Reconsidering Emira purchase due to Los Angeles parking

[deadcruiser]

I currently have a deposit on an Emira, but have been going back and forth on if I should back out of it since I've decided that I'll be making the move from Atlanta to Los Angeles next year.

At my current place I have the option of getting an on site private enclosed one-car garage for $200/month and live in an apartment complex in the city.

I'm looking at complexes and rental houses in Los Angeles in and around West Hollywood/Glendale/Silverlake/Echo Park etc and it seems like no complexes have any real parking and even houses are pretty much street parking only with the occasional underground parking. I looked into garage rentals but as this car would be a DD I can't really bring myself to have to tolerate parking my car a mile or more away or doing a car swap that often. The houses that do have off street parking at least too look okay, but based off google maps I feel like I would have one of the higher value cars that's just in plain sight and not in a garage.

I would street park but I feel like that's just asking for vandalism and especially theft. I have no idea though. I've never lived anywhere where I've had to street park my car. I don't care about day to day scuffs etc cause I'll be DDing and taking the car to the track anyway.

I feel like I'm also constrained by my budget of $1400-$1700 (with a roommate, so $2800-$3400). I can't bring myself to pay a lot more just for a place solely for a garage, and it's unlikely that I can tailor my apartment searches to be right next to these garages for rent. So it's looking like at best I'll have underground/garage parking.

Any other LA buyers in here able to share their experiences with owning a higher end, daily driven, car in the city? I don't have any in person experience with LA, but I'm hoping that some members here can give me insight. If I can't rationalize the Emira and LA parking, I'd likely just go for a GR86 or S1 Evora instead.

 

[Pops68]

I currently have a deposit on an Emira, but have been going back and forth on if I should back out of it since I've decided that I'll be making the move from Atlanta to Los Angeles next year.

At my current place I have the option of getting an on site private enclosed one-car garage for $200/month and live in an apartment complex in the city.

I'm looking at complexes and rental houses in Los Angeles in and around West Hollywood/Glendale/Silverlake/Echo Park etc and it seems like no complexes have any real parking and even houses are pretty much street parking only with the occasional underground parking. I looked into garage rentals but as this car would be a DD I can't really bring myself to have to tolerate parking my car a mile or more away or doing a car swap that often. The houses that do have off street parking at least too look okay, but based off google maps I feel like I would have one of the higher value cars that's just in plain sight and not in a garage.

I would street park but I feel like that's just asking for vandalism and especially theft. I have no idea though. I've never lived anywhere where I've had to street park my car. I don't care about day to day scuffs etc cause I'll be DDing and taking the car to the track anyway.

I feel like I'm also constrained by my budget of $1400-$1700 (with a roommate, so $2800-$3400). I can't bring myself to pay a lot more just for a place solely for a garage, and it's unlikely that I can tailor my apartment searches to be right next to these garages for rent. So it's looking like at best I'll have underground/garage parking.

Any other LA buyers in here able to share their experiences with owning a higher end, daily driven, car in the city? I don't have any in person experience with LA, but I'm hoping that some members here can give me insight. If I can't rationalize the Emira and LA parking, I'd likely just go for a GR86 or S1 Evora instead.

I live in the "burbs" but I can tell you driving a stick in the areas you are looking at will NOT be fun....at....all!! Lots of lights, lots of stop and go, lots of rude, inept drivers, etc. And I wouldn't even park a hooptie on the streets of LA. If you parked your Emira on the street I'm pretty sure you would regret doing it! Unless you want to live IN the city proper maybe you should think about moving further away and commuting? Rents would be much lower and you could get to drive your car every day...or depending where you work and live you could take the train into work and escape with your car on the weekends?

 

[deadcruiser]

I live in the "burbs" but I can tell you driving a stick in the areas you are looking at will NOT be fun....at....all!! Lots of lights, lots of stop and go, lots of rude, inept drivers, etc. And I wouldn't even park a hooptie on the streets of LA. If you parked your Emira on the street I'm pretty sure you would regret doing it! Unless you want to live IN the city proper maybe you should think about moving further away and commuting? Rents would be much lower and you could get to drive your car every day...or depending where you work and live you could take the train into work and escape with your car on the weekends?

