To want a Porsche?

[NaMaStayInBed1]

This is a bit deep so please be kind!

I grew up in a council house in the 80s/90s with the housewife Mum and manual low paid worker Dad, all good. In secondary school, I went to a school at the other side of town where most parents owned their house. As I got to 14/15 I began to feel inferior and poor, my school trousers had holes in the crotch whilst my friends wore Tammy Girl. I went on to have a child at 18 and threw myself into being a Mum and fighting the stereotype of a teen Mum, would go to many baby groups. Because of my age, I again felt inferior and I was a size 20 so lacked confidence. I later went to Uni and have a fantastic career and have lost weight and feel good. Still don't own my home but live in a lovely area, we may buy but mortgage rates and economic instability have put us off - rent is cheap and we dont have to worry about unexpected repairs.

I currently drive an Audi, and previously a Merc. I'm looking at my next car and want to step up in prestige so for a long time have said it would be a Porsche family car.

I heard someone say the other day on TV "stop spending money on things you don't need to impress people you don't like" and it has made me question my motives!

TLDR: My career and car make me feel like I can hold my head up high. Things that need me feel inferior: growing up in a council house at school with mostly fanilies who owned their homes, being a teen Mum, being obese. I am very proud of my career and now want a Porsche to replace my Audi. I have always felt that people have looked down on me/had an inferiority complex and things like this grow my confidence.

YABU: you probably don't really want a Porsche, you are just trying to impress people

YANBU: A Porsche is a sign of doing well and will make you feel good to reach a new goal

Buy a car because you love the car, OP - not for any other reason. I don't think buying a flash car will help to fix your insecurities.

You'll never have your house if you continue to buy expensive cars that you don't need.

Where I live (affluent north west village filled with middle class academics) a Porsche just screams new money and is really considered a bit tacky. Sorry.

If you're trying to hide your working class origins you need a much less blingy car. Old Land Rover, a Skoda of some sort, Subaru Forester etc.

@NaMaStayInBed1
What a waste of money.
Car depreciate especially in the first 3 years.
Homes nearly always appreciate in value, and besides you need a home. Home ownership generally gives you much more security than renting (especially if in the private sector).
Would you want to be still re when you reach retirement age?
Save your money and keep saving for a deposit on a house, that's more impressive than a flash car.
I own my own home and I drive a Fiesta and I don't care what people think. I have a roof over my head for the rest of my life. That's security.

Poor people stay poor by making bad choices like driving expensive cars when they don't even own their own home.

You sound like you have major hang ups & insecurity from childhood. I get that. It's not uncommon.

But the good choices now to show you've changed is prioritising capital accumulation & your dc's education.

I'd be embarrassed driving an expensive car if I was renting and if I met someone who admitted that I'd think less of them. Sorry.

Because of finance, anyone can drive a luxury vehicle, it's really not the marker of financial success that it used to be.

I wouldn't parking a Porsche outside a rented home, that's ridiculous to me. Cars depreciate, property (generally) doesn't. Theres a house being used as an HMO on our street and I do side eye when someone moves in with a brand new Audi or whatever, I think that's a strange priority financially when you're an adult renting a room in a shared house to be driving a car worth that much

By all means get one if you want one, but don't expect it to make you happy or solve your problems.

I always wanted a Carrera. Not for either of your reasons @NaMaStayInBed1 but because I think they’re gorgeous cars.

If you can afford a Porsche then you most likely can afford to buy a property. By anyone's reckoning those you still seek to impress would be more impressed by that.

I would set your next goal as buying a home not a Porsche. It's a good investment and will create stability for you . It's a grounding feeling owning your own home vs renting . The Porsche can come later x

Congratulations on getting to where you are now.

Honestly, I wouldn’t be buying a fancy car if I didn’t own my own home. Buying a house, a stable and secure base for my family, would absolutely always come first.

Once you have a house then look to the fancy add-ons such as cars. If you’re going for a Porsche get a classic vintage / older model. You’ll look less of an idiot and they have a much better drive, the classic Porsche feel.

Don’t finance anything. Save and buy outright.

I think you might be right in questioning why you want the Porsche, it does seem to be about impressing others, validating your achievements but a sense of validation needs to come from within not from showing off for others.

