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Craxel
I think this car is fine to drive when you're young but there's a lot of things you might not know about owning and driving cars. I drove a Chevy truck and a Camry for 10 years before I got my BRZ. Owning the truck and Camry was a lot easier. I'll put the important bits:
- Insurance is expensive, unless you have special exemptions and/or perfect record that is established over years of good driving. Teenagers sometimes get quoted over $300/mo for their first car. You're best off with a 4-door car from 2005-2010 and establishing your record (and credit paying off a cheap car), then moving on when you can afford.
-Maintenance cost and the amount of time I had to go and research fixing and upgrading stuff on this car is something that I could not have handled easily when I was learning the basics of car ownership, and is still a burden even though I'm "an old". It's not just the frequent oil changes (that I do myself every few months). I had to learn about how to keep the car driving well after 100,000 miles (a BRZ drivetrain gets out of shape after lots of hard driving). I had to fix defective parts from the factory which sometimes cost a a lot out of pocket. I had to pay more for Premium gas. I had to keep good tires on the car. Otherwise the car would be pointless to drive because it would be janky.
-While a sturdy and reliable as a sports car, is not as tough as other everyday cars to stand against incidental damage. Every panel on this car is thin and lightweight. Parking lot dings, rock chips, vandalism. Potholes. I could not have handled parking this car at my first jobs or during my first years of college. It probably would not have survived the house parties and bars that I attended. Heck, your friends and family will accidentally scratch, scuff, or ding the car and then act like they did nothing wrong. My college roomate - first day of meeting him- put a huge ding in my Camry when we went for a fast-food run.
-Fun factor in this car is only something achieved in good conditions. A good road, good weather, no haters around, etc. You get bits of actualized good fun, great handling and engine sounds. But for the most part, the car is rough-driving and loud over normal roads while taking simple errands, it's too hot in the cabin, the interior has creaks or rattles. Or it feels like it underperforms when you're in normal traffic conditions surrounded by Camrys. It gets the attention of mega idiots who will sometimes do unsafe stuff around you, just because its an 86.
-Comfort and flexible transportation. The BRZ is the car for ME to drive around in. Nobody likes riding in my car unless we're driving buddies out on a mountain. My highschool and college girlfriends would have hated my BRZ. Contrast to when I owned my other cars, I drove lots of friends around in my cars, partied in the back of the longbed truck. I did lots of useful errands for people and without being bothered if my car got dirty, dinged, etc.
Some of this comes down to stuff I wish I had known before I got into it. I could have done things better during my long-term ownership of my BRZ. I could have picked a different car too though and probably been happier with a car thats easier to live with. But now I'm an old and have 3 vehicles (a BRZ, a truck, and a beater car) which gives me flexibility in getting around.