30% of ST owners make over $100k?

[opusmonday]

I could see it. Keeps the miles off of the more expensive toys. One gent I know with a Fiesta has an e30 m3, an AMG sls, and some other little thing as well I believe. The FiST for him is a snack money purchase that checks a lot of boxes and provides the latitude of choice when it comes to where he puts his depreciation mileage.

Personally, if I were in the 100k bracket, I would certainly follow his lead and do the same thing.

 

[RAAMaudio]

I have modded dozens of cars all the way up to building over $100k race cars, at one time had a race and a highly modded street vette and I am happier in the FiST than I was in those cars, I just like smaller snappier cars. It is also nice to know I can afford to walk away from it if I blow it someday on track(actually I would probably cry about the ST after all the hours of fun building it up)

At one point I was making several times what I now take in retired and had a really nice 2002 Miata we loved and could of been driving a ZR1 or GT3, etc. I traded it in on the C6 street Vette and put $40k into mods and hardly drove it. I have always I regretted selling the Miata as the adage goes, more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow.

The FiST was the only new or newer car than fit my wants and needs and I knew I would love to drive and mod and fit two big doggies in the back and fit into our trailer. If not for the doggies I would probably of built a pretty hot street/track Miata, fast enough to spank most Vettes on track, but I am totally cool with the FiST, I love it.

My all time favorite memories are from the 10+ years of modding and having a huge amount of fun in 510 Datsuns when all my family and nearly everyone was into "muscle" cars and thought I was really weird. Even my fully gutted and built L20 510 would not touch my FiST on a race track, I like making and driving a FWD car fast and the FiST was already quick stock

 

[D1JL]

You think you get looks.
Look at my car, I am in my mid sixties.


Dave

 

[meFiSTo]

You think you get looks.
Look at my car, I am in my mid sixties.


Dave

LOL. No wonder you have a .45 in the glove box.

 

[D1JL]

The problem now is remembering to put the window down before I use it.



Dave

 

[RAAMaudio]

My car is silver, debadged, single and not loud exhaust tip, just different wheels and brakes under them and a TR Splitter and gets looked at all the time when I drive it, I do not really want to get looked at, if the general population look at it then the police will likely as well making it a bit harder to have a bit of fun

Your car must get a ton of attention!

I am 63 and may or may not have a hot loaded 380 in my pocket or very hot loaded 10mm in the console for now but later in a hidden safe

 

[TurboTinCan]

Come to SoCal and you can see how a $100k household income is far from ballin', especially if you throw kids into the mix. =)
But everyone's priorities are different and you never know what else they own or have banked. I think you nailed it, the statistic mostly just shows that it is a fun enough car to appeal to people who can afford more.

 

[ZREXER]

This will sound like like bragging, but not intended that way. I am one of those nasty 1 percenters you read about based on family net worth. Have invested well over the years, no silver spoon, did it all the hard way. I am also frugal. My wife and I live simply. Yes we have toys, but not to excess at all.
Could have dropped $150,000 into a fun car without blinking, elected instead to help my two kids purchase their first homes with a sizable cash gift to both. They never have asked my wife and I for a dime, but we wanted to help them get a good start on life. They both have good career's and make good money and are smart with it
Their was a time in my life I aspired to own a prestige sports car, but it is no longer a priority at all. The FiSt is a good bang for the buck, excellent stock, but can be tweaked to be even better.
Dispite popular opinion, those that have the most stuff don't win.
You would be amazed at how simply many rich people live. You would have no idea of their net worth by seeing how they dress, what they drive or where they live. Life is not all about stuff.
Often the people you assume must be rich are instead completely maxed out on credit.

 

[opusmonday]

Come to SoCal and you can see how a $100k household income is far from ballin', especially if you throw kids into the mix. =)

Agreed. The solution in my case was to eliminate the probability of marital partnership or the prospect of offspring through the decision to just not bother. It's a trade-off, but fundamentally speaking, the only way I'll ever pay for kids in my life is if I plow head on into a school bus one day and take a few out on the way through.