If you want to come across as 'doing well' it's more about clothing, grooming and most importantly confidence, often combined with a five year old car paid for with cash.

Agree with other posters, it's great you have done so well for yourself largely through hard work, but there was nothing 'wrong' with you in the first place.

Leases have totally robbed 4x4s of the prestige they once had. Buy an old one and it will cripple you financially - a broken rear climate panel on my sister's Q7 cost over a grand to fix, the tyres are ridiculous and so on. Also agree with others though that the main problem with Porsche SUVs is that they are utterly hideous.

Consider a Lexus if splashing that sort of cash and don't forget big cars depreciate hard. Only a mother could love this face.

Well done with university and doing so well in your career.

Tbh, if you want a Porsche, buy a Porsche, you most certainly don't need random strangers online to validate your choices. The thing is though, anyone can buy a Porsche or other luxury car. It has more to do with credit rating and/or cash. Money just buys stuff. Personally, I think some therapy and/or counselling would be a far better use of your money.

Buy a home before a porsche. They aren't even that great to drive anyway, stall all the time, my family member didn't last long with theirs.
And yes, THERAPY!

Yes this is it.

An Audi is already an embarrassing try hard car. Please don’t waste money on a car when you don’t even own a home

Research what model you buy, or petrolheads will mutter 'Poor man's Porsche' as you drive past.

Only on mn would you read an audi is embarrassing and you can get a poor mans porsches...

Op why are you even asking here, surely you know mn is the most class obsessed site there is, full of posters asking how they cant afford kids whilst earning 100k a year?

Buy your porsche and get on with showing off

Some interesting takes in this thread! Some practical, some envious. Wow.

As a car person myself, OP, I get it.

But, as others have correctly stated, a nice-to-have like this should come after you have all your financial ducks in a row and everything else is set.
Absolutely agree with the PP who said something like this should be a cash purchase - like any other treat (fashion item, bag, swiss watch).

Some models won't depreciate, some will even appreciate (although it sounds like you'll be looking at an SUV rather than a GT sports car, so yeah - you'll lose money). Maintenance is agonizingly expensive. Never allow yourself to get lured in by a bargain used car. "There's nothing more expensive than a cheap Porsche" is a term my mechanic uses.

But all that said, you need to buy something for the right reasons. If you want to make YOU happy and are doing it because it's something that has always been a "you" thing, then yes - if you're in a position to go for it, then go for it.
Don't do this to impress others, don't do it from a place of insecurity.

Buy it if you really really like the car and not the prestige, but definitely go for a second hand model. Absolutely no point in buying anything younger than 3 years old unless you can claim it as a business expense.

Putting aside the house issue and issues you need sorting with therapy..

I have a Porsche and love it but I wouldn’t buy one again.

They are expensive and depending on the model have a lot of issues do your research and basic maintenance is 20/30% more expensive.

Do not touch the electric ones - even on pcp your car is not worth the outstanding money owed.

They are not the car they used to be

I totally get where you are coming from but I’m not convinced the car will give you the validation you need. It is a bit like young girls carrying around designer handbags that cost thousands but they live at home with their parents and can never dream of moving out.

you are doing very well for yourself but you need to consider you need to keep up the momentum. Save for the house deposit and those sort of costs.

i once bought myself a watch as a bit of a present to myself. Cost a few grand but gave me a bit of the validation internally that I had worked hard for something that was just for me. Watches also tend to hold their value well.

Please don’t buy a Porsche. I say this with kindness as I am from a working class background so I get it but there is nothing impressive about getting a Porsche and still renting a house. True success / wealth is owning own home, good pension, savings. We are wealthy. I have an old car as honestly don’t care about cars. My husband has a Tesla as it’s appropriate for him to drive an electric car with his work. We paid off our house, have brilliant pensions, ISAs, investments and travel a lot. Cars just don’t matter that much. Use the money to buy a house / get stability with savings / investments. A car loses value the moment you drive it off the forecourt

This OP

aim for the stable home for your children.

I can relate to you as I also grew up very poor with rich peers. I wasted wayy too much money in my early 20s to try and compensate in some way.

cars depreciate in value houses tend not too, that’s if you are buying the car outright! If you’re thinking of doing car finance then def not! Some of those agreements are basically renting the car.