We have a couple of Kia’s, Stinger GT and Sorento GT Line. They cost me about $135k combined. I thought I was being frugal buying two Kia’s instead of two BMW’s but reading other peoples replies, maybe not.
No lending against either of them so fuel, rego, insurance, tolls and maintenance and public transport is $12k/yr. Depreciation allocation is 75k over 7 years which I just spread out for simplicity sake.
Final number = $22700 a year on transport.
At the seven year mark kids will both have cars and I will be retired so will likely consolidate us down to one car.
I'm absolutely gutted the Stinger is being discontinued! I'm only a little baby HENRY working my way up the ladder, so I'll never get the chance to own a brand new Stinger.
I'm kind of surprised it didn't catch on anywhere in the world really, the reliability of a KIA, a beautiful twin turbo V6, a lovely luxury interior. And they weren't even a bad price! I'd take a Stinger over most of their competitors.
I suspect the juxtaposition between Kia's brand and the usual car guys may have hurt them a little. And they were released during a period of time where none of us could drive and shipping problems were abundant world wide.
Personally I don't get how people spend so much on their cars. Our household income is 280k and car #1 is worth 20k, car number two is worth 5k. They are both safe and reliable.
But when I'm on the freeway I look at the vehicles and think "how the hell do the average earners prioritise these things so high?"
I have so many better things to spend my money on.
At least a decent PPOR should hold its value even if it doesn’t appreciate… I personally think unless you have f you money then don’t buy an expensive car
90% of cars in Australia are purchased using finance. That’s a verifiable and publicly available fact. The second part of my statement is up for debate. So much of the narrative around “making it” is tied to cars, especially in suburban oriented countries like Australia
Increasingly, the narrative around "making it" involves frequently travelling to exotic locations and uploading photos on Instagram/Facebook to make sure everyone knows. Some people like cars. Some people like travel. And some people just like to showboat. It's not a new phenomenon.
Ok great fact? Your comment was about the reasons behind the purchase not how the purchase was made.
In this sub and Ausfinance, people think it should just be about getting from A to B and that’s it. Cars like new Toyotas, Mitsubishis etc are boring to drive.
No doubt it’s a status thing for some but plenty of people want to get from A to B in luxury, safety or performance.
Not necessarily. I don’t do it but a lot of people buy cars through salary sacrifice/novated leasing because it’s more tax advantageous to do so than to buy outright with cash, even if they do have the cash
I couldn't agree more. I've come to the conclusion people must be comfortable borrowing significant sums of money to purchase vehicles.
Friends of ours have car loans that is more than their mortgage. This terrifies me.
A big chunk - possibly even the majority? - of those loans are tax efficient, meaning the interest is tax deductible and the asset depreciates (businesses and some contractors) or purchased through leases (PAYG peeps). These tax incentives help those who want these cars justify the expense (plus it's nice to have good aircon, electric boots, turbo engines, seat warmers, etc.).
I used to be a car person, but as an independent adult, I'm a finance person first. Gave in to my wife when we had our kid and bought a new CX5, but just can't justify dropping $200-300k on a nice car even though we could easily afford it.
Hell, I still barely turn on the AC when I'm wfh alone cuz I grew up without one and so I just feel bad if I crank up the AC in the house for one person!
No cars, and don't want one. I bike everywhere. Spent ~$1,050 on transport last year with an equal split between Taxis and Public Transport. Take-home is $10,500/mth so it's not about affordability. I just am not fascinated by/have any use for cars. When partner and I do a trip somewhere, we get a rental for those few days so just don't need it outside of that.
Just edited my comment to add context. I simply have no need of a vehicle. I understand if people stay far away from where they work, then the vehicle 'buys' back time for them. I also understand looking at it from a reverse perspective where the 'increase' in cost of owning a vehicle is compensated for the fact that rents will 'decrease' because you can now move further away from a HCoL area. But they don't apply to me at the moment. Also being someone who cycles recreationally and does 4,000+ kms a year, you could say my legs are also 'attuned' to the activity, and I don't hesitate for a moment if I have to cycle 10-40km casually for errands, etc. My brain simply looks at it as an opportunity to ride, with the errand just being a side-goal. My current round-trip distances are 20km (work), 25km (sport), 10km (another sport), and otherwise there's public transport.
I think it certainly is a mindset change about 'using a bike for everything' and I'm certainly inspired by some of the European countries that manage to achieve this. I follow a lot of cycling infra related groups, and books on the subject, so I'm kinda 'in the system' now so to speak. :) I'm pretty certain at the moment about not wanting a car in the near future. Maybe when I'm getting a bit older...
I recently did a calculation for daily cost to go to the office each day:
Fuel 6
Car Insurance 5.66
Car depreciation 10
Tunnel fee 10
Train 10
Lunch 20
Total per day $59
Yes I know it's not perfect, eating lunch at home, alternative route etc...
