What kind of job are you planning on getting/where are you going to live? Depending on your level of pay, and where you live, a Gallardo might just be a monumental PITA. First, service is only in major cities, and second, that service will make BMW's service dept. seem like a bargain.

Chemical engineer in DC/MD/NOVA. I think he'll be ok.

Plus he's a high dollar hooker by night. I can't even tell you how much I pay this guy.

:iagree:

I should be set after a few years of experience and a master's degree :tup:

PayScale - Chemical Engineer Salary Survey, Average Salaries

Assuming that is anywhere near accurate that's not much more than I make, and I have 0 debt and live pretty small other than my hobbies and I would NOT be able to take on a Gallardo without selling my soul to the thing.

Of course, that's just an average, and he may do much better than that.

Just food for thought, but my car payments are around $1K a month and insurance on both my cars is around $240/mo. I can do this comfortably but a Gallardo is well beyond me, though. Maintenance on that car would kill me, and you can't finance maintenance, lol.

*On a Gallardo, you are looking at $1-1.50 per mile to maintain. If you buy it used, check to see how much clutch is left. It's about $5K to replace and lasts around 15-25K miles normally, depending on how you drive it. Also understand that when you bu ya car like that pre-owned, it is HIGHLY likely that you are buying someone else's mess in that you are going to have a lot of wear/maintenance items to tend to right out of the gate. Have it inspected THOROUGHLY if you don't buy new.

I was dead serious about the high dollar hooker part.

/\ check your PM's...












J/K

:happydance:

Check YOUR PMs!


NOT kidding. :yum:

Car affordability is a very relative thing. I make well into 6 figures but support a family of 5, quarter mill mortgage, aggressive savings plan, kids in private school, child care with the wife doing post-graduate to start a career (which will make us a lot of money long term), and thus a $40k car has only been possible for me the last year or so, and I am now 41yo. So, what is "affordable" for me might be the same as for a 20 year old living with mom and dad, like many of the members on this forum.

Exactly. Everything is relative. :tup:

Exactly! I make a ton less than you do and one of my cars cost about 200% what a 370Z costs. I also live alone, don't like to go out, and have no debt. It's about lifestyle more than income.

I think the average pay here is higher than that. I have a couple friends graduating this year that are starting in the high $60k to low $70k range. With a couple years of experience and a master's degree I should be making quite a bit more. I think making six figures some where down the road isn't too unreasonable.

I don't think the notes are going to be an issue for you, I think it's the maintenance that will be a pain. You could well begin looking at the car as "another mouth to feed" rather than the toy it should be. When Italian cars break, they take the piggyback with them.

One other thing to consider:

If you are going to buy a Gallardo in 5 years, it will be 5 years old. No warranty. Probably lots of stuff that needs attention, etc. Might leave a bad taste in your mouth from the get-go.

I dunno, I am just VERY leery of foreign cars that don't come with bumper-to-bumper warranties. That is also part of why I got a 7/70 bumper to bumper in addition to the 5/100 powertrain warranty on my Z06. When things on expensive cars go wrong, it is a $3-6K hit (if a "cheap" system goes out, like A/C or clutch) right off the bat. It sucks to get smacked with that when you least expect it.

I have owned about 5 cars in my short life, and every one of them at/past the 5-8-year point had, at some point in its life, absorbed at least 50-75% of current residual value in repairs. I have no reason to suspect a Lamborghini would be any different.

It's just dreams and high hopes right now. I'm sure by the time I'm ready to even thinkabout buying a car like that my priorities and responsibilities in life will have completely shifted from where they are now.

:icon18:

Don't discount it. I planned to buy a Viper or a Z06 when I was a Junior in highschool. Then in my last year of college, I narrowed it down to the Z06. Then the last 1/2 year I got on the forums and began researching more and more and was certain I wanted a Z06.

Sure, most people on the forums talked a lot of ****, etc. about how I would never buy anything, on and on, but I'm the one laughing now.

