well it was a 912 so that can be forgiven. redheaded step child of the 911 family

 

OP, I almost bought a used ~$50k Maserati right out of school on a $50-60k salary. I had no bills, I would have lived in a small apartment, and all my money would have gone into maintenance and paying for the car. It would have been paid off in ~3 years.

It would have been a foolish decision--it wasn't even a "dream car" to me--but at the time, I would have done it anyway. Ended up getting married about 6 months to a year before that and got the S2000 new instead. So I guess I know where you're coming from.

If the Porsche is a dream car for you and you'll keep it for 10+ years, I would give it some thought. Not because it's a good financial decision--it's a terrible one--but because sometimes it's worth wasting a load of money when it makes you genuinely happy. But if you aren't really sure you could do it with no regrets--even assuming that $100k went into the toilet right away--then I wouldn't do it. Mod the S, pocket the money, buy something a little more modest (ie $40-60k range), invest it, whatever.

And honestly, I would give some thought to a caterham / locost / something like that for a weekend toy.

 

Why are people so extremely against spending?

 

Just to offer another option here:


OP, you can purchase a modestly used Lotus Elise for less than $30K. It will have almost a similar thrill factor, be faster than your S2000 by a few seconds in every category of acceleration, receive decent gas mileage, and look more exotic than the 911, especially since the GT3 looks like a regular 911 Carrera with a big wing on it.
Plus, you'll save a load of cash if you buy the Elise instead of the Porsche!
That's just a thought, though. It's your money, so spend it how you want to. I'm just mentioning the Elise (or even the Exige if you want more of a thrilling sports car) just because I would hop toward a Lotus if I was in your place.

 

From the sound of it, his income doesn't support that lifestyle yet. If he were a bit further in his career and had a $150-200k+ income that was stable, we'd all be egging him on.

With his current situation, it sounds like a GT3 is only within reach if he stretches quite a bit. It can be done, but not comfortably. If something happened to it, he can't replace it. And he probably would be able to comfortably make this purchase in the longer term future, although that might be at 35 and it might be at 50. As things have turned out, I'll probably get a new Maserati or something in that price range after 5-7 years, and at that point (VERY unlike if I bought it today) we won't have to make any real compromises for it. So the OP might do well to just be patient.

I think he would get a lot more encouragement if he were talking about picking up an elise/exige or something in that range as the weekend toy. Given the situation, this needs to be REALLY important to the OP, or else it's just too much money to throw away. And if it really is that important to him, he should go for it.

 

Nobody is against spending. Plenty are against irresponsible spending. In case you hadn't noticed, we're in a bit of a sh*t storm of an economy right now, and most of us aren't too thrilled with covering someone else's financial mistakes.

The OP is coming into a sum of money, instead of looking to pay off a fun car in full with his newfound windfall, he is considering financing a car that would normally be out of his price range. Because: "Someone else has it, why can't *I* have it too?"

It's this mentality that has brought us where we are today.

Hooray.

PS- If you have to ask if you should finance an $85k+ toy car... the answer is probably no.

 

As I read this thread through, it just kept getting better!

 

Nothing exceeds like excess.

To the OP: Boost your S and save the rest. Put it into something that will grow, but is liquid enough to get at quickly if you need to.

If you have the means (and you appear to), you'd be very smart to put away enough money to live (as you live right now) comfortably for at least a year with no income whatsoever. Rental properties can be become vacant, and jobs can vaporize. Financial security is extremely underrated.

If you already have all that, by all means go out and blow your $$$ on the GT3. As a track car, I suspect it'll only end up costing you about $1000 a trip in depreciated car value over time. Is a GT3 really that much more fun than a highly modified S at the track?

And please tell us you’re not just considering this to impress others with your potential GT3. You sound smarter than that.

 

this is why we cant have nice things.