Well I work from home, but I’ll have classes and other things I have to go to in West Hollywood multiple times per week so generally I want to stay pretty close to them proximity wise. I mean North Hollywood might be a likely place to choose since those houses have actual garages but I’m not sure. I don’t think I’d want to go any farther north than that, any father east than Glendale and any farther south than Culver City unfortunately.

I’ve dealt with Atlanta traffic and I know it doesn’t even compare to LA but I’m willing to risk it and see. I mean I’ll be living in the city for a few months at least before I even get the chance to finalize the Emira order so I can always get a manual beater and see what it’s like lol.

 

[vantage]

I drove my track-prepped Elise and GT4 in downtown LA routinely and parked both there for a period of time before I moved out to the burbs. Both my place of work and home had underground covered and secured parking though. I would not want to overnight street park either car, or an Emira for that matter, on a regular basis. I temporarily street parked both of them all the time when going to restaurants or visiting friends though. They are cars and I used them as such.

Sorry for being so blunt on this, but if your monthly budget for rent is $1400-1700, then this is probably not the right time in your life to own an Emira or any other $100k car for that matter, where the monthly payment on the car would be the same or slightly more than your rent. Obviously there are a million variables to consider, so I am making some presumptions here, but worth considering if your priorities are correct.

All that said, I think the right move with these type of cars is to find somewhere to park it for $200+ a month and find alternative ways to get to work / school. An Emira is wasted in Weho traffic.

 

[deadcruiser]

I drove my track-prepped Elise and GT4 in downtown LA routinely and parked both there for a period of time before I moved out to the burbs. Both my place of work and home had underground covered and secured parking though. I would not want to overnight street park either car, or an Emira for that matter, on a regular basis. I temporarily street parked both of them all the time when going to restaurants or visiting friends though. They are cars and I used them as such.

Sorry for being so blunt on this, but if your monthly budget for rent is $1400-1700, then this is probably not the right time in your life to own an Emira or any other $100k car for that matter, where the monthly payment on the car would be the same or slightly more than your rent. Obviously there are a million variables to consider, so I am making some presumptions here, but worth considering if your priorities are correct.

All that said, I think the right move with these type of cars is to find somewhere to park it for $200+ a month and find alternative ways to get to work / school. An Emira is wasted in Weho traffic.

Well the payment would be around $700/mo with the down payment I’m putting down but that’s true. I have the ability to go up to ~$4k/month in rent without really affecting my finances, but I just don’t want to, i’d rather stay cheap and pickup a roommate or something and have the extra money to spend (well, waste) on random stuff or play with stocks. As my income has increased the one thing I’ve been super resistant on increasing are housing costs (usually staying ant $1,200 or less) and taking on debt but obviously it may be time to re-evaluate my stances.

I mean you basically are repeating what I’ve been thinking but don’t want to admit to myself lol. I can outright buy a GR86 which I’d be fine with and okay with leaving on the streets and not dealing with a car payment or repairs etc, but part of me feels like if I don’t pick up an Emira now, in 4 years they’ll be $200k and out of reach.

 

[EspritGuy]

I drove my track-prepped Elise and GT4 in downtown LA routinely and parked both there for a period of time before I moved out to the burbs. Both my place of work and home had underground covered and secured parking though. I would not want to overnight street park either car, or an Emira for that matter, on a regular basis. I temporarily street parked both of them all the time when going to restaurants or visiting friends though. They are cars and I used them as such.

Sorry for being so blunt on this, but if your monthly budget for rent is $1400-1700, then this is probably not the right time in your life to own an Emira or any other $100k car for that matter, where the monthly payment on the car would be the same or slightly more than your rent. Obviously there are a million variables to consider, so I am making some presumptions here, but worth considering if your priorities are correct.

All that said, I think the right move with these type of cars is to find somewhere to park it for $200+ a month and find alternative ways to get to work / school. An Emira is wasted in Weho traffic.

Smarter folks than me will chime in about the registration and annual use fees in California .
What else constitutes a reality check on motoring there?
Also something might be said about tuning vs emissions constraints. Eyes wide open.

 

[deadcruiser]

Smarter folks than me will chime in about the registration and annual use fees in California .
What else constitutes a reality check on motoring there?
Also something might be said about tuning vs emissions constraints. Eyes wide open.

