Wow a lot of indepth and good replies here for you... and on both sides of coin, so to speak.

Car ownership is definately a personal thing for all of us. So like many have said before you should do what's in your heart.

IMO, if you have been honest and true to the fact that you can afford the ownership* then you simply have to ask yourself: Would driving this car bring a grin and smile to your face? Would you get excited with anticipation everytime you went to go use it? Would you recognized and appreciate the empowerment that comes along with owning the car? Could you handle the negative conitations that come along with owning the car?
If you have said yes, yes, yes and yes then you are ready and SHOULD own this car. I have owned a porsche for 7 yrs now and everyday is my first day.

* IMHO - Ownership costs are not outlandish and in general there are not a lot of recurring costs. The first part of ownership is the Entry Price (btw every 911tt series is worth considering). Make sure that you have done your due diligence on whatever you consider, watch out for tracked and modded cars. Buying second hand always exposes one to a greater risk of being ripped off, buyer beware!. After that, the other recurring costs are: Insurance as this vehicle rates high on probably every insures premium list (or at least mine). Gas - use only premium and chances are you will find it is hard to drive this car conservatively. Cleaning goods!!, you will find that "nothing but the best" fits for this car as well as your family. Tires - I do not track or drive my car that hard but over the last several years I am only getting about 5K miles out of them (~ 4 changes over 7 yrs of ownership - 2 cars). Oil changes and maintenance do not happen often and though they can cost upwards of several hundred or a thousand dollars it still is not as much money relative to other exotics the car competes with. Can things go wrong - yes but not often enough for it to be a concern with this car (at least in my 7 yrs experience). Last may be modding - I have no experience with it but by reading the threads on this site one can gather the costs can be quite substantial.
After that these cars are great, reliable and hold their value. And other than a GT version, they are 2+2, which I take advantage of all the time with my wife and 2 kids.

Good Luck
Al

 

Money can be replaced, experiences can't. It's not like you have to keep the car if you change your mind.

 

Well then you just dont want one bad enough.

 

OK, I'm jumping in too. I don't think you should do it. I can't imagine buying a car that costs as much as I make in a year. If I wasn't married, having kids, etc, then just maybe. But not in your situation. I don't know how much money you have saved, but in absence of any inheritance or great returns (which are doubtful over the last few years), based on what you make, even if you saved a lot, I don't think you have as much money as you think you do. Having a family is very expensive. You will regret this purchase down the road as you have to put off some family expenses that otherwise you might have been able to do if you didn't buy this car. And even if you have saved a lot more money than i think, i personally would have a hard time buying a car, and then knowing everyday i go to work for the next year is to pay for that. good luck with your decision.

 

spend $3k and go to the porsche driving school. SAve the rest for your kid.

 

agree with "you only live once" comments, I think the OP gets it too, but he's not that type of person. He has dreamed of owning the car for 20 yrs and now he is able to afford it in cash and that's all he needs to know.

He can afford it, he can walk to the dealer chin high saying he wants to test drive the p with intention of buying. He see others on the forum or on the road who has similar cars and he thinks to himself "I can buy one if I want to, but I won't" . As long as he has that amount of cash in the bank, he will feel accomplished, so buying the car or not doesn't really matter.

 

If work keeps s*cking as bad as today, I might just have to pick one up to feel better LOL

 

Lots of posts to my thread here. I keep reading the thread and asking myself why the posts havent helped to really answer my original question. Now get me wrong, I appreciate almost everyone's opinion on this matter. But the original question was not whether or not I should buy the car. The question was...

Any one else have a hard time jumping into their first expensive car?

Of course, that could lead to tons of simple "yes" or "no" answers and that wouldnt help much. I really just wanted to know if I'm crazy for thinking about the decision so much. Some of the posts have in fact answered this question. Like I mentioned earlier, the financial side of this is really not a problem. With no house payment and no other debt, my bank account is growing faster than ever. Surely my son or daughter will change this but not to such an extent that the car is unreasonable now or down the road. My wife loves her job and plays a key role in the company she works for. She'll be out of work for while but we both know that she will return to work within a few months of delivery. Our combined income (including bonuses) is just under $235,000. I love the anonymity of the Internet and how it allows one to tell the world his income level.

So I cant see how a debtless couple earning this much can not or should not at least consider the purchase of a car of this calibur. When you want a car like this and deserve it for your hard work and the intelligent decisions you've made in your life... and you can afford it, then why not buy it?

To Luciano... thanks for the PM. I cant reply though because my thread count on this forum isnt enough to allow me to do that.

To yrralis1... nope, the car is not an escape from fear. I really dont see that at all. It's really just a financial decision.

To xseal... you make $1.2 million a year and you worried about affording the car? Uhhh.... that makes me feel a lot better. I'm not such a freak.

 

No problem! I just wanted to let you know I can relate and for anyone that made smart financial decisions in their life, spending this much on a car does not sound rational at all, so it's very hard to spend the money. That said, I really think you should

 

Not a Porsche. Unlike some other expensive cars they do hold their value . Now it's true that pulling money out of investment to place it on the road may sound like a waste to some .. but not someone who really loves the car.

The person who buys a car is not exactly parting the full expense . A 100 K car might be worth 80 (private sale) or 70 (trade in) two years later . It's not like a vacation which just vanishes or expensive dinners which end up in the toilet .

You still retain some of it .

 

The car will probably depreciate $10,000 per year -- maybe a little more, maybe a little less. Figure $90K may make you 5% per year. Ignoring compounding, you'd spend about $15,000 per year to drive this car. Add incremenal insurance, general maintenance, & assume you'll not mod it -- call it $18K per year. So, one way is to not think of this as a $90K purchase, but a $18K per annum purchase. If you're very conservative, assume a higher depreciation rate and then ask yourself if it's worth that much per year to drive your dream car.

But to answer your question, no, I had absolutely no problem jumping into my first expensive car. My passion far outweighed financial responsibility. It makes no financial sense to buy a depreciating asset that's not a necessity. Trying to apply financial logic to toy cars is an exercise in futility.

 

Buy one... Every time I walk in my garage it brings a smile to my face. Life is all about the stories you tell your kids and grand kids. You either enjoy life and pass those stories to the kids or tell them about the things you wish you would have done.

 

I find I usually regret the things I didn't do much more than the things I did do. Pull the trigger - it isn't a forever decision if you find out it's not all you hoped it would be.

 

Lying on deathbed at 85:
a) I really wish I'd bought that turbo I always wanted
b) I really wish I'd bought more CDs and mutual funds when I was forty instead of that awesome turbo.

 

Life is short.

You only live once.

You can't take it with you.

You can always sell it if times get hard and probably lose less than my 401k has.

Every day is a gift, god forbid but you could get sick or hit by a car tomorrow.

GET IT AND ENJOY IT...

Post some pics when you do.