Why buy a car you can't afford?

[Gruber]

I still dont understand why so many people on here care about how others are spending their money on. Let alone some random guy you saw at a gas station.

As long as we live in a relatively free country, you are right, there is really no reason to care about other people's choices except for charity reasons.

But......under socialism, or even with an excessively inclusive insurance system, there are good reasons to confront people for their bad choices, for example in a restaurant, those who eat unhealthy foods. And take that triple-decker hamburger with cheese fries out of their hands.

Because when they become obese and get a heart disease, you will get a tax increase for their expensive surgeries etc. Or those irresponsible nuts who play sports and obviously have injuries - who pays their medical bills? We all do. The same way, if someone spends money irresponsibly, they will get in debt and then become depressed and who will pay for their treatment? You.

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[Pierito]

That's because those who profiteer mega money won't share any of it.

I'd gladly pay even more tax if there was a clear transparent trail of where it's going.

I want my tax money to help the lower class get educated and fix their mental health issues so that they can actually enter the workforce and contribute.

There's a little more to it than those who work and don't work. There are some who can't work, some who don't do any actual work and collect big big money that mkney is never reinvested into the society is was robbed from.

Couldn't have put it better myself.

 

[Gansan]

As long as we live in a relatively free country, you are right, there is really no reason to care about other people's choices except for charity reasons.

But......under socialism, or even with an excessively inclusive insurance system, there are good reasons to confront people for their bad choices, for example in a restaurant, those who eat unhealthy foods. And take that triple-decker hamburger with cheese fries out of their hands.

Because when they become obese and get a heart disease, you will get a tax increase for their expensive surgeries etc. Or those irresponsible nuts who play sports and obviously have injuries - who pays their medical bills? We all do. The same way, if someone spends money irresponsibly, they will get in debt and then become depressed and who will pay for their treatment? You.

Actually with private insurance it's the same thing. When people in the population covered by your insurance company get injured, do unhealthy things and need expensive care and so on, your insurance folds that combined risk into the calculations that determine your premiums. It's not a socialism thing, it's how insurance works.

 

[Dpack]

This isn't really specific to the CTR as it goes for any car, but this story does revolve around a CTR, hence, this thread.

So, I went to do some grocery shopping today in my wife's Prius (this is important) and on the way home I stopped to get some gas. I pull in and I'm like "that might be a CTR?" as I pull closer, sure enough, it is. A Crystal Black Pearl. NICE! I start getting ready to put gas in the car as the owner walks out, young guy in his 20's (26 I believe is what he said). I look at him and go "Dope Type R dude!" He looks happy that anyone notices what it is and we start talking. I ask him if he's done any mods since I saw an eibach sticker but he says that's from his old civic he traded in and his R is completely stock. He then goes on to mention about how this car is amazing and I should test drive one if a dealer allows. I tell him I should have one in a few days and he asks me for mods I'm interested in. This carries on a few more minutes and he says "Damn dude. You must make baller money". I tell him no I don't, I just save up.

He asks what I do for a living and I told him that I'm a lead software developer. Now he's convinced I must make six figures+ (hint: I dont'). He mentions how his dad loves his CTR but he wishes he didn't buy it because now he's financially struggling to afford it. I have this puzzled look and he says that his mom gets angry when he washses his car at home since he uses a lot of water, so he says that's why it's dirty. My internal thoughts are "you bought a $40k car and you live with your parents?". I tell him to just be patient and pay it off but I also mention that he should probably look into an apartment. He says how he's barely able to afford this car so an apartment is out of the question.

I told him "Not to be all up in your business and I definitely know the struggle. You could downsize to a cheaper car because you don't want to end up at home forever, you know?" He looks livid. As if I've told him the worst possible thing ever. He mentions how I don't even have a CTR and I'm driving a prius. At least he has a Type R. I immediately apologize because I didn't want to offend him and he apologizes as well saying it's just hard for him to sell the car. By this time it's been a solid 15 minutes or so (and mind you, it's hot as hell in Louisiana) so he says he needs to go. I tell him to keep his head up and good luck with whatever he decides for his future. He looks a little disappointed and says that he can't get rid of the car because everyone he knows him knows he has this car and it would ruin his "image" to get rid of it. He gets in his car and rolls the windows down and says "thanks for the talk." and he drives off. We exchange a wave and off he goes.

