Amen to that!!
To each his own, but i fail to figure how a car and a house get inter related to one another.
I rent a little one bedroom apartment. It's not that i cant buy a house, but i have no use of a house. I like cars. So i enjoy my cars.
I do not think that i would be happy buying a house right now.

If you buy a car as a status symbol, yes, you might be thinking that i should have a house before i buy a nice car.

If you buy a nice car out of automotive love, i am sure one would not think of their rental /small abodes as deterring factors.

 

^ so long as they are not the ones paying your bills, it is none of their business what you do with your money.. your life and live it any way you see fit..

if owning cars is what makes someone happy then so be it

 

Just like anything else I think it's the person that is behind it all that makes the difference. If you are just buying it to show off then that's not what I personally like. I don't buy anything for anyone else.

I buy it cause it makes me happy. I have had people say, why don't you get a new M5 but they don't realize I can't stand the new ones and I love the E39. It's not that I can't get one but the truth is, this one makes me happy and I love it.

If a Smart car makes you happy go get one and don't care what other people think. When you start doing things for status then you will fall behind in life I believe. Get things that mean something to you and you can truly say you got it for YOU.

 

This is really going to an extreme that no one can understand...

 

Best way to get someone's attention...I decided to go to the complete opposite end of the spectrum.

 

Well done, sir... Well done.

 

I still drool over a nice E39 M5. SMG in the following model was absolutely a deal breaker for me.

 

I think am earning way less than what you do, still I got myself a nice toy

 

soooo...what are the "weird websites"?! i'm dying to know! i'm guessing you're one of the bang bros or something! or milfhunter?!

anyway, what'd you end up getting? i saw earlier you mentioned a black 997? good choice. enjoy it. and be sure to take out on your local track!
HPDE (high performance drivers education) is the best/safest way to enjoy your new work of art: http://pca.org/Activities/DriverEducation.aspx

 

How 'rich' do you need to be?

Rich enough to:
* Pay the monthly note
* Pay the insurance
* Pay the maintenance ($500+/year)
* Buy new tires about once per year, if not more often

Being a little sarcastic here...it's all relative based on the specific model, new/used, mileage, track use, etc.

In my case it's less $$$ than my golf habit, but at least I can combine the two by putting the clubs in the rear seat and enjoying my drive to the course.

 

The one that has for the whisky, has for the ice.......

 

You make enough, mine has been reliable. I don't really care what anyone else thinks, as soon as they want to start paying for my stuff then I will start to care. As far as I am concerned there is no reason to build a pile of money to look at when you are old. I have seen too many people do it only to watch their kids fight over it when they are gone.

 

holy cow.. how many country clubs do u belong to?
my golf habit is equivalent to owning a camry..

 

How rich do you need to be? Depends on so many factors, so no simple answer. I would just suggest finding a balance between enjoying now versus saving for a rainy day or retirement. Going to either extreme is likely to be a bad idea. Also keep in mind that cars are depreciating assets whereas houses are appreciating assets (if you don't buy high) which you can also live in.

Regarding my specific situation, just got my first Porsche this past weekend (new 911S cab). I've wanted a Porsche since I was a kid, am now in my mid fourties, my enthusiasm for cars has recently been rekindled (after getting a C63), and it seems that we can afford it if we do the math, though I'm still somewhat shocked and feeling uneasy that we got a car well over $100K.

My feelings about the car are mixed and echo what others have said. Part of me likes the attention and status I get from being seen in a nice car, but most of me doesn't want the attention and finds it silly to even think about status (plus I have good reason to be concerned about adverse consequences of jealousy). Part of me is proud to have reached a stage where I can get a car like this, but most of me attributes it substantially to luck and feels truly bad that so many people (including family members) will never even be able to afford a mid-level car much less a $100K+ car. Part of me finds it silly and shallow to take so much interest in a material thing, but most of me loves the experience of driving the car, the beauty of the car, and the passionate engineering that created it, and thus decides that it doesn't make sense to deprive myself of things that can make my life better if no one else is harmed in the process; after all, lots of people live much larger than I ever will, so it's not like having a Porsche makes me an elite.

As I told my daughter the other day, life is full of contradictions, and some of them are internal ...

 

I wouldn't be retired at 47 yrs if I had bought a 911 at 31yrs. I have seen many a man with a big salary consume it. Yeah, yeah ...money isn't important.... blah blah. Save it, invest then buy a new one and drive one guilt free. I love Porsches but it sounds to me you need more behind you. You are wise thinking about it. I like your insightful comments IAA-C63.