[Geo_Ipe]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Dream supercar car fund? Nopes. Unrealistic sadly for me.

Have a next-car fund though! And once that it closed - will start a dream superbike fund mostly.

I believe the Next car fund and the Dream car fund are one and the same thing! I'm a realist. There was a time when a Ferrari was on my wall, but not anymore. Money no bar, it probably would be a Range Rover now though.

It is also important to remember that you are already living someone else's dream! Be thankful for it, live the moment and enjoy it! Try not to get too held up with chasing what you do not have!!

[landcruiser123]

Hi Naman_Ferrari,
Great to know that you're having a dream car fund and are actively saving for it, even I have one. We're both the same age too.

It is absolutely fine to lust for a Ferrari, but what I'd suggest is that you take life one step at a time.

Take care of inches and the yards will take care of themselves

Also live in the present and also enjoy life. Get yourself a nice car for current use too.

For me, my immediate 'dream car' is a Toyota 86. I've just started working in the SF Bay Area, my aim is to get a good used car (Around $10,000) and also save to pursue an MBA. Probably once that is done, I'll look for a Toyota 86 in the used market.

Just a few pointers:

• Never compromise a priority like a childs education
• Never spend a huge proportion (like 40%) of your monthly income on a car fund
• Also, have a stable base in terms of housing etc
• A Ferrari is a huge leap compared to a BMW 530d/Mustang etc. You might need to have a flat-bed truck on contract to take it multiple places
• Don't let you family dissuade you if you're budgets are within limits

[GutsyGibbon]

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

Hi Naman_Ferrari,
Great to know that you're having a dream car fund and are actively saving for it, even I have one. We're both the same age too.

It is absolutely fine to lust for a Ferrari, but what I'd suggest is that you take life one step at a time.

Also live in the present and also enjoy life. Get yourself a nice car for current use too.

Great sane advice from some one the same age. I used to want that red shiny thing, and sometimes there may be away to beg/borrow beyond the means and achieve that goal. That is when reality will hit hard. Things like having to park that Ferrari in a less secure place, service it, or insure it.

I would say - one life to live. Rent the dream car, enjoy it for a day, and settle down for a Mustang. You can always have a long term dream, and a long term multi purpose fund

[MoTo_meister]

Well, for me, it isn’t a dream car fund but a first car fund. I am currently a 2nd year student at DYPDC Centre For Automotive Research and Studies, Pune. I don’t believe in saying my goal out loud, but I saw this thread and I thought that this is probably the best place to share your car-related goals and endeavours. So, I’m currently 18 years old and have almost 3 years until I graduate and I have set a goal to be able to afford a pre-worshipped 2012 Honda Civic VMT in Alabaster Silver Metallic (yes, this exact spec) and have started saving up for it in the form of a RD after having spoken to my father. This summer, in May, I got the chance to drive a Civic for the first time in Mumbai (my cousin’s 2006 model) and it validated the goal that I’ve set for myself.

Here’s a picture of this beauty:

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by Naman_Ferrari

For all of the above reasons, I have started a personal fund - basically started saving to buy my dream car. I'm 24 and live with my parents so most of my salary goes directly into this fund. I realise how expensive these cars are and have started to invest these savings in different mutual funds, stocks etc. (I really like Finance and have been learning a lot about how to make money work for me). I hope that this saving and investing over time (maybe decades) would help me realise my dream one day.

Originally Posted by 2000rpm

I would suggest, rather than making a pool of money from existing salary income, invest in changing the way you earn.

This is the best advice so far in this thread. You can only save what you earn. Even with the power of compounding, you would never be able to save more if your salary is average. Try doing a rough calculation based on your current salary projection and check how many years (or decades) will it take for you to reach the target goal. You would need to account for inflation as well. The Ferarri that 3.5 Cr now will probably cost double that 10 years from now. The number might not look promising.

So stop focussing on saving and start thinking about generating wealth. How to do that is something you will have to figure out yourself. Even I am doing that And don't listen to people who say your priorities will change, settle for less etc. It is your dream and if you yourself don't work for it, no one else will.

