Buying an FR-S at 18
 

So I make around $1200 a month and I want to buy a 2013 FR-S by June of this year. I turn 18 in May. The average prices for one around where I live is anywhere from $10k-12k. If I were to have a $6000 down payment by June, do you think I would be able to get a loan considering I am just starting to get credit?

Thank you in advance for anyone that can help with my question.
Edit: Yes, some may say its not practical, but I have already paid off my Camry to make up for that.

if ur 18, opening a auto loan from a bank would be an excellent way of building your credit. id buy second hand from craigslist, then give the seller the check the bank gives you, then pay the bank back slowly over time. we could use another 86 around here, pretty rare.

you can totally finance the car through a dealer too, thatll help credit also.

welcome aboard frosty!

I plan on financing through a dealer, my father works for Acton Toyota and knows every car that comes in, I got the chance to test drive a beautiful firestorm red fr-s a few months back, and instantly fell in love.

well then there you go! finance rates are pretty low these days around 3% i think in our area? so its a good time to buy, and if you put 6k down, your monthly payments would be totally doable. i dont work in finance, but i dont foresee you having a problem getting the dealer to loan you the remaining 6-8k.

im not sure how much you know about these cars, most people think its a camry chassis with a good looking shell, but thats not the case at all. these things are certifiable sports cars, a true drivers treat.

This is a great car to buy on your own at 18! There is nothing impractical about it. With a large cash down payment you should have no problem getting a loan and as Haxx said it is a great way to establish some credit.

The insurance is the only thing I gotta worry about, Paying for both the fr-s and my camry, but im sure its doable.

heck, sell the camry. is there a reason you want to keep it? you can daily the frs in winter, as long as you have winter tires.

be responsible, spend your money on cool things, not legal fees and 9-points-on-your-license insurance. dont be like me.

no matter what, your insurance will not be as bad as mine lmao.

That's the thing though, I need the camry for the winter, the fr-s would get destroyed if I daily drove it in the winter here.

Two cars will be a financial bomb. Get a quote on insurance - do the math of keeping both cars and whatever other financial goals you have.

I've thought about it, but the winters here are terrible for the cars, I dont want to destroy it with rust when I get it

Mine has been through 5 Canadian winters and is just fine. They are not 1980 Chevettes and stand up really well to the snow and salt. There is zero need for two cars.

that's about what my first car loan was.

this is a good time for a lesson in due diligence--you know what you want, but don't let it blind you. shop around for loans. different places are going to have slightly different rates. though because you have a connection at the dealer, it's likely they'll still give you the best rate.

being 18 with minimal/no credit also is likely going to mean that you'll need a co-signer on the loan, just a forewarning to have it organized beforehand. my lender required it, and i had 2 credit cards for a few years, as well as a paid off student loan history when i went for the car loan.

to the details: $6k would be an extremely healthy down payment on a $10-12k. is that all your cash reserves? if it's everything, i would recommend only using $3k of it. in the same vein, too large of a down payment can reduce the loan value, which could make it more difficult to get a loan, it can sometimes also create less than preferable terms as well. it also lowers the loan valuation because you're borrowing less, which works against the goal of using the vehicle loan to increase your credit worthiness.

also important, i've been seeing somewhat of a growing trend in more recent used vehicles that people dump the vehicles right near needing maintenance. so it's important to have some immediate cash reserves(i keep about $2k just for this) for things like tires, brakes, and/or oil changes. my rule of thumb is "if you don't know when it was last done, assume it's time"

good luck!

At 18 DRIVE CAREFULLY. With such a big investment and a car that many folks seem to crash please drive it with care. Don't try and be Tanner Fuast on public roads. Drive it with respect on public roads and then get wild where it is safe at a track/skid pad. Protect the car at all costs.

Also do not be impulsive with mods, at 18 it is easy to think you want something, dump a ton of money then 2 years later wonder what the hell you where thinking.

Man when I was 18 I was making hardly any money driving an old 80s 3 series with over 300k miles, I made ALOT of very dumb choices both with my car and life in general. You live and you learn, I just hope that you can learn from older folks dumb mistakes.:cheers:

Enjoy the car, if you treat her right she will take care of you and treat you to some great driving.
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Dave Ramsey says no. :paddle: