How much of your annual income did your NSX cost you?

[td2k_nsx]

I keep finding more things to elaborate on.

If u buy the x right there will not be any maintainance.

I think it is really easy to put money in multiple baskets. Balance is the key.

I bought the NSX as it was my personal goal. Some people wanna get married... others wanna drive. I wanna drive. But I am sick. I have more car parts in my condo than I do furniture.

Get out of rent! I was renting an ok studio for 1220 a month in the DC area. I was able to BUY a one bedroom apartment for spare NSX wheel sets and my DOG for 180k. If u get a good accountant who knows his stuff... he can help u find the right loan. I put nothing down on a 180k place. I started with a non-hosue loan so I could put nothing down. I am floating at prime until the election. Then I will tie something down with your typical home loan. The big thing was getting ready to build equity without saving for 10 years. I had my place assessed and it was worth 12k over what I paid. So I paid 180k, put nothing down, I now have 12k down on the loan since it was valued at more than what I paid and I am now paying 865.00 dollars a month to own a 1 bed room place. It is near the metro and is projected to go up in the double digits this year. I think I could sell it sooner or later and walk away with 50k or so. Depending on how long I own it I can almost make more from it than I am making at work. I bought it thru the seller so I did not pay any high fees. I actually walked away with 2.6k at closing. Good accountant

All the time I have been tucking away 7% into my 401k and money into savings. I now make less than what I made straight outta grad school 4 years ago as I am teaching college.

U can make it happen.

U just gotta be wise on how u spend. Eat at home. If food is more important than a car... u do not want an NSX.

I do not care what I eat (but I eat healthy). I do not care about what is in my condo. I do not care about what clothes I have. I do not care about spending cash dating. I do not have bar tabs. I do have cable now. I do finally have a bed too. But it took a while. The 28 dollar coleman airmatress is quite comfy. I prefer it to my new bed.

It is totally up to u as an individual. If u r as insane as I am u will not be happy with anything less than an NSX. And u will give your left arm to have one. If u r this way... find a way to make it happen. I did and I have not looked back.

If u r worried about waht u have to eat, what u can buy as far as clothes are concerned, how much money u hvae to spend on a friday night... etc. Then you might go for saving and buying later. If u r still into the NSX at that point. Someone like me though will never not be into the NSX. So.

U can totally do the house and car at the same time. The big thing is making sure what u buy is done in a wise and unconventional way to save money.. and that it has room for an NSX. U do want it parked in a safe manner. I actually do not see how u r affording to rent if u r only making 30k.

That is my personal experience and 2¢ worth.

Let us know what you do.

 

[apapada]

Lee, are you for real ?

you are my new hero !

 

[td2k_nsx]

and one more thing...

u can and will find a bank, if u shop, that will lend u the money for a 26k nsx at less than 10 percent.

my bank did mine for 35k at 4 something percent with nothing down for a 91 in 2000. i forget how exactly i did it but if u want details i can get them. i told my accountant what i wanted and he hammered up the deal.

my x payment is 425 a month. i set it low and try n pay more per month.

and yes i also balance a 375 student loan along with it.

sure i would love a supercharger but i am happy just having the nsx in the first place.

most weight mods are free

 

[steveny]

td2k_nsx
Can I hear the story behind the avatar?

On another note...
I wish I had invested all the money into real estate that I spent on cars. Cars wear out and become outdated real-estate appreciates and does not get outdated.
I remember throwing away thousands of dollars on a new Audi 5000 turbo. The Audi was a super nice car at the time but now its probably in the junk yard. Had I put that same pile of money in real estate or the stock market there is no doubt it would still have the same value or more.
The same goes for all the vehicles I have bought over my life time, tens of thousands of dollars GONE in deprecation.
Now real estate/market pays for my vehicles.

 

[martin]

Lee, are you for real ?

you are my new hero !

I second that

I have walked in snow blizzards on my way to work this winter many times smiling all the way because I have a NSX in the garage..

So I understand where Lee is coming from.. I did what I had to do, and I got what I really wanted too.. The NSX was worth it and I have not looked back.

I actually have the NSX key just outside my bedroom so it is the first thing I see when I get up in the morning.

Regards

 

[mdb]

... and remember, you can sleep in a car, but you can't drive a house!

 

[td2k_nsx]

Wow! Walking in a blizzard to work.

I thought I was crazy for skateboarding 24 blocks to the bank in the rain in 40 degree weather a few weeks ago so the NSX did not get wet. That is nothing compared to a blizzard!

My favorite bumper sticker spotted at Road Atlanta during Petit Le Mans last year:

You can sleep in your car but
you sure as hell can't race your house.

We need to start a new NSX list. The survivors or the extremist list. It would be the broke as hell do anything to have an NSX, NSXers list. We could tell poor stories all day and share loan and savings tips as well as a tech section with stuff like how to build garages outta cardboard boxes and how to do tranny swops and oil changes in your parking garage without getting caught breaking the rules!

I am getting good at making an NSX getting an oil change look like an NSX just sitting in a parking lot. Changing oil at 3-4 am gets old though.

