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Straight answer, no, you can't afford the car. Focus on school and put money away for the future. That's the best advice I can give, whether you take it is up to you.
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Son, let me tell you a little story... ;)
When I was 22, and just a few months shy of graduating from a four-year college, I bought a 1991 300zx Twin Turbo. I had been obsessing about this car for months. This was way back in 1999, back when obsessing over cars was hard to do - for one, there weren't tons of car forums and car sites to obsess over. At that time, I resorted to the free "for sale" magazines you see at the grocery store. I'm telling you, I LOVED that car for months on end, and HAD to have one. At that time, a decent 300zx TT was around $15k-$20k and up. I had a few grand in the bank, and I rationalized the purchase by saying to myself, "soon I'll have a decent job in the computer industry (this was before the dot-com bubble burst), and I'll be able to easily afford this." So I bought one. And soon, I did have a decent job making OK money - not a lot, but at the time I thought it was. But it didn't matter - between the car payments and insurance, plus general maintenance, the cost was significant. And, the car was so nice that it caused me to stress out about where I parked...it caused stress when I needed to haul anything and couldn't...in general, it just caused stress. And when you're in your early 20's, the last thing you want is stress - that's the time to just have fun and not worry about saving money or paying large bills, cause there will be plenty of that later. It was sad because this car that I LOVED was soon the object of my hate. I literally thought of creative ways to get rid of it, because for some reason the idea of simply selling it (after nearly a year if pining for it) seemed wrong...almost, embarrassing. Sorry for the long story, but your post reminded me so much of myself and that stupid 300zx. Don't get me wrong, I loved that car and have fond memories of it (I still love those BTW), but I would have loved it even more had I just waited a couple of years, for a time when I could easily afford it and appreciate it without worrying so much about it. Cliff's Notes: Don't do it. Wait until you're well out of college and make good money. You'll be happy you did. |
Call Suze Orman, boyfriendddddd
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TO OP: Your choice. I'll leave with this: "Prepare for the worst, Hope for the best." |
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To the OP: Keep the civic for now, you're young and in school. You'll eventually want to go out or go somewhere with friends and having a car that can handle that is always a plus, not to mention the occasional task of moving personal stuff. It's also paid for and most likely cheaper on insurance than the FRS will be. That's not even including the random expenses that come up in life, better to be prepared and have cash and all to fall back on than be stressed and go paycheck to paycheck. And if you're really just itching for a fun to drive car, the sound of a used miata isn't too bad...they're definitely fun. |
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College is all about studying, having fun, networking & women. After spending money on tuition expenses & the likes; the rest was spent on hanging out & having fun with people.
The worst feeling to having, IMO, is not having enough funds to hang out or do things a person may like because it goes towards really unnecessary tangible materials. Luckily, I had good friends that got me but still I hated that feeling. |
You're driving a 2-3 year old Civic. I think you're better off than 90+% of college students. You can wait. Live below your means.
Also in my experience, you'll always get less than KBB's value for your car. Finally, never borrow money from your parents. Do it on your own. If your dad is against the idea of you getting a new car, why would they loan you the money to do it anyway? I think you'd be better off spending less and getting your own place. While you're at school it's a great time to practice living on your own. Also no girl wants to go back to your parents' place :) Patience grasshopper. Brett |
I would sell the civic, and buy an older car, and pay off my debt using the difference if I was in your situation.
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No you can not afford the car. Take the advice of most who have replied to this thread.
I always think of things like this.... If you choose to NOT buy the car now, you can always do it LATER. If you choose TO buy the car now, and end up in financial ruin, you will only LOSE a boatload of money and set yourself back by 2-3 years. In the long run, you will surely be able to comfortably afford the car much sooner by waiting, instead of trying to push the envelope now. Another thing that costs people a ton of money that most of us don't calculate, is the cost of flipping vehicles. It's not just price sold and price paid, there's registration fees, taxes, etc. that can add up QUICK. I once bought a car and traded it in after only 3 weeks of ownership. Granted I got a great deal on it, AND traded it in for more than what I paid, but I still lost the $800-ish in registration/tax because I had to pay it again on the next car. |
While I agree with the answer everyone else has been giving you, my reasoning is a little different.
You're in a nice situation with the civic because you have a lot of equity. It's a great car to own because it's going to keep very high resale value in the coming years because it's fuel efficiency is very good. It's nearly a liquid asset! If you needed to, you could put that car on craigslist and sell it in a day or two and get a very good price. The point in all this is that it is a safe place to have debt tied up. It won't depreciate as quickly as most other cars (especially a brand new one that drops $2k+ the day you drive it off the lot). It will also remain in very high demand in the future, so you'd be able to sell it quick if you needed the cash. You are in a stage of your life that typically involves very large and quick transitions.. you may have a number of different events come up that might require a reformat of your debt structure. Having the civic is much smarter than having a FRS/BRZ because it'll be more liquid. It will also cost you less in payments and insurance and have lower risk of theft or speeding tickets, etc... Despite your love for the BRZ/FRS.. you would be much wiser to hang on to the Civic while you get through these transitional stages of life.. Wait until you finish school, find a place to live, and settle down a little bit.. then buy a toy.. heck.. you might be able to get a much nicer toy than the FRS at that point and you'll be happier for it. Just my $.02.. take it from an older guy who's been there and made those mistakes. |
Short Answer=No
Long Answer=Could you get it, yes, but the reality is it could make you car poor and if you ended up loosing it because you couldn't pay the bill, how much fun would that be? None, it would suck. Finish your school, there will always be a car that you will want. |
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