New to my350z.

I know, I know, everybody looks down on a kid spending unnecessary money on a car, but I do in fact have my priorities set. When kid's use student loans and such to buy a nice car, it usually screws them over as they haven't thought it through on how they'd pay back the debt, on top of the many necessities in life. However, I have been paying my own tuition and rent do to my more than decent income.
I'm in 2nd year engineering at the University of Waterloo, in the coop program. This means every 4 months, I work full time for 4 months and earn more than enough to pay off my tuition. I earn about $12k per 4 months, and this will only increase. After calculating my budgets for the next 3 years, I have just enough to pay for my own tuition, rent, food, and even insurance under my parents car (about $1100/year as secondary driver).

Post graduating, my program basically guarantees me a $45k+ job off the bat (not meaning to brag), but just trying to imply that I have thought out how I would be paying my loans back.

What I'm thinking is if I should take a loan from my parents (which I'm sure they'd be willing to do), student loans, or finance an 03/04 350z. I'm looking to spend less than $14k, and would like to go as low as possible. My brother is his own mechanic, and he'd definitely be willing to help as much as possible (he owns an FD3s and completely maintained it himself, only brought it out to a shop once when he hit a pothole).

I would LOVE to own my own 350z, I occasionally drive my parent's Toyota matrix, and simply am sick of admitting people "this is my parent's car". I know it's a much better idea, but I don't want to settle for the simple teenager cars (civics, rsx, celicas, preludes etc.). I want the next level of car. Originally I was looking at an WRX, but the 350z seems alot more worth it as they're about the same price.

The only things I'm pretty worried about is insurance, maintenance and gas. Care to share your experiences on these?

All comments/opinions are welcomed! What do you guys think? Should I just hold back and drive my parents care until I graduate? or settle for a beamer? or jump out to be the youngest out of anybody i know to actually buy their own NICE car without throwing everything out the window?

 

Honestly, ....If it was me.. I wouldn't do it. at least not yet. Push through college, get that job. Aquire money/security first IMHO

 

 

Gas is expensive, our huge tanks drain quickly. I pay about 70$ to fill my tank

 

shake off the flamers. Im a 3rd year mechanical engineering student and i made the same decision last year. i picked up an 03 track model with 44k miles for $13.8 (mostly this cheap because it was a Chrysler dealer and they didnt know what they had). im on coop again right now and before i bought it, i did the same financial planning on paying for school, rent, food, ect. and saw that i could afford it.

I say if your calculations are accurate and you think you can safely financially do it, pull the trigger. im so glad I did. I coulda used the extra money in different places but its money well spent. and $70 a tank?? thats not right. Most I have bought was around $45/tank. ive even gotten 28 mpg on the highway before.

Main thing, do some research. use the search button frequently here. and find something you can do. Good luck!

 

holy crap, 70 a tank? How much are your gas prices? Did they already hit 5 dollars a gallon? lol. The most ever for me was around 50-55.

 

you sound far more prudent than most ppl your age etc etc.
Im sure you'll be fine. Buy one.


at least you didnt have to spend 38k on yours. Mine is another story.

 

In a similar boat although I took a couple years and off of school to really decide what I wanted to do with my life with out paying tuition while I did it. Now Im free and clear on school, a nice 05 track edition and nice things that I dont owe money on and Im a couple years (w/co-op) away from finishing a degree I really think Ill be happy with. If you can afford it all while in school go for it. Just make sure its one or the other. If you can pay tuition and afford payment on the car or vise versa thats great, but dont get urself stuck with a montly payment while accumulating school loans. Sound like you have it sorted though man, let us know what you find.

 

oh ya, and a second.. or third? gas is like 50 bucks a pop. You fill up more often than you want, but it def isnt $70 a tank.

 

Age just please, just out of plain curiosity.

 

When you get the job and have half down, then get the Z. Until then you do not have a bucket to **** in or a window to throw it through.

 

I will gladly and shamefully tAke a picture of my pump price next time I fill up, why would I lie about that.

And I'm not hatting I'm pro you getting tha z, I'm 21 and I'm self financed. So I'm not tellin him not to get it.

 

also insurance for 350z's is expensive... my insurance is through the roof and it really doesnt go down until you turn 25 even with good reputation behind the wheel

 

I got my 08 nismo 2 months after I got a job. It's all about balance. Open up a Roth put a few grand in it and then get the z...

On another note, don't get the car if you want to be the guy that has the "cool" car. Get it if you want the car, not cause other people will think you are cool (not that they won't)

 

not tryin to call you a liar, just saying that def isnt the norm. if you put 15 gallons into your car and it costs 70, that means your paying almost 4.70 a gallon which isnt what he should be making his financial plans based on.

 

I waited to finish my undergrad until I bought a Z.

 

I just gotta chime in here.

The Z is not what you want if you want to get pu$$ies. It is not a pu$$y-magnet car. Get the Z because you want it.

And personally, with this economic situation nowaday, it's better to just push through your job, come out financially stable, and then get something hot.

You will still be young enough when you come out to enjoy your new sports car.

 

Personally, I'd suggest being smart about it. I would laugh at all the, "Dude, yer gunna get ***** *highfivecollarpop*" nonsense.

Can you afford the car? And I don't mean, will you still barely be able to eat if you buy it, I mean, is it within your budget? If not, just deal with driving a beater or your parents' car until it is. If your social life is entirely dependent upon you driving a nice car, consider working on your personality.

 

when you have a full time job and are no longer dedicated to going to school everyday you can buy a Z.

your parents should have taught you that.

 

You have a free car available to you, and you want to buy a Z to keep on campus? I'm your age as well, and bought a Z last year, only because it was an opportunity to make a nice profit. But with the shitty gas mileage the Z got, the little room it had, and how bad it was in snow, I ended up driving my accord beater 99% of the time to school and sold the Z much quicker than I thought I would. Also, your car will get beat up on campus, door dings, hit and runs in the parking lot, etc. It's bound to happen, I see it all the time, so why not save your cash and buy a nice car when you graduate? If I didn't have a beater I would not buy a nice car while in college.

If you're still determined to own a "nice" car, I would suggest a BMW 330ci. It's a 4 seater, more fuel efficient, seats 4-5, fold down rear seats so theres storage space and if you can do small work yourself they're actually very reasonable to maintain.