[ALEXIS_DH]

i just got curious. 3 brothers i know from high school, got together and bought a 911 to share (man, the fights for who gets to drive the car each weekend are gonna be awesome), being they are under 23, it was a ****load % of their income for a toy and that made me wonder on how much people would cough up for a car.

how many months worth of salary did you pay for your car, and whats the maximum amount of months/wage you´d cough up for a car, and car related expenses??

 

[Toshi]

i would not pay more than 30% of my income on car payments, including insurance.

 

[SofaKingBanned]

A car is just a way to get a bike from point A to point B... unless you have kids.

 

[binary visions]

At one point, about 50% of my income was going to car payment and insurance.

I sold that truck. Now my car is paid off. I think Toshi's number would be my ceiling now, probably a little less though... I love not writing out that big car payment check every month.

 

[ALEXIS_DH]

wow, 30% is a lot. almost 4 months a year for a car/per year.
if a car lasts for 5 years, then it becomes almost one is willing to fork up 2 years worth of salary for car expenses.

say, if when toshi gets out of med school, and makes 200k a year, assuming he uses a car for 5 years and without counting depreciation, that´d mean his budget would allow for a lamborghini or something crazy expensive like that.

these guys i talked about got a 911S (119k in Lima), so the car is like one year worth of the income of the 3 bothers combined (!). i was like, wtf? how much months/salary is the average person willing to spend on a car?

 

[Toshi]

heh. you have to do residency after med school, and that's a 40-50k proposition in return for 80+ hrs/week... and then there are the student loans to pay back.

 

[cadmus]

i would not pay more than 30% of my income on car payments, including insurance.

isn't 30% the amount the mortgage lenders want to keep you at for a house payment? seems like a lot for a car. Our car is less than 10% of gross income, including insurance.

 

[sammi_davis]

I want a Scion XB and I cant bring myself to get one due to the cost ... but I had no issues buying an FSR ... :biggrin:

With that said I would have to say 25 % is the most I would go .

 

[-dustin]

my Mazda3 payments are about 20% of my monthly income. wouldn't go any more than that.

 

[cannondalejunky]

for a while about 25% was goin to my car...now it's about 150%

 

[Dog Welder]

i would not pay more than 30% of my income on car payments, including insurance.

Is that 30% of your income now as a resident or 30% of your income when you become a full fledged doctor? Cuz that's like the difference between a honda civic beater and a BMW M6.

 

[SkaredShtles]

My van is 15% of my monthly income. That's the most I'll *EVER* pay for the rest of my living days on a car. Ever.

My previous car cost 1 month's wages and the insurance after that was approximately 2%. That was more like it.

 

[VaNIlLin81]

I don't have an income When I do buy my first car, I'm making my top spending limit 900. Think it's fair? Yeah, I'm gonna roll around in a lemon, but who cares, right?

 

[BigMike]

My budget was what I had saved up, 11 g's. I paid in cash (not a check, actually green cash) and have never had a car payment.

I guess that would technically be about 50% of my income, but I saved that for a few years, plus put my graduation money toward it....

 

[pinkshirtphotos]

i love my vw jetta that has 185000 miles on it that needed 4g in work so my dad gave it to me for 500 bux i got the work done for free some ppl owed me **** so i got that taken care of. best bike hauler ever.

 

[VaNIlLin81]

I'm stuck on saving for 3 things right now.
Car/Insurance, New Camera body(20D, or the XTi), or a new bike.

But I think I got it, I can buy the car to haul the bike, and also my camera gear.

 

[Toshi]

isn't 30% the amount the mortgage lenders want to keep you at for a house payment? seems like a lot for a car. Our car is less than 10% of gross income, including insurance.

true. keep in mind that i'm in a position in life where i have no mortgage payment and no family. if you have these burdens then adjust lower as appropriate.

<-- car is paid off in full, and insurance is ~$120/month

 

[Toshi]

Is that 30% of your income now as a resident or 30% of your income when you become a full fledged doctor? Cuz that's like the difference between a honda civic beater and a BMW M6.

i'd much rather continue to drive a wrx-class vehicle and save up for other things (retirement, other toys, house, etc.). i'd have more fun with a spec miata and a few sets of racing tires than some overweight bmw anyway...

and, like i said, residents get paid peanuts and student loans are a big, looming black cloud whose presence encourages fiscal responsibility

 

[VaNIlLin81]

Toshi, I'm glad you would rather be doing this


Than this

 

[maxyedor]

It depends on the car, for an economy car I wouldn't do over 5% of my income. For a kickass exotic however I woud go so deep in debt I couldn't even see the top of the hole.

 

[Toshi]

Toshi, I'm glad you would rather be doing this


Than this

no, no, i'd love to do spec miata! what i don't go for is overweight, expensive new street cars.

 

[rockwool]

i love my vw jetta that has 185000 miles on it that needed 4g in work so my dad gave it to me for 500 bux i got the work done for free some ppl owed me **** so i got that taken care of. best bike hauler ever.

Hah, I don't get how the VW Jetta can have a "cult status" on one side of the pond, while on the other side it is a car driven by senior citizens in 50's style hats...

 

[johnbryanpeters]

About 25%, cash on the barrelhead, keep it for ten years. So 2.5% per year.

 

[stevew]

I don't believe in car payments. All I will ever need is a clean B3 Wagon shell, MKI, MKII, or MKIII VW shell and put whatever VW engine in it.

Or a Lexus SC300.

 

[Nick]

my payments equaled less than 20% ... and I just started receiving an additional $500 per month car allowance.

