can I afford this car?

[Whitigir]

I don't see why not. You look like you are Matured enough to Clearly see the different Paths of Each decisions in life can take you, and the outcomes.

This purchase would be A test, a Fact, an Evidence, which will Put your decision to Reality. Buy it, and see how you deal with it.

The way I see it, if you CAN'T Afford a car, you Can never afford a wife.

Though, I am not talking about those Trash, whose wife have to take care of them. There are many more than you think.

Whatever the decision you make, I am sure you will Decide it right as how mature you sound. I support you, and I am sure every one around you will as well.

Good luck, have fun, and be always Responsible

[AznBRZer]

I say wait until you're out of grad school.

[hanabie]

Nah If I were you I would not put down that 20k saving. Try penfed first and use your parents as a cosigner. Say you are approved for 15,000 for 60 terms with 1.79% APR from penfed. The interest over 5 years is only about $700. You only have to pay $12 monthly.

There are many ways to get that $12/month covered.

Open a saving account with Amex or Discover with 0.80% APY and put all of your 20k in there. You never know you might need that 20k someday. Just saying.

Plus you also build your credits when you are ready to purchase a house. You need a bigger loan for that. Let's say 5 years later, you might be looking to open a business. You need loan and etc. That also involves money, but your credit score history sucks. You would pretty hate yourself for not doing the loan.

[tex24]

Solid advice from everyone, and quick too. Damn I like this place already.

Anyways, yes about $1000 every two weeks, not 100k haha, typo

I do NOT want to put all 20k into this, as I have some other expenses to deal with. I was thinking of putting 5-6k down. Then with the 300ish my parents will give me per month, and my own income, I feel like this is not unreasonable. Is a loan like you guys stated, the best way to go? Or should I just pay out of my own pocket?

[whaap]

After you buy it check out Katzkins leather to give the interior a little kick upwards.

[hanabie]

Originally Posted by tex24

Solid advice from everyone, and quick too. Damn I like this place already.

Anyways, yes about $1000 every two weeks, not 100k haha, typo

I do NOT want to put all 20k into this, as I have some other expenses to deal with. I was thinking of putting 5-6k down. Then with the 300ish my parents will give me per month, and my own income, I feel like this is not unreasonable. Is a loan like you guys stated, the best way to go? Or should I just pay out of my own pocket?

huh? assuming you've never applied any loan. Well this is a good time to build up your credit history. You need to shop for loan. I would try penfed or any credit union first. Then, use that approved rate to shop for car. Some dealers could match and even beat the interest rate. However, if you don't have something pre-approved, most dealerships are just going to eat you alive, assuming you have never applied any loan.

[hanabie]

Originally Posted by marky

Seems like you did your math well.. Now go to the dealer and get one.. avoid dealers selling all this crap add ons..

But hey your at a 86 forum of course we will say yes lol.. Its up to you.. Seem like you can so why not.. Plus you only live once . still young enjoy it while it last.. Who knows this car could be your fun car when you have a family one day..

That is right. F! some people would advise you to get a beater. Buy first think later. It is not like your life is depending on that money.

[CodyFRS]

I put 15k down on mine, Toyota Financing wanted to loan me the rest at 10% and Fulton offered 7%. I had no credit. My payments are still $248 a month. You can easily afford it.

[tex24]

My reaction after this thread:


[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dhg2ic4JMn4"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dhg2ic4JMn4[/ame]

[Re_Invention]

Originally Posted by tex24

I currently have 20k in the bank, and make about $1000 every 2 weeks. I have a steady job, but it is not a career, as I am going to get my masters (which will take 1-2 years) in Aug 2014. After I get my masters I will be most likely starting around 55-60k a year, which will increase every year and cap out a little past 100k.

I expect they will give me $300-400 a month towards payments/insurance.

Am I being dumb in wanting this car for 25k? How easy is it to finance?

Also, completely off topic, but did you guys just "get over" the poor interior?

Thanks for all of the help!

Originally Posted by tex24

S

I do NOT want to put all 20k into this, as I have some other expenses to deal with. I was thinking of putting 5-6k down. Then with the 300ish my parents will give me per month, and my own income, I feel like this is not unreasonable. Is a loan like you guys stated, the best way to go? Or should I just pay out of my own pocket?

Your future projections post Masters is so cute I hope it works out for you, but don't freak out when things may not go as planned.. Of course, you're 23, you've got it all figured out, so don't let me tell you otherwise.

/**** advice

With that being said, I would personally take care of any outstanding monthly payments and see how much of your nest egg is left over. Don't stretch out several debts over several years of repayment - too risky and losing out on interest.

