For context, I'm looking for either the Lamborghini Huracan or the Audi R8 V10(post 2015 models).

Or should you make so much money that the price becomes irrelevant?

The best time? NEVER! Cars have so many negtaives that I won't even get into it other to stay they are "boxes of metal on wheels" that take up a lot of space. Buy a bicycle and have FREEDOM and health.

 

[Cameraman]

One of my friends had the 911 GT3. Within a month of buying it, he bought a Works Mini Cooper. The 911 stayed in his garage 95% of the time whilst he drove the mini.

Another friend had the Bentley Continental GT and ended up buying a Jaguar, again within a month, so he could leave the Bentley at home. It attracted too much attention and no one would let him out in traffic.

Me, I drive a Honda - great car.

 

[K1 Lambo]

For me I bought them at various stages of my life. My first Ferrari was when I hit a certain goal in my business. It was probably a borderline splurge for me.

I used goals like these to motivate me in business. So yeah it was probably a bad spend ROI wise, but it was ultimately a good spend in terms of business and happiness.

My last exotic I remember debating because it was 1-3% of my net worth at the time which in hindsight now was easily affordable, but I was still going back and forth on it.

I think the ultimate choice comes from within. Deep down inside you’ll know if you should be buying the car.

I don’t think cash or loan says much now since the rates are so low people with cash would get a loan anyway.

Thank you sir. That's the exact answer that I was looking for. I think it's like once you get to a point where you're comfortable with saying things like: "I feel I'm ready for this", that's when you are ultimately ready to buy one. If I remember correctly, MJ talked about it in his first book with this gum analogy which was phenomenal. Like if you buy a gum, you don't give a damn if you can afford it or not.

The same thing can be said about supercars. A wealthy guy who makes 20 million $ a year is going to be able to afford a 500,000$ Aventador SV without a problem. There's also this guy on YouTube called Exotic Car Hacks and his strategy is to hack cars. Meaning buying and financing them in a way so you'll make money owning and enjoying them. So you'll either get a profit or you'll lose nothing when selling.

I don't get it why so many people shit on supercars lol. Life is also about having fun with your rewards. I don't see people getting butthurt when they watch people travel around the world, but their ego's get a little flimsy when they see somebody else drive a supercar. I love cars man, and always been a fan since the ages of 5-6. When I see a dude or girl owning a car that cost more than most people's homes, I think to myself that person must've worked his butt off to get to this position.

 

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[K1 Lambo]

One of my friends had the 911 GT3. Within a month of buying it, he bought a Works Mini Cooper. The 911 stayed in his garage 95% of the time whilst he drove the mini.

Another friend had the Bentley Continental GT and ended up buying a Jaguar, again within a month, so he could leave the Bentley at home. It attracted too much attention and no one would let him out in traffic.

Me, I drive a Honda - great car.

Hondas are great family cars.

 

[OleksiyRybakov]

I would not buy a super car at all. If I don't make the price of the car passively in a month, I can't afford it. And even if I do, I think that supporting charities and the Armed Forces of Ukraine is more useful both for the society and me than any luxury car.

Bicycles are great for the environment, your health and your wallet and I travel by bike a lot. However, I don't enjoy biking during strong rain. This is why I prefer public transportation.

 

[Cameraman]

Hondas are great family cars.

It also goes like stink when you put your foot down. I'm not sure it really fits the bill as a family car though.

 

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[MoneyDoc]

I'm going to be the devils advocate here but buy it when YOU want. No one can answer this question for you and there is no "right" or "wrong" answer. Many called me stupid when I bought my lambo this year, but few understand what motivates me in life and what makes me happy in life. That's why this is a personal question. FYI, I recently sold it and made about $60k after putting on 12,000 KMs. Not one day went by without a smile on my face and that's all that matters in my opinion. Before I would go to bed, I would sneak my head through the garage entry door and I would smile even more before heading to sleep. I love cars. So the answer for me is, whenever I WANT.

If you can do it, and if you want to do it, then go do it! Don't wait for that "perfect" moment, because believe me, it will never come.