I recently came across this quote which is a good food for thought. "If you want a Ferrari or a Lamborghini stop asking Toyota drivers for advice on how to succeed"

[Games Goblin]

I know at least 90% of the people on T-BHP would love to own a Ferrari, but Ferrari ownership is not the romantic honeymoon we would like to imagine - I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but owing a Ferrari isn't a great experience from what I am able to gather -

From a recent Jalopnik article



One of the readers comments in the article :



Link to Source

These supercars are very high on maintenance and might need engine out related works after fixed intervals - if owners in USA find it difficult to service them and drive them, imagine what it would be like here!

A couple of videos from Doug DeMuro

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcLU4LGTPk8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTKNCoEPLv4

His ownership summed up



Article Link



Article Link

Best bet would be Japanese sports cars / super cars like the Miata, new NSX, new Supra etc - Japanese reliability and peace of mind - and you get to drive a sports car! Porsche sports cars also seem like a good option.

[Doc_nikhil]

Originally Posted by Naman_Ferrari

Hi everyone,

I am sure a lot of us here at Team-Bhp have a 'dream car...But I'd personally recommend one of a red F430 -

Hello Naman,
Glad to hear you being so focused at such a young age. Just like others who have commented before me, I’m here to give you few lines of advice, cos hey, advice is free, right. I suppose if you had a rupee for every time someone gave you advice.. well, it still wouldn’t be enough to get a F430 for sure! Anyway, here I go.

A quick note for others, it is gonna be a long read, so in case you are the impatient kind, you can skip right on, as what I say will have zero effect on our / your daily routine.


Positives:

1. Age - you are just 24years old, right? Having such a single minded drive at this age, is really commendable. Now I wouldn’t say that you are one of a kind, rather, you are everything a 24yr old petrolhead dude will be like. Focused, driven, and full of enthusiasm. Do not mistake my statement, it’s more on a tone of envy than a monotone. That’s good. when I was 24yrs old, all I could dream of was a Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder, in dark grey with black alloys, orange brake calipers, matching orange threads through jet black alcantara seats, and my initials personalized on the headrests. Heck, I’ve dreamt of this a million times, driving it (top down, of course, I’d want the world to see that I’d made it, broken the stereotype and all), not too fast that people blink and miss it, not too slow for people to suspect that I have Parkinson’s disease, along a nice coastal road, maybe west coast of India (I never knew cos Gmaps was not something I would have had at that time), wheels in a lazy slow motion blur to passerby. Of course the crazy driving would have its quota, with the car being transported, on its own gloss black flat bed running chrome wheels like a mini-Peterbilt with a Lamborghini emblem in stealth grey embossed on the sides, to the race track at chennai as Kari was very small, BIC wasn’t even in existence then. I never knew of the mod potential nor could I care, why would someone want to modify a beautiful thing like a Gallardo? It was like trying add photoshop to Mona Lisa. The plot gets lost. We’ll catch up with this Gallardo a short while later. For now, I’m sure you have the zeal and head rush of at least the 24yr old me. But do not forget to live the moment, you are still at an age where you can do stuff and be called cool while at it. Whereas, myself just 10yrs elder to you, will be called immature if caught doing the same thing (all guys out there with minds which need a trip to the laundromat, I was talking about stuff like gaming, buying scale models, doing impromptu road trips and partying, not the naughty stuff).

2. Unless you are the one the list of world’s youngest CEOs, it’s difficult to get a spanking brand new Ferrari off the shelf. Am talking about 1:1. The 1:18 stuff we can buy even with the pocket money my cousin gets. He is in his higher secondary school, by the way. But there is a way to get your hands on a Ferrari maybe by the time you hit 40s. I suppose you save most of all the income you get till you hit 40s and you will have a bank balance good enough to plonk it on the counter of a used supercar showroom and drive your dream off and away. Big boys and their toys are never separated for long, and if have the right numbers at the right time when the right car comes up, it should be Christmas coming early for you then. Just hope the electric craze doesn’t sweep over India too before you get to do that.

