Need some assistance making a decision.

[Zoh]

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

I also wasn't suggesting you pay off your student loans now, what I was suggesting is using the money to avoid additional student loans, stop digging the hole deeper.


I also think you may be counting your chickens a little before the hatch as well with the career. You are absolutely correct that its a great field (I'm in it myself) but that does not guarantee you a job once done unless there is something you are relaying in your story. Lots of excellent programmers that have mediocre paying jobs.

As stated earlier, I'm at a point where I shouldn't be amassing any further student loan debt as the company I work for will be paying a large majority of it at this point in time.

I suppose I could be wrong on the career. Sure, I know some people in the industry (I know people at Apple, Google, etc.) but that does not guarantee me a job with either company, nor does it infer that I would make good money in a job. However, I certainly won't be making less than what I make now (Because I could stay in this job if I had to) and I am confident not only in my ability to learn, but also in my social skills. I socialize very well and I interview very well. I constantly try to better my skill set and be the best person I can be at the job that I do, this is why I've been able to progress so quickly in the last couple of years.

I think I'm going to try to find another way to earn some extra income to help get myself debt free, then once I'm at least not in negative equity on my current car, get the new one.

I don't like the idea of having a loan, but I prefer it over the idea of keeping this car that I absolutely detest with every fiber of my being.

Additionally, a used 2009/2010 Camry in good condition without 90,000+ miles on it already, looks like it's going for around $16k. Why get that when I can spend 3-4k more and get a used 2013 FR-S instead? It's a heck of a lot closer to what I want. If I already HAD the Camry, I'd be fine; I wouldn't be so eager to get rid of it. But I don't...

[AznBRZer]

Originally Posted by Zoh

I'm actually embarrassed by my car. I don't like having other people in it, anything. I hate it.

Don't underestimate how big of a psychological impact a car can have on somebody. My current car literally makes me depressed anytime I think about it.

This here is the problem. It's not really the car; it's you.

At this point, we all know you're going to blow your load on a twin, but what's going to happen when you get into an accident? Or when crickets appear? Or the seat creaking? Or your tails fogging? Or your tranny grinding? Or the weather stripping folding on itself? Or the windows freezing in the winter? Or any number of things that are endemic to the car that shows that every little cent that could cut the price of the car down to what it is was done? Or what about when some careless asshole decides to give your bumpers a little love tap that would require a new bumper and paint job to make it perfect again? There are an assload of quirks to this car and you might not be able to tolerate all of them when your peers start showing up in Audi's, bimmers, porches, and benzes. Are you gonna be envious and want to dump the twin to play catch up?

In less than a year, my car has been in 5 incidents that needed body work and serious detailing. Shit doesn't line up perfectly anymore and there's no way to get out all the swirls/scratches without a complete repaint. I still won't get rid of it until I absolutely need to. Similar shit that happened to the Versa will or could happen to the twin or any other car you buy as the same shit happened to my previous/first car, an RSX.

Like what you drive and drive what you like, but you shouldn't be embarrassed by anything you drive, even if it's a beat up Versa that smells like cat piss on occasion. Why should you care what other people think; it smacks of insecurity. If you're giving someone a ride, they should be happy you don't make them walk unless you're a shitty driver that makes people motion sick. I would honestly be surprised if $500 at a good detailer couldn't fix most of your cosmetic and interior issues though. Hell, $20 and an hour of elbow grease will take care of those headlights.

[Fastbrew]

I am an IT director. Directors drive the BRZ. Minions drive the FRS.

[s2d4]

Originally Posted by Zoh

I could throw at the car loan in it's entirety.

You just can't stop yourself from buying stuff with money you don't have.

[ashtray]

There's lots of advice to give but in the end it's your money, your debt, and your butt in the seat of the car every day. You gotta make the call, but in the meantime - some stuff to think about:

- Does your school have a credit union? Try to refinance your current car loan ASAP! That interest rate is sucking money out of your pockets. If you have negative equity and the loan wouldn't cover it, ask a parent/relative for a LOAN, and make sure to pay them back timely. The amount you'll save is likely hundreds per month I'd imagine.

- Next, I'd agree a $25-30k new car is probably not the greatest choice right now. There's TONS of good used cars in the sub $10k price range. Choose a low mileage one that will last as long as you are financing it without any issues though, otherwise you'll be paying a car payment plus repairs - which could be more expensive than a new car payment.

- I wouldn't compare a Versa to a used Volvo (or Lexus, or BMW, etc). The Versa is one of the cheapest piece of garbage cars built to a price you can get. Look up the cheapest new car possible - it's probably a Versa. I'd want to drive it in to a tree. On the other hand, $6k would get you a cherry first gen Miata that would be so much fun to drive (though not overly comfortable) - but it's so engaging. Want something with some more luxury and power? An older Lexus SC300 makes a great car or an IS300 sedan. There's tons of nice cars you'd be PROUD to own/drive daily.

