Car spend appropriate to my earnings!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not for a minute suggesting that books should be judged by their covers.

What I am saying is that, in my view, for people who deal with clients, there are some “dos and don’ts”. That goes for auditors, lawyers, financial advisers, etc.

I think it’s a mistake to drive something too flash, as the obvious undertone is “how much money is this person making from me?”

I also think it’s a mistake to drive something too old/cheap, as the undertone might be, rightly or wrongly, that the person can’t even manage their own situation.

Personally I like 2-4 year old cars. Let someone else take the big depreciation hit, they’re still under warranty, and you avoid the hassle of the NCT. In terms of the overall foolishness of buying cars end of story, I view my approach as one of the better houses in a bad neighbourhood.
 
MrViking said:
No I don’t, but interested in your views if I did meet clients…
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It’s a good point, depending on role, a banger might suggest you aren’t successful if your work requires your clients to make a judgement call with limited information before hiring you. It shouldn’t but if in an industry with limited metrics or most companies offerings are very similar then it often comes down to feel/first impressions.
 

Turning up in a clean 10 year old Volvo would suggest to me that this is someone who is excellent at managing their own financial affairs. But maybe it's just because it's someone who conforms to my own prejudices!
 
Brendan Burgess said:
I know people who used to change their executive car every two years. Quite a few of them got into financial difficulty as I suspect that their overall attitude to finance was fairly showy and short-term.

Brendan
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We see this all the time!

Depreciation, service, tyres, insurance, motor tax, fuel. These are all huge expense and a hell of a lot of taxi and Uber fares!

So many families in urban area could easily manage with one car and save the price of a family holiday every year.
 
Major improvements in cars seemed to stop about 20 years ago. I'm talking ABS, airbags, aircon, power steering, greater mechanical reliability, electric windows, etc, that made driving much safer and more comfortable.

My wife drives a 2007 no-trim VW. The 2022 model will be better of course but we're talking reversing sensors, in-car navigation and the like. This is all nice, but the car isn't driving itself and reliability and comfort are pretty much the same.

I will spend big some day on an electric/self-driving as it's a fundamentally better product but until then there is not much point in getting a new car every second year.
 
time to plan said:
Turning up in a clean 10 year old Volvo would suggest to me that this is someone who is excellent at managing their own financial affairs. But maybe it's just because it's someone who conforms to my own prejudices!
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There’s an element of us all confirming our own prejudices and beliefs with this stuff.

But putting myself in a potential client or customer’s shoes for a second, I think I wouldn’t like to see the person driving a brand new flash car, but equally I wouldn’t like to see them driving something more than, say, 10-12 years old.

When I see a nice circa three year old car, rightly or wrongly I think “hmm, successful, but not stupid, decent first impression”.
 
IMHO in the case of the OP where affordability doesn't appear to be an issue I would be replacing a 12 year old car with a newer model. There is a increased risk of a breakdown with a car that age.
 
Peanuts said:
IMHO in the case of the OP where affordability doesn't appear to be an issue I would be replacing a 12 year old car with a newer model. There is a increased risk of a breakdown with a car that age.
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In general yes, but on the other hand if there's a problem with a 12 year old car a backstreet mechanic will have a fair idea of what the issue is and how fixable it is, and it's cheaper to maintain (as long as there's been regular servicing and no big ticket items).

You read stories of people with new or relatively new cars getting warning lights and bringing in for diagnostics and no one can get to the bottom of it, regular servicing or not.
 
Cost is not an issue for the OP
 
my advice to anyone is spend your money on what gives you satisfaction, but do spend some of it on something. Personally i like cars, ill always have a decent car, but for me, not for anyone else. Being new or not doesnt bother me, its just a piece of plastic (well in my case pressed metal always ) with a number on it.

There is also a lot of reverse snobbery around new cars as well, evidenced by the i know new car owners that dont have 2 pennies to rub together comments !

But like watches, hifi equipment, art and anything else if you get enjoyment from it spend your money, if its to impress someone else, dont bother!
 
As the OP who posted the original post, let me give you a sense of the direction I am going in. I am in my mid forties. I have worked my **** off for the last 20+ years and progressed rapidly in my profession/career. I have spent money in areas that bring me happiness, but also saved and invested a considerable sum because of generous compensation packages, bonuses etc. I have 4 young children and a partner, and I want to spent considerably more time with them (in my role as a parent, partner and also on fun family experiences) before they grow up and move out of the nest! I will be making a change in my career later this year which will leave me with much greater time to spend with my family, and autonomy to work on the projects and people I want to work with. I will take a significant cut in earnings, but will still be very well paid. This has only been possible because of the freedom which a level of financial independence has secured for me. This has been possible because my lifestyle has not kept pace with my earnings over the years (but I have still lived a very comfortable life with multiple holidays a year, weekly restaurants, entertainment etc etc etc)— and not succumbing to cars and “things” has been a considerable factor in etching out this freedom. For me, this is the prize, and this is how I have “spent” my surplus money. As I said earlier, I appreciate that we all have our own goals and appreciate different things in life, so not suggesting this is the path for all. I fully agree with the earlier posts above re working and saving to the grave. I will not be making that mistake! Given the level of debate in this post, I just felt an obligation to give my final contribution.
 
So what are you driving?
 
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