 

[Changleen]

Speed limits are so low and boring and I only drive in rush hour. A car is just a tool. I just want my car to do it's job without rounding out the allen bolt. I can do this for way under 20% of my income. I'd never pay 20% of my income for anything other than housing, and I think that's about what I pay. My ongoing car ownership costs are probably 3-4% of my income including insurance + fuel (Love that ACC). I paid 10G up front for a second hand auto which performs just great what I want of it. Had it for 2 years, still reliable and smooth. I'd rather spend the money on anything rather than cars actually, like going skiing next weekend, hosting a dinner party on friday, buying a bunch of new bits for my bikes and lunch at a restaurant most every day. (all of which I am doing :biggrin

 

[narlus]

i try to keep my car expenditures pretty low but don't know what that is in terms of % income. i budgeted ~10K for my car when i got from ireland and that should last me a pretty long time (it was an '02 w/ 55K on it when i got it, and i've put on about 23K on it in two years).

hopefully the wife's van will last a long time too. that's the reason we went w/ honda.

 

[jimmydean]

I paid $600 for my truck and save an average of $200 a month for upgrades. When it's done, I will have spent no more than $6000 an it will be valued at over $10k.

My insurance is $40 a month and I drive less than 100 miles a month, so I spend about $20 each time I go on a trip.

 

[erikkellison]

I pay just under 20% of my net income in car payments and insurance. I was willing to pay ~30% for my car, but my income has gone up. When I get this new job, my cap will remain loosely at 20%. It will be a while before I buy a new one though as mine is so perfect for what I do. It's nice, but not so nice I can't use it on nasty roads for hiking (in fact that's what it's suited for). It's reliable, and quite customized. I can't afford/don't have the time for curtomization of a new vehicle. When I do/can, I will get the WRX.
I think a lot of people spend money on cars for status. Waste of money IMO.

 

[manimal]

my wife's van is paid for. my suby is paid for. suby was $2k and van was $6k and i don't plan on ever having another car payment. paid cash for both and i set aside about $40 a month for annual car related expenses to include an emergency repair fund, ie: transmission, radiator....the unforseen.
so i guess about 2 months salary for both cars to be paid off or, if i was making payments, about 10% of income.

the beater crappy on the outside, rebuilt motor on the inside

 

[rooftest]

Hah, I don't get how the VW Jetta can have a "cult status" on one side of the pond, while on the other side it is a car driven by senior citizens in 50's style hats...

His story tells the story of VW Jettas - One with $185,000 miles (probably worth $1,000) needing $4,000 worth of work.

The worst car I've ever owned - and that's a BOLD statement.

 

[BMXman]

yeah I would say about 10% is the top of my range. I would rather buy a car that needs work and fix it up myself....D

 

[Toshi]

how's the project coming along, D? is the camera set wrong or is the car not brown any longer? why the rainguards on the windows in sunny california? heh

 

[TreeSaw]

I actually bought a new car last Labor Day and it was just under $20K which is about 15% of our yearly income. It's our only payment too so it's nice and will be paid off in another 10-12 months.

 

[BMXman]

how's the project coming along, D? is the camera set wrong or is the car not brown any longer? why the rainguards on the windows in sunny california? heh

Oh that's not my actual car that's what I'm working towards. My actual car was stolen 10 days before I moved up here to Canada. So I had to start all over again. I don't have any current pics because my digicam somehow got lost in the move. Check the link for more detials....D

http://www.g2ic.com/forums/showthread.php?t=148635

 

[nutter]

just out of interest, sorry to hi-jack the thread, but what cars could you pickup for say 500-700 that would be reasonable second hand for hacking around in for 4 weeks between canada and california.

don't think i'd want to spend more than 20% of my income on a car, quite fancy a vw golf 2.0 TDI though when I do get a good job., it would all depend on what else I had to pay for

 

[binary visions]

Buying a car for $700 to drive for 4 weeks isn't really much of a matter of brand. I mean, your overriding concern is going to be getting a car in the best mechanical shape for the least amount of money - you don't care if it'll last a year or two.

Just my opinion. Given a choice, I'd probably stick with Honda or Toyota (I'd say an old Subaru but you're unlikely to find one for that price), but again, it's not all about brand.

 

[bean]

Auto payment and insurance are approximately 16% of my salary after tax. The student loan is what really annoys me, just as much money every month for something that was very largely a waste of time.

Oh, but since the question was what the upper limit is; I'd say no more than 20%.

 

[Knuckleslammer]

A car is needed, but the biggest frign scam of all. A car lasts what? 7 years? You have to pay the following.

1. GAS
2. Payments (unless you pay cash)
3. Excise tax? (To park it in your ****ing driveway? lthumbsdown: )
4. Oil changes, tires, brakes (other consumables)
5. Insurance

Did I miss anything? I'd love to figure out how much it costs to drive an automobile, on average. A big ****ing scam if you ask me, just to get to work. Glad I don't work anymore.

What I use to do is this. Find a car from someone that has kept all the receipts for all the oil changes and all the work. Buy used with low miles. I bought a Mazda Protege for 3k. Had like 40k miles on it. I put new tires, new calipers, rotors, pads, exhaust and tuneup and I used that car for 4 years with just oil changes and normal maintenance.

To spend $500 a month on a Lexus or BMW is ridiculous, I think. Unless you buy them outright, like I do, it's basically a loss.

I view things from that perspective. If it's a loss, I no longer entertain it. As soon as you leave the dealership, you realize you left your shirt back on the salesmans desk.

 

[SkaredShtles]

Knuck! Good to see you 'round. Good advice as always.