 

[td2k_nsx]

My avtar?

I just moved to D.C. and Regan National has the landing strip along the GW Parkway and u can walk up close to the landing strip and stand over huge planes as they land. Its a blast. I guess being into photography... I had to go take pics one day. What else is a poor NSXer who can not afford to drive his NSX going to do?

 

[paulviriyapan]

Wow, this thread is popular. Since I haven't yet, let me toss in my $0.02. I say if you can LEGITIMATELY afford the NSX, buy it now. Only yourself knows what you can really afford (and if anything, be honest to yourself), but if you can swing it, I say do it. Yeah I was going through the same thoughts of 'should I buy a house' or....whatever. The fact remains, I could realistically afford the car now (without any skimping on the rest of my lifestyle), so I did. I was thinking about it, and if I bought a car when I was really comfortable, I'd be an old man and everyone will think I'm going through a mid life crisis. You only live once, and are young only once. When I am an old man, I'd like to tell my grand kids that I had a kick ass car when I was young.

I'd also like to ad this: everyone needs a car, and with that said, the NSX is a damn good choice. The deal with my car is I got it for $23k from the original owner with 60is thousand miles on it. I put $6k down, and my payments are $273. As I figure it, that's what an 'ordinary' car would cost. And quite frankly, any 'decent' car is gonna be around $25k for a new one anyways (i.e. your honda accords, your ford explorers, or any other status quo car) and that will lack the 'bling bling' factor of the NSX. BUT, on a pure economic standpoint, the NSX you really can't go wrong with.

How much do you think that $25k new car is gonna be worth in a few years? How about only after 1 year of depreciation? You can kiss a good 25% off right off the bat. The NSX, on the other hand, holds its value. I bought mine for $23k, I will have no problem selling it for what I paid, or (since I am greedy ) MORE! I'm telling you, a car like the NSX makes economic sense. It's a HONDA, you won't have alot of mechanical problems with it. You will always be able to sell it for approximately what you paid for it, and in the meantime, you will be able to drive for free (or without depreciation that is). On top of that, if something happens, you lose your job or something, you also won't have that hard of a time unloading it. It's an issue of supply and demand, and there simply aren't that many NSX's around, and I good example is really hard to find (I looked for 6 months before I bought mine).

My end thoughts: Just buy it!

 

[mlambert890]

You've got a good point about the "middle aged guy" thing.

Society has a damn frigging annoying hypocrisy that always pisses me off.

If a young guy wants to "stretch it" to buy a fancy car, he's being irresponsible and should know better, invest in real estate, buy life insurance, etc.

But for most people, by the time you *may* actually be able to spoil yourself, you're like 40-50. So you go ahead and do it now that you have 5 life insurance policies, kids in college, paid house, 401K, mutual funds, money under the mattress, and have been driving a Hyundai your entire adult life. You cruise along happily with your new Porsche, Viper, NSX, or whatever and what happens? Do people congratulate you for having been responsible? Nope... It's "look at that ridiculous old man with his mid-life crisis mobile"! That's why I say "screw that" and do what you want when you are able. Just think it through and weigh all of the consequences.

Right now I can legitimately afford my new NSX at 33, but in a few years we'll be getting into a house for 4 and my wife will quit working so it will be too much of a stretch for me to consider it responsible. To be honest, I'm happy we enjoyed the nice cars when we were younger (29-36 for us) and it will seem like less of a tragedy to give it up as we settle into middle age.

 

[apapada]

If a young guy wants to "stretch it" to buy a fancy car, he's being irresponsible and should know better, invest in real estate, buy life insurance, etc.

Let's face it. If one is under say 45 and had to earn the $$$ to pay for the NSX it IS financially irresponsible. The reason for this is because when one is say, in his 30s, he has an extremely valuable commodity : TIME. Due to the compounding effect if you were to properly invest the money you paid for your NSX (finance charges and extra insurance too when applicable) and calculate the amount this $$$ would grow over just 20 years, no one in his right mind would ever buy an NSX at just a "young" age.

Here is my example: My NSX cost me $30,000. I bought it when I was 30. Had I invested that money with an average 5% return over 20 years, I would have by 50, a nice $80,000 (in today's dollars). If I did the same thing but buy the NSX at 45, then by 50 (5 years later) the NSX would only have cost me $40,000, or HALF of what it ended up costing me by buying it at 30.

Of course the younger you are, the more the NSX will end up costing you. Buying a $30,000 car at 23, will end up costing you an hypothetical $112,000...

Oh well, it's just money, right ?

 

[steveny]

....or 30K borrowed to buy a car is ~600 a month payment. Borrow the same 30k buy a two unit duplex and rent it out making ~600 a month to pay for the NSX. When the car is paid off you now own the car and the house which will continue to generate ~600 a month for the next "toy".

.....or if you were going to pay cash for the car buy AT&T stock instead with the 30K. Sell covered calls each month on the AT&T stock, this will generate ~825.00 per month. When the car is paid off you still have your original 30k to buy the next "toy".
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/op?s=T

How do you get in a position to do this??? By NOT blowing your money when you are young.