3. I suppose you are single at this very moment. I mean, Unmarried, with all the freedom you can have. So this should work in your favor. Don’t worry about the parents laying down speed breakers for you. When you show them you are serious about car with the right numbers in your account, they will realize you are worthy enough to wield the Mjolnir. Wait, that’s not what I wanted to say. But you get it right. Parents ultimately want us to be happy and they will see the dream through your eyes give or take a few years.

4. Someone once said, there are two types of people in the world. The ones who have driven a ferrari, and the rest who haven’t. It’s lovely to see someone who is willing to work for it so early. And with perseverance and hard work, we can. I guess it’s basic human nature to spend more than we earn, especially when we start having easy access to stuff we couldn’t afford earlier in form of EMIs, be it a long cherished dream of building a hospital, or buying a car we yearn for. I guess that’s good in a way, we get the drive to achieve something we couldn’t afford in the first place if we had sat in the same place warming seat cushions. So, use your josh to fuel your work. Some get lucky and get really wealthy very soon, and I sincerely hope you get to be a part of that, so I can read about your success story in some magazine and feel happy for you.

Now, there are always two of everything to balance the equation. Right has left, good has bad, hero has a villain and husband has wife. Likewise, let’s see what are the negatives with the said points above.

Negatives:

1. There is no denying that at 24years of age, we do feel confident that we can take on the world whatever it can throw at us and show them the gritty steely resolve of ours. But very few continue to have that fiery streak into the 30s, some get realistic as early as 27years. They start planning for a secure future. A loan free retirement after 50years of age isn’t what we think at 24, but once we start counting the pennies trying to save as much as we can doing the job that we hate with all our guts, that thought becomes quite strong. A financially secure future. Trust me on this. You remember the Gallardo I told you about? I was initially like, Hey, it’s doable, I’d think, all it needs is a few long hours for a few long years. Gonna be a cardiologist and I’m gonna make it rain, I thought. Reality stuck somewhere along, and here I am, paying the EMI for a polo TSI, which was the only thing I enjoyed driving that the bank would let me afford, also, partly cos the outer rear view mirror looks similar to the one on the Gallardo. Even today, some days, I keep wondering where I’d lost my zeal. So, unless we have strong ancestral wealth, or really rich parents so that we can devote the lion’s share of our earnings to the buy, it’s going to be difficult, even at such an young age.

2. Let’s say you have saved up the magical number in your account when the time comes. You have all the rights in the world to pat yourself on the back and tip your collars up, as you look at it. But here lies the catch. As we grow up, we have other priorities that come into play. Also, let’s skip this and assume you get the car. Even a preworshipped one. You’d have to allot a sizeable part of your income just to maintain it and run it. A weather proof garage, for starters. Trickle chargers for the temperamental batteries. Pest and Rodent control (you might laugh at this, but rats have been found inside supposedly air tight bank vaults). And F430 isn’t an analog car, in fact, getting hold of a manual geared one is close to finding a priest on the walking street Pattaya, they are there, but we can’t get hold of one. So they’d need to be serviced in proper hands. One of the service techs at BBT once told me that buying a used Murcielago for 1C isn’t a big deal, but setting aside 10L per year to maintain it, is. And then when you take it out, you got to deal with all the attention you get, which is ok, as you can just zoom away. Only to be caught in the whirlwind of onlookers at the next speed breaker / junction, and you’d be constantly worried about some two wheeler guy with a hyperactive right wrist scratching the car, no sir, the correction pen wouldn’t be enough for a Ferrari right. Our country has lack of road courtesy, private space and too much of ignorant idiots with just enough money to get hold of a 200cc motorcycle. You see, this automatically bestows upon them the itch to race at anything that moves. Be it a Ford or a Ferrari. So we got to dial this part in too. How much justice can you do once you get the car if you can’t drive it the way you want it?

3. Marriage. It’s an institution. They did not say that for nothing. If you plan on marriage, forget about the supercar. Or vice versa. Wish I’d known this before. You don’t marry just one person, it’s the whole family. You are no longer responsibility-free, if there was ever such a phase. Their happiness and their difficulties become ours too. Shelling out the money for what is basically an expensive toy, doesn’t actually matter, more than getting your better half to see your side and to say yes. And a word of caution, they aren’t anywhere as kind as our parents. There are two kinds of guys in the world - those who think they can win an argument with their wife, and those that have learnt to say “yes dear” and stop an argument from ever happening. Choose your side carefully.