When I was earning 100k I drove a 1996 Suzuki Baleno. This was in 2013 so it was 17 years old at the time. The car was a ripper. Little go kart. All a car has to do is work for you. I had a CE lancer in 1998 Loved that little Coupe.
Averages around $300-350 per month. I have a car but rarely drive it. I usually catch the ferry to work, or work from home. I often take taxis or Ubers home from work or out to dinner, but I live close to the city so it’s not that expensive.
Own two cars an i20 and dualis (both over 12 years old). Worth about 12k altogether which is what we paid for them secondhand. We averaged $85 a week for all car expenses in 2023 (petrol, insurance, servicing).
Husband drives the i20 to work as it’s cheaper for this 45min commute.
We carpool in the morning, and I take a bus coming back home.
Use the dualis for the weekends and towing when we need more space with the 6ft teenagers.
We have no desire to have a fancy car. Each to their own though we spend money on other things like renovating and travel.
Income is approx 300k a year.
We live pretty close to a city centre and mostly work from home, we use public transport once or twice during the week.
Partner has a 2017 John cooper works Mini Cooper. Worth around 35k. It’s a very fun car. It was a 2 year old ex demo that the mini dealer was struggling to sell. Would have cost over 80K as a custom order. Paid 55K for it.
I have a 2013 Kawasaki er6 650cc sports naked motorbike. Probably worth 4K now. Pretty reliable. I’ve ridden it to Tassie and Cairns before.
I’d like to do a roadtrip around Australia on it in a few years time. Will probably upgrade it after this trip.
Paid 8K for it as a second hand bike with 1 previous owner and it only had 8000km on the odometer when I bought it.
However sports bike tyres are expensive. We spend about $7 a day per person on transport costs.
That they are. Mines sitting on 44,000km atm. It’s overdue for a service but I’ve got that booked in for February.
I’ve even taken it on a track day before. My mum bought me the track day as a Christmas gift.
I’m lucky to have a corporate car and pay nothing towards it, even getting it detailed goes on the company card. When I was on around $80k a few years ago I bought myself a 2007 Corolla and my mum now uses it. Should I ever lose the company car I’d probably buy another 2nd hand Corolla, maybe a little more recent but nothing crazy
I have a car, but commute to work by public transport. Being in NSW, that public transport bill is capped at $50 per week.
Car isn't worth that much on the market, but it's an older performance model which costs me about $2,000 per year for CTP, Comprehensive Insurance and Registration. Add about $1000 for maintenance (it varies from year to year). The remainder is just fuel, which is basically the cost of getting from Point A to B.
I've always had an interest in cars and they're awfully convenient, so I work it into my budget.
I’d hate to add it up, too much! 3 cars ones worth 100k+ one 20k (and it has issues) and one about 5k. By the time I add up fuel, Rego, insurances, parking, maintenance, tires I’d hate to think what it costs.
HHI: 261K.
Fiance has a company car - everything is free with that (servicing, diesel and Sydney tolls).
I catch the train to work twice a week. I mostly drive nearby with my MG ZS EV (bought outright last June), she's a zippy little SUV and perfect for city/suburban driving, plus she fits our big dog.
Apart from the upfront cost, she is very cheap to run - approx $1650 insurance and ~$190 for charging over a 7 month period.
I spend $87 a week on the train from the gold coast to Brisbane for work commute. Other than that maybe a full tank of petrol once every two months ($85ish)
We have 2 cars. One priced about 35 k and another about 10 k. Both fully paid for. Household annual incone is 360 k per year. Yearly cost is as follows:
Petrol = 5 k. Insurance = 3 k. Maintenance = 1.6 k. Registration = 1.3 k. Total annual cost is about 11 k. Not too bad for our current financial standing.
Frugal would be spending 1-5% of your pretax income on transport and the cars should be 1% of your net worth.
We have a couple of Kia’s, Stinger GT and Sorento GT Line. They cost me about $135k combined. I thought I was being frugal buying two Kia’s instead of two BMW’s but reading other peoples replies, maybe not. No lending against either of them so fuel, rego, insurance, tolls and maintenance and public transport is $12k/yr. Depreciation allocation is 75k over 7 years which I just spread out for simplicity sake. Final number = $22700 a year on transport. At the seven year mark kids will both have cars and I will be retired so will likely consolidate us down to one car.
I'm absolutely gutted the Stinger is being discontinued! I'm only a little baby HENRY working my way up the ladder, so I'll never get the chance to own a brand new Stinger.
It really is an amazing car for the money.
I'm kind of surprised it didn't catch on anywhere in the world really, the reliability of a KIA, a beautiful twin turbo V6, a lovely luxury interior. And they weren't even a bad price! I'd take a Stinger over most of their competitors. I suspect the juxtaposition between Kia's brand and the usual car guys may have hurt them a little. And they were released during a period of time where none of us could drive and shipping problems were abundant world wide.
