GT350: Yay or Nay? Advice wanted :}

honeybadger said:

We'll see when it comes out. But typically, I'm all about the naturally aspirated stuff. FI is fun, but mostly for street and drag racing. For GT500 money and a proposed street use, I'd be tempted by the offerings from other manufactures.

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aram_g said:

I mean, as far as interest goes, anything at ~3% or lower is beneficial, right? Considering that's roughly the average rate of inflation for the US dollar. If a 3% APR isn't possible, then sure, buying cash is the better option if we're thinking about being as financially conservative as possible, which I usually am since I don't spend my money on anything but bare necessities.

If I was 40 living in Kansas, as an example, on a double income with a $250,000 5 bedroom 3000 sqft house payed off I would be able to get this car without breaking a sweat. If I'm going to buy a house in CA or even a condo, I'm going to need ~$200-250k as a down payment for something worth getting. On top of that, I'd need to have a safety cushion in case I lose my job or for an emergency situation. Sure, a house is a great investment, but these prices are just asinine and I don't want to live out my 'better' years saving and saving and saving and saving until I'm too old to enjoy things like this, or until I have my own family and other things to worry about, know what I mean?

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oldbmwfan said:

Yeah, 3-4% is about my threshold for borrow vs. cash. I don't use dollar inflation but rather typical long-term investment returns (very conservatively 4%+, more realistically 6%ish).

I hear you completely, but I also don't think "used fun car" = "deprivation." Some really fun cars I've owned for under $10K (and most under $5K:
- E36 M3
- E28 M5 (back when you could get them cheap)
- E36 325i (now my race car)
- Mk2 VW GTI
- E28 535is
- E34 535i wagon (engine and manual swap)
- Saab 900 turbo (classic, heavily modded, externally ugly and super fast)

For under $20k, the Fiesta ST, the 135i, etc. I guess it's all about priorities. I don't "need" my Shelby; I wanted it and I happened to have enough money to buy it without thinking twice when I got the chance for an R at MSRP. However, I passed up other good deals that I couldn't afford at the time, and I am *mostly* okay with that ...

The exception is the E30 M3 in perfect condition I could have picked up for $12k back in 2004. I was a poor PhD student and refused to borrow money on a 25-yo car, and back then it seemed like they'd be worth $12k forever. Ha, that was stupid. That car is now worth $60k!

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oldbmwfan said:

Yeah, 3-4% is about my threshold for borrow vs. cash. I don't use dollar inflation but rather typical long-term investment returns (very conservatively 4%+, more realistically 6%ish).

I hear you completely, but I also don't think "used fun car" = "deprivation." Some really fun cars I've owned for under $10K (and most under $5K:
- E36 M3
- E28 M5 (back when you could get them cheap)
- E36 325i (now my race car)
- Mk2 VW GTI
- E28 535is
- E34 535i wagon (engine and manual swap)
- Saab 900 turbo (classic, heavily modded, externally ugly and super fast)

For under $20k, the Fiesta ST, the 135i, etc. I guess it's all about priorities. I don't "need" my Shelby; I wanted it and I happened to have enough money to buy it without thinking twice when I got the chance for an R at MSRP. However, I passed up other good deals that I couldn't afford at the time, and I am *mostly* okay with that ...

The exception is the E30 M3 in perfect condition I could have picked up for $12k back in 2004. I was a poor PhD student and refused to borrow money on a 25-yo car, and back then it seemed like they'd be worth $12k forever. Ha, that was stupid. That car is now worth $60k!

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aram_g said:

I mean, as far as interest goes, anything at ~3% or lower is beneficial, right? Considering that's roughly the average rate of inflation for the US dollar. If a 3% APR isn't possible, then sure, buying cash is the better option if we're thinking about being as financially conservative as possible, which I usually am since I don't spend my money on anything but bare necessities.

If I was 40 living in Kansas, as an example, on a double income with a $250,000 5 bedroom 3000 sqft house payed off I would be able to get this car without breaking a sweat. If I'm going to buy a house in CA or even a condo, I'm going to need ~$200-250k as a down payment for something worth getting. On top of that, I'd need to have a safety cushion in case I lose my job or for an emergency situation. Sure, a house is a great investment, but these prices are just asinine and I don't want to live out my 'better' years saving and saving and saving and saving until I'm too old to enjoy things like this, or until I have my own family and other things to worry about, know what I mean?

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Shift said:

As an example, my uncle tried to throw in an extra $25k ontop of a $850k house and he didn't even get a call back. One of my customers paid $1.2 mil for a newly built town home on Dixon Landing in Milpitas, which as you may know, is right across from the city landfill. The sad reality is that you need a quarter million to put down Today, and not 5 years from now. Housing prices are like a runaway train around here.

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aram_g said:

Yup exactly what I was saying, 250k+ for a down payment is depressing me to no end. 6 figure salary as soon as I get my Masters and I wouldn't get 250k saved up unless I lived at my parents for like 4-5 years. I've been living on my own for 5-6 years now, and I'd rather never own property than move back to my parents' hahahahaha :headbonk::headbonk::headbonk:

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Shift said:

Even if you had a best case scenario of settling on a price of $1mil, and you had $250k ready to put down, and all of your financials in order, you might not still get the house because there's someone willing to pay straight cash for it(Hello, Chinese mainlanders). And that's the real fucking kick to the nuts.

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Nomadic said:

I live in San Diego and real estate prices are insane if you want to live in a good area.
Luckily I sold my condo on the east coast which I bought before prices skyrocketed.
That allowed a 50% down payment on my condo and a lowish mortgage payment for out here.
I don’t have/want a wife and kids though. Just have a g/f.

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galaxy said:

Even setting aside having to deal with my CA illegal guns and cars, I can’t even come up with a salary that would make me consider moving (back) to CA. Spent 15 years in Sac, my penitence is paid.

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Nomadic said:

Poor you and your illegal guns.

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galaxy said:

Even setting aside having to deal with my CA illegal guns and cars, I can’t even come up with a salary that would make me consider moving (back) to CA. Spent 15 years in Sac, my penitence is paid.

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