 

[15performanceblue]

This will sound like like bragging, but not intended that way. I am one of those nasty 1 percenters you read about based on family net worth. Have invested well over the years, no silver spoon, did it all the hard way. I am also frugal. My wife and I live simply. Yes we have toys, but not to excess at all.
Could have dropped $150,000 into a fun car without blinking, elected instead to help my two kids purchase their first homes with a sizable cash gift to both. They never have asked my wife and I for a dime, but we wanted to help them get a good start on life. They both have good career's and make good money and are smart with it
Their was a time in my life I aspired to own a prestige sports car, but it is no longer a priority at all. The FiSt is a good bang for the buck, excellent stock, but can be tweaked to be even better.
Dispite popular opinion, those that have the most stuff don't win.
You would be amazed at how simply many rich people live. You would have no idea of their net worth by seeing how they dress, what they drive or where they live. Life is not all about stuff.
Often the people you assume must be rich are instead completely maxed out on credit.

Did not seem like bragging to me. I surly could not drop 150,000 on anything right now. I don't make to much, but for being 25 years old, I do ALRIGHT. We can say that. But my friends parents bring in a combined income of 350k a year. They had to move out of their 4500 sq foot home because they could not afford to pay off their debt to retire. I just thought it was funny you said how often the people you assume to be rich or have a lot of money are completely maxed out on their credit. Well this is the case. My friend, their 23 year old son had to take over there finances and forced them to move into a 1100 sq foot townhouse just so they could pay off their debt so they are able to retire in the next 4 years like they plan. It is pretty wild how people live, rich or not. I also have a friend who's parents are MILLIONAIRE rich, I have known him for 10 years, and I just found out how rich they actually are because they live so humble. Drive inexpensive cars, life a very modest life style. I could have afford a little more on a car easy, but I decided to go with the FIST for every reason everyone else did. It is just amazingly fun, and when you start modding it, it is not the fastest car out there by all means, but man does it move, and move good.

 

[rexdriver85]

You think you get looks.
Look at my car, I am in my mid sixties.


Dave

lmao. You are still pretty "hip to the jive" at you're "old age".

 

[RAAMaudio]

I lived in La Jolla CA for 4 years, many super rich people there, the only ones I liked lived in a small house, drove a regular car, owned 50+ rental homes but rented them dirt cheap because they did not want more money, just helping less than rich people live in a nice place.

I made enough money for a few years to have a ton of stuff and found it to be a huge burden and not fun at all, economy went to sheat and it took some time to clear things out and the final is selling my house below market value because I really like the buyers and want them to have the place.

Once done with the transaction I will still have my truck, trailer and FiST and the funds to really enjoy life, what more could somebody really need!

 

[meFiSTo]

Once done with the transaction I will still have my truck, trailer and FiST and the funds to really enjoy life, what more could somebody really need!

Maybe a time machine with an age reversal function that could be dialed in with precision.

 

[RAAMaudio]

Oh yeah!

I have had a pretty crappy year health wise, normally in great health all the time, I will get it back because everything is possible if we make is so, how the universe actually works, as long as we do out part.

I am known to get far more done than most anyone no matter their age so I can live with being 63, just have to get my focus on well being and it will happen

Looking at buying this when the house sells and maybe for cash.

Not a Ford but it is a better truck if you know what to look for, I would buy a Ford if they ever get their sheat together as they were the best some time ago.

 

[wrongwheeldrive]

I always thought when I was making good money I would buy my dream car, the Nissan GTR (back when it was $70K). Now I no longer want one. There is an intangible aspect to the FiST that a supercar doesn't have. As RAAMaudio said, it's more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow. Plus, knowing you can add every bolt on available and still be well under $30K all in, that's value you don't get in "fast" cars. The day I hear they are discontinuing the FiST and there isn't something available that matches its spirit, I'm going to go buy 2 more!

P.S. check out the book "The Millionaire Next Door". Real rich people don't act rich. This is the perfect car for the rich enthusiest who doesn't care about/want flash.

