Keep the Mustang? Or......

Good evening all. I bought my Base Model GT brand new and have pretty much enjoyed every mile of driving it. I now find myself facing an interesting option as I have recently interviewed for a position that will greatly increase my salary. If I do get it, I'm looking at the $100k range for pay. My question to all of you, with varying salaries and to those of you who have had many cars, do I keep the Mustang and continue to modify it? Or move on and upgrade to something else? I found myself struggling to find anything worthy of the upgrade. I was told that half your salary should be the max you spend on a car, so I started looking at things $50k and below. Here are the cars that I found interesting in the price range (all sourced from cars.com under $50k) Let me know what you all think! Thanks in advance.

2014 S6 or S7
2016 A6
2015 GT350 (Kind of a stretch)
2015 Golf R
2015 S3
E90 M3
B8 S4
2015 Macan S
2014 Maserati Ghibli
2015 M4
Lexus IS350
2017 Jaguar F Pace
2013 Raptor
2012 Jaguar XKR

It sounds like you still enjoy your Stang, so perhaps you can save money or stack it high until it's burning a hole.

Have you paid off the Stang yet? I paid mine off a couple years ago and have been enjoying not having payments. I try to live below my means for peace.

Congratulations in advance!

You love your current Mustang, so don't get rid of it. I would just keep modding it and make it a weekend toy, then get one of those cars on the list as a daily (if space allows, of course).

IvanCRF said:

It sounds like you still enjoy your Stang, so perhaps you can save money or stack it high until it's burning a hole.

Have you paid off the Stang yet? I paid mine off a couple years ago and have been enjoying not having payments. I try to live below my means for peace.

Click to expand...

It is not paid off. I was also wondering if paying it off and trading it in on a car that is above $50k was a good option as well. Kind of gets you into Used Porsche territory.

Congrats!

Since I'm a mere five or six typical raises short of six figures for income myself, I'd personally stick with the Mustang and mod the snot out of it.

Of course, fate willing, I plan to have my property paid off within the next five years. Once that happens I'm gonna do some splurging. I've always wanted a 911.....

Strokerswild said:

Congrats!

Since I'm a mere five or six typical raises short of six figures for income myself, I'd personally stick with the Mustang and mod the snot out of it.

Of course, fate willing, I plan to have my property paid off within the next five years. Once that happens I'm gonna do some splurging. I've always wanted a 911.....

Click to expand...

I've wanted a 911 for as long as I've been into cars (See avatar picture), but they still seem to be a bit out of my price range. My Mustang is a weekend warrior, as it's in storage all winter, but a 911 is a different animal in terms of upkeep and insurance.

Typical 'get a big promotion and buy a German car' post. That whole % of salary determines your car potential thing is bullshit. Maybe if you don't put a down payment on it and finance for 36mos. Keep your current car, save the extra money you make. In a few years, but a nice expensive car without worrying about what % of your salary it MSRPs at.

Kevin08 said:

Typical 'get a big promotion and buy a German car' post. That whole % of salary determines your car potential thing is bullshit. Maybe if you don't put a down payment on it and finance for 36mos. Keep your current car, save the extra money you make. In a few years, but a nice expensive car without worrying about what % of your salary it MSRPs at.

Click to expand...

It's actually the opposite with me. I owned nothing but German cars, and when I finally had the money, I bought a GT. But I am still partial to German cars and their luxury aspect.

So you got a raise and wanna swap your stang for a golf R / is350 lol . That sounds like a down grade . Your better off just getting a performance pack mustang with the nice big screen and leather recaro interior . There's at least 4 cars on that list that have 100 hp less then what ur currently driving .

Jprada1210 said:

So you got a raise and wanna swap your stang for a golf R / is350 lol . That sounds like a down grade . Your better off just getting a performance pack mustang with the nice big screen and leather recaro interior . There's at least 4 cars on that list that have 100 hp less then what ur currently driving .

Click to expand...

It's not always about horsepower! And a highly modified Golf R is no slouch on the street. My MK7 GTI had 404 lb ft of torque.

Congrats OP! I was in a similar situation recently and considered half the cars you listed. Long story short I found out that you can lease a Hellcat (I was not even considering this option giving the reliability issues and price) for around $600 a month with almost nothing down.

If I had to choose from that list I would go with a CPO S6 (same car as S7 but better value) or Macan S. Both brands offer great CPO programs but make sure to get rid of whatever german car you have before warranty runs over!

D.Brown said:

It's not always about horsepower! And a highly modified Golf R is no slouch on the street. My MK7 GTI had 404 lb ft of torque.

Click to expand...

After investing how much lol as opossed to a stock stang ? Those r's only come with 290 lol . I just sold my fully built sti on 93 octane it put down a little over 400 hp . Please don't ask me how much money I threw at that car beacause it's embarrassing lol .

I know what you mean though , it's not always about hp , but you mentioned you have a base gt . Go check out a loaded one , their pretty sweet

Jprada1210 said:

So you got a raise and wanna swap your stang for a golf R / is350 lol . That sounds like a down grade . Your better off just getting a performance pack mustang with the nice big screen and leather recaro interior . There's at least 4 cars on that list that have 100 hp less then what ur currently driving .

Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly.

What I would do is be comfortable and live within my means. 100k/year isn't THAT much these days.

Forced induction and more mods!

Jprada1210 said:

After investing how much lol as opossed to a stock stang ? Those r's only come with 290 lol . I just sold my fully built sti on 93 octane it put down a little over 400 hp . Please don't ask me how much money I threw at that car beacause it's embarrassing lol .

I know what you mean though , it's not always about hp , but you mentioned you have a base gt . Go check out a loaded one , their pretty sweet

Click to expand...

You may be right. I could use the extra money to upgrade the interior to the 8" unit and possibly look into Recaro's. It's really my only complaint with the car.

Bcart50 said:

My thoughts exactly.

What I would do is be comfortable and live within my means. 100k/year isn't THAT much these days.

Forced induction and more mods!

Click to expand...

I did consider a Procharger if I'm going to keep the car, which is what I was eluding to when I said I would continue modifying it.

tritus said:

Congrats OP! I was in a similar situation recently and considered half the cars you listed. Long story short I found out that you can lease a Hellcat (I was not even considering this option giving the reliability issues and price) for around $600 a month with almost nothing down.

If I had to choose from that list I would go with a CPO S6 (same car as S7 but better value) or Macan S. Both brands offer great CPO programs but make sure to get rid of whatever german car you have before warranty runs over!

Click to expand...

Honestly the S6 is my first choice. 100 Pounds lighter than the S7, and with the same motor and transmission. 586/694 at the crank is no joke with a tune and downpipes!

D.Brown said:

I've wanted a 911 for as long as I've been into cars (See avatar picture), but they still seem to be a bit out of my price range. My Mustang is a weekend warrior, as it's in storage all winter, but a 911 is a different animal in terms of upkeep and insurance.

Click to expand...

You answered your own question.