Pre-FRS Vehicle
 

So I was originally gonna save a chunky down payment for an FRS to get low monthly payments in case something happened, but I absolutely need a car before school starts in august to get me to school after work.

What car do you guys suggest to get that's not too expensive and will hold its value well to be used as a trade in for an FRS eventually. I'd probably keep the car for a year or two.

So ur gettin a frs in a year or 2? Civic or corolla. Theyre bulletproof

I traded an 05 x-runner. Dealer gave me just over what kbb said trade in value was. Took a bit of negotiation though.

I'd just get an FR-S now and deal with the higher payments. If you buy something else then trade it in, you're going to lose some money anyway.

Lease the frs and then buy it out.. I'm paying about $415 more to lease and then buy out my frs instead of just buying it from the get go...shit, four hundred bucks to delay paying more than I want to at the moment is perfect for me. I bought myself 3 years of time to finish up law school and then have bigger payments

A lot of ppl bash leasing. But for some of us it just makes sense. Spending the extra $415 is already worth it to me considering how happy this car makes me. Just my .02 cents

You're saying you'll end up paying a total of $415 more in interest/fees spread out over a 3 year period?

Yes, the interest to lease it was .000 something (.00019 or something close) because of being a college grad. Also got $1500 off from Toyota as an incentive to use their college grad program for financing. The interest I would have gotten on a plan to own it was closer to 5 percent, as I don't really have tons of credit.

So I guess what I'm saying is that I will have paid $415 more to lease for three years and then buy it out on the spot than if I were to have made monthly payments for three years and then bought it outright at that point.

I'm not really sure that the money is directly a result of interest, it could be the dealership making profit on a lease or Toyota wanting more money for a leased vehicle, but the bottom line price was $415 more so that made me happy

I don't know much about leasing. I've always heard people talk shit about it and I know if you turn the car back in, it can't be modded, which sounds terrible to me. But that doesn't sound too bad at all.

Like was said above. Civic, or a Corolla is a great car to bridge the gap. They get good gas mileage and there are tons of used ones out there. They also have already depreciated, so you won't lose much at all on resale.

I will throw a Mazda 3 out there. I find them to be much more fun to drive than a Civic or a Corolla and they also get good gas mileage and will hold their value better.

You are doing the right thing if you are going to school. Your payments will probably be a 1/3rd vs an FR-S, your insurance will be much cheaper, and you will get better gas mileage. And it will give you something to save towards and look forward to.

unless you plan on paying that car off within that two year period, then you're more than likely going to be dealing with negative equity. that is never fun when going into a new car purchase.

not the best advice, but as mentioned previously... go ahead and go for it. if you can that is. do your research, test drive the car 4,5, or even 6 times and make sure. while it's not a cheap car, it's not expensive either. going into college with a shiny new frs is going to be a great experience "wink wink".

Yeah, I'm certainly not recommending that anyone do this, but I am saying this is exactly what I would do. No second thoughts here. And of course, that's under the assumption that I could. OP said he was saving up for the purpose of low payments and security, which leads me to believe he could if he chose.

I'm not sure what you want to spend, but anything that isn't a lot of money isn't likely to have much trade-in value a year or two from now. With that said, buy something older, but decent, and sell privately when it is time. I'd highly recommend looking for an '02-'05 Civic Si hatch. My wife had one for 10 years. Good little car, and despite being front wheel drive, the driving dynamics reminded me a lot of my FR-S.

One of these...

Buy an NA or NB Miata. Should be able to sell it for not much more than you paid for it if you bought it right and sell it in the spring or early summer. Very reliable, and a blast to drive. Most are at the bottom of their depreciation curve, or are slowly starting to increase in value.

If you are truly about driving enjoyment get a Mazda 3 or an NB Miata.....