There's no point in working and delaying gratification, especially when you're an entrepreneur and you HAVE the wealth. The difference between $5m and $10m is 2x. Which one builds a bigger grave? NONE. Again, everyone differs with their opinion and everyone is entitled to their own decisions in life. But for me, I don't believe in delaying gratification when I can afford what I want right now. It doesn't make sense to me to postpone that so I can invest and make a few hundred thousand more. Then what? That cycle will keep repeating until one day I either get hit by a drunk driver, I get a sickness, or I just don't wake up.

By the way, the supercar market is on fire. Most people are buying high, and selling even higher. SVJs are going for $900k+. SVJ roadsters are going for $1m+ ($CAD).

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Exotic car ownership is an experience I wouldn't trade, and certainly don't regret.

IMO, if you can pay cash for it and have absolutely nothing change about your life, business, or otherwise, you can afford it. And yes, some of the cars hold their value. My Lamborghini Diablo only lost $15,000 in value after 2.5 years of ownership.

There was some surprising statistic about the average net worth of new Lamborghini or Ferrari buyer.

Has to be the median, not the mean.

One billionaire buyer would skew the mean (average) hard to the upside. If it's "mean", that means it is worse then $2M and the median would be like $1M. Personally speaking, I think a $2M - $5M net worth is far too low to own a $500K car. Not so much 10, 15 years ago, but today, yes.

I personally find it funny when the gurus use their $350K Lambo as a credibility item, except that it is parked in front of their $350K house.

 

[K1 Lambo]

I'm going to be the devils advocate here but buy it when YOU want. No one can answer this question for you and there is no "right" or "wrong" answer. Many called me stupid when I bought my lambo this year, but few understand what motivates me in life and what makes me happy in life. That's why this is a personal question. FYI, I recently sold it and made about $60k after putting on 12,000 KMs. Not one day went by without a smile on my face and that's all that matters in my opinion. Before I would go to bed, I would sneak my head through the garage entry door and I would smile even more before heading to sleep. I love cars. So the answer for me is, whenever I WANT.

If you can do it, and if you want to do it, then go do it! Don't wait for that "perfect" moment, because believe me, it will never come.

There's no point in working and delaying gratification, especially when you're an entrepreneur and you HAVE the wealth. The difference between $5m and $10m is 2x. Which one builds a bigger grave? NONE. Again, everyone differs with their opinion and everyone is entitled to their own decisions in life. But for me, I don't believe in delaying gratification when I can afford what I want right now. It doesn't make sense to me to postpone that so I can invest and make a few hundred thousand more. Then what? That cycle will keep repeating until one day I either get hit by a drunk driver, I get a sickness, or I just don't wake up.

By the way, the supercar market is on fire. Most people are buying high, and selling even higher. SVJs are going for $900k+. SVJ roadsters are going for $1m+ ($CAD).

Yes exactly, that's my point man. Thank you. For a lot of guys out there(and some girls too), cars are a huge motivator to work harder and to make your dreams a reality. Like what's the point of making money over and over again and then buy a Rolls Royce when you're 60 years old with a receding hairline because you just wanted to be in this never ending loop of making more money when you could've bought one 30 years back. Love your mentality man. Some of us just don't want to drive a Camry everyday. And let's be honest here, owning a nice car definitely has a lot of benefits. You're in the spot light almost all the time, which is kind of fun.

SVJs by the way are great investments now. Can't say so much about the SVs which go between $380-500k, whereas the SVJs are between $800k-1m+, these cars will definitely increase in value because it's most likely the last naturally aspirated V12 from Lamborghini. Lamborghini have done a really good job with their cars in the past 5-7 years, particularly with the Urus, which is their most popular car.

When the Lamborghini Urus is in stock at a official dealer(which is rare for now), they sell out like crazy. We don't have any official Lamborghini dealers here in Norway(there is one that tries very hard, wish that he becomes one since he's a good dude), but even in dealers from other countries like Poland where you got one official dealer in Warsaw, they're out of stock too. Lamborghini do an extremely good job with the supply and demand equation.

How did you buy your cars? All in cash, finance or lease?

 

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[K1 Lambo]

Exotic car ownership is an experience I wouldn't trade, and certainly don't regret.

