Looking at buying a Nissan GTR

GSS35

Hi All,


Between this Xmas to March next year, I am planning to get a Nissan GT-R (used, between 50-60k). I'd like to get some advice/wsidom on how feasible this purchase is at the current stage of my life (which is below...).


I am 29 and 2 months, educated to degree level, I have a professional job in IT just over 50k (permenant role and not planning to leave), I have got a house but rent it out, live with parents. I am entering into a relationship and my future plan is to save up for my second house with my (hopefully) girlfriend who I (hopefully) marry and live there with my parents and take the rent from the house (which I give to my parents for upkeep and for their retirement).


Now all of that sounds good. Good education > great career (that I literally spend every hour of every day learning to get to where I am) > a house. Never owned a car as I wanted to save up for my dream car (this one), lived a very conservative and low-impact lifestyle.


The only personal circumstances that are negative is that the mortgage I have is interest-only (I'm hoping that if the plan re 2nd house is what happens, the rent can then be used to go towards that mortgage and pay the capital). The 2nd issue is that my dad is planning retirement, which may mean I need to pay some more towards upkeep of the house (shopping etc).


The best finance quote for the car is £640 a month over 4 years with a £16k deposit (car worth 60k). With that outgoing, I can afford to pay for upkeep on the house as well as my own personal upkeep (commuting to work via tube, clothes, eating out. As mentioned I live conservatively so have no major costs other than some IT-related learning tools that do run into the £300/month range). I don't have long to go on my student loan debt (less than 2 yrs I believe) but am thinking of paying this off in full to get a monthly salary increase to £3000 a month after tax, to give me more room to budget.


Given the above, please post your opinions on how wise this decision is. P.S. I've also factored in service and running costs/fuel/insurance.



Thanks

thescouselander

In all honesty - it doesn't sound like you can really afford this.

motorguy

GSS35 wrote: »

Hi All,


Between this Xmas to March next year, I am planning to get a Nissan GT-R (used, between 50-60k). I'd like to get some advice/wsidom on how feasible this purchase is at the current stage of my life (which is below...).


I am 29 and 2 months, educated to degree level, I have a professional job in IT just over 50k (permenant role and not planning to leave), I have got a house but rent it out, live with parents. I am entering into a relationship and my future plan is to save up for my second house with my (hopefully) girlfriend who I (hopefully) marry and live there with my parents and take the rent from the house (which I give to my parents for upkeep and for their retirement).


Now all of that sounds good. Good education > great career (that I literally spend every hour of every day learning to get to where I am) > a house. Never owned a car as I wanted to save up for my dream car (this one), lived a very conservative and low-impact lifestyle.


The only personal circumstances that are negative is that the mortgage I have is interest-only (I'm hoping that if the plan re 2nd house is what happens, the rent can then be used to go towards that mortgage and pay the capital). The 2nd issue is that my dad is planning retirement, which may mean I need to pay some more towards upkeep of the house (shopping etc).


The best finance quote for the car is £640 a month over 4 years with a £16k deposit (car worth 60k). With that outgoing, I can afford to pay for upkeep on the house as well as my own personal upkeep (commuting to work via tube, clothes, eating out. As mentioned I live conservatively so have no major costs other than some IT-related learning tools that do run into the £300/month range). I don't have long to go on my student loan debt (less than 2 yrs I believe) but am thinking of paying this off in full to get a monthly salary increase to £3000 a month after tax, to give me more room to budget.


Given the above, please post your opinions on how wise this decision is. P.S. I've also factored in service and running costs/fuel/insurance.



Thanks

£640 a month for four years is an awful lot of money each month and on top of that the GTR is reknowned for having colossal running costs - mandatory servicing every six months irrespective of miles, Tyres between £1300-£2000 a set, main dealer / specialist service maybe £1000 a time.

I would say budget £3000 a year for routine maintenance alone.

On top of that, you are buying what is a relatively high miles supercar. Things WILL go wrong. Spectacularly. You could see a £10K bill not a problem. Maybe several.

So, £640 for finance, say £300 for fuel (mid teens round town), £50 road tax, so theres £1000 a month. Budget £300 a month for routine servicing, and say another £100 for insurance, and you're not a kick in the nuts off £1500 a month.

That gets draining very quickly. Think of it this way, you would be working 2 weeks out of every month, just to keep your car running.

Also, whats your experience with these sorts of cars and why such an extreme? Have you ever driven one? Do you really NEED that sort of performance? What are you driving currently?

motorguy

Just to add, i would consider myself a car enthusiast - we've a 2013 Nissan 370z GT and a VW Caddy with a 2.8 VR6 conversion as our cars - but the people who drive GTRs are another level entirely.

The 370z can GO. Really GO. It has 330BHP and can handle. I really only get anywhere near its limits in maybe 1% of driving and even then, the car has more ability than i have to drive it.

GTR's are not normal cars for normal people - they are in the stratosphere above "normal".

BeenThroughItAll

motorguy wrote: »

What are you driving currently?

My money's on a Yaris, A3, or M3.

motorguy

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

My money's on a Yaris, A3, or M3.

Just re-read the original post.

Hes never owned a car.

thescouselander

motorguy wrote: »

Just re-read the original post.

Hes never owned a car.

Which means the insurance costs will be stratospheric if insurance can be bought at all.

motorguy

thescouselander wrote: »

Which means the insurance costs will be stratospheric if insurance can be bought at all.

GTRs are all kinds of mental.

Even the minefield of buying one would scare the bejesus out of me, let alone driving / owning one.

King_Nothing

Think I'd be looking at the interest only mortgage you've got before looking to spunk away 60K on a car, personally.

Marktheshark

Know someone with one and service costs has never been under £3k with one at 7k when the gearbox was leaking.

gilbert_and_sullivan

Best of luck with your life.

Car wise, i'd be inclined to rent one if you can for a weekend first, see how you get on with it.

The roads in this country (except for certain currently rural areas which will change) are now too crowded to enjoy anything like the performance of the GTR, which is why so many cars of sporting pretensions now feature horrid little 4 cylinder Diesel engines that belong in tractors driving the wrong wheels because they're still plenty fast enough to lose your licence with, everything is about image now anyway.

I'm pleased for you that you've earned you way in the world, well done.

But could i offer you this unsolicited advise please...you never know what's around the corner, debt is a killer of people and their relationships because it can so easily get out of hand...i've paid mortgage rates @ 15% when the apparently sensible choice tory party took is into the ERM, and this could so easily happen again, what will happen to people should things get so bad again, as they might because we have a £1.5 trillion national debt thats growing higher by the minute.

Trust me here, there is no more liberating day in your life than the one you pay that final chunk off your home and have no debts whatsoever...THEY no longer have you by the cobblers...no one can take you home from you (relationship change excepted), no employer has you captive.

You probably didn't want to hear that, sorry, but i've seen and have been affected tragically by those close to me who got themselves into serious debt sometimes not their own fault, it's a fine line to tread between enjoying what you want to do and making sure you are in a secure financial situation in a fast changing world.

The GTR is basically a road going racing car, it's horrendously complicated and the running costs will be astronomical, they are cars for people with premiership footballers incomes at their disposal.