Need help figuring out if I can afford an FR-S.
 

Ok, so my current situation is:

• Drive a GSXR-600 (Still owe ~$5k)
• Monthly income ~$650 (after Rent, Bills, Groceries, etc.)
• 24yrs old/ 2 tickets/ 2 minor accidents
• Looking to get a 6MT Whiteout FR-S (New or Used, depending on cost)

My question(s) is, based on your experiences, would it be best to buy an FR-S used or new? I've found used ones for ~$15-19K. But I'm worried that they won't have the factory warranty and included maintenance that new ones come with.

And also, I've heard that interest on used are more than new, and equal the same in the long run. Plus the reason some of these are so cheap, is due to a Salvage title, so would that be something to trust or not?

All that being said, what do you guys think would be best in my situation. New, Used, Wait?

Also, I want to know if I could manage the payments, plus insurance. I've seen rates vary for these cars, from $50-200+/month. Obviously, you guys can't give me solid figures, but I just want to know if anyone has a similar situation going on, and what you pay.

And as for my bike, I would be selling it before getting an FR-S. But not sure how hard/easy it would be to get it off my hands, since I still owe on it.


Thanks in advance to any replies. I'd greatly appreciate any feedback.

Credit cards? School loans? Anything like that? You are more realistically looking at a payment of $450 or so on a new one with nothing down, give or take. Used, probably around $350.

You have a savings? $650 is not a lot of play room and with the car it would go down to about $200-$300. I'm going to assume worst case and that you can't get rid of the bike for a couple months.

Obviously the decision is up to you, but I wouldn't suggest it.

i think the general rule is if you have to second guess, you probably can't afford it. also, just because you can afford the car doesnt mean you can afford driving the car. insurance living in LA w/ your history won't be cheap. also depends on where in LA you live too. moving zipcode with teh change of one digit boosted up my insurance a few hundred a year. not really sure where you stand in terms of modding, but seeing that you're on this forum, im going to assume you're not going to leave it stock.

im in the same boat. gonna be needing a new car soon, but trying to see if i should hold off and drive my ep3 into the ground or not.

If you have to ask, chances are the answer is no.


Don't strain yourself financially for a vehicle if you already have a good reliable means of transportation. You'll be using considerably more fuel, and depending on your state laws, your insurance will likely be a lot higher than on the bike. (The insurance tidbit is based on VA coverage laws so it may not apply). Maybe sell the bike if you aren't upside down in that loan, and then see what you're looking like.

Addition to all the others' list. Any savings built up currently? You should be accumulating disaster fund roughly equivalent of 3-6 paychecks worth (depending on how paranoid you are).

As for a benchmark: I am also in LA and I currently pay ~160/mo on the insurance as a single vehicle insurance owner. I put down a 10k deposit, so my financing on a new car is similar to your used car route (financed ~19k on a new BRZ). This comes out to around $350/mo due to low interest rates, so yours may be even higher per month.

You are not going to find a used FR-S for $15-18K range I suspect unless it has a salvaged title or there is something wrong with it. Or is has tons of miles.

Since you are in LA, you also realize you have high taxes and fees on a new car. Factor in almost 10% of the purchase price. So let's just say you score a used FR-S that is under warranty still for $19K. Add almost $2K for taxes and fees. That brings you close to $21K. If you finance the whole thing at say, 4% (don't know your credit) you are looking at $386 a month on 5 year loan (which I don't recommend for a used car) and $474 a month on a 4 year loan.

If your credit is not good, your interest rate could be much higher than 4%, but could also be better if you have excellent credit.

Factor in insurance, gas, maintenance, etc. I don't think it makes sense unless you could put a sizeable downpayment down on the car. I would recommend saving up so you can put a nice downpayment down ($5-10K) and also get your motorcycle paid off. If you have credit cards those carry high interest rates typically and you want to focus on paying those off first.

If you come up with a good plan you could have the car in 12-24 months easy.

I would honestly say no. You have 650 left monthly. Add in 150-200 a month for insurance, then anywhere from 300-600 a month for payment. You now have nothing or less than nothing left for gas.

What's your payment and insurance on the bike? Obviously if you get rid if it you now have a higher monthly amount to use.

How much would you put down on the car?

For reference I pay 157 a month for full coverage on the frs after my multi car discount since I have my truck on the same policy. I put down 650 on the car when purchased and make a 530 a month payment.

No.

Absolutely not, you're the definition of broke. Save for your future, the car will still be there.

You should not. And I would sell the GSXR too...financing toys always means paying too much.