The tuning and emissions constraints seem like a pain for cars older than 8 (?) model years or whatever ngl. I was looking into doing a V6 MR2 build and had to scrap the idea once I found out there would be no way to register it in CA.

 

[Pops68]

Well I work from home, but I’ll have classes and other things I have to go to in West Hollywood multiple times per week so generally I want to stay pretty close to them proximity wise. I mean North Hollywood might be a likely place to choose since those houses have actual garages but I’m not sure. I don’t think I’d want to go any farther north than that, any father east than Glendale and any farther south than Culver City unfortunately.

I’ve dealt with Atlanta traffic and I know it doesn’t even compare to LA but I’m willing to risk it and see. I mean I’ll be living in the city for a few months at least before I even get the chance to finalize the Emira order so I can always get a manual beater and see what it’s like lol.

Well anyway, I hope things work out in LA for you! The Hollywood area is certainly a place with great entertainment, night life and stuff to do! It's crazy driving around there though, you might consider picking up a bicycle too! Have fun and good luck..

 

[RENDERMAN]

I currently have a deposit on an Emira, but have been going back and forth on if I should back out of it since I've decided that I'll be making the move from Atlanta to Los Angeles next year.

At my current place I have the option of getting an on site private enclosed one-car garage for $200/month and live in an apartment complex in the city.

I'm looking at complexes and rental houses in Los Angeles in and around West Hollywood/Glendale/Silverlake/Echo Park etc and it seems like no complexes have any real parking and even houses are pretty much street parking only with the occasional underground parking. I looked into garage rentals but as this car would be a DD I can't really bring myself to have to tolerate parking my car a mile or more away or doing a car swap that often. The houses that do have off street parking at least too look okay, but based off google maps I feel like I would have one of the higher value cars that's just in plain sight and not in a garage.

I would street park but I feel like that's just asking for vandalism and especially theft. I have no idea though. I've never lived anywhere where I've had to street park my car. I don't care about day to day scuffs etc cause I'll be DDing and taking the car to the track anyway.

I feel like I'm also constrained by my budget of $1400-$1700 (with a roommate, so $2800-$3400). I can't bring myself to pay a lot more just for a place solely for a garage, and it's unlikely that I can tailor my apartment searches to be right next to these garages for rent. So it's looking like at best I'll have underground/garage parking.

Any other LA buyers in here able to share their experiences with owning a higher end, daily driven, car in the city? I don't have any in person experience with LA, but I'm hoping that some members here can give me insight. If I can't rationalize the Emira and LA parking, I'd likely just go for a GR86 or S1 Evora instead.

To put it to you simple terms, Driving an Emira In massive LA traffic will make you a lot happier!!

 

[lion shf]

Follow your instincts Son1 rents in Echo a block off sunset. I parked my $25k TT 1 night on his street with 3 weeks of my wife’s and my stuff in the car. I was happy no break in. If I buy a lotus/718/C8 I’ll NEVER street park it there. The amount of bumper rash/vandalism/wheel curbing will break your heart.
I’ll also add this is the very spot on the entire street

 

[deadcruiser]

Well anyway, I hope things work out in LA for you! The Hollywood area is certainly a place with great entertainment, night life and stuff to do! It's crazy driving around there though, you might consider picking up a bicycle too! Have fun and good luck..

I hope so too! I've wanted to move there for years and finally have no excuse not to. It's looking like what I want in LA is incompatible with the Emira and I don't want to stay in ATL just to own one.

Hopefully I can also find a sort of walkable area to live in although I know that's almost impossible to find in LA haha.

To put it to you simple terms, Driving an Emira In massive LA traffic will make you a lot happier!!

True yes, but the issues with parking will override that and I can't drive 24/7 lol

Follow your instincts Son1 rents in Echo a block off sunset. I parked my $25k TT 1 night on his street with 3 weeks of my wife’s and my stuff in the car. I was happy no break in. If I buy a lotus/718/C8 I’ll NEVER street park it there. The amount of bumper rash/vandalism/wheel curbing will break your heart.
I’ll also add this is the very spot on the entire street

I'm not really worried about break-ins, that's just a part of city life. Wheel curbing is nbd, I've done it to every single one of my cars in low speed situations 😅. My concern was mostly vandalism and theft but yeah it's looking like I may just have to pass on an Emira and do my best and hope I can hit millionaire status by the time I'm 45.