All of this is to say, why do people buy expensive cars that they can't afford? This is not a poke at anyone but I can't understand that feeling. Why work yourself to death over a depreciating asset? Not only that, but why buy such expensive luxuries while living at home with your parents? Shouldn't you be looking to move out? I know people who live on the west coast can't just up and move due to how expensive it is but wouldn't that mean you should save up more and not throw money into a car?

This isn't really specific to the CTR as it goes for any car, but this story does revolve around a CTR, hence, this thread.

So, I went to do some grocery shopping today in my wife's Prius (this is important) and on the way home I stopped to get some gas. I pull in and I'm like "that might be a CTR?" as I pull closer, sure enough, it is. A Crystal Black Pearl. NICE! I start getting ready to put gas in the car as the owner walks out, young guy in his 20's (26 I believe is what he said). I look at him and go "Dope Type R dude!" He looks happy that anyone notices what it is and we start talking. I ask him if he's done any mods since I saw an eibach sticker but he says that's from his old civic he traded in and his R is completely stock. He then goes on to mention about how this car is amazing and I should test drive one if a dealer allows. I tell him I should have one in a few days and he asks me for mods I'm interested in. This carries on a few more minutes and he says "Damn dude. You must make baller money". I tell him no I don't, I just save up.

He asks what I do for a living and I told him that I'm a lead software developer. Now he's convinced I must make six figures+ (hint: I dont'). He mentions how his dad loves his CTR but he wishes he didn't buy it because now he's financially struggling to afford it. I have this puzzled look and he says that his mom gets angry when he washses his car at home since he uses a lot of water, so he says that's why it's dirty. My internal thoughts are "you bought a $40k car and you live with your parents?". I tell him to just be patient and pay it off but I also mention that he should probably look into an apartment. He says how he's barely able to afford this car so an apartment is out of the question.

I told him "Not to be all up in your business and I definitely know the struggle. You could downsize to a cheaper car because you don't want to end up at home forever, you know?" He looks livid. As if I've told him the worst possible thing ever. He mentions how I don't even have a CTR and I'm driving a prius. At least he has a Type R. I immediately apologize because I didn't want to offend him and he apologizes as well saying it's just hard for him to sell the car. By this time it's been a solid 15 minutes or so (and mind you, it's hot as hell in Louisiana) so he says he needs to go. I tell him to keep his head up and good luck with whatever he decides for his future. He looks a little disappointed and says that he can't get rid of the car because everyone he knows him knows he has this car and it would ruin his "image" to get rid of it. He gets in his car and rolls the windows down and says "thanks for the talk." and he drives off. We exchange a wave and off he goes.

All of this is to say, why do people buy expensive cars that they can't afford? This is not a poke at anyone but I can't understand that feeling. Why work yourself to death over a depreciating asset? Not only that, but why buy such expensive luxuries while living at home with your parents? Shouldn't you be looking to move out? I know people who live on the west coast can't just up and move due to how expensive it is but wouldn't that mean you should save up more and not throw money into a car?

That’s some spot on commonsense, and the reason I own an SI Coupe. Own meaning paid for, and same goes for my house. I can afford to own a Type R, but I wasn’t willing to pay 5K above MSRP which happened to be the case in January 2019.

Since then I’ve been 100% satisfied with my SI. I also don’t care about owning a Type R in the future since the C8 came out. I will keep the SI and save up for a base model C8

 

[Nick D]

I gross $2100 and only clear $1300 due to our socialist system. Yet we still have to travel to other provinces or countries for specialized care, on our own dime!

Oh, and twice a year I get a $3000 bonus. Out of that I clear $1600. Our health care is NOT free! The people who work not only have to pay for themselves, but everybody else too.

Congrats, you lose 1% of your gross wage more than me and I live in the US.

 

[lexro]

Totally agree with you on this. I can actually paid my car off in cash on the spot, but with only 0.9% interest rate on $22k for 36mos (which I calculated to be a total of $307,) I can spend that on some other investment that yield a bigger return for the money and not worry about paying too much on interest of the car loan.