Knew the answer before even reading the thread.
Read the thread and answer is still unchanged.

I don't mean to sound rude, but I've dealt with a lot of people in similar situations. I hope you're not one of the people that came here looking to get affirmation for an answer you already decided on in your head. You realistically should not purchase this car right now. Enjoy what you have, work hard, save and sacrifice a little right now, so that later on you can enjoy a lot more.

well, as far as the bike goes resell value is only going up haha.

The closer to summer it gets, the more people start riding...the more people start riding, the more their friends want to buy bikes...the more people wanna buy bikes, the more you can sell you bike for.
...however, I just saw that you owe on it, so depending on the year, you may or may not pay it off.

I wouldn't buy a salvage title, but used might be okay. Since you're in LA, theres plenty of guys that would probably go to the dealership/seller and check out used cars with you. Included maintenance isnt too important to me, as I do all my own stuff-plus "included" maintenance is only oil change and small bs for 25k. Warranty might be thrown in for you, depending on how much they wanna sell a used car. If you plan on going crazy with mods the warranty might not even matter haha.

As the hype dies down on this car, the values should drop...plus 15' models will be out before you know it, and so that should help you with picking up a decent 13' or 14'. Hell, theres guys on this forum that have traded in a 13' just to get the few random features some of the new cars got, so getting one of those cars would be ideal.

In the mean time, you can at least check out insurance costs for yourself, to help with cost calc.

I know its a ways away, but if you want me to check out used cars with you when you're looking at buying, send me a pm on here.

Good things come to those who wait. You sir, sound like you need to wait! The good will come eventually!

If you really don't know, go ahead and do what I did.

Set a budget that takes into account the cost of the car, fuel, insurance, etc per month. As soon as you get paid, put that money into a savings account and do not touch it. If you can still live comfortably for several months, why not? I'd really recommend eliminating any existing debt first though. No longer owing a debt to someone is a great feeling.

edit: also keep in mind a lot of financial institutions will not give you a loan for a salvage vehicle. So I wouldn't count one of the really low cost vehicles.

Thank you everyone for the speedy replies, I guess I didn't want to face the facts, but this definitely puts things into perspective. I honestly did think I could manage it, but obviously there are more factors that come into play.

As for my bike, I bought it brand new @ 5.9% interest. So it totaled around $11k, which was a bad idea to begin with, since it was $8.5k MSRP. I've definitely learned from that mistake, so I just don't want to go down that road again, especially not with something twice the cost. And as for the insurance on it, it's around $40 month. But it's the lowest one, so it's not full coverage. And I would definitely want to be fully covered in a new car.

Anyway, thanks guys, I guess I'm just being impatient, but I won't make any decisions till everything is laid out properly.

I'll rent you my BRZ for $250 per month. I barely drive it, lol.

Thanks, Shutter. I think once I've dealt with paying off the bike, I'll just aim towards a new 2013 model. Something about putting on the miles myself and being the sole owner is very enticing.

No, unless you sell the bike.

That's definitely going to happen before I even set foot on a Scion dealership.

If you have $650 of "free spending cash" after all your expenses at the end of the month then getting an FRS on top of that will may put you in the hole. So unless you can free up some expenses it doesn't seem worth it.

For example, If you have to pay ~300-400 dollars for the car payment, don't forget to add insurance for the car ON TOP of that car payment. Give or take you could be spending around ~$550+ per month on car expenses (gas, insurance, car payment, potential mods). And trust me, you will probably be driving a decent amount, car fill-up vs. bike fill-up is night and day.

Now, if you could somehow make it so that you have ~$1,000 of "free spending cash" then I would say you are OK.

Look into a lease? I leased mine...low payments, warranty, Scion Boost service, option to buy at the end of the 3 years...can't lose really...I opted for the 3 year- 60k mile lease on the 10 Series an it put me at $404/month...they were running a $279/mo 36mo/36k lease special on the standard FRS


But then again, I'm also left with around $2200 "free-spending" money after all bills including insurance on 3 cars, two bikes and the FRS payment...so it was well within my means...


All comes down to you...lay out all your bills for the month, divide by 4, open a second checking account with an auto transfer every Friday and set up all your bills to pay out of that account, let that run its course for a month or two and see how much you're left with to play with...go from there. Make mock loan payments and insurance payments t for a month and see if it's doable. If you have to take from the "mock load fund" then you cant afford the car.

also, you have to factor in money for mods lol

Can you afford it? Yes.
Should you get it? Probably not.

Lol this is a ridiculous statement. Financing is cheap!

Financing can be cheap but it entirely depends on his credit score, down-payment amount and how many years he will be financing for.

