Greatly depends on lifestyle It’s always a give and a take with any purchase. The guy with 4 kids in school and vacations 4x a year is probably going to need more income to justify the car than the single guy whos only hobby is cars.
Anyways, the cheapest McLaren is the McLaren GT at around 200k. A substantial amount of super car owners lease the vehicle and with a high residual you could get into a McLaren GT for a 3 years lease with 25k down for 2500 a month plus or minus. Just rough numbers here but it’s in the ball park.
So, say you want to be diligent and put most of your income into savings etc, you’d need around 20k - 25k post tax income per month. But realistically we’re enthusiasts here so 15k post tax would probably be fine provided your other expenses allow for that.
So basically you want 200 - 270k post tax income (300 - 350k pre tax in a 0 income tax state) per year to get into a McLaren comfortably depending on your priorities. If you live an otherwise frugal lifestyle or love cars, then even less may be needed.
Just chiming in, financing really depends on your place. I think the US is currently in a struggle, i got an lease offer on a 1 y/o McLaren GT (6000km) sitting at 169k:
13k down, 1’500 month/48m at 0.9% interest.
McLarens HEAVILY depreciate here (central europe) and you can get into a pre-facelift 570s at 110k
Just reliability is a concern and with the R8 existing, theres little to justify a mclaren
All good points. Financing and leases is definitely a very country specific thing and you’re absolutely right I was discussing the US market. In other counties it could be an entirely different proposition.
McLaren now offers a 3 year maintenance and warranty included on all new cars which definitely helps ease the reliability fears for the first few years, but if going used I totally agree that the R8 is probably the single most reliable supercar. It’s too bad they stopped production, what an excellent machine. I hope you enjoy yours!
Indeed very country specific. I think its very interesting to discuss these finance topic openly to gather insight.
I like to keep my cars for a looong time and drive them a lot. I asked a McLaren Tech thats a buddy of a buddy of a buddy, apparently you can prolong the warranty up to 10 years at 4.5k per year.
Audi really hit a homerun with the R8, i got mine with 10 years free service (bought it slightly used) so this year was the last free one. So far the Car has been nothing but a great daily/weekendly companion. It currently sits at 160k km.
I’m not sure why you think that. With the numbers above a financed McLaren would cost 10% of someone’s yearly income. 90% for everything else. That is a very reasonable number. Especially for enthusiasts. If 90% of your income can’t cover housing, savings etc then they are overextended in one of those areas. Which is why I said it depends on lifestyle so much but around 10% of yearly income on a vehicle really isn’t much to write home about.
A substantial amount of super car owners lease the vehicle and with a high residual you could get into a McLaren GT for a 3 years lease with 25k down for 2500 a month plus or minus. Just rough numbers here but it’s in the ball park.
That makes sense. Then over the life of the lease they’re only paying 90k.
FWIW I think people somewhat overplay “rules” with getting one of these cars.
Yeah I agree with that, if you’re making 300k+ things like daily necessities and life expenses just aren’t a factor. All you have to do is make sure you don’t blow all the money on a house that’s too big or stupid things.
To buy a 750S new? Hard to really say because it depends on your net worth and how you’re spending your money and where you live. A single person in a low cost of living area could buy a car like this while making $400-500k maybe, but you’d need a lot more if you’ve got a family or live somewhere more expensive, or have a lot of money tied up in real estate.
Everyone’s situation is different so it’s hard to say. Especially because there’s a level where you can buy a car like this, but then that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a financially responsible move.
With these high dollar toys, it’s a good idea to start thinking about net worth and not just income. If you’re considering a 750, your finances are presumably well sorted, so will a rapidly depreciating asset compromise your investment goals?
Random question, what sort of annual income would you need to reasonably afford a McLaren?
Greatly depends on lifestyle It’s always a give and a take with any purchase. The guy with 4 kids in school and vacations 4x a year is probably going to need more income to justify the car than the single guy whos only hobby is cars.
Anyways, the cheapest McLaren is the McLaren GT at around 200k. A substantial amount of super car owners lease the vehicle and with a high residual you could get into a McLaren GT for a 3 years lease with 25k down for 2500 a month plus or minus. Just rough numbers here but it’s in the ball park.
So, say you want to be diligent and put most of your income into savings etc, you’d need around 20k - 25k post tax income per month. But realistically we’re enthusiasts here so 15k post tax would probably be fine provided your other expenses allow for that.
So basically you want 200 - 270k post tax income (300 - 350k pre tax in a 0 income tax state) per year to get into a McLaren comfortably depending on your priorities. If you live an otherwise frugal lifestyle or love cars, then even less may be needed.
Just chiming in, financing really depends on your place. I think the US is currently in a struggle, i got an lease offer on a 1 y/o McLaren GT (6000km) sitting at 169k: 13k down, 1’500 month/48m at 0.9% interest.
McLarens HEAVILY depreciate here (central europe) and you can get into a pre-facelift 570s at 110k
Just reliability is a concern and with the R8 existing, theres little to justify a mclaren
All good points. Financing and leases is definitely a very country specific thing and you’re absolutely right I was discussing the US market. In other counties it could be an entirely different proposition.
McLaren now offers a 3 year maintenance and warranty included on all new cars which definitely helps ease the reliability fears for the first few years, but if going used I totally agree that the R8 is probably the single most reliable supercar. It’s too bad they stopped production, what an excellent machine. I hope you enjoy yours!
Indeed very country specific. I think its very interesting to discuss these finance topic openly to gather insight.
I like to keep my cars for a looong time and drive them a lot. I asked a McLaren Tech thats a buddy of a buddy of a buddy, apparently you can prolong the warranty up to 10 years at 4.5k per year.
Audi really hit a homerun with the R8, i got mine with 10 years free service (bought it slightly used) so this year was the last free one. So far the Car has been nothing but a great daily/weekendly companion. It currently sits at 160k km.
300-350k definitely isn’t enough to get into a McLaren comfortably unless that’s your priority.
I’m not sure why you think that. With the numbers above a financed McLaren would cost 10% of someone’s yearly income. 90% for everything else. That is a very reasonable number. Especially for enthusiasts. If 90% of your income can’t cover housing, savings etc then they are overextended in one of those areas. Which is why I said it depends on lifestyle so much but around 10% of yearly income on a vehicle really isn’t much to write home about.
That makes sense. Then over the life of the lease they’re only paying 90k.
Yeah I agree with that, if you’re making 300k+ things like daily necessities and life expenses just aren’t a factor. All you have to do is make sure you don’t blow all the money on a house that’s too big or stupid things.
To buy a 750S new? Hard to really say because it depends on your net worth and how you’re spending your money and where you live. A single person in a low cost of living area could buy a car like this while making $400-500k maybe, but you’d need a lot more if you’ve got a family or live somewhere more expensive, or have a lot of money tied up in real estate.
Everyone’s situation is different so it’s hard to say. Especially because there’s a level where you can buy a car like this, but then that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a financially responsible move.
Thanks so the minimum is around 500k other factors aside.
With these high dollar toys, it’s a good idea to start thinking about net worth and not just income. If you’re considering a 750, your finances are presumably well sorted, so will a rapidly depreciating asset compromise your investment goals?