I'll likely end up eventually pulling out of my pre-order and going with a GR86/Supra/maybe S1 Evora. All of these cars are ones I'd be able to have paid off by the end of Q2 2023 or Q2 2024 at the latest vs. Q3 2026 with the Emira. So it'd be nice to have a paid off car so I can just dip from my job at any time without having to worry about losing stuff due to income issues. The only bigger fear of mine than getting an Emira stolen is being locked into a job/being forced to work just because I have a car note I have to pay for.

Plus it'd be less stressful dealing with a <$65k car and a parking situation vs a $100k+ exotic.

 

[lion shf]

If you hike surf and board, I’d go $35k mk7.5 dsg Golf R. And echo park is totally walkable to tons of live music, art and food spots, and we walk to Dodgers Stadium all the time

When my wife eventually throws me out I’m straight to LA I dig it the most

 

[deadcruiser]

If you hike surf and board, I’d go $35k mk7.5 dsg Golf R. And echo park is totally walkable to tons of live music, art and food spots, and we walk to Dodgers Stadium all the time

When my wife eventually throws me out I’m straight to LA I dig it the most

I'm dead set on a coupe, but I don't do any of those things at the moment lol.

However, there is an extremely high likelihood that that changes given how vastly different the CA environment is from GA, especially with regard to humidity. But with any of these lower priced cars I can always just buy a beater 2nd for stuff like that.

 

[lion shf]

I'm dead set on a coupe, but I don't do any of those things at the moment lol.

However, there is an extremely high likelihood that that changes given how vastly different the CA environment is from GA, especially with regard to humidity. But with any of these lower priced cars I can always just buy a beater 2nd for stuff like that.

You don’t hike surf or board. Sure LA suits you? You smoke tho yes?

 

[lion shf]

Our air bb was a block off sunset in silver lake amongst 5 mil homes. I’d be completely comfortable parking an Emira there
Cross street is sanborn I’d give this 5 square blocks south of sunset a real good look

 

[deadcruiser]

You don’t hike surf or board. Sure LA suits you? You smoke tho yes?

Lmao I just never lived anywhere where surfing or skateboarding was really a big thing so I never picked it up, and hiking in Florida was a no go with how humid it was. I haven't gotten the chance to do it much in GA but I know we have some solid places to do it here.

In CA I'd definitely want to see what's up with surfing though for sure.

 

[lion shf]

Lmao I just never lived anywhere where surfing or skateboarding was really a big thing so I never picked it up, and hiking in Florida was a no go with how humid it was. I haven't gotten the chance to do it much in GA but I know we have some solid places to do it here.

In CA I'd definitely want to see what's up with surfing though for sure.

Snowboarding. It’s everywhere and super close

 

[deadcruiser]

Our air bb was a block off sunset in silver lake amongst 5 mil homes. I’d be completely comfortable parking an Emira there
Cross street is sanborn I’d give this 5 square blocks south of sunset a real good look

You're the first person I've seen on this forum who might actually be okay with street parking an Emira haha. I'm not too sure if it'll sway me now that I've run through the numbers and commitment it would take from me. I did see this property too so maybe there is some hope.

I'm actually going to LA for the entertainment industry so I'm not sure how badly being locked into 1.5 years of saving + 2.5 years of a car payment would mess me up. But I'm not too sure I want to find out, and it would make it super hard to give up the Emira once I'm actually in it.

 

[deadcruiser]

Snowboarding. It’s everywhere and super close

This is something I definitely want to do.

 

[lion shf]

You're the first person I've seen on this forum who might actually be okay with street parking an Emira haha. I'm not too sure if it'll sway me now that I've run through the numbers and commitment it would take from me. I did see this property too so maybe there is some hope.

View attachment 10084

I'm actually going to LA for the entertainment industry so I'm not sure how badly being locked into 1.5 years of saving + 2.5 years of a car payment would mess me up. But I'm not too sure I want to find out, and it would make it super hard to give up the Emira once I'm actually in it.

I’d street park YOUR emira