Can I afford the FRS/BRZ? Please help me decide.
 

I had absolutely no idea what this car was when I first saw it. Never even heard of it! Design wise, it blew me awayyyyyyy! I immediately fell in love with it. The last time this happened was the 1999 Eclipse GST (Never owned it- Still lust it). After seeing the scion logo, I thought, OMG! I might be able to afford it…

Anyways, I’ve been going back and forth about this car and asking myself if I can afford it. I am just going to lay down everything about myself and it’d be nice if someone can tell me whether I’m more than ready to buy it or to wait, or I’m poor as hell.

1) I’m 26. BS Degree in Computer Engineering/ Neuroscience with 18K student debt paid off.
2) Currently employed (3 yrs) in a stable job making $2,400 a month
3) Rent total is $700
4) I only have $5,000 in the bank in total.
5) Occasionally like to go out to restaurant and movies (~$50)
6) Spend around $150 every two weeks for food/etc.
7) Living with significant other.
8) Don’t know what my credit score is, but I’m sure it’s better than 650. Let’s just say it’s 650 for now.
9) Currently drive a 1999 Honda Civic. Paid off.

Can I afford this car and still live comfortably or will I be scraping by, while being careful about how I spend money?

My current car is in great condition, engine wise. I really take care of it (Amsoil, etc).
But its exterior has met idiot drivers with dents and car-door dings.

How can I afford the FRS? Can I get a great APR below 2%? What about 1%?

This car is a WANT more than a NEED. And I definitely want to own it and not lease it. Later, I want to put a aggressive exhaust, lower springs, and body kit on it.

Could you afford it, probably, should you....eh, maybe not yet. Granted, I don't live life on the edge, but at this point, the more important thing to do is worry about paying off the student loans, looking to start putting away for retirement, and build up the savings for emergency/down payment later. This, instead of adding more debt. Is the car fun to drive...HELL YES!! but at the same time, you have a reliable means of transportation that is PAID off... The thing with retirement is that its compounding...the more you put in now, the more you'll have later. Its always important to have a long term plan...

I am 32, and have done all of that, and finally this year, luckily, i was planning on getting something fun, and happened to coincide with the release of the FR-S.

Too many things play into figuring out the answer. I do have one rule though and I think it has served me well over the years. When in doubt, don't.
:burnrubber:

If you have to ask, I'd say no. But that's just an off-the-cuff reply.

You need to figure out what kind of monthly payment you can afford. Factor in the additional cost for insurance. Gas should stay the same or maybe even drop.

Factor in the fact that you're already looking to mod it -- that's more $.

If you aren't contributing monthly to your 401(k) and other long-term investments, you should prioritize that. Given that you've only got $5k in savings, I assume that you aren't.

You can't ask strangers, though -- you have to ask yourself. And my gut feeling is that if you have to ask - you can't afford it.

I kinda hope that I'm wrong, though. ;)

Save your money. You can buy a used frs/brz if you want eventually or get the 2015++ models

I'm gonna play the devils advocate for the time being. Technically, if you have to take a loan out for the car, you can't afford it. It also sounds like its going to be a play toy as well and in that case, the car should be paid for in cash for sure.

That is me being an adult and paying for things as they should be paid. Put aside a "car payment" every month and then sell the TL and pay for the car in cash in a year or year and a half. Like mentioned above, these things will come down in price pretty quickly. I think a used one will be had pretty cheap in a couple years. I think you will feel a lot better owning the car. Just my two cents.

Sorry to correct you, but my school loans are already paid off.
At this point in time, I have absolutely no debt besides my credit card which I pay off in full each month.

I guess the only reason I don't know if I am ready is that my first car was bought as a gift for me (I don't care of it, but I care FOR it) My daily driver and must be reliable.
Therefore, I don't know how to buy, finance, or fathom living a life with a brand new car.

I don't plan to mod my car any time soon. Maybe within a year of owning the car I'll do something like, get new wheels or shark fin antenna, etc.
Major changes are down the line.

Thing is, if I am going to buy a brand new car, I want to make sure that I am going to keep this car for no less than 10/15 years.

Don't forget significant other expenses. This could easily drain you.

Let's do some math.

Assuming $2400 is post-tax
Minus 20% saving (let's say 10% 401K and 10% your investment of choice) = $1920
Minus rent and food = $1920 - 700 -300 = $920
Minus insurance = ~$200 = $720

Ok, so, can you get a monthly payment of $500 for 60/72 months with a reasonable credit score? I would say Yes!