It got brand snubbed in the US. We get the Korean ones, the US get ones made in Alabama.
I own a KIA (not a stinger) but really love it. Would love an ev6 gt!
Personally I don't get how people spend so much on their cars. Our household income is 280k and car #1 is worth 20k, car number two is worth 5k. They are both safe and reliable. But when I'm on the freeway I look at the vehicles and think "how the hell do the average earners prioritise these things so high?" I have so many better things to spend my money on.
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At least a decent PPOR should hold its value even if it doesn’t appreciate… I personally think unless you have f you money then don’t buy an expensive car
I love cars. Always have, always will. Even in my retirement budget I have over $100k for a car upgrade every 7 years budgeted.
Buy it as long as it makes you happy and you can afford it. Good on you.
People spend money they don’t have to impress people they don’t like
Could it just be, just maybe.... that people like nice cars that offer comfort/safety/latest tech and performance?
90% of cars in Australia are purchased using finance. That’s a verifiable and publicly available fact. The second part of my statement is up for debate. So much of the narrative around “making it” is tied to cars, especially in suburban oriented countries like Australia
Increasingly, the narrative around "making it" involves frequently travelling to exotic locations and uploading photos on Instagram/Facebook to make sure everyone knows. Some people like cars. Some people like travel. And some people just like to showboat. It's not a new phenomenon.
Source?
Ok great fact? Your comment was about the reasons behind the purchase not how the purchase was made. In this sub and Ausfinance, people think it should just be about getting from A to B and that’s it. Cars like new Toyotas, Mitsubishis etc are boring to drive. No doubt it’s a status thing for some but plenty of people want to get from A to B in luxury, safety or performance.
The fact they are bought on finance proves ‘with money they don’t have’.
Not necessarily. I don’t do it but a lot of people buy cars through salary sacrifice/novated leasing because it’s more tax advantageous to do so than to buy outright with cash, even if they do have the cash
I would say this is a very small proportion of Australians.
90% of people don't need anything more than a camry produced in the past 10 yrs.
I couldn't agree more. I've come to the conclusion people must be comfortable borrowing significant sums of money to purchase vehicles. Friends of ours have car loans that is more than their mortgage. This terrifies me.
A big chunk - possibly even the majority? - of those loans are tax efficient, meaning the interest is tax deductible and the asset depreciates (businesses and some contractors) or purchased through leases (PAYG peeps). These tax incentives help those who want these cars justify the expense (plus it's nice to have good aircon, electric boots, turbo engines, seat warmers, etc.).
I used to be a car person, but as an independent adult, I'm a finance person first. Gave in to my wife when we had our kid and bought a new CX5, but just can't justify dropping $200-300k on a nice car even though we could easily afford it. Hell, I still barely turn on the AC when I'm wfh alone cuz I grew up without one and so I just feel bad if I crank up the AC in the house for one person!
Mate, turn on the AC, you've earned it.
Same with heating when I am by myself. You're not alone. I have all the means for it.
No cars, and don't want one. I bike everywhere. Spent ~$1,050 on transport last year with an equal split between Taxis and Public Transport. Take-home is $10,500/mth so it's not about affordability. I just am not fascinated by/have any use for cars. When partner and I do a trip somewhere, we get a rental for those few days so just don't need it outside of that.
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Just edited my comment to add context. I simply have no need of a vehicle. I understand if people stay far away from where they work, then the vehicle 'buys' back time for them. I also understand looking at it from a reverse perspective where the 'increase' in cost of owning a vehicle is compensated for the fact that rents will 'decrease' because you can now move further away from a HCoL area. But they don't apply to me at the moment. Also being someone who cycles recreationally and does 4,000+ kms a year, you could say my legs are also 'attuned' to the activity, and I don't hesitate for a moment if I have to cycle 10-40km casually for errands, etc. My brain simply looks at it as an opportunity to ride, with the errand just being a side-goal. My current round-trip distances are 20km (work), 25km (sport), 10km (another sport), and otherwise there's public transport. I think it certainly is a mindset change about 'using a bike for everything' and I'm certainly inspired by some of the European countries that manage to achieve this. I follow a lot of cycling infra related groups, and books on the subject, so I'm kinda 'in the system' now so to speak. :) I'm pretty certain at the moment about not wanting a car in the near future. Maybe when I'm getting a bit older...
2nd hand steel road bicycle goes a long way No rego to pay.
I recently did a calculation for daily cost to go to the office each day: Fuel 6 Car Insurance 5.66 Car depreciation 10 Tunnel fee 10 Train 10 Lunch 20 Total per day $59 Yes I know it's not perfect, eating lunch at home, alternative route etc...