4. Main issue - finances. I read some post in this very same thread. Someone posted saying for people who have hospital and hotel it’s easy, but I digress. We have a hospital, I’m a cardiologist, my dad’s a cardiologist, my wife is an ophthalmologist, my mom’s an ophthalmologist. Guess what car we have? Polo and a city. Guess how much EMIs and loans we have? More than we can count on one hand. Not all people who work hard become rich, not all rich people work hard. Major chunk of the income goes to pay the salaries of the poor folks who keep the hospital working, silently behind the screens and hoping they can stretch out the salary of the last month till they get the next month’s slip in. Add to that the tax, electricity bill, water bill, garbage disposal bill, and such. So, no, not all major hospitals and hotels are rolling in a bed of money, if they are, then they are proper corporate ones, not the rest. Every time I see a Gallardo on the classifieds, especially a Spyder, my heart skips a beat. The price would seem affordable for something that is a piece of automotive art. A quick and a rough calculation by my withering brain will tell my heart that I’ll have to perform so many procedures and sustain radiation inside the Cath lab enough to shame nuclear spill victims to actually even afford the EMI. This is if I just starve myself and my family, also the dogs too and funnel my expenses to pay for the car. The heart that skipped a beat now consoles itself and moves on. This is the usual routine. As I said , I sincerely wish you achieve the car of your dreams but do not let the price tag fool you. Be wise even when you actually can take the plunge, think it through and go ahead. Money once gone will never come back.


All in all, I put up this post because your starter thread seemed so heart touchingly similar to what I wanted to do 10yrs ago, but couldn’t. I have told you what to expect not to discourage you, but to prepare you for the future, and I hope you use it constructively! But if you do have access to ancestral wealth or you are one of the family names that I read on Forbes and Times magazine, I wish you all the best of motoring times with your F430. Again, I sincerely wish one of us breaks the common notion that supercars are unattainable for us normal guys, and I hope that you do it. All the best!

[jnanesh]

As a 21 year old myself, I was thinking the same and it got me wondering why no one buys a Caterham, the Seven 620 would make an insane track day car and costs about the same as a BMW 3 series, which seems doable, after a few years of sweat, and early smart investing. Doable as opposed to saving up north of 4 crores for a Ferrari, it'll beat every Ferrari round the track too.

Plus taxes are lower if you import the car as a CKD (30% as opposed to 100%), and all the more fun assembling a car from scratch.

[Doc_nikhil]

Originally Posted by jnanesh

As a 21 year old myself, I was thinking the same and it got me wondering why no one buys a Caterham......Plus taxes are lower if you import the car as a CKD (30% as opposed to 100%), and all the more fun assembling a car from scratch.

Hi Jnanesh,
Have you ever tried getting a license or any government issued document without using an agent and also not pulling your hair out? I guess a personal import would demand a lot of time, patience and money, not to forget a lot of bribery to get things done at lukewarm speed at best. May be that puts off a lot of potential petrolheads in the first place. Or maybe the non availability of spares or service. But, what be it may, a caterham certainly will stand apart both on lap timings and traffic signals alike. We even had a desi car maker who copied the caterham's design. It was called the Chinakara and it was powered by a 1.8L petrol engine, making around 115PS. Dunno if they are still in production though. I've had the opportunity to see one back in 2008 in mangalore during my UG days. Anyway, do let us know if you get one here, the caterham I mean. It would be epic.

regards,
Doc_nikhil

[RaviK]

Originally Posted by Doc_nikhil

... when I was 24yrs old, all I could dream of was a Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder, in dark grey with black alloys..

