I'd like to purchase an expensive car, but when?

prowla

Have you looked at PCP plans?

GeordieGeorge

Stubod said:

..I think you are looking for the "money spending" forum rather than money saving forum?

OK, you are a long time dead, but this just seems a complete waste of money unless you have at least 10* the amount saved than you are looking to spend on this rather expensive "luxury".

By all means by another "nice" car, but get something that will leave you with plenty of money to look after it and spend on other life life "essentials".....IMHO...

I’ve more than one very nice car, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t try my best to not waste money buying and owning them. Some people seem to have this strange idea that being careful to not waste money means never having nice things, but that’s really not a sensible view.

My most recent car seems to have gone up in value by about then thousand pounds since I bought it, and a few years ago I ran an Audi R8 for four years with all of the costs of ownership being less than the amount it appreciated over the time, meaning that it was free motoring.

We don’t live on bread an water, we don’t all eat only the yellow-label reduced food, and we don’t all drive a well-used Yaris, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t all view our choices through a money-saving lens.

theoretica

I think I would take your car buying money, and initial costs like insurance, and put it into a new account separate from general savings. How comfortable do you feel about what is left for life?  Of course you can just do the subtraction, but actually moving it into a different account slightly increases the emotional impact.

Once you decide to buy how long will it take to find the right one at the right price?

Personally, I wouldn't pay interest on a loan in order to free up cash to sit in savings earning not much. 

motorguy

Whilst its good to be on here getting general information, i'd recommend you get yourself on to Pistonheads and talk to those guys over there.

Theres a Car Buying area on there, if you stick your thinking on people will give you honest advice and maybe come up with alternatives you havent thought of.

Theres also IIRC a Maserati section too.  OR, find one of the dedicated Maserati forums.

They're a specialist car, which, if you buy the wrong one could cost you a lot of money, either in maintenance or in depreciation.  You need to know the right spec to look out for to return the max come resale time.

Car_54

OP, you’re self-employed. Does your accountant have any suggestions.

thegentleway

I love cars too. I find you don’t have to spend huge amounts to get a lot of enjoyment. Especially with sport cars, the lighter ones are way more fun to drive. Anyway, have you driven one? If not why don’t you hire one for a few days? Should help you decide how much pleasure you’ll get out of it and if it’s worth the running costs/depreciation. 

Grumpy_chap

prowla said:

Have you looked at PCP plans?

The OP is after a used Maserati and can afford cash.  Why would the OP want to incur high interest charges associated with a PCP (even if it is available?)

thegentleway said:

Anyway, have you driven one? If not why don’t you hire one for a few days? Should help you decide how much pleasure you’ll get out of it and if it’s worth the running costs/depreciation. 

Can you hire a Maserati?
It is not the average car available from the local Avis or Hertz.

I really say to the OP - just do it!!

EssexExile

Ted1990 said:
One good thing is that their value only goes down to ~£50k, so I could sell it after 3-5 years and get a lot of the initial cost back if I wanted/needed to.

Cheers,
Tom.

I wouldn't count on that.

GSDMum

Love it when people realise a dream! If you're comfortable with splashing out, then go for it. 
I'm looking at the practicality though, could you leave the car in an airport or station car park while you caught a plane or train? Where would you leave it while you went out for a meal, or visited a shopping centre? Would you feel the need to buy a common or garden runabout as well?

motorguy

Grumpy_chap said:

prowla said:

Have you looked at PCP plans?

The OP is after a used Maserati and can afford cash.  Why would the OP want to incur high interest charges associated with a PCP (even if it is available?)

thegentleway said:

Anyway, have you driven one? If not why don’t you hire one for a few days? Should help you decide how much pleasure you’ll get out of it and if it’s worth the running costs/depreciation. 

Can you hire a Maserati?
It is not the average car available from the local Avis or Hertz.

I really say to the OP - just do it!!

The likes of Oracle Finance do bespoke PCP and finance packages at quite low rates of finance for supercars and stuff like that so might be worth the O/P talking to them IF he would have a preference to keep some / most of his money wherever it is now earning interest and thus keep his options open.

He might also then get protection from a large market drop if the residual was guaranteed.

Not saying "PCP it" by any means but its an option the O/P might feel is worth looking at.

The other thing i would say is, the likes of that Maserati would be very much a niche market thus come resale time it could take a long time to sell OR could attract relatively low bids from dealers.  Definitely worth getting the opinion of people who know these cars inside out.