Just because something is 5 years off doesn't mean you can't be serious about it and put things in place to make it happen. I wish I had taken more time to spruce up my credit. As it was, I was low 700's with no car-credit history. That made securing financing a bit tougher for me. However, my WS6 had a T56 transmission, which made the switch to the TR6060 all the easier. When I bought the WS6, the Viper and 'Vette had T56's, so I wanted to learn how to manage THAT transmission, as each manual I have driven has its little quirks. It served me well.

Anyway, my point is, 5 years is nothing, and don't let anything come between you and your dreams.

I would never buy one without a full warranty from the dealership. That's just asking for a disaster.

No one is laughing. It's just fun because you made the ImportConvert show fun and entertaining. You were like the Rebecca Black of the forum. Z06 Corvette, 370Z TT, which car should I take? We hate and love you for that.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't happy to see you finally get your Z06.

<3 u Import Convert. <3 you always. :tup:

Yeah I'm not, but I will be living with the family and paying for a house too by then. I was kind of the same way with my last car purchase, but just with my family and friends instead of on the forum. The only thing holding me back was getting my parents permission to get the Z. When they finally said yes, I got the Z 2 weeks later :)

:bowrofl:

Most of the crap I got was from the Corvette/Viper forums, actually. There are some seriously snotty 'vette/viper owners who think anyone under 30 just COULDN'T POSSIBLY buy a 'vette/viper on their own. They are forgetting its a dodge and a chevy, albeit nicer than the normal images conjured by those names.

The 370Z TT setup was just something I considered after seeing on on the highway. It looked clean and I liked the interior of the car. After looking into what I would have to do to make it work like I wanted, it seemed like a $55K answer to a question that would better be answered by spending a little more and getting all the resale/warranties that a car in that price-range should have.

Still, I considered it, because I would HATE to spend this kind of $$ and have not considered all options.

Cars I considered:

-'08/'09 Viper
-'11 Z06
-'09-10 GT-R
-'12 GT500
-'12 Cayman R
-'11 370Z TT
-'11/12 E92 M3

Reason I went with the Z06:

The Viper had a poor warranty and costs about 50% more than a Z06 to work on, doesn't offer cruise control or other creature comforts, and has a small tank and poor mileage (sucks for road-trips), no traction control, and only about 5% better performance when driven by world-class drivers.

The 370Z TT setup would have no warranty or resale and was not as well-rounded a package as the Z06. The interior is nice, though!

The E92 M3 is more of a luxury car with performance, not a performance car with a bit of luxury. Mustang GT's are ringers for it, and I wanted "more" after racing a few Camaro SS's in my WS6 and being dead even with them and seeing how the mags got the same #'s out of the SS as the new GT. I viewed the M3 as a step up from my WS6 in luxury/handling only. I wanted a bump in speed, too.

The Cayman R. Tons of pricey options, not much faster than a stock 370Z if you get over the PDK or go from a roll.

GT500. Didn't like the driving position, the SRA, or the shifter and the reports of grinding transmissions left and right.

GT-R. If I were to buy one, it would have to be new after reviewing all the grief the transmission. What did it for me was the long-term test car that one of the magazines had where they said "It does great, there is a little hitch in the transmission, but nothing to worry about" something like that. Yeah, I knew I'd worry. Also, Nissan doesn't discount them enough to put it in my budget of trying to stay under $75K total TTL/Warranty, etc.

The Z06. Interior was comfortable and of good quality but looked a bit dated. The rest of the car was superb, as was price/warranty, etc.

I went with the one I could afford that wouldn't wrap me around a tree for looking at it wrong that would still stomp 99% of the cars out there and look good doing it and have all kinds of warranty backing it up.

Anyway, I put a ton of research into each car on my list and that's what I came up with. Maybe that will help OP in some way.