Beautifully put. Replace Gallardo with Ducati, Medical profession with IT, and you have me !.. I was just so mesmerized with Ducati 916 in my early 20s, had plans to buy it whenever I can afford (not to forget the wall posters).
A decade and a half later, found myself standing next to a 996, wondering that's almost the same bike I spent countless hours planning for ! Had a good look, it did make me smile, and that's it. Couldn't convince myself why should I spend my money on something like that ? The thought machine would just not pull in that direction

To each his own of course, however for many, the mid/late 30s mark a change, providing a decisive advantage to head over the heart (aided by family & other responsibilities of course)

[maven]

Interesting question. Strangely never thought of using the route for vehicle purchase. Probably because have started treating cars, except classic cars, as a depreciating asset or should they be reclassified as liabilities, more so as most people including me buy them on loan of some sort.

Do have a dream car. A rather down to earth choice though- the Porsche Cayenne. Off late have started considering Porsche as the only German manufacturer worth their salt.

My post is rather polarising/controversial!

[AlphaKilo]

Having been lucky to be able to own a dream car quite early, I guess I can share my experience here. I did own a Porsche (Cayman S 987) for quite a long time and due to addition in the family, had to sell it off with a heavy heart.

I did not want to have two cars and the Porsche was my daily driver in sun, rain and in snow! It has never let me down. The only time I was not happy was when the car went for its regular service. The labour charges were sometimes higher than the the parts serviced/replaced and this made absolutely no sense to me. Also, off late Porsche (as a company/Brand) has become too greedy and has lost that engineering charm (this is purely my personal opinion).

In Germany, Porsches are too common and don't turn heads. Having lived with one, if I had a choice to buy a porsche again, I wouldn't do it. Not because they are not good cars but their sportiness is useless for 90% of the time and beyond a certain, the head takes over from the heart.

How do I fulfill my lust for supercars or dream cars? I collect "collectors editions"/special edition/limited edition" Porsches in 1:18 sizes (I am a big sucker for Porsches). After all in such purchases, the money is spent only once.

I own almost all of special edition porsches that has been launched ever both in die cast metal and in form of books! This way I can say I do have the money for all my dream cars.

[panamera13]

Originally Posted by Naman_Ferrari

Hi everyone,

I am sure a lot of us here at Team-Bhp have a 'dream car'. Most of us just drool over the pictures/videos of these cars without any hope of ever buying them (probably a very smart and rational way of thinking). But there are definitely some crazy people like me who have no other objective in life apart from buying that dream car one day!

For me, buying a proper supercar (preferably a Ferrari F430 / 458 Italia) is probably the only goal I have in life. All my friends and family know it. They even make fun of me and I don't blame them. It's the stupidest life goal one can have. Here are some fundamental problems that I'm told about -

At, 24 you deserve to have a dream car fund. When you get married, that fund will be used to buy a house/apartment.

Then you will start saving again and that money you just saved will be used for upgrades on the house. Then you’ll start saving again and before you have kids, you’ll have a 3-5 year window, where you would need to pull the trigger otherwise that fund will be used for kids. Just sayin’.

Personally, I didn’t have a fund but X5 was my bucket list car. So, after coming to US and saving for some time, I did end up buying it with 0.9% APR for 3 years (with 20% down). It was around 65K USD but your Ferrari (even if used) will be well over 100K USD so probably about 160-180K USD with India premium.

I’m not sure of your financial status but it’s always great to have a goal to look forward to, it’s a big motivator. Best of luck to you.

[Ranabegins]

I don't have a dream car fund because realistically it won't be possible to buy a supercar and my favourite car keeps on changing with time. Instead I had a fund that I thought I would use to buy a new car but my priorities have changed. Anyways I keep on investing in that fund and who knows someday again my priority will be buying a new car and I would adjust my dream according to the fund I have at that point of time.

[thecarguy]

This is why I thoroughly enjoy reading this blog. The variety of opinions offered from people of different domains and background gives us 20-25 year olds gives us a viewpoint an education cannot provide.

I echo what 2000rpm and Jaguar have to say.
To own a Ferrari you'll have to act as a Ferrari owner. By that I don't mean going to a Rolex retailer and purchasing 5 watches in one day but investing in assets that generate income which help you buy the things you want.

Usually their salary is only to invest in assets and for emergencies. If you invest now and then reinvest your returns you'll start generating wealth that is substantial enough to buy, run, maintain and absorb depreciation.

Best of luck