IMO, if you can pay cash for it and have absolutely nothing change about your life, business, or otherwise, you can afford it. And yes, some of the cars hold their value. My Lamborghini Diablo only lost $15,000 in value after 2.5 years of ownership.



Has to be the median, not the mean.

One billionaire buyer would skew the mean (average) hard to the upside. If it's "mean", that means it is worse then $2M and the median would be like $1M. Personally speaking, I think a $2M - $5M net worth is far too low to own a $500K car. Not so much 10, 15 years ago, but today, yes.

I personally find it funny when the gurus use their $350K Lambo as a credibility item, except that it is parked in front of their $350K house.

Yeah man, life is all about experiences, not just making more money. You can always make more money, but you can't make more time and being young. Do you remember how much you paid for it back in the late nineties/early 2000s?

Funny enough, Lamborghini Diablo was actually the first supercar I saw when I was about 2 years old. It's still a breathtaking car. Was your Diablo the same color as this one?

 

[biophase]

Exotic car ownership is an experience I wouldn't trade, and certainly don't regret.

I don't think it ever gets out of your system until you own at least one!

Cars and really expensive non-practical things cannot be logically argued. It just depends on who you are and what you like. I had never ever been in a Louis V store until a month ago. And honestly I just don't get it. A hangbag for $5k? But the same people in there would say to me. A car for $250k and it's 20 years old and you can't even drive it? I don't get it.

The ironic thing now is that I still like supercars, but I have no desire to drive them at all. I would totally get a collection of 10 supercars and just look at them in my garage.

In the old days, I'd buy a Mclaren that had 30k miles on it because I could put on 10k miles and not care. But now I look for the one with 2k miles on it because I'll probably put 500 miles in 5 years on it.

 

[Antifragile]

SVJs by the way are great investments now.

 

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[Antifragile]

I don't think it ever gets out of your system until you own at least one!

Cars and really expensive non-practical things cannot be logically argued. It just depends on who you are and what you like. I had never ever been in a Louis V store until a month ago. And honestly I just don't get it. A hangbag for $5k? But the same people in there would say to me. A car for $250k and it's 20 years old and you can't even drive it? I don't get it.

The ironic thing now is that I still like supercars, but I have no desire to drive them at all. I would totally get a collection of 10 supercars and just look at them in my garage.

In the old days, I'd buy a Mclaren that had 30k miles on it because I could put on 10k miles and not care. But now I look for the one with 2k miles on it because I'll probably put 500 miles in 5 years on it.

I get this. I spent more on my race bike than people spend on cars. And if I had. 9 figure net worth, I’d have a garage like you say, full of cars that I want to look at and seldom drive. A bit like art.

I’ll gladly race those cars in Vegas, every time. Just can’t imagine driving them on regular streets or get stuck in traffic lol.

 

[Devampre]

I haven't bought an exotic car, but I have bought a car I didn't need at one point.

I didn't really want the car in retrospect. I just wanted to feel cool lol.

Turns out that it costs $0 to actually feel "cool."

 

[MoneyDoc]

I don't think it ever gets out of your system until you own at least one!

Cars and really expensive non-practical things cannot be logically argued. It just depends on who you are and what you like. I had never ever been in a Louis V store until a month ago. And honestly I just don't get it. A hangbag for $5k? But the same people in there would say to me. A car for $250k and it's 20 years old and you can't even drive it? I don't get it.

The ironic thing now is that I still like supercars, but I have no desire to drive them at all. I would totally get a collection of 10 supercars and just look at them in my garage.

In the old days, I'd buy a Mclaren that had 30k miles on it because I could put on 10k miles and not care. But now I look for the one with 2k miles on it because I'll probably put 500 miles in 5 years on it.

Kenric, I think you need a 765LT...

Have you seen them? OMG.

 

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[ljean]

I like exotic cars but for me the negatives far outweigh any positives. Aside from the expenses, maintaining them is a pita, its only a matter of time before my careless kids scratch the paint while in the garage, you're never comfortable parking it in public, you cant use it anywhere near its full potential on public roads, it attracts attention from idiots & cops, the stiff suspensions are uncomfortable for longer drives, they are small and typically cant even fit a set of golf clubs, i could go on and on...