Certainly. For me the important thing would be having room to pay for my house while living comfortably. I told people I do not want to be that person who had to think twice when my friends call me up Friday night for a fancy sushi dinner and a night out.

"yeah sorry guys i had to skip this one because I just got a new car"

If I could do it again I might not even get the 2019 civic but just fix my old one up, drive for another year or 2, save up with ease then look for a used Type R to buy cash. (after looking around, I think a lot of people realize that they cannot afford the car, there is quite a lot of mint condition ones near where I live.)

But someone in this thread mentioned critical point which i agree a lot. You can save all you want but it will never be as good as increasing your income. Maybe being a tough situation financially would make you push harder to allow that kind of quality of life. Assuming that you are not oblivious and delusional about your life.

 

[davemarco]

I find that I'm running into this issue now. I'd always previously driven frugal, $20k or less cars, and in the last year or so, I finally hit the point in my life where I could afford something like a Type R without concern. When I bought it, I thought that I'd bought the ultimate car and that I'd never want anything else. Flash forward one year later, and I find that the shifter fights me and the exhaust note is raspy as hell. Meanwhile, my company's stock is suddenly through the roof. All of my colleagues started exercising their Employee Stock Options and buying rare manual monsters like an Aston Martin Vantage V12 or a V10 Audi R8. I was super tempted to trade in the Type R, but managed to force myself to do the sensible thing; the R has no loan and my wife needed a new car too, so I decided to keep the Honda and buy my wife a 2013 Audi TT RS with a 6-speed manual instead. I figured that driving that occasionally would scratch the itch, but honestly, hearing that amazingly exotic 5-cylinder exhaust note just fills me with envy and makes me want to get something new for myself even more.

Now I find myself watching Porsche Cayman GT4 videos every day, and resisting the mental gymnastics that keep telling me that "the stock is just like an unexpected bonus", and that spending $100k on a car isn't insane. I honestly believe that if I had room for a third car in my HOA-dominated shoebox of a condo, I would have already given in, sold the R, and bought a Cayman GT4 for summer and a used base WRX for winter. It would take me from having zero fear about retiring 10 years early to probably/maybe being able to retire on time, but I'm still so insanely tempted to do it. I guess my epiphany is that it never ends, and there's always something greater that calls to you.

 

[m@TR]

You can live in a car but you can't race a house

If he's struggling to make the payments and the insurance premiums now, I can only imagine he's one mishap away from missing a payment and ruining his credit. I pray he never gets a speeding ticket, is vandalized, has a personal health problem, or is in an accident. There are many factors that can impact your overall financial health and a lot of them aren't even car-related.

I drove the same S10 pickup for 16 years all through high school and college. I sunk thousands into maintaining that truck - well more than it was worth - because I knew I wasn't financially able to afford a car payment and hiked insurance associated with it until I was well into my career. I built credit buying gas on credit and making on-time and paying my balance off each month during college.

I bought my R last year and I'm buying a house this year. I own all of my student loans and I'm also engaged. I saved for the ring, the house, and the car I traded in for the type R. I can afford to do this because I do make 6 figures in my early 30's. I sacrificed early on because I learned it's important to minimize how much credit to carry and to look 3-5 years down the road at all times.

Having revolving credit payments is encouraged for healthy credit scores, but only if you can make the payments on time and above the minimums. People get into trouble because they want the instant gratification that credit provides. The longer you strap yourself thin, the greater the chance for a problem to arise due to life. It's hard to understand that in your early 20's.

Financial responsibility is something you either get, or you don't. I can sleep comfortably at night knowing myself, my fiance', and our two dogs are all perfectly alright because I know where every dime is going and we have margin.

 

[charleswrivers]

You can live in a car but you can't race a house

?

Congratulations on winning the internet for the day.

 

[n2da2nd]

Certainly. For me the important thing would be having room to pay for my house while living comfortably. I told people I do not want to be that person who had to think twice when my friends call me up Friday night for a fancy sushi dinner and a night out.

"yeah sorry guys i had to skip this one because I just got a new car"

If I could do it again I might not even get the 2019 civic but just fix my old one up, drive for another year or 2, save up with ease then look for a used Type R to buy cash. (after looking around, I think a lot of people realize that they cannot afford the car, there is quite a lot of mint condition ones near where I live.)