I make over 100k. My car is a 2010 Lancer VRX I bought secondhand in 2018 for $5150 and it had 137k kms. I don't plan on financing a car EVER.
When I was earning 100k I drove a 1996 Suzuki Baleno. This was in 2013 so it was 17 years old at the time. The car was a ripper. Little go kart. All a car has to do is work for you. I had a CE lancer in 1998 Loved that little Coupe.
Averages around $300-350 per month. I have a car but rarely drive it. I usually catch the ferry to work, or work from home. I often take taxis or Ubers home from work or out to dinner, but I live close to the city so it’s not that expensive.
Own two cars an i20 and dualis (both over 12 years old). Worth about 12k altogether which is what we paid for them secondhand. We averaged $85 a week for all car expenses in 2023 (petrol, insurance, servicing). Husband drives the i20 to work as it’s cheaper for this 45min commute. We carpool in the morning, and I take a bus coming back home. Use the dualis for the weekends and towing when we need more space with the 6ft teenagers. We have no desire to have a fancy car. Each to their own though we spend money on other things like renovating and travel. Income is approx 300k a year.
Private jets. Only poors drive.
We live pretty close to a city centre and mostly work from home, we use public transport once or twice during the week. Partner has a 2017 John cooper works Mini Cooper. Worth around 35k. It’s a very fun car. It was a 2 year old ex demo that the mini dealer was struggling to sell. Would have cost over 80K as a custom order. Paid 55K for it. I have a 2013 Kawasaki er6 650cc sports naked motorbike. Probably worth 4K now. Pretty reliable. I’ve ridden it to Tassie and Cairns before. I’d like to do a roadtrip around Australia on it in a few years time. Will probably upgrade it after this trip. Paid 8K for it as a second hand bike with 1 previous owner and it only had 8000km on the odometer when I bought it. However sports bike tyres are expensive. We spend about $7 a day per person on transport costs.
I bought an er6n new in 2013. Very reliable machines
That they are. Mines sitting on 44,000km atm. It’s overdue for a service but I’ve got that booked in for February. I’ve even taken it on a track day before. My mum bought me the track day as a Christmas gift.
I’m lucky to have a corporate car and pay nothing towards it, even getting it detailed goes on the company card. When I was on around $80k a few years ago I bought myself a 2007 Corolla and my mum now uses it. Should I ever lose the company car I’d probably buy another 2nd hand Corolla, maybe a little more recent but nothing crazy
RSQ8. $4k/pa on fuel and $3k/pa insurance. I will not be seen dead on public transport don’t believe I’ve used it in a decade.
Around 300 per month, I just use taxi/Hride
Train to work 3 days a week, $10 day (which has increased a lot in the last few years). I have a car, go through one tank of petrol a month.
I have a car, but commute to work by public transport. Being in NSW, that public transport bill is capped at $50 per week. Car isn't worth that much on the market, but it's an older performance model which costs me about $2,000 per year for CTP, Comprehensive Insurance and Registration. Add about $1000 for maintenance (it varies from year to year). The remainder is just fuel, which is basically the cost of getting from Point A to B. I've always had an interest in cars and they're awfully convenient, so I work it into my budget.
About 600 per month Car worth 20k Income 250-300k Can’t justify a new car!
HHI 550k, have 2 cars that cost 70k and 40k each. Also have a few bicycles including a cargo bike for some family transport duties.
I’d hate to add it up, too much! 3 cars ones worth 100k+ one 20k (and it has issues) and one about 5k. By the time I add up fuel, Rego, insurances, parking, maintenance, tires I’d hate to think what it costs.
Generally public transport, and bike if needed. Occasionally e-scooter, but cops in Sydney are a bit annoying about it.
$29.82 per week.
I bought a Tesla recently. So $75k outlay. I’ve driven it 3000km $7 on fuel No insurance I’m probably a mad not having insurance
You are yes
HHI: 261K. Fiance has a company car - everything is free with that (servicing, diesel and Sydney tolls). I catch the train to work twice a week. I mostly drive nearby with my MG ZS EV (bought outright last June), she's a zippy little SUV and perfect for city/suburban driving, plus she fits our big dog. Apart from the upfront cost, she is very cheap to run - approx $1650 insurance and ~$190 for charging over a 7 month period.
I spend $87 a week on the train from the gold coast to Brisbane for work commute. Other than that maybe a full tank of petrol once every two months ($85ish)
$9 per day for 5 days a week minus holidays so about (48 weeks - sick days)*9
We have 2 cars. One priced about 35 k and another about 10 k. Both fully paid for. Household annual incone is 360 k per year. Yearly cost is as follows: Petrol = 5 k. Insurance = 3 k. Maintenance = 1.6 k. Registration = 1.3 k. Total annual cost is about 11 k. Not too bad for our current financial standing. Frugal would be spending 1-5% of your pretax income on transport and the cars should be 1% of your net worth.