The original post: /r/whatcarshouldibuy by /u/Beats_The_Rush on 2025-03-06 05:27:54.

I recently started a new position making $150k a year base working as a Technology Finance Manager. Take home after taxes/insurance/etc. is roughly $100k, or about $8,300/mo. If I average out all my discretionary/non-discretionary spend it comes out to around $3,400/mo, leaving me with ~$4,900/mo in savings. With that all being said, I am finally at the point with my 2014 Ford Focus ST with 137k miles on it where I am looking for something new, nice, and fast. I was reading on here some advice that mentioned it is better to get a new car when you choose to, rather than when you need to, so I am trying to heed that advice. The ST has been good to me, but it’s beginning to have issues that could ultimately leave me stranded, so I do have some sense of urgency at this point.

Considering the above, I am currently looking in the $55k-$60k price range. I currently have about $50k in savings, but I’m not comfortable with losing my entire cash stack, so the max I’m willing to put down is $25k. The one car I’ve really had my eye on has been the Audi RS 3. No other car in this range has really spoken to me like the thrum of the five-cylinder engine. As of now, the 2023 - 2024 model years with < 20k miles are landing right in my price range, and to be honest I’m pretty enamored with the car. I’ve always been ingrained in the car community, and it’s been one of my goals to own a realistically nice car. (Sorry Toyota Corolla recommenders, I understand they’re practical but I’m looking for smiles per gallon.)

However, I feel like what gets missed a bunch when people are talking about “what you can afford” and the 15%, 20%, xyz rule surrounding reasonable monthly payments is often missing the insurance component, which on a new(er) car can have an upward effective cost of $300/mo+. For the RS 3, on a 60mo $25k down w/ a $5k trade in with excellent credit lands monthly payments around $654/mo, which sounds great in practice until you tack on the cost of insurance, bringing the total cost of ownership net of gas/maintenance costs to around $1k/mo

With that being said, how have you approached the overall search? Did you consider the TCO before you moved forward with going after a new car? I’m not looking to be talked out of a decision, but I’d like to see how other people approach the topic of TCO, and what is considered an acceptable amount.