How to Buy and Own a Luxury or Exotic Car Responsibly

(ABoD) Dallas – Back in college, when perhaps you were struggling to make ends meet, you scraped up enough money to buy a reliable car to get you back and forth to school form your off-campus apartment. You probably read an article on how to negotiate car prices and what to look for in terms of maintenance and wear and tear. After college, you would go on to buy more cars, using better tactics for negotiating car prices. You drove your car to work, various stores, and all over town to wherever you needed to go.

That’s what regular cars are for.

But when you look to acquire a luxurious or exotic car, you’re stepping into a fairly different arena. Can you use the same negotiating tactics for such above average motor cars? Sure. But your demeanor and the way your carry yourself has to be upgraded to the stature of the kind of car you intend to acquire.

Negotiating

For lower end luxury cars such as those under $100,000, the way you negotiate prices is familiar. Do your homework online with Edmund’s and Kelly Blue Book, eBay Cars and Cars.com, among others, to get a feel for the price. But the closer you get to $100,000, the more dealer will expect you to have enough money to not go overboard in terms of discounting. That doesn’t mean you still can’t haggle, but you must haggle responsibly. Be prepared to have your financing in order before going in to buy. Research the vehicle beforehand so that you can speak with confidence about the car you want. Know the brand well. Otherwise, some dealers won’t take you seriously because selling high end cars already takes more time than regular cars, and opportunities to sell are fewer. So they profile high end buyers the minute you pull up to park at the dealership (which is why it is preferable that you drive in with a nice car, not a busted ugly car, or hooptee). Though your clothing can be comfortably casual, it should still be clean and presentable. If you can pay cash for a car, the dealer will be even more willing to offer a discount, but they don’t advertise discounts publicly in order to protect the prestige of the brand, so you’ll have to ask when you buy.

Cars over $100,000 are usually bought by people who can pay for them cash or with short term financing to be paid off soon. They are often leased as well, but require impeccable credit. Cars that exceed $300,000 are almost scarce, so you should expect to have a healthy networth, enough so to special order the car you want. For instance, a Pagani can easily exceed $400,000 and will likely drop $80,000 to $100,000 in value within 12 months after leaving the lot. You are more likely to buy a Pagani used as owners rarely drive the cars more than 2,000 miles a year. An order for a new Pagani will require a hefty net worth, and not as much for a used one.

 Owning and Operating

Now that you have your luxury or exotic car, you have to know how to own and operate it. Ownership requires your typical maintenance, but you can’t take it to any shop because maintenance can be expensive, and opportunities to get ripped off rise accordingly. Ideally you should be able to afford to take it to the dealer you bought it from for maintenance, but if you are still cost conscious, ask the sales man or friends/co workers who own similar cars for referrals. Premium unleaded gas is typical for luxury cars, though it you run into rough patches financially, some experts say it won’t harm the car if you use 91 or 89 grade unleaded gas. Avoid allowing the gas level to fall to E regularly.

Operating high end cars is different than normal cars. They have status for a reason. Cars under $50,000 may not turn quite the number of heads as those approaching $100,000 and beyond. So you don’t have to use as much caution with those lesser luxury cars. But you still can’t leave those cars parked anywhere. The more expensive the car, the less likely you are able to drive around town without getting fans gawking and asking questions. And if you get a Bugatti Veyron, Pagani, Porsche 918 Spyder or Koenigsegg, you can only drive such cars to distinctive places such as museums, high end charity events, 5-star restaurants (may want to vet the valet before handing over the keys), and high society events. If you are brave enough to drive one of these to Walmart to pick up a few things, expect to return to your car with several fans standing around your car taking pictures and asking questions (if it is not sitting on 4 concrete blocks because someone figured out a way to steal the expensive wheels).

You might consider renting a high end car at places such as Platinum Motor Cars in Dallas (visit our Motor Cars page) to get a feel for driving a $70,000+ car. They’re not as cheap as Hertz or Enterprise though. Expect to rent at a few hundred dollars a day.

You have to think about your driving destinations and the ramifications of parking your car before you drive it out of your garage (you do have a garage, right?). Please drive an exotic car responsibly.