- The FRS/BRZ will drop in value like a brick the first couple years. You'll be underwater on it for a while. Any accident that wrecks it (not even your fault!) and you could be owing $5-7k out of pocket and have no car. That's one reason why it's good to put down $5k on a $25k car, so you're never under water. If you are under water on any car, look in to gap insurance.

- The FRS/BRZ - even in top trim level ain't all that. Don't get me wrong, it's a fun car - but it's low on power, and rides pretty firm. There's not a lot of luxury, and the stereo isn't great. What you're paying for is that front engine, rear drive, lightweight sports car layout - and it's very well done. That said, the BMW 3 Series while being heavier is a much nicer car - and I'm talking ones that are 8 years old and cheap now. The downside is maintenance on those could add up. But an 8 year old BMW is something you could proudly own and enjoy every mile you drive in it. No comparison to the BRZ.

My opinion, find a nice used luxury car from Lexus or Infinity (G35). The Japanese brands usually cost much less to maintain. Find a good example. Get a LOW interest rate. But first refi that Versa and save some coin NOW.

When you're out of school and settle in to a budget of all your living expenses (rent, food, utilities, etc), then you could look at selling the Lexus for a new BRZ. Heck, you might meet a girl, fall in love, and get married right after school! And she might have majored in Art Studies and just sit at home all day while you foot the bills for two. Tough to know what the future will hold - best to plan conservatively so you can be flexible.

[trinxified]

If you're into the limited editions/exclusivity/rarity thing, perhaps you should wait for the FR-S RS 1.0?

Though I'm not sure if the Series.Blues are already running out...

[DanDubyah]

I compared both of the twins on the net, drove em both, and simply found all of the positives of the BRZ Series.Blue blew away both the FRS offerings and the higher cost. The BRZ to me is a much more solid car in fit & finish. I am coming from a far different position in life than you are (example: 50+ YO empty nester vs. your youth), yet I had many of the same considerations (not needing a new car, but wanting that BRZ S.B once I saw it in the showroom, other debts to consider), and I simply followed my heart over practicality and got my 'fun sports coupe' after years of responsible, kid-shuttling sedans. It's easy for me to say "Go for it!", and you're getting a lot of good, practical advice from many others here, but the bottom line is you know your situation better than anyone else and you have considered the benefits and the consequences of whatever decision you make.


You only live once...enjoy the ride.

[AznBRZer]

Originally Posted by DanDubyah

The BRZ to me is a much more solid car in fit & finish.

Hate to break it to you, man, but the twins are pretty much made side-by-side and there should be virtually no difference in the fit and finish between the two.

[DanDubyah]

Originally Posted by AznBRZer

Hate to break it to you, man, but the twins are pretty much made side-by-side and there should be virtually no difference in the fit and finish between the two.

Sorry...what I meant was that I drove a Monogram FR-S and then the BRZ Series.Blue, and the interior in the BRZ simply seemed to be a higher quality and better integrated with the standard interior components than the FR-S. This could possibly be attributable in part to comparing a '14 (FR-S) and a '15 (BRZ S.B)...

[daiheadjai]

To the OP, I will suggest you wait until you're in a better place financially.
There are lots of fun cars you can buy second hand for a very reasonable amount (I got my old Celica GT for about $3k Canadian 2 years ago).
It may not be your dream BRZ, but by the time you build up your finances, either the BRZ will be much more affordable, or you will find something you love even more.

As much as I love driving mine, I think that your priorities should still be laying the foundation for stronger finances by paying down debt etc. first.
Good things come to those who wait - I waited years before I got a new car (the BRZ is the first new car I've gotten/leased that I could call my own - all my previous cars were sub $8k second/third-hand cars).
I think that is part of the reason why I enjoy it even more.

[Zoh]

I think I have failed to clarify many of my positions here.
Yes, I'm a student, but I am not some irresponsible 19 year old college kid making $12 an hour, thinking that I can get this car.
I'm 28 years old; I'm not putting my life on hold much further to wait until I'm in my late 30's before I start enjoying it at this point. I've skimped and scraped by for the last 10 years of my life, and I'm finally making a decent enough wage where I'm able to afford to enjoy myself.

Other than my student loans, I can pay off all my credit cards and get my credit score back on track for less than $3000. I have money going into a 401k every month and money being put aside to investments in the stock market. I seldom spend money dining out anymore and go grocery shopping and cook all my own meals for the week.