But someone in this thread mentioned critical point which i agree a lot. You can save all you want but it will never be as good as increasing your income. Maybe being a tough situation financially would make you push harder to allow that kind of quality of life. Assuming that you are not oblivious and delusional about your life.

That is true as everyone is striving to increase the income. I am doing that as well lol. I also think it's good to have a plan B, plan C, and plan D just in case.

 

[dennis885]

I only read the topic and first post but in general people have always overspent, lived outside of their means, etc. The system also contributes with auto lenders.

Generally speaking if you want a car bad enough, you can (within reason) go get it that day. There are multiple lenders known for approving anyone with a pulse. Most don’t even verify income if you have a half decent score. And if you don’t they are happy to find a way to push it through, usually a higher interest rate. There was an article floating around about Nissan not verifying any income. They financed a vehicle for $800/month to someone who made like $600/month. Unfortunately not many salesman have your personal situation in mind, their goal is to seal the deal. And that’s not a knock on them.

 

[disgraced.fk8]

I'm glad there's threads like this to smack some sense into me when my dumb a$$ gets the urge to try and trade my 2019 sport touring for an R. Especially with all the $$ I've put into the FK7. It would be a complete and total sh*tshow of a loss financially. Yet every so often I drive by one on a lot and go hmm.....

I love that here on Civicx it's not always just about which wheels fit or how to install a downpipe, we have great side conversations like this.

 

[davemarco]

You can live in a car but you can't race a house

If he's struggling to make the payments and the insurance premiums now, I can only imagine he's one mishap away from missing a payment and ruining his credit. I pray he never gets a speeding ticket, is vandalized, has a personal health problem, or is in an accident. There are many factors that can impact your overall financial health and a lot of them aren't even car-related.

I drove the same S10 pickup for 16 years all through high school and college. I sunk thousands into maintaining that truck - well more than it was worth - because I knew I wasn't financially able to afford a car payment and hiked insurance associated with it until I was well into my career. I built credit buying gas on credit and making on-time and paying my balance off each month during college.

I bought my R last year and I'm buying a house this year. I own all of my student loans and I'm also engaged. I saved for the ring, the house, and the car I traded in for the type R. I can afford to do this because I do make 6 figures in my early 30's. I sacrificed early on because I learned it's important to minimize how much credit to carry and to look 3-5 years down the road at all times.

Having revolving credit payments is encouraged for healthy credit scores, but only if you can make the payments on time and above the minimums. People get into trouble because they want the instant gratification that credit provides. The longer you strap yourself thin, the greater the chance for a problem to arise due to life. It's hard to understand that in your early 20's.

Financial responsibility is something you either get, or you don't. I can sleep comfortably at night knowing myself, my fiance', and our two dogs are all perfectly alright because I know where every dime is going and we have margin.

Even we responsible ones are vulnerable to temptation at times. Like you, I'm in my 30's and fortunate enough to have a dual six-figure household. We are also lucky to have finally paid off our debts. On the one hand, I hear the financially responsible voice of my father telling me that I should keep my focus on retiring early and buying a real house. On the other hand, how amazing would it be to own a mid-engine flat six revving to 8k RPM and putting out over 400 horsepower? The sound of that car alone is pure music - just not to my investment account. I feel like owning one of those in my mid-30's (instead of at 55+) would be like owning a Type R as a 20 year-old college student - pure awesome and probably a terrible financial decision.

 

[Zeffy94]

I'm glad there's threads like this to smack some sense into me when my dumb a$$ gets the urge to try and trade my 2019 sport touring for an R.

If only there was a similar thread when I was looking 2 years ago! Oh well

 

[Skandiluz]

There's so much good feedback in here. My intention wasn't to criticize that guy at the gas station or anyone in general because a lot of us (including myself) have made some terrible financial decisions. I've put myself in bankruptcy due to my 18 year old self. I'd hate to see him, or anyone, struggle with something they thought would make them happy, only to end up depressed. I know first hand how severe depression can get, especially when it feels you can't keep your head above water. Again, my intention wasn't to pry into his business, or anyone else's, but to maybe give him another take on his situation.

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