 

[Private Witt]

Once my company breaches a 25 million valuation, I'm gonna start to build a fleet of Hyundai Tucsons for my teams. I have one now and love that car. As for self no need for Lambo but I will buy a dope a$$ Jeep Wrangler and a bunch of motorcycles.

 

[Itizn]

As someone who grew up in a major city, and got his license late in life, cars in general aren't exciting to me.

If I were a multi millionaire, I guess I might buy one which I found more "aesthetically pleasing" than the others.

 

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[Ing]

I love fast and exotic cars. Exotic cars mostly have a better driving performance than other cars. So buy an exotic supercar as soon as you can afford it. And don’t drive it into town. Wherer people see it, but anywhere, where are great roads. Because driving them is moch more fun than being seen in them.
Btw. Get cars in bad visual shape. The worse they look, the more driving fun you have!
dont buy them as a status symbol. You ll have much more fun having them as drive machines!

 

[Deleted85763]

I love fast and exotic cars. Exotic cars mostly have a better driving performance than other cars. So buy an exotic supercar as soon as you can afford it. And do drive it into town. Wherer people see it, but anywhere, where are great roads. Because driving them is moch more fun than being seen in them.
Btw. Get cars in bad visual shape. The worse they look, the more driving fun you have!
dont buy them as a status symbol. You ll have much more fun having them as drive machines!

I once had a luxury car. I couldn't believe how nice people treated me. Some tried to even befriend me, solely because of the car. Now when I ride my bicycle home from the supermarket with groceries, something no one does where I currently live, sometimes I have gotten gasps from people, mostly older women, with the sentiment "Our community is starting to become a ghetto!". Hey lady, maybe you should try it. And your husband. You'll enjoy your lives like you never knew you could!

 

[fastlaner_1992]

Hey guys,

interested in hearing your opinion, particularly from guys who own or have owned exotic cars in the past.

What is a good rule of thumb when buying your first super car? Should you lease, finance or just pay in cash? Obviously MJ and some other guys who I follow say that you should only buy an exotic car if you can actually afford it. There's a lot of conflict with "affordability" from these guys. One said, if you can buy 10 of them in cash, then you can afford one. While another said that 20-25% of your cash flow should go into your fun fund and if the price fits within that percentage, then go for it.

I think it makes a lot more sense to lease a regular car, like a brand new Mercedes-Benz, BMW or Audi as these drop in value a lot when driving and getting some miles on them. Especially the new R8, so it would make more sense to lease a brand new one. Or just buy a used model from 2015-2019 that's got a high mileage because they've already lost a lot of value afterwards.

Ferraris and Lamborghinis on the other hand, hold their values extremely well. McLarens not so much, but they're still awesome cars. Some Porsches do it too, like the 911 Turbo or GT3. For context, I'm looking for either the Lamborghini Huracan or the Audi R8 V10(post 2015 models).

Or should you make so much money that the price becomes irrelevant?

When you can buy it in cash and pay for it with passive income

 

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[Ing]

I once had a luxury car. I couldn't believe how nice people treated me. Some tried to even befriend me, solely because of the car. Now when I ride my bicycle home from the supermarket with groceries, something no one does where I currently live, sometimes I have gotten gasps from people, mostly older women, with the sentiment "Our community is starting to become a ghetto!". Hey lady, maybe you should try it. And your husband. You'll enjoy your lives like you never knew you could!

We have neighbors here, which didn’t greet me at all. One day I got an old Porsche from an auction. From that very day they were friendly as hell. I know, what I have to hold of ppl.

 

[OleksiyRybakov]

We have neighbors here, which didn’t greet me at all. One day I got an old Porsche from an auction. From that very day they were friendly as hell. I know, what I have to hold of ppl.

Congratulations!

Is Porsche still a brand selling mostly luxury cars? I think that Porsche is rather a brand that tries to sell their cars to the simpler people as well today as I have seen some older Porsches for 25k€ and even less where I live. I have never seen a low-cost Lambo or Rolls Royce though.