I'm not racing the car or putting 20,000 miles on it every month; I'm mostly using it to commute to work and back; about 12 miles each way. I'm putting less than 10,000 miles a year on the car the way I drive it right now, though of course that will increase when I go back to school next year. I fill up my gas tank right now about once every 1.5 to 2 weeks, so the extra costs in gas will not be significant.

My job will be paying a very large sum of the remainder of my college tuition, my rent is very inexpensive, I don't have cable TV or a home phone, and I have an extremely low cost cellphone bill.

On my current budget, with money put aside out of my take-home pay for groceries, dining out, gas, car insurance, car payment, cell phone bill, rent, utilities, netflix, spotify, doctor's appointments and prescription costs, I still have about $750 - $850 a month of free cash flow. I'd be more than happy to put about a quarter to a third of that free cash flow into savings, which would still be leaving me with $500+ of essentially disposable income every month. That savings money is not part of my 401k or stocks, it is literally just money going into savings for emergencies, such as car maintenance/repairs, medical bills, etc.

Why should I not treat myself and use a portion of that to make me happy? I would still have enough left over that I could make payments towards student loans AND be saving money?

I'm 28 and would like to just plain feel good about myself. What's so wrong about that?

Please understand, I am NOT looking to buy this car today. I'm looking to get it once my credit cards are down to $0. I may have some negative equity on the Versa at that point of around $1000 - $1500, but I feel like $1500 is a small price to pay to just feel better about myself. I don't want this car to impress anyone else, I don't want it to pick up chicks, I just want to enjoy my life while I can and feel good about myself. I want to be able to wake up in the morning and think to myself "You've worked hard to get all this. You've pushed yourself to get here and you finally have something to show for it."

Is my thought process and budgeting really just that bad?

Edit:
I should also note that is not accounting for the 2 months every year where I get paid 3 times and can throw a bunch of extra money into savings or at my car loan. This is assuming 2 paychecks per month.

[carma143]

BRZ looks happy. FRS looks mean/angry. I made my choice based off of that and got myself a BRZ.

(There were some extra reasons why, like the styling of the BRZ seats.)

Try to get a BRZ Premium with leather accents for the seats.

[ashtray]

Zoh - thanks for clarifying. That does change a lot. That said, it sounds like financially you had gotten yourself in a bad position and are now starting to recover. Now imagine if you could put that extra $500/mo into savings as well instead of a new car payment.

But you need a car of some sort, and you're paying through the nose for a piece of junk you hate. I still think you should refi that ASAP. You might be able to get out from being upside down on it much quicker with a refi. Talk to your bank.

Realize when you sell the Versa, you might be more upside down than you thought. A dealer might offer you $1k in trade, though you might owe $4k. Look up trade in value, then subtract from it everything the car needs fixed, then take 20% off that to get to auction value. Selling private party would be the better way but not always easy.

As for which car? BRZ Limited. Order one from the dealer on this site that gives great prices and have it delivered. Try your local bank for financing rates too. Skip the Blue Series - it's not offering you any more value for your dollar.

I would still consider a NICE used car as an option, instead of getting weighed down with a car payment for the next 5 years. Remember, if you finance $30k on a BRZ Limited (taxes, tags, etc included), that car is worth $23k in the next year. You'd have paid down maybe $3-4k on the loan, and be upside down by $4k. And that's private party value. If you find yourself in a position in 2 years that you need to trade it in (for whatever reason), now you're getting offers of $17k while you still owe $23k! Yeah - $6k upside down!

Problem is you can't predict the future, so in two years you might be making big bucks, or you might be looking for a job. There's a chance you could not afford the car payment but also couldn't afford to sell it.

On the other hand, if you buy a $6k FUN car now, you can pay it off in a year! Then ZERO car payment plus positive equity in your car! Bank the $500/mo for the next 12 months, then put that $6k down plus sell your $6k car (for $4k), and you are putting $10k down on a new BRZ, or whatever you like.

You could look at a second gen MR2, for example. There's a lot of nice fun cars out there in that price range. Cars that you will wish you had a longer commute. Cars that you will get in and drive on a Saturday with no destination - just to drive.

As cool as the Twins are, they're not all that. I wouldn't put myself in a negative equity position to buy one - but everyone's finances are personal. What you feel comfortable with, someone else might never consider. Doesn't make one decision right or wrong - only in hindsight can you tell that.

By the way - test drive a few nice used cars, and then test drive a BRZ and maybe a Mustang or WRX. See what's out there and what real cars feel like and the differences. Good luck.

[s2d4]

Answer these:
What happens if you lose your job?
How is it a reward when you are just getting rid of bad debt then add another one? With money you haven't work for yet?
How much do you earn in a month?
I am 31, absolutely no debt, can live for 3 years without work, bought 86 with cash I have.
If I did the same as you and I was in the states, I would be driving a Veyron which is just dumb.