Luxury Cars on the Cheap

Lexus Hybrid Models (CTH or ESH only)

Audi A4 or A6 (Smaller Engine only)

BMW 1 or 3 (V-4 version only, with no extras)

Infinity G

Vintage Muscle Cars (Not mint, but close to it)

Acura

These are the cars that if you are out of debt, have a great income, and currently exceed retirement estimates for your age that you might want to get to live a little in the lap of luxury. These are all luxury brands but the cool thing is these models are not too expensive.

All the vehicles I mentioned above will cost you less than 50K for new versions and around 25K for used versions. I am not one to recommend splurging on cars given this is a financially savvy blog, but if you finally achieved a new status with personal finance then I do not see anything wrong with getting any of these models if your income is consistent and above average. One Caveat I recommend is not to do it while adding debt. The right way to buy cars is to save up as much as possible and buy something you can afford.

They all can get you from point A to B, while saving you some gas compared to other equally priced luxury cars. The only exception to the list is the vintage muscle cars as most will be V-8 engines with horrible fuel economy, but boy will you look cool riding around in one of those puppies. Some auction sellers have them at great prices.

Obviously the Lexus Hybrids will get you great fuel efficiency now but later the battery issues might be a problem. In comparison the German cars which include Audi and BMW, their engineers are making great strides with diesel engine options that could one day trump the hybrids class leading MPG records.

First thing to consider is to only buy these if the purchase price consists of less than 25%-50% your annual income. Percentages must play a big role in life and if you learn to apply them to cars you will be well off and be very financially efficient.   Do not be like the normal college graduate who goes out and buys a car that equals 75% of their annual income. In addition to this error most of those graduates just landed the job, and thus do not have at least 2 years of job security. This can lead to major issues with finances early on in life. Buying a car that equals 50% or more off annual income is not smart personal finance.

Any other cars not on this list are either priced too high, offer horrible fuel efficiency, have reliability issues, or have extremely expensive 5 year cost to own stats.

Purchase Price = 25K

Annual Income must = 100K or greater

Equals 25% price to income ratio

Purchase price = 25K

Annual income = 50K

Equals 50% price to income ratio

Can you now see the difference in the percentages? One allows you less risk than the other.

Comment if you agree with the luxury cars on the cheap list. Also if you agree with the purchase price to income ratio I recommend above?

Rich Uncle EL

Pic credited to Lexus Co..