Is it risky? YES! You can afford it but it leaves you only ~$200 or ~300 per month in the black.

I go by the credo "live life by the day" as long as you can afford it because no one can predict tomorrow.

That made me fly to NJ and drive back 600 miles just so that I could have this car right now and not wait till Oct. 2013.

But make sure you think long and hard whether you have saved enough for a rainy day and eventualities.

Relax! There will always be others! (machines)

Im pretty much in the exact same boat as you minus the having a degree part. All of my numbers are almost the exact same as youve posted, kinda creepy Even the first car being a gift part...

I am very able to own my frs, picked it up in december and I havent stopped smiling yet. If you love cars, and have since you were young, please buy this car. If you just want a new car, now might not be the time.

Edit: you shouldn't be scraping by adding the car to your expenses, just stay strict on your budgets and you can still bank some big chunks of cash. That's how its worked for me and im quite pleased with my finances.

Save up a bit more for a down payment, check your credit score (and repair any issues), and start to cut down on bs expenses like going out to eat so much (remember you crap it out some hours later...a car lasts much longer) :)

Then see where you are...

i would never pay more for a car than 6 months of net pay. so 12k for you.
keep the acura. scratch the sports car itch with a nice used miata or something in the 5k range. leave the new cars for us fat old rich guys :)

in a few years, you'll be fat and old and buying the 2nd gen frs.

22 year old software engineer with good credit. Payment is 285 a month plus 140 a month for insurance. I can afford it no problem. You seem to be in a similar situation as I am, so if you are good with your finances it shouldn't be a real issue.

I was in your boat too except I make more per year, but live in NYC so maybe it balances out. I got a part-time job and I make sure to see a minimum number of patients so that at least my garage parking, insurance and montly payment are taken care of. It's not a daily driver and won't be until I move to Texas, so gas isn't a worry. So if you can get a partime job with your skillset then do it. Should I have waited? Probably. Sometimes I kick myself for not having done so, but it's a car I plan to keep well passed the my loan term.

Some other tips:

1: What can you do to reduce your current expenses? Can you find an apartment with cheaper rent? Do you pay for cable/internet/netflix? I play games online and cancelled my memberships when I bought the car. 12.99/month times 12 months is at least 1/3 of my insurance for 6 months or a couple of fillups. Netflix was cancelled. Moving to Brooklyn for a cheaper pad. Do you buy coffee every day? Lunch? These little things add up over a long period of time.

2. Do you have a girlfriend? Dump her. She'll be more of a money pit than the FRS. (joking)

I'm probably not one to give advice, though. The FRS was an impulse buy and it doubled my monthly payment, but I make sure I can afford it by working a 2nd job.

I'm a 21 year old software engineer, so I guess I'm in a similar situation as well. I make quite a bit more than $2400 a month, though.

I'd say save up for a good sized deposit (try to be a little patient and you might be able to wait for the STI version if your interested ;)) before you commit to a long finance option. I would've if I could've waited - I keep kicking myself for not waiting for the manual transmission though (although the AT is very fun still).

If your in a stable job and feel you can afford it, I say go for it. You sound smart enough to be able to make an excel spreadsheet with all your bills & figure it out - also keep in mind emergencies. I use mint.com for my finances, maybe that could help you?

EDIT: Oh, and to go on what the guy above me said - cancel your cable bill if you have that crap. Netflix is about 10% of the price. Also look at no contract cheap phone plans (boost/metropcs). Although, I gotta say if you need to cut pennies like that you really shouldn't buy the car.

+1 for the older Miata! (If you like convertibles.)

Those cars are awesome! I never really gave them a fair chance since the fr-s, but they really are great cars, I'd say they are even more enjoyable at slower speeds (my fr-s seems to make me drive too fast, don't know why people say this car is slow lol).

The 6 months net pay total cost actually sounds like a pretty reasonable aim.

Is the $700 you pay for rent your portion or does your S.O. pay part of that?

Either way, your rent is under 30% of your take home which is a good place to be. If you're sharing that at 50%, that leaves ~$370 a month before you would actually hit 30%. If you could put enough down that your car+rent is less than 30% of your monthly outlay you'd be in a pretty good place.

My current rent is a bit high, but my lease is up in 3 months. I'm aiming to get it down by a couple hundred a month at least so that I can save more on top of my student debt and car debt.

