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...on a residents salary? Only catch is that the car has to be All Wheel Drive/4 Wheel Drive due to region of country.
Depends on your salary and other costs as above. I know people who are swinging a $400 per month on car. Can be done if you defer/forbear loans and your living expenses are too high. I would say $250-350 range isappropriate.
Your best bet, buy 2 year old car. Best bang for buck. Still new enough to not have major problems and old enough to have price deflated to a reasonable level. I have subaru outback. MPG fair, AWD awesome especially in snow. Can't beat it. Good luck
Leasing is a viable option in some circumstances. In my case, I needed a car but had basically no money for downpayment and wanted a lower monthly payment. So I leased for the duration of residency with the intention of buying out after the lease ends -- you actually end up paying less money total that way than if you bought outright. Depending on your living expenses (and don't forget the cost of car insurance on a new car -- comprehensive is quite pricey and can break $1000/yr depending on where you live and your record), under $300/mo should be definitely doable.
Consider a non-4WD vehicle. My car is 2WD with traction control and stability control and last winter I could get up icy hills better than many 4x4s and never got stuck. Lighter cars also carry less momentum making them more controllable and less likely to skid or spin on slippery roads (despite all the bull**** car manufacturers advertise on TV, 4WD ONLY helps you accelerate -- you get NO benefit in braking or handling and no added safety if you start to skid, only a stability control system can do anything in those circumstances). As a final point, a cheap SUV would be American. American cars hold value like real estate in Baghdad -- worse depreciation means higher lease payments. If you are plunking down money for a Subaru, you can get a much nicer 2WD car for the same moolah.
Consider a non-4WD vehicle. My car is 2WD with traction control and stability control and last winter I could get up icy hills better than many 4x4s and never got stuck. Lighter cars also carry less momentum making them more controllable and less likely to skid or spin on slippery roads (despite all the bull**** car manufacturers advertise on TV, 4WD ONLY helps you accelerate -- you get NO benefit in braking or handling and no added safety if you start to skid, only a stability control system can do anything in those circumstances). As a final point, a cheap SUV would be American. American cars hold value like real estate in Baghdad -- worse depreciation means higher lease payments. If you are plunking down money for a Subaru, you can get a much nicer 2WD car for the same moolah.
A reasonable amount is take the amount of money you have after food and housing, and then figure out how much of that you want to spend on a car vs going out and getting drunk.
$400 isn't terrible, I'm doing it, but my rent is also only $400. So it isn't going to kill you.
One caveat, do not get into a 72 or 84 month loan. It isn't worth it, because even if you want to keep the car that long, if you wreck it anywhere between years 2-4, it will be worth a lot less than the loan. Unless you have gap insurance, it comes out of your pocket if your car is totaled.
Good call, and gap insurance is like $5 a month added to your car payment. They will do this for used cars too...
While we're on the subject of cars: is there a such thing as too good of a car for residency? What I mean is, say you had worked before, had some business ventures or something like that and were able to afford a car nicer than most attendings. If one of the attendings or other residents saw it, would they look down on you or treat you differently as a result of it?
Good call, and gap insurance is like $5 a month added to your car payment. They will do this for used cars too...
during residency, i bought 3 new porsches and finally stuck with the last one. i also bought a ferrari near the end of residency as my "fun" car. my attendings never gave me grief nor did any cohorts.
it's all about how you carry yourself - be cool and low key and everything will be fine. be flashy, showy and brag.....not only will your life be harder but others will essentially laugh at you. where do you think the "compensating for something" mentality came from.
this applies to life too. be humble, be happy and be thankful
during residency, i bought 3 new porsches and finally stuck with the last one. i also bought a ferrari near the end of residency as my "fun" car. my attendings never gave me grief nor did any cohorts.
it's all about how you carry yourself - be cool and low key and everything will be fine. be flashy, showy and brag.....not only will your life be harder but others will essentially laugh at you. where do you think the "compensating for something" mentality came from.
this applies to life too. be humble, be happy and be thankful
LETS SEE,
Audi RS4, goes for about 66K.
So around 1100 dollars per month should do it.
Oh, you will have to live in the call room.
by definition, owning/driving a porsche or ferrari puts you in the "flashy, showy" category
(and don't forget the cost of car insurance on a new car -- comprehensive is quite pricey and can break $1000/yr depending on where you live and your record).
DAMN, I wish my insurance was that cheap. As a new jersey resident, for a 6 year old car, with NO accidents and NOT A SINGLE ticket for any moving or non moving violation I pay $2,600 a year for insurance!!! and yes I did shop around for the best price
Move. I pay less than $1K for two cars, a 2007 Jeep Wrangler and a 2004 Pontiac Vibe. Although I am married, but I'm still not very old (and neither is she).