More importantly, and perhaps you will know, given his driving record, AND the fact he is 24 years old, will a bank or dealership/bank let someone with that background and being that young finance? Has someone ever been denied financing or w/e? Seems like he has a few things working against him... :iono:

Speaking of "ridiculous statements"

There are cheap ways to finance, but 5.9% is definitely not it...

(if good credit easily) finance <2%

easily invest >2%


dunno what's ridiculous about that
regardless of OP's situation, it is not fair to say about every situation that financing is expensive.

His comment was about "toys" being financed. You should never finance a "toy" Better paid for in cash. This is ESPECIALLY true for a depreciating asset. If this was a 4 door civic, I probably wouldn't have commented as it's practical, will last 300k miles and is cheap to operate.

Edit: I get what you're saying. And in a world where he was more set up, with a practical daily and a house, I would agree with you 100%.

I financed my "toy" (2nd car) nearly completely.

I hereby fire you as my financial adviser. I'm a financial adviser's worst nightmare anyways. I've got most of my life's savings in hemp stocks!!


meanwhile

:burnrubber:


(I'm being a little sarcastic and not trying to be an ass. Just think it's unfair to say that financing is always expensive. financing my $25k car costs me around $2k, and allows me to have it now vs in 4 years. I'd rather have it now)

(also I agree OP should not buy the car given his financial circumstances)

Which is why you aren't one :thumbsup:

Go ask a guy how much his ferrari payments are and come back and tell me how he responds. Last time I saw the question asked, the guy laughed and very politely said that he didn't have a payment" He WILL however probably have one for his DD mercedes or BMW. He has made it. He is wealthy. You simply don't pay for "Toys" in cash. It's a young mindset and it's foolish. My uncle is a millionaire. His daily is a diesel Audi and he's financed it (although he could easily pay for it in cash), his off road toy was paid for in cash.

I suspect that if you crunched the numbers you could make it work on paper. The problem is that you would be so close to broke that ANY unexpected expense would put you in the hole. Get a speeding ticket? You won't have enough money left over to pay it. Insurance goes up? Same. Rent increase? Medical expense? Have to bail a friend out of jail? Lose your job?

I can't possibly list all the things that could happen. But mark my words. If you put yourself that close to the line, you're just daring the universe to smite you.

LOL, in response to your ninja edit, sounds like we agree. I don't always think financing is a bad option. Most financial advisors will advise against a car. I honestly have no issues with it as long as your interest is low and you are funding your investments (IRA's, 401k's ect), saving, and making your bills. In that case, why not? You are planning for the future, prepared for today, and enjoying something you love. I would however advise against those who change cars every couple years. ALWAYS having a payment and financing is kind of a waste of money IMHO.

I didn't know they take into account driving record when financing.

I had multiple accidents and tickets and I was 23 when I purchased my BRZ. The credit union approved me for 1.74% and Subaru matched it.

I wouldn't do it. I bought a new car one time thinking, "I can afford it..." even though I thought I had enough in my budget. What ended up happening was that I worked my ass off all month just to pay rent, utilities, groceries, gas, car payment, etc...and at the end of it all I had no money to go out with friends, spend on myself, spend on my gf, etc.

Sure, you may be able to afford it, but think about what it's going to leave you for yourself. Think of it this way, what's the point in having a nice new car if you don't even have money leftover to go anywhere with it??

IMO, it wouldn't be a good time for you to get a new car. Enjoy the extra cast in your pocket now or start saving up to make a bigger down payment. And of course, you're going to want some extra spending money for mods. This car definitely will suck the money out of you. Wait until you have more income before you purchase this car.

haha dude I am the king of ninja edits. Well yeah of course but like I've said in other threads - that is what separates us from non car loving people... we love cars, we spend money on cars. Of course rich people's financial adviser's are cringing every time their clients go buy a ferrari. just part of life.

imo you gotta reward your self some how. always have to have something to motivate you. for me it's cars.

the definitely don't take driving record when it comes to financing.. they couldn't care less if you wreck it.

Insurance with 2 tickets will probably be around 200$ as well if you have decent credit you'd have to put down a fair down payment. I'd go new it's aimless to go used honestly just me though.

I am not saying they do because I don't know either. I was just wondering IF they take that into account or not. In your case they didn't which is encouraging for the OP.

BUT what is not encouraging is his monthly insurance rate + car payments. Not going to be easy...

Don't jump in too soon I'm 20 pay $480 a month and sometimes I regret it. But love the car. If I could do it over I would of waited a little longer.