If I'm perfectly honest, financially speaking a car probably wasn't the best decision for me, but three things put over for me. 1. Cars are my hobby. The enjoyment I get out of driving the car is worth the cost. 2. My old car had 212k on it. I was going to have to be putting some serious money into maintaining it in the very near future. On top of that, it left me stranded for four days when I was working on the brakes and a refurbed part didn't fit. I decided I wanted a warranty for the next few years. 3. I'm young and single. As long as I discipline myself to save at least a few months emergency fund now, I can recover from any long term impact.

I also decided that if I was going to have a car payment (Which was a given if I wanted a warranty) I would rather pay for a few more months and get a car that I really wanted instead of paying a similar monthly payment for a shorter time for a car that was just sort of okay. With the loan terms I was offered on different options, the monthly payment differences were minimal. In the short term, that is what matters. As I progress in my career and get raises I can always dump more money into the car payment to get it done faster.

On $2400 a month, I would be hesitant. Even with my student debt and higher rent than yours, I'm coming out a little bit ahead of where you would be. But that depends on your living cost. Living with your S.O. has the potential to decrease them considerably if you're smart.

Nathan

I'd come down on the don't side, but mostly because what you are likely to be relatively rich in is time - no kids, spouse - so buy yourself something cool and cheap that will need some love to keep on the road (e30, older mustang, used miata). I spent my 20's elbow deep in '70's era motorcycles because labor was basically free and rich(er), time-poor old farts such as my current self couldn't afford to keep something like that running AND have a reliable dd. But that was me. In the end, everyone has their own comfort level and willingness to trade between current and future consumption.

I'm with mrybczyn on this.
I've read somewhere that the affordable car means your net annual income divided by 2, which is same as your monthly net pay x 6.
Considering that, $25k car is not affordable for you. You still will be able to do it, but you will end up giving up other things.

Suze Orman would say no. I watch her "can I afford it?" segment all the time. The first thing she checks for is if you have an 8 month emergency fund. As in, do you have enough money in the bank to continue to live your current lifestyle for 8 months with no changes? This is in case you lose your job or get in an accident, etc. She checks for this even before 401k, etc. You don't have the savings. If your current car works fine, then I say save your money until you can pay cash. But that's me and I'm ultra-conservative with money.

But not having a car payment is about the best feeling ever :)

These are great tips guys! I really appreciate them.

Most of them point towards the "no, don't buy the car."
Yes I do have a significant other. That does drain some money from me as well. Forgot to factor in $50 phone bill.

By the looks of it, I cannot afford a car any time soon (or within the next 5 years) unless I get ditch my S.O., eat Ramen Noodles, get a new job that pays more than $2,400 a month.

Looks like that sucks. Do people really live like this? I've seen someone working at Pizza Hut that owns a BRZ.
And someone who delivers for a cater company with an Integra Type-R...

I guess that's a no go for this car.

You don't have to make a lot of money to have a lot. Just be good with money. You are on the right track with having not debt, now its time to save. Like I said, make a car payment each month until you have cash to pay for the car. Also, start stockpiling money like mentioned above. I've always heard 6 months income saved in an emergency fund, but I think 8 would be much better. This might take a couple years, but you will feel much better knowing that the car is yours and that you bought it with cash

Im almost 23, not sure if you want advice from someone younger. Though personally i'm paying off my BRZ with no problem because I still live under my parents without the responsibility of paying for shelter and food. Though I have a lot of other unnecessary spendings which I am certain I can live without, but not willing to because i'm young and still want to party. However, looking at your financial stability atm, i don't really suggest it. Personally if it wasn't because I needed a car for transportation, i would have saved up for a mortgage instead. I'm not fond of spending money on something I already have (assuming I'm in your position of having a TL already). The car will on depreciate in value, where as saving for a property will always lead you to greater wealth. I would say no if I was in your shoes at the moment. I think fun and luxury should only exist if you have money left over. I'm kind of hypocritical i guess, but hey, who actually doesn't know how to reason? lol

dafuq?

I still feel like I'm young until I read something like this.

Are you seriously asking people on a car forum to be your financial consultants? Granted we may have a few on here but come on. Next will be "Does this look infected?" :bellyroll:

Could you live off of $700-$900 a month? That's after your current bills, etc. I don't see why not. I think that's plenty for a single guy with no debt. Plus you can keep your car in case you need to ditch the FR-S for financial reasons. Plus, you got $5000 in the bank. Shoot worse case scenario is you have to sell it and you owe more than what it's worth but you got $5000 to help with that difference. You can still keep saving money monthly as well. I say yes go for it man!

you can!
 

yes you can.. because i can!

