How did you come to afford your raptor?

[Bruce Spencer]

Local 98 electrician put 15000 grand that I saved an my trade in

 

[Bonse]

Work in Civil service, sold a house and paid off debt with the equity. As someone said earlier in the thread the raptor was a few thousand more than a regular F-150 with leather seats and very few vehicles can compare unless purposely built.

I was actually looking at a Tundra TRD Pro but the local dealers had a 15k mark up which brought it up to more or less equivalent price w/ the raptor. simply the raptor is just nicer and better equipped.

 

[RaptorSRQ]

We just recently payed off our house. I was still driving my 1999 Lexus GS 300 that had been paid off since 03 lol. Was looking at the 2020 Sierra HD diesels but hate the new emissions that just kill the trucks. Always loved the raptors and went to Brandon Ford in Oct 19, and got a ‘19 they were moving for the 20s to come in. Got it for almost $9k off msrp so I knew it was too good to pass up. Also got the 8yr 100k mike bumper to bumper as I’ll keep it for that long at least. Love it so far

 

[Oceanbnd]

I sold an FJ Cruiser and got some great return. I used all of that sale to put down on a’17 Raptor. I was above water by like 18k and Raptors hold their value. I traded that Raptor and got 20k to buy a ‘19.

 

[skerzz]

Day trading stonks that only go up. Specifically, going long SWBI (gun business) at the start of a global pandemic, holding through the midst of an attempted Marxist revolution, all of which happened during an election year

actually, the above helped pay off the note, But I initially purchased and could afford my truck from over a decade in public accounting in the “Big 4” and grinding / working my ass off!

 

[Zeusmotorworks]

Eligible to retire public servant of 27 years (trying to do 34 more months for an even 30, but getting REAL hard these days). Wife of 26 years was smart and got out early on. She excelled on the private sector side in medical coding/supervision. Between the two of us we do pretty well (her the lion's share). With the COVID thing she was able to withdraw a small penatly-less sum from her 401k and pay off the last of our bills less mortgage. Got the 2020 802A Raptor at invoice, 2.29% which essentially after bills paid off meant it cost me less than $200 more a month. Timing was everything.

 

[Oldfart]

Which is all well and good, but you are not guaranteed a tomorrow. Save money, invest in your retirement, but don’t forget that the point of living is to enjoy yourself. Too many people get caught up in comparing themselves to others that they forget that we are all running our own race on different courses.

Couldn't agree with you more. I was taught to be a saver by my dad. I even managed to put a little away while I was working my way through school getting my second degree. Finished school and did well as a rep, and kept piling it away. In my early 30's a good lifelong friend was exactly the same way. Then he got testicular cancer and died 3 years later and didn't get to enjoy shit!

All the money he busted his ass for, and had socked away, good for nothing other than to pass on to his family. Really taught me a lesson to not put things off TOO much. Keep a long term perspective, and keep your debt down. I always only bought toys when I could pay for them.

 

[RadRaptor]

I work as a consultant in the auto dealer and collision industry for the past 14 years. My wife is an attorney in small firms for the past 14 years. We both work hard and are generally responsible with our money. We don’t have kids, we pay things off as soon as practical (pay off cars in 2-3 years, usually buy used), we put 15%+ into Roth retirement vehicles, we bought our home in an expensive area with 20% down and on a 15 year mortgage. We don’t go on lavish trips that waste huge amounts of money, most vacations are to see family where we don’t have to pay for hotels. We have no debt other than our mortgage and soon to be Raptor payment.

As for the Raptor, the truck I ordered will cost just over $70K out the door. I honestly can’t believe I’m spending that much on a truck, but whatever. I could afford the $1080 monthly payment, but I don’t want a payment that large looming over me for 6 years. I sold my diesel truck for $18,500 last week, I will be selling my sedan for probably $8,000 when the Raptor arrives, and I have some cash in savings (besides a 4-5 month emergency fund), so I should be able to put down about $35K. This will make the payment far more reasonable around $540 monthly. My usual thing is to make double payments, so the Raptor should be paid off in 3 years or less. I have already set aside $12K separately to pay for the $2300 extended warranty and $2700 maintenance plan plus another $7K in mods I plan on doing. I also placed the reservation for her new Bronco, so we’ll be buying another new vehicle for $45K out the door sometime in. 2021. We will sell her paid for SUV for probably $20K at the time, so the Bronco payment won’t be too bad.

I wouldn’t recommend an entirely new industry unless you plan on going back to college for a new degree. To me it seems like the easiest transition would be to something else in the same industry. Try different body shop, one of the larger corporate owned stores connected to a car dealership. I know body shop managers at some of the larger shops pulling down $120-170K annually. It’s a different dynamic than a mom and pop shop, reinvestment is planned for in CapX expenditures instead of from your salary. Another option would be going to work for one of the insurance companies beating up people like yourself, or a paint supply company selling things to people like yourself. Unless you really want out, stick with something you know just on a different path.

I am all up for beating up the insurance companies... the bad part of that is that the insurers don't make great money... I too, have several clients that pay managers in the 120-160;s

 

[rw968]

Fighter pilot specialising in taking bad guys stuff and breaking their toys. Business has been good.

 

[LpMike75]

I drove a crappy car for over 10 years with no car payment. Then, I bought a used Raptor for 20K less than a new one