 

[95Mr2Turbo]

AT&T stock eh?

 

[LeftLane]

[B
.....or if you were going to pay cash for the car buy AT&T stock instead with the 30K. Sell covered calls each month on the AT&T stock, this will generate ~825.00 per month. When the car is paid off you still have your original 30k to buy the next "toy".
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/op?s=T

[/B]

Yeah, it's that easy. I wonder why everyone hasn't figured this out?

 

[steveny]

Yeah, it's that easy. I wonder why everyone hasn't figured this out?

AT&T is only one example and I have to say it may be a bad one at that. There are plenty of others with the same or better returns. I take it you lost some money on T. If you had been selling CC you would have lost a smaller amount of money.

I am surprised that more people don't sell covered calls. I do about 5-10% every month selling calls.

Imcl is a great example been selling calls on them for months at a 10% return. Had a cost basis below 20, bought puts before approval at $20 strike. Imcl gets FDA approval stock goes down, as expected. I sell and move to the next wonder drug stock and do it again. Mean while monitoring the boards on Yahoo for each company and there is always the same types with different screen names. They think the stock is going to pop on approval...if they had just sold the calls for 4-5 months they would get their pop.

 

[akira3d]

I won't post/share any advice here since, by many of your accounts, I should not have bought a brand new NSX back in March of 2000.

Of course, I could say "No risk, no reward". Over the past four years, my NSX ROI has been through the roof. I'm not talking dollars and cents here...I cannot attach a monetary value to the many unanticipated benefits I've gained through NSX ownership (most notably the comraderie among owners). I can't say the same for my stock and mutual fund investments (unfortunately I am talking dollars and cents here).

Of course, I did have an established career back in 2000. And I bought a home three years before I seriously considered owning an NSX. I'm not completely foolish with my money!

 

[dippy9]

Wise move to wait for your NSX, you will enjoy it more without all the stress of making too much repayments on it. But who am i to stop you from buying the one thing that would motivate you to work even harder so you get the turbo kit, the sero kit, the new set of 19 inch rims. I don't think you ever stop spending money on this car so don't get it till you can really afford it.

But in saying all this. I dont think i could live without my NSX. $26k you guys are so lucky for a 91 model in Australia you would be looking at AU$70k roughly $50k US.

 

[mlambert890]

AT&T is only one example and I have to say it may be a bad one at that. There are plenty of others with the same or better returns. I take it you lost some money on T. If you had been selling CC you would have lost a smaller amount of money.

I am surprised that more people don't sell covered calls. I do about 5-10% every month selling calls.

Imcl is a great example been selling calls on them for months at a 10% return. Had a cost basis below 20, bought puts before approval at $20 strike. Imcl gets FDA approval stock goes down, as expected. I sell and move to the next wonder drug stock and do it again. Mean while monitoring the boards on Yahoo for each company and there is always the same types with different screen names. They think the stock is going to pop on approval...if they had just sold the calls for 4-5 months they would get their pop.

I would honestly never have the time to do this. Working like 60 hours a week (much of which is on the road) in order to make the money I would need to invest just doesn't allow for it. For me, the only thing I can really do is put money into mutuals and hope the brokerage doesn't screw me over.

Seriously... For anyone with a career, todays hyper competitive market and pressure from overseas workers willing to do the same job for 10 cents on a dollar, doesn't leave a lot of time left over for entrepeneurship.

I kind of look at my investment in the NSX as suicide prevention Watching interest compound so I can know that someday, at age 65 (assuming I make it that far), what's left of me can drive a Cadillac and live in West Palm instead of a Hyundai in Clearwater doesnt do it for me... But different strokes for different folks.

I still say that societal prejudices make a sports car MUCH less rewarding at the "responsible age". Personally, I dont think I'll be into the sports car scene much past 40; the stigma is just too distracting.

Discussions like this are great though, and are very valuable for the younger guys to observe. It's extremely useful to see how different points of view approach the same issue. It's also interesting to hear from people who have probably reached roughly the same social standing but through very different paths. I would say that my mindset is probably closest to Akira's on this whole topic...

 

[Tom239]

I still say that societal prejudices make a sports car MUCH less rewarding at the "responsible age". Personally, I dont think I'll be into the sports car scene much past 40; the stigma is just too distracting.

Interesting. I didn't buy the car for what other people think, I bought it because I like it. Sometimes the reactions it generates are welcome, sometimes not; but to me, that's beside the point of why I have an NSX.

In any case, I haven't encountered a trace of this stigma you describe, and I'm 44.

Generally--i.e., not just about cars--my experience has been that I'm much better off doing what I want than being concerned about societal prejudices.

 

[nsxtacey]

Dunno if this has been said already, but one should not live from check to check. I think it would give one alot more peace of mind if one has at least 10x the amount of their payment in their bank account...i.e. if your payment is 500 a month, have 5,000 in the bank as a piggy bank because you never know when you need to break that piggy

 

[spartan2-3]

I sure am glad Im over that stage, I have two homes in California and all my cars are free and clear including my NSX