At 25, I am in a similar situation to yours, but I had a lot more in savings so I was able to put down almost $12k in trade in and down payment.

Like everyone else has said you need to total up what your necessary expenditures are:
Rent, food, savings, gas, insurance and any other things that are completely unavoidable or planning for your future. Then add in the other expenditures like entertainment, clothing, household items. Once you figure that out, just plug in the values for the month with the car, everyone's idea of scraping by and living comfortably is different. Some people $300 extra is a lot and others not so much.

Seems like you can afford it to me.

It is a big purchase.... When people ask me about my car, this is what I say:

"Worst financial decision I have ever made. Coolest thing I have ever owned."

It is an illogical purchase. But god damn are these things awesome...

My 2 cents.

Ignore those people, 5 years down the road they will still be working at a Pizza Hut and a catering company. Along with a run down Type-R and BRZ that they can't even afford to fix. Take it slow, keep saving and investing and you might have the car you want sooner than you think.

No, you probably saw someone working at Pizza Hut who *owes* on a BRZ. You don't own it til it's paid off - the bank owns it until then.

And yep, people everywhere buy stuff they can't afford all the time. That doesn't mean you should. There is lots to be said for the freedom of no debt and owning your things outright. Trust me, you will NOT regret it when you can put a huge down payment on a house later due to good saving habits :). Good luck out there!

"smart money" says wait! i see a struggle to afford everything in your life,and what is MOST important is,you do NOT know what lies ahead! your present car is running fine,and serves you well.be practical,and stay away from the debt you don't need,or want. remember! it's just a car,and you already have one! right?..right! do yourself a favor,and forget it! save as much as you can for a house,you will be much better off than floating a note for a depreciating asset you really cannot afford!..just sayin'

+1

With your degree, I would seriously consider moving to a different area with a hotter job market, go to Glassdoor.com and see what tech companies are paying in LA/OC/Seattle/SFO.. to name a few.

X2 hard to believe that with a bachelor's you cant afford an frs without scrapping.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2

Yeah dude, I didn't want to be the one to say it but that doesn't add up. I'm a 22 year old software engineer and I'm working PART TIME until I graduate and I can afford it. Maybe it is time to find a new job. :iono:

im 19. put down 9 grand and got a 5.75% interest rate on it. its alot but for someone without credit its decent. i make about 1500 a month and i pay 370 a month pretty expensive.

everyone always says you have to save for your future but i feel when im that old to have fun with my money i cant even have fun with it. thats why i dont want to worry about being financially stable at such a young age. i know people say that is being irresponsible but i personally feel that they worry too much. not really calling people out, just how i feel about it.

i think that if you can afford it then go ahead. but then again, i have no debt (except my car) and no expenses. Sure every once in a while i like to go out and have fun but otherwise i dont owe money to others. i dont have to worry about sudden payments, medical covered by government and car covered by insurance.

as long as you know you have a decent amount of money left over you shouldnt sweat too much over it. i never really read into your expenses but honestly if you think you can handle it go for it. but dont buy it if you think youll have to be skimping all the time, cause youre gonna regret it. living life broke sucks. ive been there. plus im pretty sure your girl wont appreciate it.

You'd be very surprised then. I interview people all the time for work, and I get tons of people with their Masters interviewing for entry level. Its an over-saturation of the market. These days, specialties through certifications almost hold more water and experience is always preferred.

First car I bought new, I was 29. Fortunately there were interesting old sheds available before that.
Rusty, but still sound frame and mechanicals. $250 '64 LeMans - about 4 years worth. $3800 '64 Alfa GTV2000 - about 7 years.
Both excellent value for me at the time and paid for with cash.
The LeMans was wrecked and I learned my lesson fairly cheaply.
Sold the Alfa for $3500 and thought I made a profit for that period overall.
It performed (in my mind anyway) almost identically to the FR-S. Finally, a winner. Been too long.

'84 Civic S hatch new, $7400. Nice to drive. 11 years.
I tend to latch on to something that I find value in and keep it around.

The intervening years between then and now are just too embarrassing to divulge ;)
After that, I was able to buy the FR-S for ready cash and not feel it much.

Thing is, If you budget and look to the future, you can come out ahead eventually.
It only looks like a long way off right now.

Over 3 years I was able to put together $20k for a down payment on a house and property at the end of '90 and incidentals on top of that.
New roof 3 years after that. Wasn't easy, but possible.

By the way, we're talking Ducats and pieces of eight prices in ancient history.