 

[Chris G]

This will sound like like bragging, but not intended that way. I am one of those nasty 1 percenters you read about based on family net worth. Have invested well over the years, no silver spoon, did it all the hard way. I am also frugal. My wife and I live simply. Yes we have toys, but not to excess at all.
Could have dropped $150,000 into a fun car without blinking, elected instead to help my two kids purchase their first homes with a sizable cash gift to both. They never have asked my wife and I for a dime, but we wanted to help them get a good start on life. They both have good career's and make good money and are smart with it
Their was a time in my life I aspired to own a prestige sports car, but it is no longer a priority at all. The FiSt is a good bang for the buck, excellent stock, but can be tweaked to be even better.
Dispite popular opinion, those that have the most stuff don't win.
You would be amazed at how simply many rich people live. You would have no idea of their net worth by seeing how they dress, what they drive or where they live. Life is not all about stuff.
Often the people you assume must be rich are instead completely maxed out on credit.

Couldn't have said it better myself. My wife and I collectively make a decent amount of money and are living comfortably in SoCal. I couldn't even imagine buying a new car that I would finance $30k ++ on. It just seems insane to me to pay that much money to drive up and down the freeway and around town only to inevitably get banged around and what not over the years. The FiST serves its purpose perfectly IMO - a fun, nimble, affordable car that makes me smile a lot.

Most of the people around where I'm at are in BMWs, Cadillacs, and other pricier cars and living in homes that I know cost $700-800k. It makes little to no sense to me how hoards of people can do this, but I'll take my simple ass life and my savings account over their paycheck to paycheck living.

[emoji41]

 

[Brick]

I always thought when I was making good money I would buy my dream car, the Nissan GTR (back when it was $70K). Now I no longer want one. There is an intangible aspect to the FiST that a supercar doesn't have. As RAAMaudio said, it's more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow. Plus, knowing you can add every bolt on available and still be well under $30K all in, that's value you don't get in "fast" cars. The day I hear they are discontinuing the FiST and there isn't something available that matches its spirit, I'm going to go buy 2 more!

P.S. check out the book "The Millionaire Next Door". Real rich people don't act rich. This is the perfect car for the rich enthusiest who doesn't care about/want flash.

well said and nice link!



I find this topic VERY interesting and I am so glad to see such civilized discussion. Well done all !

 

[opusmonday]

I'm generally convinced that high tier mainstream vehicles from non-luxury brands are the domain of the silent affluent. Take the Avalon. Surely as enjoyable and amenitized (made that word up) as the nearest Lexus. No spindle, and invisibility. A fully loaded 2015 Fusion or Taurus is in the same boat, and by gum I sat in an Impala that was loaded to the nuts and it utterly killed the nearest Cadillac in terms of the interior quality and styling. Hell, even my Dart with all boxes ticked was competitively equipped for very little money and provided an experience that was really top notch. The flash is not always backed by cash. The sublime, usually is.

 

[SirSlaughter]

I'll have to put in my 2-cents and let you know that I'm in that "too poor for a lambo, has just enough for a Fiesta" category. My parents actually pay my insurance AND paid 10Gs off my previous fiesta which is what I traded in for my ST. Even then, they threw a couple of grand my way to drop my payments into the comfy range.

I'm a spoiled turd and I admit this. But don't think I don't work for it. I'm currently at NADC with my father taking college courses to get myself into the automotive business and I have 2 jobs. Just enough to keep me afloat and live at home with my parents.

I can also attest that the ST would be a third car for those rich guys in Nashville. A gentlemen I frequently hang out with owns a lime green Viper SRT10 and we go to cars&coffee events together often. He thought about getting the ST because his Honda was boring and lame, but his Viper was a bit much to be a daily driver. He ultimately went with an NSX I do believe as he was able to find one at a decent price around here.

I am also surprised at the lack of Fiesta STs I see with wealthy people in my area. I go to nasvhille for car events and such, and i am the only guy rocking the Fiesta ST. Plenty of Focus guys, but then they all swarm me asking about my Fiesta. It's a fun thing to have and I wouldn't give this thing up easily.

 

[Sumo64C]

I'm waiting on the Focus RS to get here, that will be my show of wealth since it's probably going to be close to 40k lol.