Awesome avatar!
Out of curiousity, what does it say on the back of the clipboard?
Considering that you can get the same level of performance from a four-door sedan for less than half the money, buying a two-door exotic sports car is definitely flashy. A silver $100,000 911 Turbo is still a $100,000 911 Turbo.
Unagi, if you do take over someone's lease, read the contract EXTREMELY carefully. With penalties at the end of the lease like 2 cents/extra mile, you can get very screwed financially.
This thread makes me chuckle. You can buy a porsche or ferrari, lease an audi, and get the most expensive car you can afford, the have it lose 1/2 of its value in three years and become bored with it. Then, you can be tied down to a car payment after residency. OR, you can make a sensible decision now, wait until you finish residency and make an attending salary, and outright own just about any car you want. I personally would never sacrifice my ability to go out, travel, dine, drink, party, see friends, buy furniture, or provide things that make my life more comfortable when I have the time to enjoy it, instead of dumping what little salary I have into an expensive car that I will rarely drive and will lose money on. Just my thoughts...
Evo MR and Impreza WRX/Sti will run about the same lap times as any of the precious and overpriced BMWs and Porsches for a third of the price. A Corvette (esp Z06) would outlap any of the cars you mentioned at half the price. Even a V6 Accord or Camry would easily keep up with the exotics in traffic. The famed BMW engineering has never ever translated into reliability or build quality, the cars are fragile, and the masterpiece M3 engine burns oil like its Exxon Valdez.
But then again, everyone and their mother can get a Z06, impreza, honda, etc.
I grew up blue collar and I'm not trying to argue back and forth, but most people can't afford a Z06, hell even a $35,000 STI or G35 is steep for a large percentage of americans.
I'm really not trying to start a flame war or single anyone out, but hypothetically speaking, someone looking to buy an outrageously expensive car (i.e. in the $100K range) that mentioned in another thread that they needed a job to start paying back student loans may want to rethink their automotive decisions.
I only say this b/c I speak from experience. I love cars too, and I love getting in a car that I love every morning. When I was younger I bought a high end (not quite THAT high end, I am in the camp that still thinks 40-60K for a car is more than sufficient) car that I adored b/c I too thought I was "in fairly good financial health," but ended up getting screwed when major life changes arise. I will just throw out there that a residency is not a great time to get strapped down with huge unnecessary debt (i.e. flashy car, flashy house) if you are already sitting on a pile of student loans--we just don't have a great cushion as residents. If you married/invested well and can walk into a dealership and pay cash for a 100K car, then cheers. Otherwise, as someone already pointed out, it's probably better to be patient and wait until you can REALLY afford life's luxuries. Isn't it a sign of maturity to be able to practice delayed gratification?
But FWIW, yes--those very few residents who were driving the Porsches and M3s at my intitution caught a fair share of flack (mostly good humored, though)
and the masterpiece M3 engine burns oil like its Exxon Valdez.
In fact, the only things wrong with it are all the dents and scratches my kids have inflicted upon it by crasing their bikes or kicking soccer balls in the driveway.
So whats a reasonable amount to pay monthly for a car with a resident salary of around 48,000?
Im thinking maybe 350 top?
Evo MR and Impreza WRX/Sti will run about the same lap times as any of the precious and overpriced BMWs and Porsches for a third of the price. A Corvette (esp Z06) would outlap any of the cars you mentioned at half the price. Even a V6 Accord or Camry would easily keep up with the exotics in traffic. The famed BMW engineering has never ever translated into reliability or build quality, the cars are fragile, and the masterpiece M3 engine burns oil like its Exxon Valdez.
Hey man, I'm not trying to convince anyone to not buy a stereotypical doctor car. IMHO if you are going to spend that much money, get something that's actually special (a nice driver's restoration of a Jaguar E-Type or a Mark II 3.8 or a Toyota 2000GT) instead of a soulless mass-produced German panzerwagen.
Pgg, lucky you. From what I hear the E46 engine has a rep for being a big oil burner.
Mgdsh, in the real world people routinely use lap times to assess handling. The exclusivity of mass-produced cars is in the eye of the beholder. By "special," do you mean the $600 oil changes or the $1000 brake pads? Or the clutch that lasts 5000 miles? The jerky manumatic shifts? The inability to get a manual gearbox because the manufacturer thinks the owners are too dumb or lazy to shift their own gears?
Leasing a car is no different than owning one, except that your payment goes toward the lease, not your ownership. Expect the same maintenance and insurance costs as any other car. And, when the lease is over, you can typically pay the residual value of the car (which is agreed upon when you sign the lease) or turn in the keys and give the car back. You do not get any value for the car (or the payments you made during the lease)....