Save up a few months of salary, pay off whatever outstanding debt you have, look at your nest egg again and with the money you saved - could you comfortably afford $10k down payment on the car with the combined money saved and part of the nest egg? Then you're financing ~$17k over 4-5 years (average expectancy for keeping a car is closer to but not quite 6 years). That's $320/month financed for 5 years at 5.00% interest. Mom pops are footing the majority - you cover the rest plus insurance (Gap additional) for approximately $140/month and gas ($100-$400/month). If you need to, you can always draw on that nest egg as a safety net for a month or two while you get back on your feet to make ends meet.

Any new car is a bad investment, so to speak. It's a matter of luxury - having something new. 9 times out of 10, it's in your benefit to get a used Accord/Camry with a four banger and automatic. Catch it right past the greatest depreciation curve, drive it reliability and with good gas mileage, and sell again (auto helps here, more potential buyers) a few years down the road.

This car, FRS, in particular is a sketchy buy as; it's the first model year of the car with unproven reliability, it gets so-so gas mileage, it's one of the most expensive new cars in its class [GTI's, Mazdaspeed 3's, Mini Cooper S's, Miata's, Ford Focus ST's, Civic SI, Fiat Abarth's, etc. can all be had for thousand(s) less], it's resale has potential to get cannibalized with a future performance model - like what happened with the Toyota MR2's.

On the other hand - it's a niche car and may retain it's value in the tradition that Scion's do, it's the most fun in it's class and that's worth the $ premium, it gets so-so gas mileage, it's an emotional new car buy and it definitely is NEW!

I'm still in a conundrum - the FRS is what I want but current gen. GTI's are getting so heavily discounted to make room for the next gen.. a $4k off msrp GTI could be really hard to pass up!

[Patrix]

I think you can afford it, judging from my circumstance much worse than yours.

[tex24]

Originally Posted by Re_Invention

Your future projections post Masters is so cute I hope it works out for you, but don't freak out when things may not go as planned.. Of course, you're 23, you've got it all figured out, so don't let me tell you otherwise.

I am basing this off of the fact that the field I am going into is the most rapidly growing fields in science/technology and will continue this trend for 20+ years. I am also basing this off of average salary for people doing what I will be doing. Thanks for being condescending, though

With that being said, I would personally take care of any outstanding monthly payments and see how much of your nest egg is left over. Don't stretch out several debts over several years of repayment - too risky and losing out on interest.

Save up a few months of salary, pay off whatever outstanding debt you have, look at your nest egg again and with the money you saved - could you comfortably afford $10k down payment on the car with the combined money saved and part of the nest egg? Then you're financing ~$17k over 4-5 years (average expectancy for keeping a car is closer to but not quite 6 years). That's $320/month financed for 5 years at 5.00% interest. Mom pops are footing the majority - you cover the rest plus insurance (Gap additional) for approximately $140/month and gas ($100-$400/month). If you need to, you can always draw on that nest egg as a safety net for a month or two while you get back on your feet to make ends meet.

Any new car is a bad investment, so to speak. It's a matter of luxury - having something new. 9 times out of 10, it's in your benefit to get a used Accord/Camry with a four banger and automatic. Catch it right past the greatest depreciation curve, drive it reliability and with good gas mileage, and sell again (auto helps here, more potential buyers) a few years down the road.

This car, FRS, in particular is a sketchy buy as; it's the first model year of the car with unproven reliability, it gets so-so gas mileage, it's one of the most expensive new cars in its class [GTI's, Mazdaspeed 3's, Mini Cooper S's, Miata's, Ford Focus ST's, Civic SI, Fiat Abarth's, etc. can all be had for thousand(s) less], it's resale has potential to get cannibalized with a future performance model - like what happened with the Toyota MR2's.

On the other hand - it's a niche car and may retain it's value in the tradition that Scion's do, it's the most fun in it's class and that's worth the $ premium, it gets so-so gas mileage, it's an emotional new car buy and it definitely is NEW!

I'm still in a conundrum - the FRS is what I want but current gen. GTI's are getting so heavily discounted to make room for the next gen.. a $4k off msrp GTI could be really hard to pass up!

This is better, thanks for the advice man

[Ryuu0u]

Do the math yourself and you can see that you'll be fine if you want the car bad enough. As long as you don't have something like 14 tickets, accident prone, and neglect to get proper insurance I don't see why you can't get the car.

[Re_Invention]

Originally Posted by Marchy

how is 30-34 mpg highway so so gas mileage? That's pretty awesome IMO.

obviously its up to the OP what to decide, but i don't think that MPG should be a concern when you really compare it with the options you listed off. speed 3 (25mpg highway) GTI (31mpg highway) focus st (32mpg highway) Mazda 3 (29mpg highway for non skyactive engine) Civic SI (31mpg highway), Abarth (34mpg highway)

You mustn't have caught, I put the gas mileage in both categories

Fuelly shows an average of 27.3 mpg for the FRS. For a naturally aspirated 2 liter making 150 ft lbs of torque and 200 hp.. it's.. meh.