I'm not a family kind of guy and didn't want to buy a house where I live. I am waiting for this car financing deal to take my credit to the near 800 region before I buy a house--in some other state. Louisiana is crap.

I did similar research when buying my car, just my budget was significantly lower. My family/friends got tired of me talking about it, especially when I asked them for help in making the decision. :icon17:

My budget was all over the map but I guess at the end of the day I am cheap.

My co-workers actually talk about my car more than I do it seems. They haven't even seen it.

Nothing wrong with looking for the best bang for buck. Of course you missed it by not going with the M3 :roflpuke2:

:icon18:

When it came down to the G37 vs 370Z for me, not a single person I knew or asked picked the Z. Everyone said I should have gotten the G. When I brought my car home, every single one of those people changed their mind and said I made the right decision. :)

True. I mean I toyed with the idea of ordering a 2012 GTR for crying out loud. I definitely should have bought the M3.

Should have gotten the GT-R or the M3, then maybe I could have driven your car :p

I would venture to guess that there are very few engineers less than 5 years out of school that own a Lambo. Of course, that's also because most people choose to spread their money around - nice house/apt, nicer clothes, going out more, and the big killer (family). But if you live like a poor college student while you are working, then sure, a Lambo is attainable. Actually, in the south you see something similar with people living in a busted old trailer park with a brand new SS camaro in the driveway. (And by driveway, I mean the patch of dirt and gravel out front).

The real question is, 5 years down the road will your priorities still be the same? Maybe, maybe not.

In the end it's your life, do what makes you happy.


/threadjack complete

Yeah I did mention that my priorities would probably be different by then. I guess I do live a sort of Spartan lifestyle when it comes to things like going out. I'm not talking about a new Lambo here though. You can get a 5-6 year old Gallardo for under $100k, which is the only way I would be able to get one anyway. I'm more likely to get a GT-R anyway.

Thanks for the post. Much appreciated. I actually used to own a C6 Z06, though. Ended up building the motor, the tranny, the rear-end, supercharging it...and then sold it. Pretty good car, overall, especially for the price. Wasn't happy with the build quality, but the performance was great.

Would definitely make a good compliment to the GT-R, but I'm not sure if I want another one or not. I did like how mine looked, however.

Good call. It's a better car.

Looks great man :tup:

Can't wait till I am in the test driving phase to buy a super car :driving: :D

Maybe they will have the GT-R R36 by then :drool:

What was your issue with build quality? So far on mine, I have found nothing to complain about except the "look" of the interior, which does not differ a whole ton from the C5 and could be considered dated. What year was your Z06? I think the '09 and newer ones are a LOT better since GM switched to Bosch and a few other things.

Dear god. I've seen one of their cars do really bad things to a Veyron in Russia. :rock::rock::rock:


In response to your 'dilemma' :p, I'm thinking an Exige or one of the last NSXs would fit the bill nicely. Good luck with your choice!!! :tup:

Another importconvert :inoutroflpuke:

I was being a bit unfair. I should have clarified that stock, the cars are fine. Sure, the seats and interior plastics as you stated, could be improved. But overall, the quality at stock HP levels were fine.

But just to run 9 psi safely from a Roots blower (722 rwhp/660 rwtq), you need to swap out the cast pistons, and build the stock tranny and rear-end. I was spoiled since I was used to 996 variant Porsche Turbos, which come with forged rods and pistons from the factory, and bulletproof transmissions and axles that are good for over 1000 whp. All the P-cars require are bolt-ons to run 700-800 rwhp for tens of thousands of miles without any issues, whereas the Z06 requires a built motor and driveline...which I found to be frustrating.

All that said, I think a head/cam Z, or one with intake, exhaust and tune, or even one with a Centri blower at low boost should be fairly reliable overall.

And that was at only 700whp (P800 package). My setup will make a 'little' bit more than that.:D

I hope to have the "own a Z and a GT-R" problem the year after next.

I am looking forward to seeing that. The P800 itself is bad a$$!